[EN] Recommendations to authors

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1.       Editorial line

The Quetelet Journal publishes both standard scientific articles and less conventional scientific contributions that deal with demographic or population-related issues - such as:

  • theoretical articles focusing on literature review,
  • articles with methodological aims, focusing on the issues and limitations of a data source, the development and discussion of a measure, etc.,
  • more descriptive articles using original and/or new data,
  • discussions around unorthodox or controversial ideas,
  • articles with a negative result (not confirming hypotheses),
  • articles whose objective is the replicability of previous studies,
  • articles based on original methods (mixed methods, etc.).

2.       Submission procedure

The Quetelet Journal operates based on a peer-review process: every article is anonymously forwarded to at least two reviewers, one of whom is often a member of the Quetelet Journal editorial board. The submission of an article is through the OJS (Open Journal System) platform.

From the moment the author(s) submit an article to the Quetelet Journal, they accept not to submit the same article for publication in another journal until the editorial board has sent a decision letter to the authors. The Quetelet Journal will not publish an article that has already been published - in full or in part - elsewhere or that is in the process of being evaluated by another journal/book. However, if research reports or working papers have been made available in advance (pre-print, Green Open Access on institutional repository), this does not prevent publication in the Quetelet Journal.

The authors undertake to have all the authorizations required for the exploitation of the data, whether they are authorizations concerning privacy or legal and ethical constraints.

The evaluation of articles is carried out in two stages. The first involves an overall review of the article by one or more members of the editorial committee to assess the admissibility of the article. As the editorial committee meets monthly, authors will be promptly notified in case of non-admissibility/refusal of the article following this first step. If the article is considered admissible, it is then shared with one or more external reviewers, who decide on the quality of the article. At the end of this second stage, the article is returned to the editorial committee member who finalises whether it is either accepted (with or without revisions, major or minor) or rejected. The editorial board contacts the authors and, if necessary, asks them to modify their article, to improve its content, via the OJS platform. The authors agree on a deadline with the editorial board for which they can reasonably make the requested changes. The revised article will then be returned to the editorial board who will assess whether the changes made meet the expectations of the reviewers. To this end, the authors must produce a synthesis of their changes and explain the content of these changes in response to the reviewers' comments. A final reading under the direction of the editorial manager will be carried out, again with possible discussions with the main author of the article.

After approval by the editorial committee, authors agree not to modify the content of their article, which will be copy-edited: marginal changes are still allowed (spelling mistakes, missing words, etc.) but should be avoided as much as possible. Authors will be required to approve a final version of their article before it is posted online.

3.       Formatting

A few rules of usage concerning the formatting of articles submitted to the Quetelet Journal:

3.1.     Presentation of the manuscript

  • Articles may be written in English or French, at a level suitable for scientific publication.
  • The article must be sent in an anonymised version so that the authors cannot be identified by the reviewers (the text submitted on the OJS platform must not mention any author).
  • If the article is written in English, the choice of spelling - British or American - should be harmonized throughout the text.
  • Font: Times New Roman, size 12.
  • Double-spaced lines.
  • Word or PDF format.
  • Between 8,000 and 9,000 words (excluding graphs and tables, legends, bibliography and annexes).
  • Pages should be numbered.
  • Maximum three levels of subtitles (level 4 titles - e.g. 1.3.2.2. - and above are not allowed).

3.2.     Metadata

At the time of online submission, authors should complete the 'Metadata' sections by indicating the title of the proposal, as well as the full names, institutional affiliations and email addresses of all authors/co-authors of the paper. However, this information should not appear in the main text to guarantee the anonymity of the authors for the reviewers. The principal author of the article will be identified. He or she will submit the article to OJS and will serve as the contact with the editorial board.

Acknowledgements can be added in the main document, once the paper has been accepted by the editorial board. If the article is part of a specific research project or funding, this must be indicated.

3.3.     Abstract

  • Mandatory abstract for any proposed article.
  • Written in English and, if possible, also in French.
  • Between 250 and 300 words.
  • Must present (briefly) the context of the study, objectives, methods, results and conclusions.
  • Include 5 keywords.

3.4.     Figures and tables

  • Authors are asked to integrate figures and tables into the text (not at the end of the document or in separate files)
  • The title, numbering and source must be indicated for each figure or table.
  • Tables and figures should be treated and numbered separately.
  • See point 5. for more recommendations about figures.
  • In some formats (e.g., R), it is recommended to send graphics in vector form to simplify some layout processes.

