International Journal on Digital Crime and Forensics

Official publication of the Information Resources Management Association

Editor-in-Chief: Chang-Tsun Li, University of Warwick, UK

Published: Quarterly (both in Print and Electronic form)



Guidelines for Submission

Submission
Authors are asked to submit the manuscript as an email attachment to ijdcf@dcs.warwick.ac.uk. The manuscript must be in PDF, WordPerfect, or Word format. Manuscripts must be in English on 81/2" x 11 " (i.e., letter-size) white paper, double-spaced throughout, and include at least 1" of margin on all sides. The cover page should contain the paper title, and the name, affiliation, address, phone number, fax number, and email address of each author. Please also indicate the category of submission on the first page (e.g., Research Paper, Research Note, or Industry and Practice Paper). The second page should start with the paper title at the top and be immediately followed by the abstract. Except on the cover page, the authors' names and affiliations must NOT appear in the manuscript. The abstract of 100-150 words should clearly summarise the objectives and content of the manuscript.

Originality
Prospective authors should note that only original and previously unpublished manuscripts will be considered. Furthermore, simultaneous submissions are not acceptable. Submission of a manuscript is interpreted as a statement of certification that no part of the manuscript is copyrighted by any other publication nor is under review by any other formal publication. It is the primary responsibility of the author to obtain proper permission for the use of any copyrighted materials in the manuscript, prior to the submission of the manuscript.

Length
The length of the submitted manuscript is not specifically limited, however, the length should be reasonable in light of the chosen topic. Discussion and analysis should be complete, but not unnecessarily long or repetitive. Typically, Research Papers and Research Review articles are usually between 5000 - 8000 words. Research Notes (Short Papers) should be around 2500 words. Book Reviews must not exceed 1500 words and should evaluate organisational and technical applications of materials discussed in the books relevant to the topics covered by the journal.

Correspondence
An acknowledgement email regarding the receipt of the manuscript will be sent promptly. The review process will take approximately 12 weeks, and the corresponding author will be notified concerning the possibility of publication of the manuscript as soon as the review process is completed. The first author is the default corresponding author if no corresponding author is specified. Associate editor and reviewers' comments will be sent to the corresponding author. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to communicate with the other author(s). Authors of accepted manuscripts will be asked to provide a final copy of their manuscript in either Word or WordPerfect text format (IBM). Again, electronic submission through email is preferred. If electronic submission is not available, the properly formatted manuscript needs to be submitted on a CD ROM and accompanied by a hard copy of the manuscript. A signed copy of the Warranty and Copyright Agreement needs to be faxed to the publisher once the paper is accepted.

Review process
Manuscripts will be forwarded to at least three reviewers for a double-blind peer review. Authors are encouraged, though not required, to submit one or two potential reviewers' names and contact information. Please note that suggested reviewers should have no conflict of interest in the reviewing process. Former advisors, students, and colleagues you have co-authored papers with for the past five years should not be suggested as potential reviewers. To ensure high quality of published materials, the editor selects reviewers from the list submitted by authors and reviewers from the group of experts in the Editorial Review Board. Reviewers' reports will be submitted to associate editors for accept/reject recommendations. The editor-in-chief will make a decision based on the reviewers' comments and associate editor's recommendation. Return of a manuscript to the author(s) for revision does not guarantee acceptance of the manuscript for publication.

Style
Submitted manuscripts must be written in the APA (American Psychological Association) editorial style. References should relate only to material cited within the manuscript and be listed in alphabetical order, including authors' names, complete title of the cited work, title of the source, volume, issue, year of publication, and pages cited. Please see the following examples: When using the source in the text, state the author's name and year of publication. Please see the following examples: When quoting another author's work, the author's name, the date of publication, and the page(s) on which the quotation appears in the original text should follow the direct quote.

Copyright
Before the manuscript can be published, authors are asked to sign a warranty and copyright agreement upon acceptance of their manuscript. The publisher, Idea Group Publishing Company, reserves all copyrights, including translation of the published material into other languages. Upon transfer of the copyright to the publisher, no part of the manuscript may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher, except for noncommercial, educational use such as for classroom teaching purposes.

All submissions should be sent/emailed to:
Chang-Tsun Li, Editor-in-Chief
International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics
Email: ijdcf@dcs.warwick.ac.uk
Web site: http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/~ctli/