Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Journal of Infrastructure Development (JOI)

This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics

Journal of Infrastructure Development is hosted on Sage Peer Review; a web based online submission and peer review system. Please read the Manuscript Submission guidelines below, and then visit https://peerreview.sagepub.com/joi to login and submit your article online.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Journal of Infrastructure Development will be reviewed.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper

2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

3. Publishing polices

3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving

4. Preparing your manuscript

4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplementary material
4.4 Reference style
4.5 Book Reviews

5. Submitting your manuscript

5.1 Information required for completing your submission
5.2 Permissions

6. On acceptance and publication

6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article

7. Further information
               

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope

Before submitting your manuscript to Journal of Infrastructure Development, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

1.2 Article types

There could be two sections in the journal:

• Research Articles
• Book Reviews

1.3 Writing your paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources.

1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online

 2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy

Journal of Infrastructure Development adheres to a rigorous double-anonymize reviewing policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties.

2.2 Authorship

All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.

If the named authors for a manuscript change at any point between submission and acceptance, an Authorship Change Form must be completed and digitally signed by all authors (including any added or removed) . An addition of an author is only permitted following feedback raised during peer review. Completed forms can be uploaded at Revision Submission stage or emailed to the Journal Editorial Office contact (listed on the journal’s manuscript submission guidelines). All requests will be moderated by the Editor and/or Sage staff.

Important: Changes to the author by-line by adding or deleting authors are NOT permitted following acceptance of a paper.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

2.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.
Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.

2.3.1 Third party submissions

Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

2.3.2 Writing assistance
Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

2.4 Funding

Journal of Infrastructure Development requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading.  Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. 

2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

Journal of Infrastructure Development encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway

3. Publishing Policies

3.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway

3.1.1 Plagiarism

Journal of Infrastructure Development and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement      

Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway

3.3 Open access and author archiving

Journal of Infrastructure Development offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

4. Preparing your manuscript for submission                                                       

4.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

The manuscript should be structured as follows:

• Contributors must provide their affiliation, complete postal and e-mail addresses, and fax and telephone numbers with their articles. If there are two or more authors, then the corresponding author’s name and address details must be specified clearly.
• Abstract and Keywords: An abstract of not more than 180 words and 4–6 keywords should follow the title page. Keywords should go with a collon (:) and in the same line.
• Headings: Effort should be made to limit the level of headings within each article. However, should the need arise, clearly number all headings, e.g.: 1, 1.1; 2, 2.1.
• Quotations: Single quotes should be used. Double quotes must be used within single quotation marks. Do not change the spellings of words in quotations. Quotations of 45 words or more should be separated from the text with a line space above and below and indented from the left margin.
• Hyphenation: Pay attention to consistency in the hyphenation of words. Do not alternate, for example, between ‘macro-economic’ and ‘macroeconomic’. A distinction is, however, made between noun and attributive adjective: ‘the middle class’ but ‘the middle-class ethics’.
• Abbreviations: No stops are needed between capitals, e.g., CPI, UNESCO, MP. Include a final full stop in abbreviations (words shortened by omitting the end), such as , vol. and ed., but not in contractions (words shortened by omitting the middle), such as Mr and Dr. Abbreviations are spelled out at first occurrence. Very common ones (US, GDP, BBC) need not be spelled out.
• Equations: All but the very short mathematical equations should be displayed on a separate line and centred. Equations must be numbered consecutively on the right margin, using Arabic numerals in parentheses. To reduce errors in typesetting, please differentiate clearly between the letter l (ell) and the numeral 1 (one), the letter o (oh) and the numeral 0 (zero) and marginal notations.
• Notes: Notes should be consecutively numbered and presented at the end of the article, not at the foot of the page. An acknowledgement or statement about the background of the article will be set before the list of references in the article. In general, notes should contain more than a mere reference. They should be referred to in the text by numerical superscripts.
• The spellings used should be British (UK), with ‘s’ variant, e.g., globalisation instead of globalization, labour instead of labor.
• Use of italics and diacriticals should be minimized but consistent. For non-English and uncommon words and phrases, use italics throughout the text. Meaning of non-English words should be given in parenthesis just after the word when it is used for the first time.
• Spell out numbers from one to nine, 10 and above to remain in figures. However, for exact measurements use only figures (3 km; 9 per cent). Use thousands and millions, not lakhs and crores.
• Use ‘per cent’ instead of % in the text. In tables, graphs, etc., % can be used.
• Give specific dates in the form 22 November 1980. Decades should be referred to as ‘20th century’, ‘the 1990s’.
• Number ranges should be truncated, for example, 2017–18.
• Tables should be typewritten, each on a separate page and numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals. Distinguish between figures (diagrams) and tables (statistical material) and number them in separate sequences. Tables and figures to be indicated by numbers separately (see Table 1), not by placement (see Table below). Figures and tables should be provided in editable format.

