Submissions

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Author Guidelines

The Journal of Sustainable Civil Materials and Structures welcomes original and influential research connecting sustainable material development with the safety, durability, resilience, and whole-life performance of civil infrastructure. Please read this guide in full before submitting.

Article Types

Article typeRecommended lengthPurpose
Original Research Article6,000–9,000 wordsComplete experimental, numerical, analytical, or field research
Review Article8,000–15,000 wordsCritical synthesis and identification of research gaps
Short Communication3,000–4,500 wordsSignificant preliminary or focused findings
Technical Note2,500–4,000 wordsNew methods, test procedures, models, or design solutions
Case Study4,000–7,000 wordsWell-documented field applications with transferable findings
Data Article2,000–4,000 wordsValidated and reusable research datasets
Design or Practice Paper4,000–7,000 wordsApplication of research in engineering design or construction
Perspective3,000–5,000 wordsForward-looking expert assessment of an emerging field
Discussion and ClosureUp to 2,000 wordsScholarly discussion of a previously published article
Editorial1,000–2,500 wordsJournal policy, thematic introduction, or strategic commentary
Letter to the EditorUp to 1,500 wordsConcise scholarly comments on relevant issues
Registered ReportAs appropriatePeer review of the research design before results are obtained

Review articles and perspectives are initially invitation-based to ensure quality. If you wish to propose one, contact the editorial office before submitting.

Manuscript Components

A standard original article should contain:

  1. Title;
  2. Authors and affiliations;
  3. Corresponding-author details;
  4. Abstract;
  5. Four to seven keywords;
  6. Graphical abstract;
  7. Highlights;
  8. Introduction;
  9. Materials and methods;
  10. Results;
  11. Discussion;
  12. Sustainability implications;
  13. Limitations;
  14. Conclusions;
  15. Author contributions;
  16. Funding;
  17. Conflict-of-interest statement;
  18. Data-availability statement;
  19. References;
  20. Supplementary material, if applicable.

Highlights (mandatory)

Authors must provide three to five highlights, each not exceeding approximately 85 characters.

Sustainability and Infrastructure Implications (mandatory)

Every manuscript must include a short section titled Sustainability and Infrastructure Implications. Using quantitative evidence wherever possible, this section should explain how the research advances resource efficiency, carbon reduction, durability, resilience, circularity, or infrastructure performance.

Required Declarations

Every submitted paper must include:

  • Author contributions using the CRediT taxonomy;
  • Funding statement;
  • Conflict-of-interest declaration;
  • Data-availability statement;
  • Declaration of generative AI use;
  • Ethical approval, where applicable;
  • Informed-consent statement, where applicable;
  • Acknowledgements;
  • ORCID identifiers for all authors;
  • Permission for reproduced copyrighted material.

What the Journal Does Not Consider

The following submissions are normally rejected without external review:

  • Routine replacement of cement or aggregate without scientific novelty;
  • Material studies with no meaningful civil-engineering application;
  • Optimization studies based only on statistical software without physical interpretation;
  • Machine-learning studies using small datasets without validation;
  • Numerical studies without experimental, field, or benchmark validation;
  • Sustainability claims unsupported by quantitative evidence;
  • Simple mix-design comparisons with limited parameters;
  • Building energy studies unrelated to civil materials or structures;
  • Construction-management studies without a direct materials or structural contribution;
  • Architectural design papers without engineering-performance evaluation;
  • Pure environmental remediation studies unrelated to civil infrastructure;
  • Manuscripts primarily describing commercial products;
  • Local case studies that offer no transferable scientific or engineering insight.

Publication Ethics

The journal follows the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Crossref standards, the FAIR data principles, the CRediT contributor-role taxonomy, and ORCID author identification. Every submission is screened for plagiarism and text recycling. Authorship disputes, conflicts of interest, duplicate publication, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation, and undeclared use of generative artificial intelligence are handled according to COPE guidance.

