Submissions

Author Guidelines

1.0 General

Manuscripts submitted to International Journal of Built Environment and Sustainability (IJBES) must be original work that has not been published or under consideration for publication elsewhere. Authors are advised to check our focus and scope which is available in the About tab before attempting submission to the journal.

The journal welcomes submissions written in English. A full-length original research article shall be between 5000 to a maximum of 7,500 words which includes tables, figures and illustrations. A minimum of 20 references relevant to the content of the manuscript is required. In accordance with our policies, all submissions will be peer-reviewed.

The manuscript shall be prepared in a format using a standard template which can be downloaded in the  SUBMISSION PACKAGE. 

We request for each submission to include:

i. A manuscript prepared in the required template.

ii. Each submission should be accompanied by a copyright transfer agreement form using a template that can be downloaded in the SUBMISSION PACKAGE, naming three potential reviewers (minimum PhD level) with their official organisation email. The authors are required to enclose this document as a supplementary file in their submission. 

All authors name should be recorded in the metadata file (step 3) during the submission process. No names should appear in the manuscript to maintain a strict peer-review process. The editorial will insert the names as recorded by the corresponding author in the preparation of the camera-ready copy at a later stage. Please provide all authors name complete with their affiliations for indexing purposes. Authors are advised to refer to the following guidelines while recording metadata for submission: 

i. A title should be recorded in Title Case and not in UPPERCASE.

ii. Name - Choose to record name in 'First' and 'Last' name only. Salutation such as 'Professor', 'Dr' should be removed.

iii. Affiliation refers to the institutions served by the authors.

iv. Country refers to the country where the institution served by an author is located.

v. Bio statement refers to the author's rank in the institution served by the author for example Professor, Associate Professor, Lecturer, Research Officer etc.  

 Kindly refer to our guide on the submission process here.

2.0 Types of Paper 

2.1 Full-length original research articles

Full-length original research articles with 5,500-7,500 words (including references).

2.2 Short communications

Short Communications are limited to 3000 words and are not subdivided. The article should contain an abstract - limited to 100 words, main body, and references. Short Communications are short articles that present original and significant material for rapid dissemination. They will receive a prioritized and rapid publication as this type of material is expected to have a higher than average impact on the field.

A short communication may focus on a particular aspect of a problem or a new finding that is expected to have a significant impact. Short articles include, but are not limited to the discovery or development of new methods/processes, cutting-edge experiments and theory, a novelty in simulation and modeling, elucidation of mechanisms. Short communications will appear at the end of the regular section in the journal table of contents. Each paper will begin with “Short Communication:” followed by the title. 

2.3 Opinions, viewpoints or comments

Opinions, viewpoints or comments on particular and relevant issues within 1,000-2,000 words.

2.4 Invited Reviews

Invited Reviews with up to 5,000 words.

3.0 Title

The title should normally be concise but informative. The title should be in the "Title" case. Author names and affiliations: Indicate the normal order of the name of authors. All authors must provide his/her affiliation; email address and phone number (includes country and area code). The corresponding author, the author who will communicate during the process, must be clearly indicated.

4.0 Abstract

Should contain the background of the study, objectives, methodology and result within a maximum of 250 words with at least three (3) keywords that could be useful for information-retrieval purposes. A good abstract should consist of an introduction, problem statement, methodology, results & findings, and the significance of the findings.

5.0 Style

Manuscripts should consist of the following sections: 1.0 INTRODUCTION, 2.0 METHODOLOGY, 3.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION, 4.0 CONCLUSION. Each section and sub-section should be numbered using Arabic numerals. 

5.1 Introduction

This section contains the background, significance and objectives of the study.

5.2 Methodology

This section discusses the methods used in the research/study.

5.3 Result and Discussion

This section provides clear and concise results of the research/study and provides sufficient detail of the discussions on the results (what, why and how).

5.4 Conclusion

This section concludes the discussions and offers policy implications if any.

