Editorial Rules

Dear Contributors,

We have compiled a simple list of editorial rules to help you proofread your contributions.
These editorial rules are enforced through the selection process and camera-ready preparation.

-- IARIA Logistics Team

Note: If you have more to add to these recommendations, please email them to nick@iaria.org using subject "Editorial Rules"

General Considerations

• Clarify the relation with the conference topics (either in title, abstract, or introduction section)
• Identify a significant, challenging, not yet solved, or only partially solved problem
• Identify and present the prior art or related work (including references)
• Propose an understandable, defendable, and feasible solution
• Identify the target: theoretical, architectural, modeling, practical implementation, optimization, evaluation of existing solution, etc.
• Select evaluation metrics and show the practicality, scalability, and the benefits of your contribution
• Draw appropriate conclusions and compare your results with the prior art
• Clarify the contribution with respect to the promises in the abstract, the metrics, and the target
• Clarify the contribution with respect to the previous work (others, yourself)

Title and Authors

• capitalize all nouns, pronouns and verbs, and all other words of four or more letters, e.g., "Robots in Space"
• emails of all the authors must be mentioned
• addresses of the institutions must be mentioned
• use of full names is preferred (i.e., preferred: Mary Price Danny Jones vs. not preferred:  M.P.D. Jones)
• in case initials are used, leave a space after notations like "M.", e.g., correct: M. N. Jones, incorrect: "M.N. Jones "
• no nicknames in the authors lists

Abstract

• avoid abbreviations in the abstract
• introduce the problem you are dealing with by one succinct sentence
• make it clear why the paper is related to the conference you are submitting to
• specify if it is a survey, an evaluation of existing work,  or new ideas with new results
• end the abstract with one sentence reflecting the conclusion of the paper
• don't use references /no [x]s in the abstract/
• follow the style of the template
  "Abstract - The paper..... "

Keywords

• no more than 4-5 keywords
• follow the style of the template
  "Keywords-component; formatting; style; styling; insert (key words)."
• note: use a semicolon between keywords words
• note: the listing ends with a period "."

Footnotes

• there should be no footnotes; either integrate the relevant text within the article, or use a reference

Centering captions (LaTex specific)

Figure and table captions need to be centered. Used the code snippets below as a guide on how to center the captions in your article.

\usepackage{caption}
\captionsetup{font=footnotesize,justification=centering,labelsep=period}
...
\captionsetup{font={footnotesize,sc},justification=centering,labelsep=period}%
\begin{table}[htbp]
\caption{My table.}\label{mytabone}
\centering%
\begin{tabular}{lll}
\hline
\textit{Column 1} & \textit{Column 2} & \textit{Column 3} \\
\hline
a) & Insert more table stuff here. & $\ldots$\\
b) & Insert more table stuff here. & $\ldots$\\
c) & Insert more table stuff here. & $\ldots$\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table}
\captionsetup{font={footnotesize,rm},justification=centering,labelsep=period}%

General

Language

• keep uniform, across the paper, of either "US-English" and "UK-English, to avoid word variations
  e.g., behavior vs. behaviour, modelling vs. modeling, center vs. centre, etc.
• we recommend either one or the other, not a mix
• one might need help even in our native language, so
  + have a peer cross-check
  + have a native English speaker or an English speaker specialist help with a cross-check

Capital Letters

• use a capital letter "S" when saying "In Section 2, we..."
• don't use capital letters when saying "There are four sections, ..."
• use a capital letter when "figure" is followed by a number, e.g., "In Figure 3 we...."
• don't use when no number follows, e.g., "The two figures ..."

Structure

• introduction must end with a paragraph describing the structure of the paper
• between two titles and subtitles, have a sentence or a small paragraph, e.g.,
  "1. Title 1
  We will present...
  1.1 Subtitle 1
  ...................
  "
• don't end a section with a figure
• don't start a section with a figure
• last section must be "Conclusion and Future Work"
• "Conclusion" must reiterate accomplishments announced in the "Abstract"
  note: many submissions fail on this item

Punctuation

• "e.g." is always followed by a comma, so the correct usage is "...substantial, e.g., one and the other"
• no spaces between reference enumerations, e.g., [2][3][5].
• use a uniform figure capture, e.g., "Figure 3. The point of..."
• in text, also use “Figure” at the beginning or inside of a sentence (do not use abbreviation)
• leave a space after a comma, e.g., "Alfa, Omega" and not "Alfa,Omega"
• all abbreviations must be fully spelled when first used, e.g., "...and RR (Remote Retrieval) can be used [x]."; do not expand abbreviations afterwards.
• usually, when there is no confusion, use the reference identifier [x] at the end of the sentence.
• note the difference US- vs. UK style when using quotes
  + US:  ".... text text [x]."
  + UK: ".....text text . [x] "
  + the last form may confuse the reader, when used inside a paragraph.
• ending a quote and a sentence style
  + US: "..text text text 'bataille'.
  + UK: "..text text text 'bataille.'
• in English, the correct use of colon is immediately after a word without a space, e.g., "Peter said: text..."

