Guidelines for Authors

Overview

Manuscripts will be carefully scrutinized for evidence of plagiarism, duplication and data manipulation; in particular, images will be carefully examined for any indication of intentional improper modification. Any suspected misconduct ends up with a quick rejection and is then reported to the US Office of Research Integrity.

Authors are requested to submit their papers electronically by using the Proceedings of the European Academy of Sciences & Arts  online submission and review website (submissions).

The Publisher and Editor regret that they are not able to consider submissions that do not follow this procedure.

Preparing your manuscript

PEASA is format-neutral at initial submission, which means that manuscripts do not need to be formatted according to specific journal guidelines to be considered for review. 

Manuscripts should be in either British or American English consistently throughout. Check for consistent spelling of names, terms, and abbreviations, including in tables and figure captions. Note that submitted manuscripts will not go through language-focused copyediting with the journal prior to or after acceptance; language-focused copyediting is the responsibility of the authors before submission.

Each manuscript has to be typewritten and double-spaced throughout;
pages should be in A4 format and numbered;
lines should be left numbered in continuum (10-digit numeric system).

The following information is required to evaluate a manuscript (please prepare your manuscript for the single-blind peer review):

Declarations
All manuscripts must contain the following sections (compulsory):

  • Ethical approval 
  • Availability of data and material
  • Competing interests
  • Funding
  • Authors' contributions
  • Acknowledgements

The manuscript should be divided into:
Title page; Abstract; Text; References; Tables; Figures; Tables/Figures legends.

The Title page must contain the following information:
Title of the paper;
full name and surname of author(s);
full name, town and country of the institution(s) where the work was done;
present address of author(s), only if different from affiliation
complete address (phone and fax numbers, E-mail address) of the corresponding author (please note that multiple corresponding authors are not allowed);
keywords (no more than seven);
all the Declarations (stated above)


Tables and Figures

If tables are used, they should be double-spaced on separate pages of the manuscript, not embedded throughout the text. They should be numbered and cited in the text. Tables should be provided as editable Word files, and authors should ensure they are presented in a publication-ready format. Considering how a table fits on a page in a wordprocessing program can often provide insight into how it will appear on a journal page.
Larger or more complex tables will be made available online as supplementary material at the Editorial Office's sole discretion, including ensuring efficient readability of the paper publishing format.

If figures are used, they should be numbered and cited in the text and inserted at the end of the manuscript. Figures should be designed using a well-known software package. Please note that the Production Office will not redraw or re-letter any image.

A different caption for each figure must be provided at the end of the manuscript. Figures with different panels have to be grouped into a plate, and panels marked with letters.

In case of acceptance, authors are required to provide the figures as .tiff or .jpg files, with the following digital resolution:

  1. Color (saved as CMYK): 300 dpi - maximum width 17 cm - minimum width 8.5 cm
  2. Black and white/grays: 600 dpi - maximum width 17 cm - minimum width 8.5 cm

Permissions
When citing someone else's work or considering reproducing figures or tables from a book or journal article, authors should make sure that they are not infringing a copyright. In case extracts (text/figures/tables) from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright holder(s) and credit the source(s) in the article. A copy of the written permission has to be provided before publication (otherwise the paper cannot be published) and appropriately cited. The procedure for requesting permission is the responsibility of the Authors; PAGEPress will not refund any costs incurred in obtaining permission.

Other
If abbreviations are used in the text, authors are required to write full name + abbreviation in brackets [e.g. Multiple Myeloma (MM)] the first time they are used (Abstract and main text), then only abbreviations can be written (apart from titles; in this case authors have to write always the full name).
If names of equipment or substances are mentioned in the text, brand, company names and locations (city and state) for equipment and substances should be included in parentheses within the text.

References (for Arts, Humanities, Natural Sciences, World Religions, Social Sciences Law & Economics, Interdisciplinary) 
Cite literature in the text in chronological, followed by alphabetical, order and formatted like these examples: "Campbell (1983, 1987b)," "(Smith et al., 1984; Karl and Craven, 1988; Korobi, 1997, 1998)." In the References section, list citations in alphabetical, followed by chronological, order. All publications cited in the text should be listed alphabetically after the first author.

  • For a single author, references are to be arranged chronologically. If an author published several papers in the same year, they should appear as: White JH, 1970a. - White JH, 1970b.
  • If all authors are identical for two or more citations, chronological order of publication should dictate the order of citations.
  • More than three authors, cite 3 authors + et al. If the paper has only 4 authors, cite all authors.
  • Papers in press should be cited only if formally accepted for publication. In this case the year should be that of the acceptance and indicated in brackets: White H, Brown J (1990). (in press).
  • Journal citations should be abbreviated based on "World List of Scientific Periodicals". If the title of the journal is a single word do not abbreviate.
  • Notations such as ", n., nr.", etc. are superfluous and should be dropped.
  • Citations such as personal communication, unpublished data, etc. are not accepted.

Some examples of correct citations are given below:

  • Gualandi ML, Gattiglia G, Anichini F (2021). An open system for collection and automatic recognition of pottery through neural network algorithms. Heritage 4:140-59.
  • Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW (2002). The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. pp 93-113.
  • Muyzer G, Brinkhoff T, Wawer C (1998). Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) in microbial ecology, p. 1–27. In: A.D.L. Akkermans, J.D. van Elsas and F.J. Bruijn (eds.), Molecular microbial ecology manual. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Botosaneanu L (1965). [Neue Trichopterologische fänge in Polen, Rumänien und Bulgarien].[Article in German]. Latvijas Entomologs 10:53-60.

