INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

Top

Note

Authors are advised that adherence to the instructions to authors will help speed up the refereeing and production stages for most papers.

Top

Submission

Manuscripts should be sent in triplicate to the Editor-in-Chief at the following address:

  • Editor-in-Chief: HE Haralambides
    Professor of Maritime Economics
    Center for Maritime Economics and Logistics
    Rotterdam School of Economics / Erasmus University Rotterdam
    Burg. Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands
    E-mail: haralambides@few.eur.nl

The corresponding author's name, affiliation, full address (including telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address) and any other contact particulars should only appear in the cover letter.

Submission of a paper for refereeing means that the author certifies that the manuscript has not been accepted for publication by another journal, nor is it being refereed elsewhere at the same time.

Top

Electronic submission

Papers can also be submitted by electronic mail. To maintain the integrity of the double-blind refereeing process, two separate files must be submitted:

Cover letter

The cover letter must contain: (i) the title of the paper as well as a statement indicating that the paper is not currently being considered by another journal; (ii) complete information on the corresponding author (address and other contact particulars); (iii) acknowledgements and headnotes as well as information on possible co-authors.

The main body

The editorial office can receive files only in MS-Word (*.doc) format. An electronic acknowledgement is sent when the paper has been safely retrieved.

Top

Manuscript style

Submissions should be in English, typed in double spacing with wide margins (including notes and references) on one side of A4 paper and numbered consecutively. Only the title of the paper should appear on the first page of the manuscript. All authors should obtain assistance, if necessary, in the editing of their papers for correct spelling and use of English grammar.

Articles should normally not exceed 8000 words, be written clearly and concisely, and avoid unnecessary jargon. Articles must be preceded by an abstract of not more than 200 words, and six keywords suitable for indexing and online search purposes. The abstract should set out clearly the issues to be investigated (i.e. why the paper is written), the methodology used, and the main conclusions(s). Preferably the abstract should be written in non-technical language.

It is essential that the article concludes with a section where the author(s) summarise their main conclusions, possible need for further research, as well as the potential impact of the article on business, government or policy-making. To the extent possible, this section should be written in a way that is broadly understandable to the non-specialist.

IMPORTANT: authors are expected to be aware of, and make reference to, relevant works published earlier in the Journal. Abstracts of earlier works appear in the website of MEL.

Figures which contain only textual rather than diagrammatic information should be designated as tables. Figures and tables should be numbered separately and consecutively, and presented on separate sheets. Their position in the text should be indicated in the manuscript. All figures and tables should have a caption.

A running head of not more that 30 characters should be supplied for papers with longer titles.

Sections and subsections should be clearly differentiated but should NOT be numbered.

Papers must be written without the use of footnotes. Endnotes should be limited to the absolute minimum as they can be disruptive to the natural flow of the argument.

Mathematical expressions and Greek or other symbols should be written clearly with ample spacing. Any unusual characters should be indicated on a separate sheet.

Please use UK English spelling throughout.

References in the text are indicated by an author's name and year of publication in parentheses. If a referenced paper has three or more authors the reference should always appear as the first author followed by et al. The full bibliographic details should be provided in the list of references, which should include (in alphabetical order by author) every work cited in the text. All authors should be cited, up to the first six authors. For more than six authors, cite the first six, followed by et al. Journal titles should not be abbreviated. For example:

  • Currie, M and Steedman, I (1990). Wrestling with time: Problems in economic theory. Pinter: London. pp 124-147.

  • Evangelista, P and Morvillo, A (1998). The role of training in developing entrepreneurship: the case of shipping in Italy [1]. Maritime Policy & Management 25: 81-96.

  • Mathiesen, TC and Skjong, R (1998). Towards a rational approach to marine safety and environmental regulations? In: Haralambides, HE (ed). Quality Shipping. Market Mechanisms for Safer Shipping and Cleaner Oceans. Erasmus Publishing: Rotterdam. pp 259-276.

Top

Proofs

Page proofs are sent to the corresponding author at the address indicated in the accompanying letter to the Editor-in-Chief. The difficulty and expenses involved in making amendments at the page proof stage make it essential that authors prepare their typescripts carefully and avoid any rewriting at this stage. Should any substantial amendments be made, contributors may be charged the additional typesetting costs. Proofs must be returned to the publishers within 48 hours of receipt by fax, first-class post, airmail or courier. Failure to return proofs will result in the publication of the paper being delayed.

Top

Offprints

Together with page proofs, authors receive an order form for offprints and full copies of the issue where their paper appears. Twenty-five offprints and one copy of the Journal are supplied free of charge to the corresponding author. Orders for additional offprints must be received before printing to qualify for lower prepublication rates.

Top

Authors must sign a Contributor Agreement before their article can be published. The transfer agreement enables Palgrave Macmillan to protect copyrighted material on behalf of the authors, but it does not relinquish the author's proprietary rights. The copyright transfer covers the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute the article in print and electronic format, including reprints, photographic reproductions, microform or any other reproduction of similar nature, including electronic retrieval systems.

Permission to reproduce copyrighted material in a submitted article must be obtained by the authors before submission and any acknowledgements should appear in the typescript or captions as appropriate.

Top

Business correspondence

Business correspondence and enquiries relating to advertising, subscriptions, backnumbers or reprints should be addressed to the Publishers at Palgrave Macmillan Journals, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, UK.