4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines

• All photographs and scanned images should have a resolution of minimum 300 dpi/1500 pixels and their format should be TIFF or JPEG. 
• Due permissions should be taken for copyright protected photographs/images. Even for photographs/images available in the public domain, it should be clearly ascertained whether or not their reproduction requires permission for purposes of publishing (which is a profit-making endeavour).
• All photographs/scanned images should be provided separately in a folder along with the main article.

Please Note: All figures and tables should be cited in the text and should have the source (a specific URL, a reference or, if it is author’s own work, ‘The Author’) mentioned irrespective of whether or not they require permissions.

Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.

4.3 Supplementary material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files

4.4 Reference style

At the end of the article, a consolidated alphabetical list of all books, articles, essays and dissertations referred to (including any cited in the tables, figures, graphs and maps) should be provided. Journal of Infrastructure Development adheres to the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition reference style.

In-text citations: References should be embedded in the text in the anthropological style. Citations should be first alphabetical and then chronological, for example, (Ahmed 1987, 1990; Sarkar 1987; Wignaraja 1960).

Here are a few examples of in-text citations:

• One work by one author: (Sarkar 1987, 145) or ‘as mentioned by Sarkar (1987, 228–30)’.
• One work by two authors: (Grazer and Fishman 2015, 12); (Armstrong and Malacinski 1989; Pickett and White 1985).
• One work by three authors: (Keng, Lin, and Orazem 2017, 9–10).
• One work by more than three authors:  (Bay et al. 2017, 465) [Only the name of the first author is used, followed by et al. (and others). Note that et al. is not italicised in text citations].
• Groups or organizations or universities: (BSI 1985); (ISO 1997).
• Works with same authors and year: (Fogel 2004b, 218); (Fogel 2004a, 45–46).
• Authors with same surname: Include the initials in all the in-text citations even if the year of publication differs, e.g., (C. Doershuk 2010) and (J. Doershuk 2009).
• Works with no identified author or anonymous author: (True and Sincere Declaration 1610); (Stanze in lode della donna brutta 1547) or (Stanze 1547) [Short form of the title and year].
• Two or more works by the same author: (Wong 1999, 328; 2000, 475).
• Forthcoming works: (Faraday, forthcoming).
• Reprint editions and modern editions (more than one date): (Maitland [1898] 1998).
• Direct quotations:

As Edward Tufte points out, ‘A graphical element may carry data information and also perform a design function usually left to non-data-ink’ (2001, 139).
or
As Edward Tufte (2001, 139) points out, ‘A graphical element may carry data information and also perform a design function usually left to non-data-ink.’

References:We follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition in the formatting of the reference details. The brief style of referencing for some common types of references is as follows:

• Book (One author):

Shields, David. The Thing about Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008.

Martin du Gard, Roger. Lieutenant-Colonel de Maumort. Translated by Luc Brébion and Timothy Crouse. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000.

• Book (Two or more authors [or Editors]):

Jacobs, Sue-Ellen, Wesley Thomas, and Sabine Lang, eds. Two-Spirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.

Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. New York: William Morrow, 2005.

• Edited book:

Meredith, George. The Letters of George Meredith. Edited by C. L. Cline. 3 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970.

• Editions other than the first:

Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. 4th ed. New York: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.

• Book chapter:

Phibbs, Brendan. "Herrlisheim: Diary of a Battle." In The Other Side of Time: A Combat Surgeon in World War II, 117–63. Boston: Little, Brown, 1987.

Samples, John. "The Origins of Modern Campaign Finance Law." Chap. 7 in The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.

Thoreau, Henry David. “Walking.” In The Making of the American Essay, edited by John D’Agata, 167–95. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016.

• Books in other languages:

Lele, R. K. Marathi Vruttapatrancha Itihaas (A History of the Marathi Press). Pune: Continental Prakashan, 1964.

• Journal article:

Olson, Hope A. "Codes, Costs, and Critiques: The Organization of Information in Library Quarterly, 1931–2004." Library Quarterly 76, no. 1 (2006): 19–35. doi:10.1086/504343.

Menjívar, Cecilia. "Liminal Legality: Salvadoran and Guatemalan Immigrants' Lives in the United States." American Journal of Sociology 111, no. 4 (2006): 999–1037. doi:10.1086/499509.

• News or magazine article:

Manjoo, Farhad. “Snap Makes a Bet on the Cultural Supremacy of the Camera.” New York Times, March 8, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/technology/snap-makes-a-bet-on-the-cultural-supremacy-of-the-camera.html

Pegoraro, Rob. “Apple’s iPhone Is Sleek, Smart and Simple.” Washington Post, July 5, 2007. LexisNexis Academic.

[Note: Please provide a URL if the page numbers of the article are not available.]