Correct Spelling

• it is 'Related work" and not "Related works'
• it is Conclusion", and not "Conclusions"
• avoid "Let's ...", use "Let us..." instead
• avoid "I did...", or "We did", except when you want to specifically highlight a team's work; instead, use passive voice, e.g.,"Something was done"
• when used, usually mid-sentence, "i.e." and "e.g." are surrounded by commas
• "e.g.," is used when an example is intended [Latin: "exempli gratia", English: "for example", "for the sake of example", French: "par example"]
• "i.e.," is  used when a clarification is needed [Latin: "id est", English: "that is", French: "c'est-a-dire"]
• "etc." [Latin: etcetera, English: and the rest, French; et autre]
• "Q.E.D." [Latin: "quod erat demonstrandum", English: "which was to be demonstrated", French: "ce qu'il fallait démontrer"
  + used for mathematical formulas, at the end of a proof.

Claims & Formulae

• own claims must be substantially defended
• someone else's statements endorsed by you must be referred to by a reference identifier [x]
• when formulae are used, their source must be disclosed (via references)
• formulae must be numbered by (x)
• your own formulae must be carefully explained and the ownership must be clearly specified
• all the abbreviations or key concepts must have a reference, possibly even explained

Figures

• don't use blurry figures
• even though one can enlarge an electronic document, use legible text for the figures
• imported figures /even enhanced/ must have their origin specified as a reference
• text inside the figures must be legible
• describe every figure in plain text; don't assume the reader understand it
• abbreviations in a figure must be explained in the plain text, not on the figure
• place the figures close to the text referring to them
• larger figures or sequences of figures related to a given concept can be placed at the end
• all figure captions end with a period "."

Results

• clarify the tools used for obtaining the results /benchmarks, software, hardware, etc./
• for special tools, provide a reference
• when theory is the core, a concrete application greatly increases the value of the contribution
• when pure applications/systems are the main scope of the contribution, stressing out the concepts and theories behind them gives more value to the work
• when simulations are shown, explain why particular parameters where chosen
• diagrams must be explained /what?/ and interpreted /why?/
• summarize the results by comparison tables/graphs/etc. with the prior-art; it proves your understanding and makes your message clearer
• defend new proposals by general metrics such as performance, robustness, complexity, scalability, etc. in addition to the metrics specific to your contribution
• conclude with "lesson learned'
• provide next steps by 'future work', usually in "Conclusion and Future Work"

References

• follow the style recommended in the Call for Papers
• URL references should be limited
• URL references must be verified at the time when the camera-ready is submitted
• the checking date must be written in ISO, e.g.,  [x] <link> 2012.03.22
• non-English language references must also provide an English language translation of the reference title
• references must be uniform in terms of
  + first vs. last name
  + abbreviation, e.g., P. Jones, or Peter Jones - use of the "and"
  + Peter Jones and Patrick Smith /no comma in front of "and"/
  + Peter Jones, Anne DuBois, and Patrick Smith
• all references must be used in the text, i.e., referred to
• references are assumed to be the most up to date, unless fundamental concepts are enhanced and one must refer to the original proposal
• note that the freshness of the references gives a good idea on how actual a given contribution is
• page numbers are required; for Latex, use the bibtemplate file accordingly

Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism

• avoid cut&paste of big portions from your previous work
• when used, any quoted "fragment"must rely on a reference.
• reusing ideas and enhancing them should be based on a paraphrase 
• always refer to your published work (in "References"), if small portions are ethically reused
• some images and figures may require explicit accept from the original authors or from those owning the "copyright"
• make it always clear what is "from the literature" and what is "your own contribution"
• there is no shame to give credit to someone else!
• use an "Acknowledgments" section, after "Conclusion and future work", to thank those who contributed, either scientifically or financially, but not at the level to be an author