Guide for Authors

On This Page

1. Submission Overview

Manuscripts for research papers and design and planning projects should be submitted to the Editorial Office via email at: judsc@lockescience.press

Nearly all scholarly journals, including Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC), now accept manuscripts only by electronic means. If you absolutely cannot submit electronically, you may send a brief fax with your contact information to +1-406-794-0216, and the editorial office will do its best to accommodate you. Please be aware that hard-copy submissions can cause significant delays, and digital files are strongly preferred.

For detailed preparation requirements, please consult the Manuscript Submission Checklist.

Important: Only original work, neither previously published nor under review elsewhere, will be considered.

2. Papers

2.1 Manuscript Preparation

  • Recommended length: 2,000–6,000 words.

  • Prepare the manuscript using a word-processing program (e.g., Microsoft Word).

  • Type the manuscript double spaced on 8.5″ × 11″ or A4 paper size.

  • Save the file in .doc or .rtf format.

2.2 First and Second Pages

First (title) page must include:

  1. A brief, descriptive title that reflects the content.

  2. The name(s), position(s), professional or academic affiliation(s), and email address(es) of all authors.

  3. The full postal address of the corresponding author.

  4. A running title of no more than 45 characters.

Second page must include:

  1. The full title of the paper.

  2. An abstract of approximately 200 words, emphasizing:

    • The paper’s contribution to the field, and

    • Its practical architectural or planning implications.

2.3 Positioning the Paper in the Literature

Authors are strongly encouraged to review recent Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC) articles on related topics and to reference them where relevant. Your manuscript should clearly explain how it contributes to ongoing knowledge development in the journal’s areas of interest and demonstrate familiarity with current literature and the kinds of work Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC) publishes.

2.4 Structure and Style

The body of the paper should generally include:

  • Introduction to the subject

  • Background / literature context

  • Discussion of procedure / methods

  • Results

  • Conclusions

  • Implications for practice and advancement of research

  • References

  • Acknowledgments (optional)

  • An autobiographical sketch of the author(s)

If the research received funding from non-personal sources, these must be acknowledged explicitly in the Acknowledgments section.

Style:

  • Except for letters to the editor and position papers, manuscripts should be written in the third person.

  • Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC) serves a broad, interdisciplinary audience, so clarity is essential. Please write in a clear, concise style, avoiding unnecessary jargon.

3. References

  • Arrange references in alphabetical order.

  • In the text, cite references by author name and year.

    • For more than two authors, use: FirstAuthor, et al. (Year).

    • Multiple works by the same author(s) in the same year should be identified as Year a, Year b, etc.

Each reference entry should include, in order and as applicable:

  1. Names of all contributing authors (last name followed by first initial).

  2. Year of publication.

  3. Title of the article or chapter.

  4. Editors (for edited books only).

  5. Title of the journal or book.

  6. Volume and issue numbers (for journals).

  7. Location and name of the publishing company (for books).

  8. Inclusive page numbers (for journal articles and chapters in edited volumes).

Authors are encouraged to consult past issues of Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC) for formatting models. Some basic examples:

  • Journal article
    Appleyard D (1970) Styles and methods of structuring a city. Environment and Behavior 2(3): 100–107.

  • Book
    Lynch K (1960) The Image of the City. Cambridge: MIT Press.

  • Article in an edited book
    Redei A, Kelemen P (1969) The presence of platelets. In A Bertelli and JC Houck (Eds.), Inflammation Biochemistry. Chicago: Locke, pp. 161–165.

Page numbers should be provided in the text for all direct quotations.

4. Figures and Tables

Figures (including photos, charts, diagrams, etc.):

  • Illustrations or photographs that clarify or enrich the text are encouraged.

  • Artwork accepted for final publication must be camera-ready black-and-white (halftones) or original line drawings.

  • Photographs must be black-and-white glossy prints.

  • Submit each figure as a separate hard copy, one figure per page.

  • Any artwork that is not a table is treated as a figure. Please label all such artwork (e.g., matrices, maps) as Figure 1, Figure 2, … in the order of appearance in the text.

  • All type and details must be large enough to remain legible when reduced to the journal page size (approximately 5.25″ × 8.25″).

  • Each figure must have a brief, descriptive caption and must be cited in the text.

Tables:

  • Include all tables either within the manuscript file or as separate Microsoft Word documents.

  • Ensure tables can be clearly reproduced at the journal page size (approximately 5.25″ × 8.25″).

  • Provide a short caption for each table and ensure each table is cited in the text.

5. Design and Planning Projects

Submission:

Submissions may include:

  • A written description of the design or project.

  • A summary of its contribution to theory or practice.

  • Graphic and/or photographic material that clearly conveys the design or project.

The objectives of the design, project, or evaluation, and the response to those objectives, should be clearly presented. All written material should follow the same general guidelines as for research papers.

Submissions will be juried based on:

  • The quality of the design solution.

  • Its contribution to the field.

  • The explicit use of systematically collected information in the design decision-making process.

Authors of accepted design projects will receive an Award Certificate acknowledging their contribution.

6. Proofs and Reprints

  • The corresponding author (for both papers and design/planning projects) will receive page proofs.

  • Proofs must be checked and returned within 48 hours of receipt.

  • Corrections should be limited to printer’s errors; extensive changes may incur additional costs to the author(s).

  • Reprints may be ordered at the price listed on the order form accompanying the proofs.

7. Copyright and Licensing

The Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC) follows a CC BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International) licensing policy.

  • Authors retain full copyright to their work.

  • By submitting and, upon acceptance, publishing in Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC), authors grant the publisher a non-exclusive license to publish, distribute, and archive the article, and to identify Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC) as the original place of publication.

  • All articles are published under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows others to:

    • copy, distribute, display, and perform the work;

    • adapt and build upon the work;

    • use the work for commercial and non-commercial purposes;
      provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and the journal, a link to the license is included, and any changes made are indicated.

This open licensing model supports maximum visibility, use, and impact of authors’ work while ensuring that authors remain the legal copyright holders of their articles.

For full legal details of the license, see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/