3.5.     Appendices

Appendices - including text, graphs, tables, formulas, etc. - may be added. They will be attached directly after the article, in the same document. Any figures, tables or formulae shall include a title, a numbering (in continuity with the figures, tables or formulae in the body of the text) and a source. The tables and figures in the appendix will be provided if possible, preferably in Excel or csv format.

3.6.     Notes

Footnotes may be inserted in the text but authors should avoid them or limit them to less than 10 (no endnotes to be included). They will not contain charts or formulas but may refer to annexes. They will appear in the text in the following format: Times New Roman, 10.

3.7.     Bibliographical references

Authors should take particular care to abide by the format of the bibliographic references used by the Quetelet Review, which are adapted from the APA (American Psychological Association) style. The bibliography will be listed at the end of the article and sorted alphabetically. If the manuscript has been accepted and this bibliographic presentation is not respected, the authors will be asked to send us the bibliography duly formatted.

  • Reviewed article:

Adveev A., Eremenko T., Festy P., Gaymu J., Le Bouteillec N., Springer S. (2011), «Populations et tendances démographiques des pays européens (1980-2010)», Population, 66 (1), pp. 9-133.

  • Monograph:

Monnier A. (2006), Démographie contemporaine de l’Europe. Évolution, tendances, défis, Paris, Armand Colin, 416 p.

  • Contribution to collective book:

Vallin J. (2002), «Mortalité, sexe et genre», G. Caselli, J. Vallin, G. Wunsch (eds), Démographie : analyse et synthèse, Tome III : Les déterminants de la mortalité, Éditions de l’INED, pp. 319-350.

  • Working paper or report:

Bureau Fédéral du Plan, Direction générale Statistique (2016), Perspectives démographiques 2015-2060 Population, ménages et quotients de mortalité prospectifs, Mars, Bruxelles, 70 p.

 

Citations in the text should include the name of the author(s) and the year of publication in parentheses, for example: (Monnier, 2006). A direct quote in quotation marks should also include the page number from which the excerpt is taken, for example: (Adveev et al., 2011: 103).

4.       Open data

As part of the "Open Science" movement, the Quetelet Journal supports replicability and transparency. For this purpose, codes and scripts may be published in one or more additional files separate from the main article once accepted, so that they are readable by the scientific community. The format of this document is the choice of the authors (*.txt, *.do, *.R, *.sps, etc.).

To make the codes and scripts understandable, the provision of the original dataset or a sample of data or fictitious data to apply the codes and analysis programs is strongly encouraged, via public directories (e.g. https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/) or directly on the journal's website if not too voluminous (<1Mo).

5.       Recommendations for figures

5.1     General recommendations

For each figure (graph or table), an explanatory title is required. If necessary (long text or text common to several graphs) the legend can be placed outside the figure as a note to the graph. Each figure must be cited and explained in the body of the article. Additional annotations may be added to clarify the reading of the figure, distinguishing between "notes" and the "source" of the figures.

Insert the graphics into the text and do not group them at the end of the text or in separate files. You may be asked to provide, for each table or graph, the data used to construct the figure. The editorial committee reserves the right to modify the type of graph chosen, provided that it serves the author's purpose.

5.2     Captions and notes

  • For the various captions (axes, modalities) within the graphs, it is recommended to use Arial font or another sans serif
  • The font size on the graphs can be between 6pt and 8pt.
  • Footnotes should be presented in one sentence, with a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence only (except for proper names).
  • Captions and titles should not be included in the figure, but in text form.
  • For an article in French, decimal numbers are indicated by commas (e.g. 0,65), and for an article in English, by dots (e.g. 0.65). Thousand separators are indicated by a non-breaking space (e.g. 10 535 per 100 000).
  • Each abbreviation must be explained in footnotes below the figure.

5.3     Numbering

The various graphs and tables must be numbered consecutively and in ascending order, using Arabic numerals. Tables should be numbered separately from graphs. It is recommended that figures appear in the order in which they are cited in the text. In the case where a figure groups several graphs, it is preferable to add letters to each graph to clarify the reading (For example: Figure 1a, Figure 1b, Figure 2a, Figure 2b, Figure 2c, etc.).

The numbering of appendices should also follow these recommendations, adding a prefix to the numbering (e.g., Figure A-1a, Figure A-1b, Figure A-2a, Figure A-2b, etc.).

5.4     Graph example

We recommend choosing colours, markings and codes for the graphics so that they are distinguishable also in black and white (printed), as in below graphic: