Author Guidelines

EMERJ is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal publishing original research in engineering, the basic and applied sciences, and related interdisciplinary fields. The journal gives particular weight to scholarship relevant to Mindanao, the Philippines, the Asia-Pacific region, and the Global South, alongside contributions of general scientific and technological interest.

All submissions must be written in clear, grammatically correct English. Manuscripts with substandard language quality will be returned to the corresponding author for professional editing before they enter review.

1. Article Types

EMERJ accepts:

  • original research articles (3,000 – 12,000 words): full-length, primary reports of new empirical investigations or experiments conducted by the authors.
  • review articles (3,000 – 10,000 words): provide a comprehensive synthesis, critical analysis, and summary of existing published literature on a particular topic rather than presenting new primary data.
  • short communications (1,500 – 3,000 words): sometimes called brief reports or letters, are concise reports of original research that are smaller in scope or urgency than a full-length article.
  • technical notes (1,500 – 3,000 words): focus primarily on introducing or modifying a specific method, procedure, technique, software, or piece of hardware.
  • invited perspectives or commentaries (1,000 – 1,500 words): are short, expert-driven opinion pieces or essays, typically solicited by the journal editor.

2. Editorial Policies

  • Originality. Submission implies the work has not been published previously and is not under consideration elsewhere.
  • Research integrity. Manuscripts are screened for plagiarism and other integrity concerns at intake. Confirmed violations result in rejection and may be reported to the authors’ institutions.
  • Ethics. EMERJ follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) core practices on authorship, conflicts of interest, and research misconduct. Studies involving human participants or animal subjects must report the approving body and protocol/reference number.
  • Authorship. All listed authors must have contributed materially to the work and approved the final submitted version. One author is designated as corresponding author.

3. Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

Generative AI and AI-assisted tools (e.g., large language models, chatbots) may be used to improve language and readability, or to assist with coding and literature searches. They must not be used to generate original research content — data, analysis, interpretation, or conclusions — presented as the authors’ own work.

  • Disclosure. Any use of AI tools in preparing the manuscript must be disclosed in a dedicated AI Usage Disclosure statement, placed after the Author Contributions statement and before the Conflict of Interest statement (see Section 5.2 and the manuscript template). The disclosure should name the tool and version, its purpose, and the extent of its contribution. If no AI tool was used, the statement should say so.
  • Authorship. AI tools cannot be listed as an author or co-author: they cannot take responsibility for the work, hold copyright, or be held accountable for its accuracy or integrity. The corresponding author remains fully responsible for all content, including any text, data, code, or images produced with AI assistance.
  • Verification. Authors must independently check all facts, citations, and data produced with AI assistance. Fabricated or inaccurate (‘hallucinated’) citations, data, or references introduced by an AI tool are treated as a research integrity violation under Section 2.
  • Figures and images. AI-generated or AI-altered images intended to represent actual experimental results (e.g., micrographs, gel images, photographs) are not permitted. AI-assisted illustrations that do not represent data may be used only with clear disclosure and the Editor-in-Chief’s approval.
  • Confidentiality. Editors and reviewers must not upload submitted manuscripts, or any part of them, to AI tools or other third-party platforms, in order to protect the confidentiality of unpublished work.

4. How to Submit

Manuscripts are submitted as a Microsoft Word file through editorial@emerjournal.com. A brief cover letter should accompany the manuscript, stating its contribution and confirming that it is original and not under consideration elsewhere. Email submissions are not accepted.

