GUIDELINES TO AUTHORS
Indoor & Built Environment operates a conventional single-blind reviewing policy in which the reviewer’s name is always concealed from the submitting author.
Scope: Original reports will be published on any topic pertaining to the quality of the indoor and built environment, and how these might affect the safety, health, performance, efficiency and comfort of occupants living and working in these environments. Relevant and original quality papers will be accepted, which would contribute to the advancement of issues related to indoor environmental quality and the built environment; and an impact on the academic understanding of environment and health, environmental engineering, architecture and building technology. The following subjects are considered.
Indoor Environmental Quality:
Indoor air quality and ventilation; perception and human factors; occupational and non-occupational health effects; exposure risk assessment of emissions in indoor air; materials emissions and biological effects; radon, combustion products and VOCs; urban environment and pollution dispersion; moisture and humidity risks; thermal comfort; noise; heating and lighting; access safety; living space; sanitation; social and housing requirements.
Built Environment:
Urban and transport infrastructure; building design and development; energy efficiency and low carbon housing; sustainable building materials; HVACR systems; thermal and acoustic insulation; crime and fire prevention; building conservation; building environmental assessment methods; building energy and renewable energy applications; sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS); contaminated land and land uses; flood risk management.
Manuscript Submission: Only original manuscripts written in English and in MS Word should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief, Dr Chuck Yu by email: editorial@ibejournal.co.uk. All figures should preferably be in TIFF or JPG format. Separate electronic files containing original photographs or drawings of the figures with a resolution of at least 300 DPI (dots per inch), are required for reproduction.
Conditions: All manuscripts are subject to editorial peer review. Manuscripts are received with the explicit understanding that they are not under simultaneous consideration by any other publication. The corresponding author will need to sign a 'Copyright Transfer Agreement' to declare that the paper has not been previously published elsewhere, and that the submission of an article for publication implies agreed transfer of copyright from the author to the publisher upon acceptance. The manuscript should not include any commercial promotion of products and not include libellous content. Accepted papers will become the permanent property of 'Indoor and Built Environment' and may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the publisher and the Editor. It is the author's responsibility to obtain permission to reproduce illustrations, tables, etc. from other publications for their use.
Types of Papers
Editorials: These will normally be published by the Editor accompanying an issue; however in some cases the Editor may invite contributions from other authors on topics related to a special issue of the journal or a special event at the time of publication.
Original papers: Original research findings, designs and new delelopments relevant to the scope of the journal will be published after acceptance, as recommended by peer review.
Reviews: Authoritative reviews will be published from both invited experts and by direct submission. In both cases, the work will be subject to editorial peer review.
Opinion: Short articles, which stress an original point of view of a controversial nature. Matters of a political or lobbying nature may be considered under this heading.
Case Reports: Articles which do not present new findings or original research, but are case studies illustrating problems related to particular types of built environment or methods of investigations of building related problems.
Book Reviews: From time to time books which the editor thinks may be of interest to the readership will be reviewed. Publishers wishing to have a book reviewed should send information to the Editor-in-Chief.
Correspondence: Matters arising from articles published in the journal.
Conference Reports: Short reports of relevant conferences are welcome.
Arrangement
Title page: A title page stating the title, the authors' names, authors' affiliation and the institution where the work was conducted, full postal and email address, telephone and fax numbers of the main author and a short title for use as running head, is required.
Key words: For indexing purposes, a list of 3-6 key words is essential.
Abstract: Each paper needs an abstract of not more than 200 words.
Introduction: The objective of the introduction is to place the work described in an appropriate context, and state the aim(s) of the work described in the text.
Materials: Full description (including history where appropriate) of the materials used should be given. A statement of how the materials were obtained, sampled, transported, prepared, conditioned and stored should be given. This should include any international standard or national protocol relating to the preparation and storage of the material.
Methods: This section describes the techniques used for the investigation, and makes clear the protocol of the study. References should be made to any appropriate testing standard used. The manufacturer, model number and sensitivity (minimal detectable levels or quantitation limits) of any analytical instrument used should be stated in this section. Wherever necessary, state the quality assurance procedures used for validating measurements or test methods chosen for the study. Any statistical tests should be described to illustrate the significance of the analysis or test, supported by a reference to the original citation of the test. The number of determinations and the probability (P) level for rejecting the null hypothesis should also be stated. In descriptions of diseases, the diagnostic criteria for the disease should be stated, together with a reference to any standard classification of the disease type or degree should be made if such exist. Where humans or animals are deliberately exposed to a stress (chemical or otherwise), it is understood that these experiments will have been performed under appropriate ethical constraints (e.g. informed consent in humans) in line with the Helsinki declaration.
Results: Give results of measurements/analyses/testing/survey used, with appropriate numerical and graphical support, for the study. There should be no discussion of the results in this section. Do not duplicate presentations by giving both a table and a figure (e.g. a chart of graph) for the same results. All tables will need a heading and figures, a legend and these should be presented close to where the results are stated. Give statistics to support the significance of the finding.
Units and symbols: Follow international accepted rules and always use SI units. Use italic symbols for the names of biological species, quantities and variables.
Discussion: This section is a discussion of the results or the scientific significance of the finding or design produced.
Conclusion: This should be a statement giving a conclusion of what has been achieved by the study.
Footnotes: Avoid footnotes.
Equations: Number consecutively the equations as given in the text. Equations should be indented and you should leave one blank line before and after the equations. Equation numbers should appear in parenthesis and be numbered consecutively and on the right hand side of the equations. Mathematical symbols and formulae should be given in the text, where these are referred. Sybmols should be explained after the equations.
Abbreviations: Avoid abbreviations other than the conventionally accepted abbreviations. Frequently used terms may be abbreviated after first use and defined, e.g. volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Tables and illustrations: Colour illustrations will only appear in colour on the online version of the journal but may be reproduced in the print version at the authors' expense.
References: In the text identify references, in order, by Arabic numerals [in square brackets]. The list of references should include only those publications which are cited in the text. Do not alphabetise; number references in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. The surnames of the authors followed by initials should be given. Cite all authors; 'et al.' is not sufficient. Abbreviate journal names according to the Index Medicus system. (Also see International Committee of Medical Journal Editors: Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. N Engl J Med 1997; 336;309-315.)
Examples
[1] Papers published in periodicals: Langer AM, Morse RG: The World Trade Center Catastrophe: Indoor Built Environ 2001;10:350-360.
[2] Monographs: Matthews DE, Farewell VT: Using and Understanding Medical Statistics. Basel, Karger, 1985.
[3] Edited books: Flamm WG: Pros and cons of quantitative risk analysis; in Taylor SL, Scanlan RA (eds): Food Toxicology: A Perspective on the Relative Risks. IFT Basic Symp Ser. New York, Marcel Dekker, 1988, pp 429-446.
English Language Editing Services: Please click here for information on professional English language editing services recommended by SAGE.
If you wish your article to be freely available online immediately upon publication (as some funding bodies now require), you can opt for it to be included in SAGE Open subject to payment of a publication fee. Manuscript submission and refereeing procedure is unchanged. On acceptance of your article, you will be asked to let SAGE know directly if you are choosing SAGE Open. For further information, please
visit http://www.uk.sagepub.com/sageopen.sp