References (for Medicine, Technical & Environmental Sciences)
References must be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first cited in the text, and must be identified in the text by Arabic numerals in [square brackets], before punctuation marks. References to personal communications and unpublished data should be incorporated in the text and not placed under the numbered References.

References in the References section must be prepared as follows:

    1. More than three authors, cite 3 authors + et al. If the paper has only 4 authors, cite all authors;
    2. title style: sentence case; please use a capital letter only for the first word of the title;
    3. journal titles mentioned in the References list should be abbreviated according to the following websites:
      1. ISI Journal Abbreviations Index (https://images.webofknowledge.com/images/help/WOS/A_abrvjt.html);
      2. Biological Journals and Abbreviations (https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/bioscience-journal-abbreviations);
      3. Medline List of Journal Titles (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/serfile_addedinfo.html).
    4. put year after the journal name;
    5. never put month and day in the last part of the references;
    6. cite only the volume (not the issue in brackets);
    7. pages have to be abbreviated, e.g., 351-8.

Peer-review policy

All submissions to PEASA are first checked for completeness before being sent to the Editor-in-Chief, who decides whether they are suitable for peer review. Each paper is first assigned by the Editors to the appropriate Class Editor who has knowledge of the field discussed in the manuscript. The first step of manuscript selection takes place entirely in-house and has two major objectives: i) to establish the article appropriateness for our journal's readership; ii) to define the manuscript's priority ranking relative to other manuscripts under consideration since the number of papers that the journal receives is much greater than it can publish. If a manuscript does not receive a sufficiently high priority score to warrant publication, the editors will proceed with a quick rejection. The remaining articles are reviewed by at least two external referees (second step or classical peer review).
When making a decision, Editors will consider the peer-reviewed reports, but they will not be bound by the opinions or recommendations contained in them. A single peer reviewer's or the Editor's concern may result in the manuscript being rejected. Peer review reports are sent to authors along with the editorial decision on their manuscript.

Authorship and Contributorship

All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship according to the ICMJE criteria. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. Authorship credit should only be based on substantial contributions to: i) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data, and to ii) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and on iii) final approval of the version to be published; and iv) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work. Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship. General supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship. Authors should provide a brief description of their individual contributions. Those who do not meet all four criteria should not be listed as authors, but they should be acknowledged. Those whose contributions do not justify authorship may be acknowledged individually or together as a group under a single heading. Authors can find detailed information on the Publisher's website.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Assisted Technology

Authors must disclose whether they used artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technologies (such as Large Language Models [LLMs], chatbots, or image creators) in the creation of submitted work. Chatbots (such as ChatGPT) should not be listed as authors because they cannot be held accountable for the work's accuracy, integrity, and originality, all of which are required for authorship. Because AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that is incorrect, incomplete, or biased, authors should carefully review and edit the result. Authors should be able to assert that their paper contains no plagiarism, including text and images generated by AI. Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, do not currently satisfy our authorship criteria. Notably an attribution of authorship carries with it accountability for the work, which cannot be effectively applied to LLMs. Use of an LLM should be properly documented in the Methods section (if a Methods section is not available, in a suitable alternative part) of the manuscript. Use of an LLM for language editing must be stated in the Acknowledgments section.
We will review this policy on a regular basis and, if necessary, adapt it as we anticipate rapid development in this field in the near future.

Changes in Authorship

Authors are expected to carefully consider the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor:  Authors are requested to sign and send to the Editors a statement of agreement for the requested change from all listed authors and from the author(s) to be removed or added.
Please note that if your manuscript is accepted you will not be able to make any changes to the authors, or order of authors.
No changes to the Authors or Corresponding Author can be made after publication of the article. Instead, a corrigendum may be considered by the journal editor.

 

Proofs

The corresponding author will receive a PDF proof and is asked to check it carefully (the publisher will execute a cursory check only).
Corrections other than printer errors should be avoided. Costs associated with such corrections will be charged to the authors.
Please be aware that the Publisher is unable to accept corrections made in ways other than specified at https://www.pagepress.org/site/guidance

 

Role of the funding source

Authors are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement, it is recommended to state this.

 

Obligation to Register Clinical Trials

The ICMJE believes that it is important to foster a comprehensive, publicly available database of clinical trials. The ICMJE defines a clinical trial as any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention or concurrent comparison or control groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome. Medical interventions include drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, process-of-care changes, etc. Our journals require, as a condition of consideration for publication, registration in a public trials registry. The journal considers a trial for publication only if it has been registered before the enrollment of the first patient. The journal does not advocate one particular registry, but requires authors to register their trial in a registry that meets several criteria. The registry must be accessible to the public at no charge. It must be open to all prospective registrants and managed by a non-profit organization. There must be a mechanism to ensure the validity of the registration data, and the registry should be electronically searchable. An acceptable registry must include a minimum of data elements (http://www.icmje.org/about-icmje/faqs/clinical-trials-registration/). For example, ClinicalTrials.gov (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov), sponsored by the United States National Library of Medicine, meets these requirements.

 

Protection of Human Subjects and Animals in Research

When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2013. If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study. An Informed Consent statement is always required from patients involved in any experiments. When reporting experiments on animals, authors should indicate whether the institutional and national guide for the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.  Further guidance on animal research ethics is available from the World Medical Association (2016 revision). When reporting experiments on ecosystems involving non-native species, Authors are bound to ensure compliance with the institutional and national guide for the preservation of native biodiversity.