Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • ORIGINALITY AND PUBLICATION STATUS
    - The work has not been previously published, in whole or in part.
    - The manuscript is not under consideration by another journal.
    - If any overlap exists with previously published or submitted work, this is fully explained in the “Comments to the Editor.”
  • AUTHORSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY
    - All authors meet the ICMJE authorship criteria.
    - All authors take full responsibility for the content and methodology, including any AI-assisted components.
    - All authors have valid ORCID iDs listed in their contributor profiles.
    - All authors were included prior to submission; post-submission additions are not permitted.
    - No generative AI tool is listed as an author.
  • DISCLOSURE OF AI USE (if applicable)
    1. Text generation, editing, translation, or content development:
    - AI tool name, version, and provider are specified.
    - Exact role of the AI tool is described (e.g., “Used Gemini 1.5 to rephrase the Methods section”).
    - Approximate percentage of AI-assisted text is estimated.
    - Disclosure appears in both the cover letter and the manuscript’s AI Use Disclosure section.
    2. Data analysis or modeling:
    - AI tool name, version, and parameters are specified.
    - Validation method for the AI output is described.
    - Verification process is documented (e.g., cross-check with manual analysis).
    3. Images, figures, tables, or videos:
    - AI-generated or AI-enhanced items are clearly labeled in captions (e.g., “AI-generated using Midjourney v6”).
    - Source files or prompts are provided where possible.
    - Scientific accuracy is confirmed by human authors.
    4. Data security, bias, and integrity:
    - No sensitive/confidential data were entered into public AI tools.
    - Data were anonymized/de-identified when required.
    - AI tools comply with institutional data protection policies.
    - AI tools were evaluated for potential bias.
    - AI use did not compromise research integrity, originality, or validity.
    - Copyright/licensing for AI-generated content complies with the tool’s terms of service.
    5. Integrity statement:
    - I understand that failure to disclose AI use, or misrepresenting AI-generated content, constitutes research misconduct and may result in rejection or retraction.
  • MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
    - File format: OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF.
    - Where available, DOIs are provided for journal references in the format DOI: 10.xxxx/xxxx.
    - Text is single-spaced, uses a 12-point font, and includes all illustrations, figures, and tables in the appropriate place within the text.
    - Manuscript follows all stylistic and bibliographic requirements in the Author Guidelines.
    - Funding Statement and Conflict of Interest Statement are required
  • PEER REVIEW AND ETHICAL COMPLIANCE
    - If submitted to a peer-reviewed section, the single-blind review policy has been followed (reviewers know the authors’ identities; authors do not know the reviewers’ identities).
    - The Author Consent Form (downloadable at https://www.ecocycles.net/MS-Templates/ECOCYCLES_AUTHOR_CONSENT_FORM.pdf) has been signed by all authors and retained by the corresponding author.
    - If the research involves identifiable data from human subjects, the manuscript contains a statement confirming informed consent has been obtained from all participants.

Author Guidelines

1. Scope and Editorial Policy

Authors are strongly encouraged to consult the About the Journal page for our aims, scope, and editorial policy before preparing a manuscript.

2. Submission Process

To submit a manuscript, please 1. Register on our site with your ORCID ID, 2. Email the Editor-in-Chief at `editor[at]ecocycles.net` to request "Author" status, 3. Once upgraded, log in and click the "New Submission" button.  ⚠️ Note: Submissions incorporating content generated by AI tools like ChatGPT must include an explanatory note in the 'Comments to the Editor' section of the Submission panel.

Initial format-free submission. First submissions may be in any easily readable format for review purposes. Acceptable file types: .doc, .docx, .rtf, .odt (no PDFs for main text at first submission). Text should be in English (British or American, used consistently).

3. Manuscript Structure (a simple template is downloadable at https://ecocycles.net/MS-Templates/Ecocycles_Manuscript_Template.docx)

Unless otherwise justified, manuscripts should follow the IMRaD format:

Title – concise, specific, and informative.

Author names and affiliations – full names, institutional addresses (department, institution, city, country), and email addresses. Provide ORCID iDs for all authors.

Abstract – up to 250 words, summarising background, objectives, methods, results, and conclusions.

Keywords – 4–6 terms, avoiding words from the title and overly broad or highly technical terms.

Main Text:

Introduction – background, rationale, objectives.

