Guide for Authors in Manuscript Preparation
1. Subject Matter and Language
The ASEAN Journal of Chemical Engineering, abbreviated as AJChE , publishes papers on Chemical Engineering, specifically but not limited to the areas of thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, transport phenomena, process control, environment, energy, biotechnology, corrosion, recyling, separation science, powder technology, materials science, and chemical engineering education.
Topics may range from the fundamentals to their applications. Applications may deal with case studies on the design and operation of industrial processes as well as the performance of commercial products among others.
As a rule, papers must be based on original and unpublished research results, except upon the author's own patent disclosures.
All papers should be written in standard American English.
The acceptance of an article for publication will be decided on by the Editorial Committee, hereinafter referred to as “the Committee.”
2. Types of Contributions
All Original Research and Chemical Engineering Education papers shall be refereed. All other article types shall be decided upon solely by the Committee. All submissions are subject to editing.
Original Research Papers. Documentations and/or discussions of results of significant researches, completed studies, and technical achievements in an area of Chemical Engineering.
Chemical Engineering Education Papers. Reports on or profiles of Chemical Engineering Education in an ASEAN university.
Short Communications. Brief articles whose contents are not as extensive as those of Original Research Papers.
Informative Articles. Brief articles on newsworthy activities of Chemical Engineering departments and professional societies for quick dissemination.
Consultancy Papers. Reports on results of studies conducted by a Chemical Engineer in relation to his/her consultancy work.
Reader's Columns and Letters to the Editors. Reactions to articles published in the journal as well as comments on problems in related fields.
3. Authorship
The primary or corresponding author shall be a Chemical Engineer or a graduate of B.S. Chemical Engineering, at the least. A non-Chemical Engineer must have a Chemical Engineer as coauthor.
4. Correspondence and Queries
Contributions and communications may be emailed to rocess@dlsu.edu.ph or snail-mailed to:
Dr. Susan A. Roces
Editor-in-Chief, AJChE
Chemical Engineering Department
De La Salle University–Manila
2401 Taft Ave., 1004 Manila Philippines
5. Submission and Selection Process
Submission requirements. The author is advised to keep a copy of his/her paper and send to the Committee three copies for review. The author will be notified immediately by email of the exact date the submission was received by the Editor-in-Chief.
Refereeing, revisions, and reply time. The Committee reviews all contributions, and will request the author for revisions if necessary. Only after the revised manuscript has been returned shall the Committee decide on whether to accept a contribution or not.
Reply time. The author is then asked to send back two copies of the revised paper––together with a copy of the “unrevised” paper––to the Committee, within:
(a) Two months for Original Research and Chemical Engineering Education papers; and
(b) Two weeks for Short Communications, Informative Articles, Consultancy Papers, as well as Reader's Columns and Letters to the Editor.
Otherwise, the manuscript will be considered to have been withdrawn by the author.
Author's corrections. The author is allowed to make changes or corrections only up to the second proof stage; that is, when he/she receives from the Editor-in-Chief the second request for revisions/corrections. Any corrections later than this stage shall be limited only to those of the Editor-in-Chief's.
Reprints. An author is required to purchase at least 15 copies of AJChE where his/her paper appears. A reprint order form will be sent to all contributors together with the Editor-in-Chief's request for proofreading.
Return of manuscripts. Accepted papers will not be returned.
Corrections after publication. After publication, only corrections requested by the author will be considered. However, corrections that are neither misprints or typographical in nature, will need to the the approval of the Committee.
6. Manuscript Format
Format submissions according to type of contribution: (a) Original Research and Chemical Engineering Education papers, and (b) Short Communications, Informative Papers, Consultancy Papers, as well as Reader's Columns and Letters to the Editor.
Manuscripts that do not meet the required format will not be accepted.
Page layout. All submissions must be: (a) typed double-spaced using Times New Roman, 12 points, on A4 (210x 297 mm) bond or copy paper; (b) formatted using the following margins: Top= 1”; Bottom=1”, Left=1.25”, and Right=1.25”; and, (c) paginated at the bottom center.
Corrected manuscripts must indicate the location of correction on the margin.
Length. Generally, submissions should not exceed (a) 10 printed pages of AJChE for Original Research and Chemical Engineering Education papers; (b) 5 pages for Short Communications and Consultancy Papers; and (c) 3 pages for Informative Papers and Reader's Columns as well as Letter's to the Editor.
7. Manuscript Parts
Contributions, generally, must include: (a) Title page; (b) Abstract, preferably not longer than 100 words; (c) Keywords; (d) Paper or text proper; (e) References; and (f) Short author/s bionote.
On the one hand, Letters to the Editor, must also be accompanied by separate sheet explaining the “Reason for Quick Reporting” in not more than 300 words. On the other hand, Reader's Columns do not need an Abstract.
The following, however, are optional: (a) Notation/Nomenclature, (b) Acknowledgments, and (c) Appendix.
