Author’s Instructions

IST- A complete solution for your research/academic needs

  • IST offers an open source for the readers to gain knowledge about the latest technologies free of cost.
  • The whole idea of International Science Transactions is to provide researchers an academic platform where their precious work is evaluated in the fastest possible and affordable manner.
  • IST invites authors to submit their work for a quality review and in an affordable cost.
  • IST invites authors to work as reviewers and save publication cost at maximum of 60%.
  • IST offers substantially discounted package to the authors of developing countries.
  • IST offers a publication package where there is null financial bar on authors.
  • IST offers incentives to its reviewers to maintain the quality of review and its transactions.

Average evaluation time for manuscripts

The evaluation time can vary depending upon the availability of suitable reviewers, however we endeavor to furnish the review within an average time of 4 to 6 weeks. This duration will shrink further for later versions of the manuscript.

Submission of manuscript

Our submission system is now fully electronic. Submissions should be sent using the secure portion of our website at http://www.istpress.com. One corresponding author will be required to sign up for an account indicating the following: the corresponding author's complete name, affiliation, address, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail address. This account may also be used for future paper submission.

One soft copy (with main paper, tables, and figures, all in one file in Adobe pdf format ONLY) of the paper must be included in the submission. The corresponding author will be given a reference number assigned to the paper and it is to be used in all future correspondence. Should your paper be accepted for publication in a journal, we will request that you send, to the publisher, a soft copy of your paper in MS Word format. An original copy of the figures, preferably, an electronic copy of your figures, must be included. Acceptable figure formats include high-resolution JPEGs, TIFFs, EPSs and embedded figures in MS Word. All soft copies of accepted paper may be sent as e-mail attachments directly to IST Press at: istpress@gmail.com

Submissions must represent original work, whose copyright is not already owned elsewhere. Publication of conference papers which have been substantially rewritten and augmented to be suitable for journal publication is encouraged. In case of significant overlap (which should not be more than 30%) of the conference paper, it is the authors' responsibility to ask for permission to republish from the copyright holder.

The review process is done entirely electronically, so it is essential for you to provide an electronic file of your paper. To ensure rapid refereeing and publication, submit the Manuscript in PDF format according to the Instructions for Authors. Later upon acceptance you may also be asked to forward MSword version of your paper.

Refereeing: All contributions are submitted to referees. Names of referees will be kept confidential, but their comments will be relayed at the discretion of the Editor. We aim to have your paper reviewed within 1-2 months of receipt of an electronic file.

Page Charges

IST charges a nominal publication cost of $225 (USD) for each accepted manuscript of 8 pages, according to IST template. This cost is to sustain its usual running, since IST offers all published articles as open source and free of cost. However the standard charges can be further reduced by working for IST as a reviewer. For details, refer to Guidelines for Reviewers. Also IST realizes the difference of average income between developed and developing countries. If an author is a faculty member or graduate student of a university of a developing country, he is entitled to apply for a maximum of 50 USD discount on publication cost. These charges apply to the final version of the manuscript Authors can claim for further discount if they have earned IST credits while carrying out reviews. For example an author belonging to a developing country, who has also carried out the review of 2 papers for IST, will be asked to pay only $110 as publication cost for his manuscript. Note that final printed pages are in a single-spaced and double-column format, which is NOT the same as the format for initial paper submission. Accepted papers will be formatted by authors according to the template provided. Initial paper submission should be within, but not restricted to, a maximum of 20 pages (inclusive of all sections and illustrations) with double-line spacing, single-column per page, and clear fonts with 12-pt size. A minimum amount of $100 will be charged as evaluation/publication cost of each manuscript, even after claiming all sorts of discounts/credits. For papers exceeding eight printed pages, inclusive of illustrations, there is a charge of $20 per additional page.

Authors’ Incentives

  • IST publications are open source available to everyone free of cost, thus the published articles can be accessed without any subscriptions or providing any user information. This enables the readers to have faster access to IST articles and let them make their own contributions by knowing latest advancements in Science and Technology
  • IST aims to carry out peer review process in shortest possible time and in affordable cost.
  • Faculty member or graduate student of a university of a developing country is entitled to apply for a 50 USD discount on publication cost.
  • Further discount on publication cost can be achieved by earning reviewer credits.
  • Distinguished authors of IST transactions will be supported for international travels to attend future IST conferences.
  • The indexing of IST transactions on world major databases is in process.

IST aims to be indexed by SCI-E in the near future, for this matter IST encourages authors to read the open source material and refer to them in their articles which are intended for IST transactions and especially for other journals. In this pursuit, IST offers a totally free publication package for any author, who will objectively cite any article of IST in any other SCI-E indexed journal. This means if an author has a published article in any SCI-E journal which contains a reference of any IST published article, the author will be entitled for one free manuscript registration for his future submitted article for IST. This credit of the author is transferable to other authors.

Formatting Instructions

Please read the following format instructions carefully. Formatting your paper correctly saves a great deal of editing time, which in turn ensures publication of papers in a timely manner. Papers not formatted correctly will be returned.

Initial Submissions

The paper must be single column double-spaced for initial submission for review. Acronyms are spelled out at first mention but not thereafter unless there is good reason to do so. The title is centered on the page and is CAPITALIZED AND SET IN BOLDFACE. Please limit the title to a maximum length of 14 words. The author's name(s) follows and is also centered on the page. A blank line is required between the title and the author's name(s). Last names should be spelled out in full and preceded by author's initials. The author's affiliation, complete mailing address, and e-mail address are provided below.

