1. Introduction

1.1. Contact details for submission

Authors are requested to submit their papers electronically by submission system: https://editors.publisherspanel.com/pl.ici.ppanel-app-war/ppanel/index?issn=0866-9546&language=en. Authors are requested to submit the title page, manuscript file with text (without names and affiliation), tables, and artwork in the electronic form to this address.

Authors who are unable to provide an electronic version or have other circumstances that prevent online submission must contact the Editor prior to submission to discuss alternative options - aot.wt@pw.edu.pl.

1.2. Submission declaration

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere including electronically in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright-holder. Authors declare that they agree with the Archives of Transport policy, and accept all information from this guide.

1.3. Copyright and open access

Upon acceptance of an article, all authors will be asked to complete an “Archives of Transport Copyright Assignment”, but usually it is better to enclose the assignment to a submission. Archives of Transport journal allows the author(s) to hold the copyright without restrictions.

This journal provides all articles in free open access. Articles are freely available to wider public with permitted reuse under license: Creative Commons 4.0 BY (https://creativecommons.org/).

1.4. Role of the funding source

Authors are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated.

1.5. Language (usage and editing services)

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

1.6. Publication fee

The article processing charge is 350 EUR (1500 PLN). The fee applies to articles accepted for publication (after review procedure). Discounts are available for articles with a foreign authoring team of high research quality and high potential. 

It is possible to obtain an APC fee waiver. High-quality articles developed by international scientific teams may apply for an exemption. For this purpose, an application with justification should be sent to the address aot.wt@pw.edu.pl.

1.7. Publication time and review speed

- first decision about the manuscript is provided approximately 14 days after submission;
- final decision (including review time) is undertaken approximately 120 days after submission;
- online publication of the accepted article is done approximately 180 days after submission.

 

2. Publishing Ethics

2.1. Plagiarism detection and conflict of interest

The Archives of Transport Editorial Board is obligated to assist the scientific community in all aspects of publishing ethics, especially in cases of (suspected) duplicate submission or plagiarism.

All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.

All authors must have materially participated in the research and/or article preparation.

2.2. Ghostwriting & Guestauthorship

The Editorial Board of Archives of Transport makes efforts to counteract scientific misconduct like “ghostwriting” and “guestauthorship”.

Integrity and reliability in science are the foundation of its quality. Viewers of science should be assured that the authors of the publication transparently, fairly and honestly present the results of their work, regardless of whether they are direct authors, or accepted the aid of specialized entities (natural or legal person). The ethical attitude of researchers and highest editorial standards are evidenced by transparency of information about entities contributing to the publication (substantive, material or financial input, etc.), as a manifestation of good manners and social responsibility.

In opposition to above mentioned ethical actions there are unethical behaviours like “ghostwriting” and „guest authorship”.

“Ghostwriting” is a situation when someone has made a substantial contribution to the publication, but is not revealed as one of the authors or its role is not mentioned in the acknowledgments. The “guestauthorship” (“honorary authorship”) is a different situation where the author has made little or no contribution to the publication, and yet is mentioned as author or co-author. In order to deal with “ghostwriting” and “guest authorship” Editorial Board of Achieves of Transport introduces the following requirements for authors:

• All authors are asked to complete and send (by post or scanned copy by e-mail) an “Archives of Transport Contribution Statement” stating the contribution in the publication (including the affiliation and share: who is the author of concepts, principles, methods, protocols, etc.). This requirement also applies to one-author articles, in terms of affiliation, contribution and possible extensive use of other authors or institutions results.
• Authors are asked to include and send information about the sources of funding, contribution of institutions, associations and other entities (“Financial Disclosure”). These data will be used to assess whether the authors duly (sufficiently) complied with the requirements leading to the elimination of "ghostwriting" and "guestauthorship".

These requirements rest jointly on all authors represented by the author submitting the article. Submitting (or corresponding) author is given primary responsibility for the accuracy completeness of required information. Only one declaration is required (send by corresponding author).

The Archives of Transport Editorial Board informs that any cases of unethical actions will be disclosed and exposed, including notifying the relevant institutions (employing institution, societies, associations of scientific editors, etc.). All manifestations of scientific misconduct, especially violations and breaches of ethics in science will be documented by the editors.