5. Manuscript Preparation

5.1 General Formatting

5.2 Structure of the Manuscript

  • Title page — a concise, descriptive title; full author list with affiliations, mailing addresses, and e-mail addresses; the corresponding author clearly marked.
  • Abstract — one paragraph, no more than 250 words, stating the research problem, objectives, methodology, principal results, and major conclusions. It must be understandable on its own.
  • Keywords — up to five, listed alphabetically.
  • Introduction — states the problem and background, situates the work in the related literature, identifies the gap addressed, and closes with a clear statement of objectives.
  • Methodology — enough detail for the work to be replicated. Cite previously published procedures rather than repeating them; note only genuinely new steps in detail. Report ethical approvals where applicable, and specify manufacturer, model, and country of origin for equipment, materials, and reagents.
  • Results and Discussion — presented together, not as separate sections; each result should be followed directly by its interpretation. Avoid repeating the same data in text, tables, and figures.
  • Conclusion — summarizes the study’s contribution; recommendations and directions for future work may be included.
  • Acknowledgment — a brief, separate paragraph before the reference list, covering funding, technical assistance, and similar contributions.
  • AI usage disclosure — a short statement disclosing any generative AI or AI-assisted tool used in preparing the manuscript, and its purpose. State explicitly if none was used. See Section 3.
  • References — every in-text citation must appear in the reference list, and vice versa. Unpublished, inaccessible, or gray literature should not be cited. See Section 6 for style and examples.
  • Tables — self-contained, numbered consecutively, captioned above the table. Use three horizontal rules only (below the title, below the column headings, and at the foot); avoid vertical rules.
  • Figures — captioned below the figure with a brief title and description. Keep in-figure text to a minimum and set it in Times New Roman. Submit high-resolution, editable files (.tiff, .eps, .jpeg, or native MS Office format); figures must be embedded in the manuscript, not in an appendix.
  • Equations — centered, numbered consecutively at the right margin, e.g., (1), (2); define every symbol used.
  • Units and abbreviations — use SI units wherever possible and standard abbreviations only. Give measurements as numerals (e.g., 10 mm); spell out other numbers below ten.

6. Reference Style

APA 7th in-text citations follow author–date style: one author, surname and year; two authors, both surnames and year; three or more, first surname followed by et al. and year. Multiple references are cited chronologically; more than one work by the same author(s) in the same year is distinguished by “a”, “b”, “c”, etc. The reference list is arranged alphabetically by author surname. Examples:

  • Journal article: Baumann, T., Fruhstorfer, P., Klein, T., & Niessner, R. (2006). Colloid and heavy metal transport at landfill sites in direct contact with groundwater. Journal of Water Resources, 40(14), 2776–2786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2006.04.049
  • Book: Davis, M.L. (2005). Introduction to environmental engineering (3rd ed.). McGraw Hill.
  • Book chapter: Mettam, G.R., & Adams, L.B. (1999). How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In B.S. Jones & R.Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the electronic age (pp. 281–304). E-Publishing Inc.
  • Thesis/dissertation: Reid, J.O. (2009). Sustainable energy efficiency in households of the Philippines [Dissertation]. University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines.
  • Conference proceedings: Weber, D.J., & Hess, W.M. (1985). Simple solar model for irradiance. In E. Bilgen & K.G.T. Hollands (Eds.), Proceedings of ISES World Congress (pp. 123–132).
  • Software: R Core Team. (2024). R: A language and environment for statistical computing [Computer software]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing.

7. Peer Review Process

Manuscripts undergo editorial screening followed by double-blind peer review. The corresponding author is notified of the outcome (acceptance, rejection, or minor/major revision). after each stage. Authors asked to revise are expected to resubmit within 10 days of pre-review comments and 45 days of peer-review comments, unless another schedule is agreed with the Editor-in-Chief.

8. Proofs

The corresponding author receives an electronic proof (PDF) for final checking. Page proofs are treated as the final version of the manuscript; only typographical or minor clerical corrections are accepted at this stage, and only with the Editor-in-Chief’s agreement.

9. Copyright and Licensing

Submission implies that the work has not appeared in a refereed journal before (aside from an abstract or a published lecture) and is not under consideration elsewhere. Upon acceptance, authors execute the applicable copyright or open-access licensing agreement with EMERJ as a condition of publication.

10. Article Processing Charge (APC)

There is zero Article Processing Charge for publication under EMERJ. This policy may be subject to change without prior notice.

11. Editorial Discretion and Contact

The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to adjust manuscript style to maintain consistency across published issues. Authors who do not follow these guidelines may have their manuscripts returned for reformatting before review.

Questions may be directed to the EMERJ Editorial Office at editorial@emerjournal.com.

(Date of Revision: September 2026)