Do not underline or capitalize any of the headings. The headings and subheadings, starting with "1. Introduction", appear in upper and lower case letters and should be set in bold and aligned flush left. All headings from the Introduction to Acknowledgments are numbered sequentially using 1, 2, 3, etc. Subheadings are numbered 1.1, 1.2, etc. If a subsection must be further divided, the numbers 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc. are used and the number and associated title are set in italics instead of bolded. The first paragraph under each heading or subheading should be flush left and subsequent paragraphs should have a five-space indentation. A colon is inserted before an equation is presented, but there is no punctuation following the equation. All equations are numbered and referred to in the text solely by a number enclosed in a round bracket (i.e. (3) reads as "equation 3"). Ensure that any miscellaneous numbering system you use in your paper cannot be confused with a reference [4] or an equation (3) designation.

Abstract
An abstract, not exceeding 250 words, is required for all papers.
Key Words
The author should provide a list of key words, up to a minimum of six.
Introduction
The introduction of the paper should explain the nature of the problem, previous work, purpose, and the contribution of the paper. It is assigned the number "1" and following sections are assigned numbers as needed. For example, the third section of a paper might be "3. Performance Analysis".
Conclusion
A conclusion section must be included and should indicate clearly the advantages, limitations and possible applications of the paper.
Acknowledgements
An acknowledgement section may be presented after the conclusion, if desired.
References
This heading is not assigned a number.
A reference list MUST be included using the following information as a guide. Only cited text references are included. Each reference is referred to in the text by a number enclosed in a square bracket (i.e., [3]). No reference to the author is necessary. References must be numbered and ordered according to where they are first mentioned in the paper, not alphabetically. Examples follow.

Books:
W.-K. Chen, Linear Networks and Systems (Book style). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, pp. 123–135. 1993
Note that Book title is set in italics.

Journal Papers:
[2] G. O. Young, “Synthetic structure of industrial plastics,” in Plastics, 2nd ed. vol. 3, J. Peters, Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. 15–64. 1964
[3] S. Chen, B. Mulgrew, and P. M. Grant, “A clustering technique for digital communications channel equalization using radial basis function networks,” IEEE Trans. Neural Networks, vol. 4, pp. 570–578, July 1993.
Note that journal title is set in italics.

Proceedings Papers:
[4] S. P. Bingulac, “On the compatibility of adaptive controllers,” in Proc. 4th Annu. Allerton Conf. Circuits and Systems Theory, New York, pp. 1268–136. 1994

Figures and Tables
To ensure a high-quality product, diagrams can be submitted at full size, but authors must ensure an image of sufficient quality and resolution so that reduction to publication size does not render the image illegible. If possible, please also submit an electronic copy of your figures (high-resolution JPEG, TIFF, EPS, PSD, or Adobe pdf format, or as embedded figures in MS Word format).
Figure captions appear below the figure, are flush left, and are in lower case letters. When referring to a figure in the body of the text, the abbreviation "Fig." is used. Table captions appear centered above the table in upper and lower case letters. When referring to a table in the text, no abbreviation is used and "Table" is not capitalized.

Final Submissions

When all the review procedures are completed, authors will be asked to download the MS word template “link for the template” and format the paper accordingly. Most of the formatting requirements remain the same except that the final version is double column, single spaced, font type and font size etc. Check List You can obtain from the editor or download from the IST Press web site. We request that you go through this list, check off each item as it is completed, and return the checked list to us with your submitted paper. Compliance with these formatting instructions will expedite the publication process and ensure high-quality publication of your work.

Citing IST Journals

Articles published in IST Transactions are to be cited by the abbreviated title, e.g. 'IST Trans. CETA' or 'IST Trans. CVSTA' or 'IST Trans. CECM'.

Pre-screening

All papers are pre-screened to ensure that only the most significant are sent for the review. Please ensure that your manuscript satisfies the following points:

  • Originality: is the work scientifically rigorous, accurate and novel? Does the work contain significant additional material to that already published? Has its value been demonstrated?
  • Relevance: is the material appropriate to the scope of the journal to which it is submitted?
  • Motivation: does the problem considered have a sound motivation? Does the paper clearly demonstrate the scientific interest of the results?
  • Referencing: has reference been made to the most recent and most appropriate work? Is the present work set in the context of the previous work?
  • Clarity: is the English clear and well written? Poorly written English may obscure the scientific merit of your paper. Are the ideas expressed clearly and concisely? Are the concepts understandable?

Templates

The IST word template can be downloaded from here

Decisions on manuscripts

In case the decision is “Accepted in the present form” authors are supposed to quickly submit the copyright form, and the paper will be published within two weeks, as soon as the publication cost is received.

In case the decision is “Accepted provided minor revisions are made” authors will be asked to work on their article and submit it with a cover letter to the reviewers, clearly pointing out the revisions made. For such a decision, our endeavor would be to get the final review done within 2 weeks.

In case the decision is “Resubmit and re-review” authors will be asked to work on their article and re-submit it within 4 months with a cover letter to the reviewers, clearly pointing out the revisions made. For such a decision, our endeavor would be to get the final review done within 4 weeks.

In case the decision is “Not accepted-require major changes for re-consideration”, we still encourage the authors to resubmit after through revision. The authors may submit a fresh paper or improved version of the previously submitted paper, but with such a decision, new reviewers will be assigned and a complete new review process will take place.

IST Plagiarism Policy

  • Under standard definitions of Plagiarism and self plagiarism, IST takes special measures to discourage the breach of copyright laws. However in the context of self plagiarism, the extended versions of already published conference papers are welcome, with a condition that the overlap of work is not more than 30%, also that it is the sole responsibility of the authors to obtain necessary permission from where they got published their work.
  • In case of breach of the plagiarism policy, the principal author and co-authors will be held responsible and will be required to pay all the cost of review and publishing as a minimum penalty.