 

3. Preparation of the article submission

3.1. Essential title page information

The title page should precede the text of the article, and must contain following elements in order:

• Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
• ORCID numbers of all authors.
• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication by underlining the appropriate author given name(s) and family name(s). Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.
• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address.
• Acknowledgements, please add it in the title page. List here those individuals who provided help during the research or funding source. Do not include it in file with manuscript text.

3.2. Text

The text of publication must be prepared in accordance with the following:

• The manuscript file cannot contain any information about the authors. It should be prepared in a way that will allow proceeding a blind review procedure.
• Manuscripts should be between 4 000 and 10 000 words in length (including references, tables and figures), if justified, length may be exceeded.
• It is important that the file be saved in the native format (please use doc., docx.) and also in pdf. The text should be in single-column format.
• Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible.
• The Times New Roman font 12 pt. with single interline is preferred.
• Avoid multi-space to make gaps, hard spaces (non-breaking spaces) and hard page breakers. If it is possible, use automatic references, headers and footers.

The final formatting will be done after acceptance of manuscript by Editorial Board and presented to the author for acceptance before printing.

3.3. Article structure (file with manuscript)

3.3.1. Subdivision - numbered sections

Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ..), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.

3.3.2. Title and Abstract

The title must match the content of the article and include its main theme. A concise and factual abstract is required (about 300-350 words). The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s).

3.3.3. Keywords

Provide 3 to 5 keywords avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts. Only firmly established in the field abbreviations may be eligible. Keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

3.3.4. Introduction

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

3.3.5. Results and discussion

Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

3.3.6. Conclusions

The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

3.3.7. Abbreviations

Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their first mention there. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

3.4. Artwork and tables

3.4.1. Electronic artwork

The above rules must be applied for artworks:

• Use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version.
• Submit illustration in article file.
• If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is' in the native document format.
• Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'Save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below): EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts, TIFF (or JPEG, JPG): Colour or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi, TIFF (or JPEG, JPG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi. TIFF (or JPEG, JPG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (colour or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.
• Please avoid GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG format, files that are too low in resolution; and submitting graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
• If you submit usable colour figures then Archives of Transport will ensure that these figures will appear in colour in online and printed version.
• Because of technical complications that can arise by converting colour figures to 'grey scale' (for the copies of printed version) please make sure that your graphics will look properly in black and white versions.
• Each illustration must have a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

3.4.2. Tables

Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables should be placed next to the relevant text in the article and clearly referred. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules.

3.5. References

3.5.1. Citation in text

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is present in the reference list. All positions in reference lists must be cited in the text. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication. Citation in text should be in the form (author, year) for example (Kowalski and White, 2000) or (Smith et al., 2010).
Please take into account that at least 30% of references should cite papers published in the last three years. Please also make sure that the number of self-citations does not exceed 4.

3.5.2. Web references

As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

3.5.3. Reference style

The reference list should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication. APA (American Psychological Association) citation in-text and reference list citations are required. Citation in text should be Name(year) or (Name, year) for example Smith and Nowak (2010) or (Wisniewski et al., 2010).

• Reference to a journal publication:

Smith, A., Nowak, K.S., & Liu, H.S. (2010). How to write a scientific article. Journal of Scientific Articles, 163(5), 51–59.

• Reference to a book:

Kowalski, W., & White, E.B. (2000). The handbook on science. (3rd ed.). New York: Longman, (Chapter 5).

• Reference to a chapter in an edited book:

Wisniewski, G.R., & Adams, L. B., (2009). How to prepare your article. In Jones, B.S., & Smith, R.Z. (Eds.), Introduction to the electronic age (pp. 281–304). New York: E-Publishing Inc.

If the title of the cited article, book, or chapter is not given in the Latin alphabet, the author must provide an appropriate transcript into English. This is required for indexing purposes.

3.6. Cover Letter

It is a significant part of the submission (send it via submission system in the same place where the title page is). It contains very useful information for the editor and will make assessment procedures faster. The cover letter should include:

1. Description of the article, including title, authors, number of pages, figures, tables, equation, and references.
2. Information about each author's contribution.
3. Summary of the novelty of the article and its impact on science and practice in the article research area.
4. Highlight that your research is in line with the thematic scope of the Archives of Transport journal (e.g., indicate which publications, at least 2-3, are similar thematically).
5. It is precious if you can indicate your articles where you cite works from the Archives of Transport.
6. The declaration about no competing interest, acceptance of the journal policy, and the declaration that article is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out.
7. It is very welcome if you can send a suggestion of 3 reviewers (affiliation should be other than your, at least one should be a foreign researcher), send it in such manner: Title, First name, Last Name, Affiliation, E-mail address, please attach them also in the online submission system.

