Author Guidelines

Sections

1. SUBMISSION

New submissions should be made via the Research Exchange submission portal https://wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/GJ    

Should your manuscript proceed to the revision stage, you will be directed to make your revisions via the same submission portal. You may check the status of your submission at anytime by logging on to submission.wiley.com and clicking the “My Submissions” button. For technical help with the submission system, please review our FAQs or contact [email protected].

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.

By submitting a manuscript to or reviewing for this publication, your name, email address, and affiliation, and other contact details the publication might require, will be used for the regular operations of the publication, including, when necessary, sharing with the publisher (Wiley) and partners for production and publication. The publication and the publisher recognize the importance of protecting the personal information collected from users in the operation of these services, and have practices in place to ensure that steps are taken to maintain the security, integrity, and privacy of the personal data collected and processed. You can learn more at https://authorservices.wiley.com/statements/data-protection-policy.html

File types. Preferred formats for the text and tables of your manuscript are .doc, .docx, .rtf, .ppt, .xls. LaTeX files may be submitted provided that an .eps or .pdf file is provided in addition to the source files. Figures may be provided in .tiff or .eps format.

Free Format Submission

Geological Journal now offers Free Format submission for a simplified and streamlined submission process.

Initial Submission

NON-LATEX USERS: Upload your manuscript files. At this stage, further source files do not need to be uploaded.

LATEX USERS: For reviewing purposes you should upload a single .pdf that you have generated from your source files. You must use the File Designation "Main Document" from the dropdown box.

Revised Submission

NON-LATEX Users: Editable source files must be uploaded at this stage. Tables must be on separate pages after the reference list, and not be incorporated into the main text. Figures should be uploaded as separate figure files.

LATEX USERS: When submitting your revision you must still upload a single .pdf that you have generated from your now revised source files. You must use the File Designation "Main Document" from the dropdown box. In addition you must upload your TeX source files. For all your source files you must use the File Designation "Supplemental Material not for review". Previous versions of uploaded documents must be deleted. If your manuscript is accepted for publication we will use the files you upload to typeset your article within a totally digital workflow.

We look forward to your submission.

2. AIMS AND SCOPE

Click here to read the journal's Aims and Scope.

3. MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES AND REQUIREMENTS

Contributions should not normally exceed 12,000 words (excluding figure legends). Discussion papers on articles published previously in the journal are most welcome.

4. PREPARING THE SUBMISSION

Your manuscript should be an editable file including text, figures, and tables, or separate files—whichever you prefer. All required sections should be contained in your manuscript, including abstract, introduction, methods, results, and conclusions.

Manuscripts can be uploaded either as a single document (containing the main text, tables and figures), or with figures and tables provided as separate files. Should your manuscript reach revision stage, figures and tables must be provided as separate files. The main manuscript file can be submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format.

Your main document file should include:

• A short informative title containing the major key words. The title should not contain abbreviations
• The full names of the authors with institutional affiliations where the work was conducted, with a footnote for the author’s present address if different from where the work was conducted. Please also indicate corresponding author(s) including the email address;
• Acknowledgments;
• Abstract
• Keywords;
• Main body: formatted as introduction, materials & methods, results, discussion, conclusion
• References;
• Tables (each table complete with title and footnotes);
• Figures: Figure legends must be added beneath each individual image during upload AND as a complete list in the text.

Parts of the Manuscript

The manuscript should be presented in the following order: Title, author names and affiliations, abstract, keywords, main text, acknowledgements, references, appendices, tables and figures legends. Figures and supporting material (if relevant) should be supplied in separate files. Footnotes must not be used except in the title page and in tables.

Title

The title should be in bold font, short, informative and contain the major key words. Only use capital initial letters for formal terms. Use a colon to separate parts of the title and a capital initial letter in the word starting the second part after the colon; e.g. 􀍚High-potassium volcanic rocks from the Okinawa Trough: Implications for a cryptic potassium-rich source􀍛. The title should not contain abbreviations (see Wiley's best practice SEO tips).

Author names and affiliations

All authors should agree to the order of the author listing, and to the content of the submitted manuscript. The author's institutional affiliations where the work was conducted should be provided. The present address of any author, if different from where the work was carried out, should be supplied in a footnote.

Abstract

All articles require an abstract of up to 250 words. The abstract should provide a concise summary of the whole paper, not just the conclusions, and should be understandable without reference to the rest of the paper. It should contain no citation to other published work.

Keywords

Include up to seven keywords separated by commas. They can include short phrases. They must be listed in alphabetical order.

Correspondence

This should show the name of the corresponding author, institution address and email address.

Funding Information

Details of grants/awards should be included on the title page.