• Works with same authors, same year:

Two or more works by the same author in the same year must be differentiated by the addition of a, b, and so forth (regardless of whether they were authored, edited, compiled, or translated), and are listed alphabetically by title. Text citations consist of author and year plus letter.

Fogel, Robert William. The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700–2100: Europe, America, and the Third World. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004a.

———. “Technophysio Evolution and the Measurement of Economic Growth.” Journal of Evolutionary Economics 14, no. 2 (2004b): 217–21. doi:10.1007/s00191-004-0188-x.

• Organization as author:

University of Chicago Press. The Chicago Manual of Style. 16th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. World Health Organization. WHO Editorial Style Manual. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1993.

• Anonymous or unknown author:

Stanze in lode della donna brutta. Florence, 1547.

Anonymous. Stanze in lode della donna brutta. Florence, 1547.

• Forthcoming work:

Author, Margaret M. "Article Title." Journal Name 98 (forthcoming).

Note: If an article is published by a journal electronically ahead of the official publication date, use the posted publication date. In such cases, information about pagination may not yet be available.
Black, Steven. "Changing Epidemiology of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease: A Complicated Story." Clinical Infectious Diseases 47. Published electronically July 14, 2008. doi:10.1086/590002.

• Reprint editions and modern editions:

Bernhardt, Peter. The Rose's Kiss: A Natural History of Flowers. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002. First published 1999 by Island Press.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature. 1836. Facsimile of the first edition, with an introduction by Jaroslav Pelikan. Boston: Beacon, 1985.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1925. Reprinted with preface and notes by Matthew J. Bruccoli. New York: Collier Books, 1992. Page references are to the 1992 edition.

National Reconnaissance Office. The KH-4B Camera System. Washington, DC: National Photographic Interpretation Center, 1967. Now declassified and also available online, http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/kh-4_camera_system.htm

Schweitzer, Albert. J. S. Bach. Translated by Ernest Newman. 2 vols. 1911. Reprint, New York: Dover, 1966.

• Editor or Translator in addition to author:

Adorno, Theodor W., and Walter Benjamin. The Complete Correspondence, 1928–1940. Edited by Henri Lonitz. Translated by Nicholas Walker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.

Bonnefoy, Yves. New and Selected Poems. Edited by John Naughton and Anthony Rudolf. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Feydeau, Georges. Four Farces by Georges Feydeau. Translated by Norman R. Shapiro. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970.

MenchÃ, Rigoberta. Crossing Borders. Translated and edited by Ann Wright. New York: Verso, 1999.

• Theses and Dissertations:

Rutz, Cynthia Lillian. “King Lear and Its Folktale Analogues.” PhD diss., University of Chicago, 2013.

• Unpublished Manuscripts:

Cotter, Cory. "The Weakest Link: The Argument for On-Wrist Band Welding." Unpublished manuscript, last modified December 3, 2008. Microsoft Word file.

• Lectures, papers presented at meetings, and the like:

Teplin, Linda A., Gary M. McClelland, Karen M. Abram, and Jason J. Washburn. "Early Violent Death in Delinquent Youth: A Prospective Longitudinal Study." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, La Jolla, CA, March 2005.

• Working papers:

Dyer, Lee, and Jeff Ericksen. "Complexity-Based Agile Enterprises: Putting Self-Organizing Emergence to Work." CAHRS Working Paper 08-01, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1980. http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cahrswp/473

• Website content

Yale University. “About Yale: Yale Facts.” Accessed May 1, 2017. https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts
[Note: Please do not place a period at the end of an online reference.]

Please Note: For each in-text citation there must be a corresponding reference in the reference list and for each reference there must be a corresponding in-text citation.

4.5 Book Reviews

The title of these must contain the name of the author and the book being reviewed, the place of publication and the publisher details (name and location), year of publication, number of pages, price and binding (hardbound/paperback) set as follows:
Mark David Chong and Abraham P. Francis (Eds.), Demystifying Criminal Justice Social Work in India. New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2017, xlix + 297 pp., ₹ 950 (hardback). ISBN: 978-93-860-6247-5.
Reviewer’s name must be provided at the end of the book review along with the e-mail address and the affiliation.

5. Submitting your manuscript

Journal of Infrastructure Development is hosted on Sage Track Sage, a web-based online submission and peer review system. Visit https://peerreview.sagepub.com/joi to login and submit your article online.

Authors will be provided with a copyright form once the contribution is accepted for publication. The submission will be considered as final only after the filled-in and signed copyright form is received.

5.1 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this Journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

5.2 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

5.2 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permissionfrom copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway

6. On acceptance and publication           

6.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly.  Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. 

6.2 Online First publication

Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

6.3 Access to your published article

Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

6.4 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

7. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Journal of Infrastructure Development editorial office as follows:

E-mail: adas@idfresearch.org