Materials and Methods – detailed enough for replication; include statistical methods and software used.

Results – present findings clearly; avoid repeating all data in text if already shown in tables/figures.

Discussion – interpret findings, relate to literature, address limitations.

Conclusions – highlight main outcomes and implications.

Acknowledgements – optional.

Funding Statement – required.

Conflict of Interest Statement – required.

References – see Section 5.

4. Tables, Figures, and Equations

Tables. Number consecutively (Table 1, Table 2, etc.). Place captions above tables. Supply editable table data (no images of tables).

Figures. Number consecutively (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.). Place captions below figures. Acceptable formats: .tif, .jpg, .png; minimum resolution 300 dpi. Indicate in text where each figure should appear.

Equations and Symbols. Use MS Equation Editor or LaTeX. Centre equations; number flush right [(1), (2), etc.]. Italicise variables; define symbols immediately after equation.

5. References

Use Harvard referencing style: In-text: (Author, Year), e.g., (Darwin, 1859); two authors: (Watson and Crick, 1953); more than two authors: (Casida et al., 1983). Reference list: alphabetical order by author surname. Examples: Journal article: Smith, J., Brown, P. (2020) Title of paper. Ecocycles, 6(2), 45–53. DOI:  10.xxxx/xxxx... Book: Darwin, C. (1859) On the Origin of Species. London: John Murray. 

6. Ethical Requirements

Human and Animal Subjects. Research involving humans or animals must include a statement of ethical approval (e.g., by Institutional Review Board or Ethics Committee). For human subjects, informed consent must be obtained; include a statement in the manuscript.

Author Consent Form. All authors must complete and retain a signed Author Consent Form before submission.

Plagiarism. The journal uses similarity detection software; manuscripts exceeding acceptable similarity thresholds will be rejected.

7. Public Interest Statement (Optional)

Authors may include up to 150 words describing their research in plain language for a general audience. This will be published alongside the article to increase reach and impact.

8. Use of Generative AI Tools

AI-generated text, images, or data are not permitted without disclosure. Authors must provide a Use of Generative-AI Tools Declaration specifying: a) The AI tools used, b) How they were used, c) Where in the manuscript the AI-generated content appears, d) AI tools may not be listed as authors.

9. Preprint Policy

Authors may post the original submitted version (preprint) at any time. Disclose preprint DOI and repository at submission. 

10. Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright. First publication rights are granted to Ecocycles. Articles are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Full licence text: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

11. Privacy Statement

The journal complies with GDPR. Personal data are used only for editorial purposes and not shared with third parties. Users may request access to or deletion of their personal data (“right to be forgotten”). The journal runs on the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform; anonymized usage data may be shared with its developer, PKP. 

12. Funding Statement

In order to promote greater transparency in their research, authors must list all sources that support the research relevant to the article.

13. Conflict of Interest Statement

Authors must declare all potential conflicts of interest. If there are none, the authors should state "The author (s) declare (s) that there is no conflict of interest concerning the publication of this article".

Articles

All research papers will be accommodated in this section.

Copyright Notice

Authors retain the copyright to their work and grant Ecocycles the right of first publication. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the journal are properly credited.

Authors may post the original submitted version of their manuscript (preprint, prior to peer review) at any time in a public repository. At submission, authors must disclose details of any preprint posting, including the DOI or permanent URL.

Ecocycles provides immediate open access to all published content, in the belief that making research freely available to the public promotes a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Full licence terms are readable here.

Privacy Statement

Privacy Statement

ECOCYCLES journal is managed under the open-access software platform Open Journal Systems (OJS).

The data collected from users (registered and non-registered) falls within the scope of the standard functioning of academic journals. The information collected serves the organized and recorded communication during the editorial process and monitors the number of site visits- and download statistics.

Data that will assist in developing OJS may be shared with its developer Public Knowledge Project (PKP) in an anonymized and aggregated form.

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Registered users

All users (including the editorial staff, the authors, and the reviewers) who register with ECOCYCLES journal, including authors and peer reviewers, consent to having their personal information stored in OJS.

Rights of the Individual

The managers of the OJS platform and the journal's staff seek to be compliant with industry standards for data privacy, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provision for "data subject rights". These rights include the right of access to registered personal data, as well as the right of deletion of such data (also known as "the right to be forgotten").