Instructions for Authors

      Accepted types of paper
IJCI publishes original research papers, review articles, survey articles and book and project reviews in all areas dedicated to forensic sciences.

The topics cover all disciplines and branches of modern forensic sciences as: Anthropology, Archaeology, Botany, Chemistry, DNA analysis, Entomology, Engineering, Geology, Informatics, Odontology, Pathology, Psychology Print identification & analysis, Toxicology but also Laws.

      Publishing ethics
      See Author Rights section.

      Copyright
      IJCI it is an open access journal. All content is freely available without charge to any user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. It is compulsory to insert reference of the cited article.
      Concerning the permission for copyrighted images used in your manuscript, this is entirely your responsibility (whether they’ll be screenshots – e.g. of a scene from a video game, photos, figures, tables, graphics, etc.).
      For other details see Author Rights section.

      Originality
      Only ORIGINAL and PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED manuscripts will be accepted for publication in IJCI. Upon acceptance of your manuscript, you will be required to sign a warranty that your manuscript is original and has not been submitted for publication or published elsewhere.

      Style and Format
      The papers shall be written entirely in English; they must have minimum 4000 and maximum 12000 words and must comply exactly with the instructions bellow.
      Papers which do not comply with the formatting conditions described bellow will be returned to the authors and will only be taken into consideration for final reviewing when they fulfill the mentioned standards.
      The papers must be written clearly, concise, without any ambiguities.
      Page format A4 (210x297 mm or 8.27” x 11.69”), page margins: 2.5 cm.
      The text will be written in single line spacing, justified alignment.
      Font: Times New Roman (TNR)      

      Language
      Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these).

      Paper Structure and Formatting Details:
      Authors must send two documents with the following details:

1. Cover paper:
      TITLE OF THE PAPER (centered, bold, TNR, size 14, ALL CAPS, single spacing). The Firstname and the SURNAME of the author (centered, TNR, bold, size 12), Affiliation and address (centered, TNR, size 12), Contact details of corresponding author.
The cover letter must state that:
    (a) the article is original and is the work of the authors
    (b) The material submitted to IJCI nor the modified form has been published before.
    (c) The manuscript is not in the process of review in any other journal.
    (d) A paper accepted for publication will not be published elsewhere (wholly or partly), without the written permission of IJCI.
    (e) Submission of the manuscript has been approved by all authors.
    (f) The novelty or the significance of results.

2. Main document
      TITLE OF THE ARTICLE (centered, bold, TNR, size 14, ALL CAPS, single spacing)

      Abstract (TNR, bold, size 11) No more than 300 words. The abstract must clearly specify the purpose of the paper and the objectives pursued by the author by his/her study. (TNR, size 11, single spacing)

      Keywords: five key words, defining the subject approached in the paper. (TNR, size 14, double spacing)

      Introduction (TNR, bold, size 14): The introduction shall have a page at the most, however not less than half a page. The text must provide answers for four questions. (1) What matter does the paper cover? (2) Why is the studied matter important? (3) How does the author intend to answer to this matter? (4) What is the relation between the paper and the already existent specialized literature? (TNR, size 14, single spacing)

      Literature Review (title can be included or not - TNR, bold, size 14). This section must comprise referrals to specialized literature, compared against the paper’s subject, emphasizing the most important and relevant contributions on which the author will ground his/her argumentation. In the reviewing process there shall be taken into consideration the share of referrals to papers published in international journals recognized by the scientific community. This section must stress the fact that the author is familiar with the knowledge level in the studied area, that he/she has sufficient scientific training, allowing him/her to have a pertinent opinion over the studied issues. (TNR, size 12, single spacing).  

      Theoretical Background/Methodology (TNR, bold, size 14) - this section presents (if the case) the used theoretical tools: models, calculation formula. Also, any potential statistic data will be referred to, as well as their source and processing manner (TNR, size 12, single spacing).

      Experimental (or Materials and Methods) (TNR, bold, size 14) - if the case. The experimental methods should be described after the introductory material. Detailed experimental descriptions should be restricted to one section of the paper. Sufficient detail should be given to allow any experienced worker to implement the procedures described (TNR, size 12, single spacing).

      Results and discussions (TNR, bold, size 14). Paper content (headline depending on the specific of the approach subject) (TNR, bold, size 14). In this section (or set of sections, as the case might be) the author shall present and support the results he/she intents to communicate by means of the paper.  (TNR, size 12, single spacing)

      Conclusions (TNR, bold, size 14). This section should cover three elements: (1) it shall summarize the main outcomes; (2) it shall undertake the implications of such outcomes; (3) suggestions for future researches. (TNR, size 12, single spacing)

      References (TNR, bold, 14)
      Please make sure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text.
      Please sort the references alphabatecally.
      Please provide for Journals: Authors, Title of the paper, Journal, volume, issue, pages from to, year.
      Remember: Article/Chapter title with Italic, Journal/Book/ Conferences/Workshops with Bold.

      Reference style
      Text: Indicate references in brackets in line with the text, writing the first Author name and the year. IF there are two author you can write both (MItchel & Donald)
      Example: "..... the research done on wood (Donald, 2009) and on stone (Johns&Smith, 2010)... ".

