Scope
IRJS seeks previously unpublished papers on scientific research that contain:
- New principled methodologies with sound empirical validation and theoretical justification
- Experimental and/or theoretical studies yielding new insight into scientific phenomena
- Formalization of new research problems and methods for assessing performance
- Development of new analytical frameworks that advance theoretical studies
IRJS publishes papers on the theory and methods of scientific research but does not publish applications without methodological contributions. IRJS favors papers of interest to a broader scientific audience and may deem a paper unsuitable if the editorial board finds its audience too narrow.
Note: IRJS does not allow simultaneous submission to conferences or other journals.
Content
Papers must be concise and complete; manuscripts should be carefully proofread and polished. Submissions that do not meet these criteria may be returned unreviewed.
All claims should be clearly articulated and supported either by empirical experiments or theoretical analyses. When appropriate, authors are encouraged to implement their work and to demonstrate its utility on significant problems; any experiments reported should be reproducible.
Authors must clearly acknowledge the contributions of their predecessors and situate their submission in the context of the broader research literature. If a paper introduces new terminology or techniques, it should also explain why current terminology or techniques are insufficient.
Originality
Submissions to IRJS cannot have been published previously in any other journal. We will consider submissions that have been published at workshops or conferences. In these cases, we expect the IRJS submission to:
- Cite the prior work
- Go into much greater depth
- Extend the published results in a substantive way
In all cases, authors must notify IRJS about previous publication at the time of submission, attach the previous paper as a supplementary document, and explain the differences from their prior work.
Examples of acceptable extensions beyond a conference paper:
- New theoretical results
- Entirely new application domains
- Significant new insights and/or analyses
Examples of insufficient extensions:
- Adding proofs that were omitted from a conference paper
- Minor variations or extensions of previous experiments
- Adding extra background material or references
Plagiarism Policy
IRJS has a strict policy against plagiarism. When there is an accusation of plagiarism, IRJS takes the following steps:
- IRJS asks the accuser to clearly document the plagiarism.
- IRJS sends the documentation to the accused authors for a response.
- IRJS reviews the accusation and the response, possibly in consultation with other experts, and makes a determination.
- If IRJS determines that there has been plagiarism, the paper is retracted (or rejected, if it is a manuscript).
Submission Procedure
IRJS accepts submissions via its electronic submission management system.
1
Formatting Requirements
Submissions must be typeset in LaTeX using the IRJS LaTeX style file. Only PDF files should be submitted. Papers not in the IRJS style file will be rejected without review.
2
Page Limits
Papers longer than 35 pages will take a longer time to review and may be rejected if reviewers cannot be found. Papers above 50 pages require a note of justification in the cover letter and may be desk rejected.
3
Cover Letter Requirements
Articles must be accompanied by a cover letter containing:
- Disclosure of any previous publications that significantly overlap with the submission
- Confirmation that all co-authors are aware of the current submission
- Declaration of possible conflicts of interest
- Suggestions of 3 to 5 action editors
- Suggestions of 3 to 5 reviewers
- List of keywords from the article
4
Title Page Requirements
The title page must contain:
- Complete name, position and email address of the corresponding author
- A condensed running title of fifty (50) characters or less
- A list of five keywords
- An abstract that does not exceed 200 words
Submission Steps
- Prepare your manuscript in PDF format
- Prepare the cover letter as described above
- Ensure the file is less than 5MB in size
- Go to the IRJS submission portal, register and log in
- Upload your manuscript
- Confirm receipt by checking your manuscript status
Authorship Changes
The list of authors provided at initial submission is deemed final for the duration of peer review. Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors are not permitted during this period, except in rare, well-justified circumstances.
Review Process
IRJS has a commitment to a rigorous review process:
1
Initial Screening
When a paper is submitted to IRJS, it is scanned by the Editor-in-Chief (EIC). If the EIC finds that the paper is very clearly below the standards of the journal, or not in its scope, the paper can be rejected without written review.
2
Action Editor Assignment
The EIC assigns the paper to an action editor (AE) who has expertise in the area of the paper. If the AE finds that the paper is very likely to be rejected on full review, the AE will write a short review explaining that position, and the paper will be rejected.
3
Reviewer Assignment
The AE assigns the paper to three reviewers. The reviewers write detailed technical reviews of the paper.
4
Decision Making
Possible decisions are Accept and Reject. Accepted papers may still require minor revisions. Rejection may or may not be accompanied by the encouragement to resubmit.
Conflicts of Interest
The following constitutes an individual conflict:
- Family or close friend
- Graduate advisee/advisor relationship
- Any other collaboration in the past three years
- Any other reason that you might feel a conflict