Submission Preparation Checklist

  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration; or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor.
  • The manuscript demonstrates at least two of the following: material innovation, structural relevance, quantified environmental evidence, durability evidence, or practical relevance.
  • The manuscript includes a section titled “Sustainability and Infrastructure Implications” supported by quantitative evidence wherever possible.
  • Three to five highlights are provided, each not exceeding approximately 85 characters.
  • Four to seven keywords and a graphical abstract are included.
  • Sustainability benefits are demonstrated with data rather than asserted.
  • Numerical or machine-learning results are supported by experimental, field, or benchmark validation.
  • All required declarations are included: CRediT author contributions, funding, conflict of interest, data availability, and declaration of generative AI use.
  • ORCID identifiers are provided for all authors.
  • The submission file is in OpenDocument, Microsoft Word, or PDF format.
  • Where available, URLs or DOIs for the references have been provided.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • The manuscript has been prepared for double-anonymized review: identifying information has been removed from the manuscript file and its document properties.

Original Research Article

Complete experimental, numerical, analytical, or field research.

Recommended length: 6,000–9,000 words.

All submissions must demonstrate at least two of the journal’s five contribution dimensions — material innovation, structural relevance, quantified environmental evidence, durability evidence, or practical relevance — and must include a “Sustainability and Infrastructure Implications” section.

Short Communication

Significant preliminary or focused findings that merit rapid publication.

Recommended length: 3,000–4,500 words.

All submissions must demonstrate at least two of the journal’s five contribution dimensions — material innovation, structural relevance, quantified environmental evidence, durability evidence, or practical relevance — and must include a “Sustainability and Infrastructure Implications” section.

Technical Note

New methods, test procedures, models, or design solutions.

Recommended length: 2,500–4,000 words.

All submissions must demonstrate at least two of the journal’s five contribution dimensions — material innovation, structural relevance, quantified environmental evidence, durability evidence, or practical relevance — and must include a “Sustainability and Infrastructure Implications” section.

Case Study

Well-documented field applications with transferable findings.

Recommended length: 4,000–7,000 words.

All submissions must demonstrate at least two of the journal’s five contribution dimensions — material innovation, structural relevance, quantified environmental evidence, durability evidence, or practical relevance — and must include a “Sustainability and Infrastructure Implications” section.

Data Article

Validated and reusable research datasets.

Recommended length: 2,000–4,000 words.

All submissions must demonstrate at least two of the journal’s five contribution dimensions — material innovation, structural relevance, quantified environmental evidence, durability evidence, or practical relevance — and must include a “Sustainability and Infrastructure Implications” section.

Design or Practice Paper

Application of research in engineering design or construction practice.

Recommended length: 4,000–7,000 words.

All submissions must demonstrate at least two of the journal’s five contribution dimensions — material innovation, structural relevance, quantified environmental evidence, durability evidence, or practical relevance — and must include a “Sustainability and Infrastructure Implications” section.

Discussion and Closure

Scholarly discussion of a previously published article, together with the original authors’ closure.

Recommended length: Up to 2,000 words.

All submissions must demonstrate at least two of the journal’s five contribution dimensions — material innovation, structural relevance, quantified environmental evidence, durability evidence, or practical relevance — and must include a “Sustainability and Infrastructure Implications” section.

Letter to the Editor

Concise scholarly comments on issues relevant to the journal’s scope.

Recommended length: Up to 1,500 words.

All submissions must demonstrate at least two of the journal’s five contribution dimensions — material innovation, structural relevance, quantified environmental evidence, durability evidence, or practical relevance — and must include a “Sustainability and Infrastructure Implications” section.

Registered Report

Peer review of the research design before results are obtained. Stage 1 acceptance commits the journal to publishing the completed study.

Recommended length: As appropriate.

All submissions must demonstrate at least two of the journal’s five contribution dimensions — material innovation, structural relevance, quantified environmental evidence, durability evidence, or practical relevance — and must include a “Sustainability and Infrastructure Implications” section.

Privacy Statement

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