Title page. Include the information listed on the following page:
(a) Type of article (see No. 2)
(b) Title (Brief and specific)
(c) Author/s names
(d) Organizational and/or institutional affiliation/s of each author. Although the addresses of all participating researchers shall be included, the complete address and contact info shall be exclusive to that of the corresponding author and of the institution/organization where the research was conducted.
(e) Corresponding author. All communications regarding the article before and after printing will be coursed through the corresponding author.
(f) Remarks. Note if (1) an article is one of a series, in such case a list of previous publications and a schedule of future studies need to be included; and (b) an article has been presented or read, in such a case the occasion, place, and time of presentation need to be included.
Abstract. An abstract is a brief (not more than 300 words) and specific summary of the purpose, methods, and results.
Keywords. Six Keywords should be listed right after the Abstract. These items are important in (a) facilitating the retrieval of references, and in (b) indexing journal articles.
Selection. Choose those words/phrases that most sum up the substance of the text. Include, specifically, the method or process, reaction or catalyst, raw material, product/output, and research goal, issue, or problem being addressed.
Paper or text proper. Organize the paper as tightly as possible. Be guided by the following:
(a) Be as brief, direct, and specific as possible. Avoid lengthy discussions of items already well-known in their respective fields;
(b) Use the SI units;
(c) This sequence is suggested: Introduction, Theory, Experiment, Results, Discussions, and Conclusions.
Although Informative Papers as well as Reader's Columns and Letters to the Editor may forgo with the said format, they should be as concise and precise as possible.
8. Styling In-Text Sections
Proper styling of in-text sections help facilitate formatting and layout of the journal issue.
Figures. Refer to and/or cite figures and tables in-text by their full, spelled-out forms. For example:
Figure 1 shows... but ...in figures 1 and 3.
(See Figure 2 or Table 1)
...as outlined in Tables 3 and 4.
Equations. An equation may either appear in-text or as a separate item, in such a case it should be indicated by a number in parentheses on the right column margin. For example:
a = ( a + b ) (1)
b ( c – d )
Such equations are referred to in-text as Eq. (1), and so on. In-text, however, the same equation takes the following format: a/b = ( a + b )/( c – d ).
Tables, Figures, and Photographs. Tables and figures should make the text easier to understand. It is best to select only those tables/figures that are most relevant to the discussion.
(a) Title and description. These labels shall appear above the table and under the figure.
(b) Revisions and additions. No revisions on these illustrative materials or additonal figures will be accepted at the proofreading stage.
(c) Photographs. Pictures shall be labelled in the same way as figures. Although original high-contrast black-and-white photos mounted on bond paper are preferred, high-quality scanned image files may be submitted.
(d) Submission. It is suggested that tables, figures, and photographs appear on separate pages but with the necessary callouts indicated clearly in the text.
9. References
All cited literature are listed double-spaced in alphabetical order after the Conclusions (or in some cases, after the Acknowledgments) and before the Appendix.
In-text citations. Citations within the text often use the following basic formats:
Efficient workflow in terms of distance and cost (Mayer 1975)
Efficient workflow in terms of distance and cost (Mayer 1975a, 1975b, 1980)
The study made by Sanders and McCormick (1987)...
PHAs produce good, fully degradable plastic (Anderson et al. 1990, Salehizadeh et al. 2004)
Reference citations. Reference listings follow the Name–Year format. Specifically, be guided by the following examples:
Brunner, C. R. (1996). Medical waste disposal, Incinerator Consultants Incorporated, Reston, Virginia , U.S.A. [Books]
Chester, A. W., and Chu, Y. F. (1982). U.S. Pat. 4 350 835. [Patents]
Ergun, S. (1952). “Fluid flow through packed columns,” Chem. Engng. Prog., 48, 89–94. [Journal article]
Goodman, P. W. (1984). Abstracts of papers, International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies, Honolulu, HI; American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C.; Abstract 05F14. [Abstracts]
Range, W. (1981). Progress in physical organic chemistry, vol. 13, Taft, R. W., ed., John Wiley & Sons, New York. 915–984.
[Edited books]
Villa, R. R. (1999, March 4–5). “Corrosion induced by CO2 - and H2S-saturated steam condensates in the Upper Mahiao Pipeline, Leyte, Philippines.” 20th Annual PNOC–EDC Geothermal Conference, New World Hotel, Makati City, Philippines.
[Conference papers]
Abbreviations. The abbreviation of names of journals and patents shall comply with those used in “Chemical Abstracts.”
Titles. The titles of books, journals, papers read in conferences as well as conference proceedings, and dissertations/theses are italicized. The titles of journal articles, however, are set in roman and enclosed in quotation marks.
10. Final Paper and Copyright
In submitting the final revised paper, an author is requested to send in two hard copies of the paper with a soft copy in Microsoft Word format in a floppy diskettes. The AJChE shall hold the copyright for the final version of the paper.