Main Text

The main text should be presented under the following headings: Introduction, Description, Methods and Materials, Results and Interpretation, Discussion and Conclusions.

Acknowledgements

Financial and material support should be mentioned in the acknowledgements. Also thanks can be given to reviewers and editors, and those personnel providing assistance in field campaigns, laboratories etc.

References

References may be submitted in any style or format, as long as it is consistent throughout the manuscript. Supporting information should be submitted in separate files. 

Figures and Tables

Figures and tables should have legends. Figures should be uploaded in the highest resolution possible. If the figures are not of sufficiently high quality your manuscript may be delayed.

Preparation of Electronic Figures for Publication: All illustrations must be supplied at the correct resolution:

• black and white and colour photos - 300 dpi
• graphs, drawings, etc - 800 dpi preferred; 600 dpi minimum
• combinations of photos and drawings (black and white and colour) - 500 dpi
• preferred file format: PDF, TIFF, EPS
• all figures should be named as: [firstauthorsurname]Fig1.pdf

More advice on figures can be found at Wiley’s Guidelines for the Preparation of Figures.

Authors are encouraged to check recently published articles and those in EarlyView for guidance.

Graphical abstracts

Geological Journal publishes graphical abstracts for research articles and review articles, displayed online in graphical form with a brief abstract, in addition to the up to 250 word abstract above. The online table of contents will display a schematic figure to convey the core message of your paper, alongside a short abstract highlighting the major findings of the paper. Authors should submit a new and stand-alone image, or designate an image already included in the paper. Your short abstract should consist of 2-3 sentences summarizing the essence of the paper. Graphical abstract entries should be submitted to Scholar One in one of the generic file formats and uploaded as ‘Graphical Abstract’ during the initial manuscript submission process. The image should fit within the dimensions of 50mm x 60mm, and be fully legible at this size.

If the manuscript, figures or tables are difficult for you to read, they will also be difficult for the editors and reviewers, and the editorial office will send it back to you for revision. Your manuscript may also be sent back to you for revision if the quality of English language is poor.

5. EDITORIAL POLICIES AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATION

Editorial Review and Acceptance

The acceptance criteria for all papers are the quality and originality of the research and its significance to journal readership. Except where otherwise stated, manuscripts are single-blind peer reviewed. Papers will only be sent to review if the Editor-in-Chief determines that the paper meets the appropriate quality and relevance requirements.

Managing submissions received from members of the Editorial Board

Members of the Editorial Board who submit manuscripts to the journal are blinded to the peer review process and excluded from editorial decision-making on their own work to minimise bias.

Transparent Peer Review: This journal is participating in a pilot on Peer Review Transparency. By submitting to this journal, authors agree that the reviewer reports, their responses, and the editor’s decision letter will be linked from the published article to where they appear on Publons in the case that the article is accepted. Authors have the opportunity to opt out during submission, and reviewers may remain anonymous unless they would like to sign their report.

Refer and Transfer Program 

Wiley believes that no valuable research should go unshared. This journal participates in Wiley’s Refer & Transfer program. If your manuscript is not accepted, you may receive a recommendation to transfer your manuscript to another suitable Wiley journal, either through a referral from the journal’s editor or through our Transfer Desk Assistant.

Conflict of Interest

The journal requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise that might be perceived as influencing an author's objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or directly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript. Potential sources of conflict of interest include, but are not limited to: patent or stock ownership, membership of a company board of directors, membership of an advisory board or committee for a company, and consultancy for or receipt of speaker's fees from a company. The existence of a conflict of interest does not preclude publication. If the authors have no conflict of interest to declare, they must also state this at submission. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to review this policy with all authors and collectively to disclose with the submission ALL pertinent commercial and other relationships.

Publication Ethics

This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Read the Top 10 Publishing Ethics Tips for Authors here. Wiley’s Publication Ethics Guidelines can be found at authorservices.wiley.com/ethics-guidelines/index.html.

Reproduction of Copyright Material

If excerpts from copyrighted works owned by third parties are included, credit must be shown in the contribution. It is the author’s responsibility to also obtain written permission for reproduction from the copyright owners.

Geological Journal's content often includes regional, national, continental or global maps. We recognize there are disputes over borders and territories, which may be directly relevant for authors when describing their research. Any statements in research papers that declare that the maps published in these represent the borders of a country, can cause difficulties for GJ and Wiley with the country in question and its national laws. To avoid this, on any map that shows boundaries, please add a note clearly stating that "map lines delineate study areas and do not necessarily depict accepted national boundaries". If a perceived dispute or complaint is raised, our editorial team will attempt to find a resolution that works for all parties. Ultimately, the final decision on content is an editorial matter, and will rest with the journal Editors which, where necessary, will be in consultation with the Publisher.

6. DATA SHARING AND AVAILABILITY

This journal expects data sharing. Review Wiley’s Data Sharing policy where you will be able to see and select the data availability statement that is right for your submission.

Artificial Intelligence Generated Content

Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) tools—such as ChatGPT and others based on large language models (LLMs)—cannot be considered capable of initiating an original piece of research without direction by human authors. They also cannot be accountable for a published work or for research design, which is a generally held requirement of authorship (as discussed in the previous section), nor do they have legal standing or the ability to hold or assign copyright. Therefore—in accordance with COPE’s position statement on AI tools—these tools cannot fulfill the role of, nor be listed as, an author of an article. If an author has used this kind of tool to develop any portion of a manuscript, its use must be described, transparently and in detail, in the Methods or Acknowledgements section. The author is fully responsible for the accuracy of any information provided by the tool and for correctly referencing any supporting work on which that information depends. Tools that are used to improve spelling, grammar, and general editing are not included in the scope of these guidelines. The final decision about whether use of an AIGC tool is appropriate or permissible in the circumstances of a submitted manuscript or a published article lies with the journal’s editor or other party responsible for the publication’s editorial policy.

7. AUTHOR LICENSING

If a paper is accepted for publication, the author identified as the formal corresponding author will receive an email prompting them to log in to Author Services, where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be required to complete a copyright license agreement on behalf of all authors of the paper.

Authors may choose to publish under the terms of the journal’s standard copyright agreement, or OnlineOpen under the terms of a Creative Commons License.

General information regarding licensing and copyright is available here. To review the Creative Commons License options offered under OnlineOpen, please click here. (Note that certain funders mandate a particular type of CC license be used; to check this please click here.)

Self-Archiving Definitions and Policies: Note that the journal’s standard copyright agreement allows for self-archiving of different versions of the article under specific conditions. Please click here for more detailed information about self-archiving definitions and policies.

Open Access: Authors who choose to publish using Open Access will be charged a fee. for more details about Article Publication Charges and Open Access, please click here.

Funder Open Access: Please click here for more information on Wiley’s compliance with specific Funder Open Access Policies.

8. PUBLICATION PROCESS AFTER ACCEPTANCE

Accepted Article Received in Production

When an accepted article is received by Wiley's production team, the corresponding author will receive an email asking them to login or register with Wiley Author Services. The author will be asked to sign a publication license at this point.

Proofing

Authors will receive an e-mail notification with a link and instructions for accessing HTML page proofs online. Page proofs should be carefully proofread for any copyediting or typesetting errors. Online guidelines are provided within the system. No special software is required, all common browsers are supported. Authors should also make sure that any renumbered tables, figures, or references match text citations and that figure legends correspond with text citations and actual figures. Proofs must be returned within 48 hours of receipt of the email. Return of proofs via e-mail is possible in the event that the online system cannot be used or accessed.

Early View

The journal offers rapid speed to publication via Wiley’s Early View service. Early View articles are complete full-text articles published online in advance of their publication in a printed issue. Early View articles are complete and final. They have been fully reviewed, revised and edited for publication, and the authors' final corrections have been incorporated. Because they are in final form, no changes can be made after online publication. Early View articles are given a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), which allows the article to be cited and tracked before allocation to an issue. After print publication, the DOI remains valid and can continue to be used to cite and access the article.

9. POST PUBLICATION

Access and Sharing

When the article is published online: 

• The author receives an email alert (if requested).
• The link to the published article can be shared through social media.
• The author will have free access to the paper (after accepting the Terms & Conditions of use, they can view the article).
• The corresponding author and co-authors can nominate up to ten colleagues to receive a publication alert and free online access to the article.

Accessing Your Free PDF Offprint. Free access to the final PDF offprint or your article will be available via author services only. Please therefore sign up for author services if you would like to access your article PDF offprint and enjoy the many other benefits the service offers

Print copies of the article can now be ordered. Please click on the following link and fill in the necessary details and ensure that you type information in all of the required fields: http://www.sheridan.com/wiley/eoc.

Promoting articles

To find out how author's can promote their articles, please click here.

Article Promotion Support

Wiley Editing Services offers professional video, design, and writing services to create shareable video abstracts, infographics, conference posters, lay summaries, and research news stories for your research – so you can help your research get the attention it deserves.

Measuring the Impact of an Article

Wiley also helps authors measure the impact of their research through specialist partnerships with Kudos and Altmetric.

10. EDITORIAL OFFICE CONTACT DETAILS

For all submission enquiries please contact the editorial office: [email protected]

Author Guidelines updated 8 Mar 2023