      Reference example:
      Reference to a journal publication:
Author 1, Author 2, Title of article, Journal, 3, 1, 22-26, 2010.
      Reference to a paper in a proceeding:
Author F, Author S., Title of article, Proceeding of Conference/Workshop, 1 - 3 February 2010, City, Country, 3-10, 2010.
      Reference to a book:
Author F., Book name (edition number), Publishing House, City, p. 155, 2010.
      Reference to a patent:
Author F., Patent WO123456789/2010;
      Reference to a webpage:
***, http://www.cercetaricriminalistice.ro/
      Do not write AND between the authors, please use comma (,).
If the same author has more publication in the same year, use letters: 2000a, 2000b etc.

      Submission - Editorial Issues
      Submission to this journal proceeds totally online. The main text is required in DOC file (Word 97-2000) with the tables included. The figures are required to be inserted with captions at the end of the manuscript (JPEG/TIFF) with high resolution.
      Please submit your manuscript for publication using the Electronic Submission System or via e-mail as a file attachment in Microsoft® Word to the Editor-in-Chief. The main body of the email message should contain the title of the paper and the names and addresses of all authors. Manuscripts must be sent in English. Please note that neither your name nor the name of your co-authors should be included anywhere in the manuscript, except on the cover page.

      Correspondence
      All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, will be done by e-mail.
      An acknowledgment e-mail regarding the receipt of your manuscript will be promptly sent. The review process will take approximately 2-10 weeks, and the corresponding author will be notified concerning the possibility of publication of the manuscript as soon as the review process is completed. All correspondence will be directed to the corresponding author. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to communicate with the other author(s). If your manuscript is accepted for publication, it will be submitted to the publisher where it will be typeset.  After typesetting, you will be sent a proof of your manuscript to proofread. You will be required to return the proof within 48 hours to the publisher.

      Review Process
      To ensure the high quality of published material, this journal utilizes a group of experts to review submitted manuscripts. Upon receipt of a manuscript, two specialists are selected from the Editorial Review Board of the journal. The selection is based upon the particular area of expertise of the reviewers matched to the subject matter of the submission. Please note that return of a manuscript to the author(s) for revision does not guarantee acceptance of the manuscript for publication. The final decision will be based upon the comments of the reviewers upon their second review of the revised manuscript.

      Book Review
      If you will be interested on submitting a review of a textbook or professional book for possible inclusion in the journal, please ensure you focus on the following guidelines when developing your review: Book reviews must not exceed 1,500 words. Reviews should summarize the book and indicate the highlights, strengths, and weaknesses of the book. Reviews should evaluate the organizational and managerial applications of the material discussed in the book relevant to the topic area of the journal. Reviews should critique and constructively evaluate the authors’ work and not merely list the chapters’ contents. The writing style, accuracy, relevance, and the need for such a work in the discipline should be analyzed. Reviews must include the title of the book, author, publishing company, publication date, number of pages, cost (if listed), and ISBN number. Each submission must be accompanied by a short biography of the reviewer.

      Case Studies
      If you will be interested on submitting a case study based on actual cases related to different issues and aspects of the topic area of the journal, you must provide adequate information regarding the organization upon which the case is based, discussion of the issues involved, coverage of any experiments or trials of techniques or managerial approaches, and finally, discussion of any lessons learned or conclusions drawn from this study. IMPORTANT: You must ensure that the anonymity of any companies, organizations, etc., discussed in your case study is protected unless (1) written permission is provided by the company, organization, etc., to the publisher, or (2) the information presented in your case study is public information. In the case of (1) above, you must provide the publisher with the permission granted in hard copy format.
All submissions and inquiries should be directed to the attention of:  MIRELA GORUNESCU, Editor of IJCI.

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      Abbreviations
      Define all abbreviations at their first appearance in the text. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

      Acknowledgements
      Insert acknowledgements only in a separate section at the end of the article before the references. List here those individuals who provided help during the research.

      Appendices
      If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc.

      Funding body
      You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the development of the research and/or preparation of the article. This will be included at the end of the paper.

      Math formulae
      Present simple formulae in the line of normal text wherever possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., A/B. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text.

      Nomenclature, abbreviations and symbols
      Please use L for liters. Always leave a space between units. Do not use abbreviations in the title or keywords. Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field at their first occurrence in both the abstract and the main text.

      Artwork
o Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
o Save text in illustrations as "graphics" or enclose the font.
o Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times, Symbol.
o Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
o Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
o Provide captions to illustrations separately.
o Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.
o Submit each figure as a separate file.
o Provide JPG/TIFF files, NOT lower than 300DPI.
If with your accepted article you submit color figures then we assure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color on electronic format, but not on the printed version. For color reproduction in print, you have to contact the editor and you have to agree on costs.

      Figures
      The figures must be imported, on separate pages, at the end of the manuscript after references and indicate their approximate locations directly in the manuscript (Fig. 1).
      Provide captions of the figures next to them.
      Example of figure caption:
      Fig. 1. SEM image of the textile fibre: 500X.

      Tables
      Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please use only orizontal visible lines.
      Example of table caption:
      Table 1. The composition of the soil sample.

      Offprints
      The corresponding author, free of charge, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. The PDF file is the ready2print version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image.

FORUMUL CRIMINALIŞTILOR
- International Journal of
Criminal Investigation