5.5 Tables

Table Caption must appear at the Top and number consecutively. Place footnote belongs to the table at the bottom of the table body. The footnote must be smaller size font and italic. The caption must be clear and concise.

5.6 Illustrations

Illustrations including diagrams and graphs should be sharp, noise-free and of good contrast. They should accompany the manuscript and numbered consecutively in the same order as they are referred to in the text. Line drawings should be in black ink on a white background and the lettering size must be large enough to permit legible reduction whenever necessary. All photographs submitted must be of good quality and printed on glossy paper. The caption of the Illustrations must appear at the Bottom of the Figure and number consecutively. The caption should not be embedded in the figure rather place separately. The caption must be clear and concise.

5.7 Units

The article must use the SI unit. When expressing figures, the article must use the following format: 1,948.52 (use comma to separate thousands, and period to express decimal). But, the Year 2014 should not be a comma or period.

6.0  Acknowledgement

A brief acknowledgment of not more than 50 words should be included at the end of the manuscripts, before the list of references. Acknowledgement could be made to funding body, institution/universities/organization or individual/person.

Example:

1. Acknowledgement to funding body (Grant number) : This work was supported by the Trust [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Natural Environment Research Council [grant number zzzz]; and the Economic and Social Research Council [grant number aaaa].

2. Acknowledgement to institution/universities/organization: We would like to thank XYZ University for their helpful feedback and support.

3. Acknowledgement to individual/person: We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our supervisor, Professor John Doe, for his valuable guidance and support throughout the research process. His expertise and insights were invaluable in shaping our research and helping us to overcome challenges.

7.0 References

All references cited in the text must present in the reference list and vice versa. For web reference, the full URL and date of accessed should be given. Web references must be separated from non-web references and should be put after non-web references.

Within the text: for the single author (last name of the author, year of publication), for example (West, 2012). For two authors (both authors’ last names, year of publication), for example (Wackernagel and Rees, 1996). For three or more authors (first author’s last name and et al., year of publication), for example (Ratti et al., 2005), but in the reference list, all authors’ names must present.

The Reference Style:

Journal publication: (please do not abbreviate the journal names) Simpson, J.R. (2002). Improved Estimates of Tree- shade Effects on Residential Energy Uses. Energy and Buildings, 34:1067-1076
Book: Watson, R.D, and K.S. Chapman (2002). Radiant Heating and Cooling Handbook. McGraw-Hill Handbooks, New York.
Edited Book: Mettam, G.R., Adams, L.B. (2009). How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in Jones, B.S., Smith, R.Z. (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age. E-Publishing Inc., New York, pp. 281-304.
Internet Sources: Energy Price Information, US Department of Energy. http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/prices.html. Retrieved on 8 August 2010.

7.0 Submission

Kindly submit your article through: www.ijbes.utm.my

8.0 Referees

We welcome suggestions for referees (3 names) from the author AS EACH SUBMISSION SHOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY A COPYRIGHT TRANSFER AGREEMENT DOCUMENT WHERE NAMING THREE POTENTIAL REVIEWER (minimum pHD level) WITH THEIR OFFICIAL ORGANISATION EMAIL IS A MUST. These recommendations may or may not be used.

9.0 Copyrights

Copyright of articles that appear in the International Journal of Built Environment and Sustainability belongs exclusively to Penerbit Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. This copyright covers the rights to reproduce the article, including reprints, electronic reproductions or any other reproductions of similar nature.

10.0 Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics (Wager and Klenet, 2011):

The research being reported should have been conducted in an ethical and responsible manner and should comply with all relevant legislation.
Researchers should present their results clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation.
Researchers should strive to describe their methods clearly and unambiguously so that their findings can be confirmed by others.
Researchers should adhere to publication requirements that submitted work is original, is not plagiarized, and has not been published elsewhere.
Authors should take collective responsibility for submitted and published work.
The authorship of research publications should accurately reflect individual contributions to the work and its reporting.
Funding sources and relevant conflicts of interest should be disclosed.