 

4. Submission checklist

The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review:

1. One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details: e-mail address, full postal address.
2. The title page of the article prepared in separate file.
3. The manuscript file have been prepared, and contains: title, abstract, keywords, text, figures, all figure captions, all tables (including title, description, footnotes),
4. Manuscript has been spell-checked and grammar-checked, references are in the correct format, all references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text
5. Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet), graphics are ready to be optionally published in grey-scale also.
6. Manuscript is saved in doc. or docx. format with additional copy in pdf.
7. Cover letter in pdf. Please submit it in the same place of an online system where title page is) or send it via e-mail on address: archivessecretary@wt.pw.edu.pl in the subject message add a number of submission from submission system.
8. All necessary declarations are collected and completed (pdf files):

• Archives of Transport Copyright Assignment (all authors).
• Archives of Transport Contribution Statement (all authors).
• Financial Disclosure (submitting/corresponding author).
• Article Processing Charge Confirmation (submitting/corresponding author).
• General Data Protection Regulation (submitting/corresponding author).

 

5. Reviewing and publication process

5.1. Review Policy

Achieves of Transport has adopted a double blind reviewing policy, where both the referee and author remain anonymous throughout the process. Please remove all identifying features from the paper itself, ensuring that authors' identity is not revealed. However, this does not preclude authors from citing their own works. However, authors must cite their works in a manner that does not make explicit their identity. Author(s) declares that submitted article is not a plagiarism.

5.2. The article rejection

The submitted article can be rejected in following cases:

1. Subject editors recognize that the article is not consistent with the scientific area of Archives of Transport.
2. The “ghostwriting” or “guestauthorship” practice is detected.
3. The review procedure results in unequivocal rejection.
4. The copyrights of any kind are violated.
5. The form of article doesn’t meet the basic requirements of text editing.
6. The number of submitted articles is significantly greater than publishing possibilities.

In all cases the decision about article rejection is undertaken by Editorial Committee and author(s) get a notification with specified reasons of rejection and possible directions of further actions.

5.3. Publication process and review procedure

The review and publication process is started after new submission. The process consists of following steps:

1. Submission of the article with all required declarations by online system: https://editors.publisherspanel.com/pl.ici.ppanel-app-war/ppanel/index?issn=0866-9546&language=en. 
2. Acceptance by associated editor (subject editor) for further processing. Subject editors can propose reviewers.
3. The evaluation of each accepted article is done by two reviewers who are not associated with the scientific unit affiliating author(s). The reviewers are appointed by Editorial Board (double blind reviewing policy).
4. Information about author(s) and reviewers are undisclosed to both sides (double-blind review). The reviewer is not revealed during the procedure and after the publication.
5. Review involves completing a Review Form with a place for additional comments. Reviewers are obliged for clear admission of the article for publication or rejecting it. The admission may be conditional in nature, which means that article requires changes listed by reviewer.
6. Generally, the decision to reject the article is final, unless the Scientific Committee would consider that the rejection occurred without proper justification and formulating clear remarks about the authors. In that case, after checking and remedying shortcomings being the basis for the rejection of the article, the authors have right to re-submit for publication. Review process is then repeated.
7. If necessary Author(s) receives comments from reviewer to be taken into account and included into article. Author(s) is obligated to consider remarks and improve the work or discuss with reviewer through the Archives of Transport Editorial Board.
8. Reviewing process is stopped when article is finally rejected or accepted by both reviewers.
9. The names of the reviewers are given collectively once a year as a list in the last (fourth) issue and on the web-site. The list doesn’t notify which articles or even which issues were supported by particular reviewers.
10. Information about review mechanisms and criteria are available for authors in Review Form.
11. After successive review process paper the Archives of Transport sending an invoice with processing charge.
12. After Payment article is edited and prepared for publication. Author accepts the final version of the paper before printing and releasing it on-line.
13. Publication.

 

6. GDPR information clause

In accordance with art. 13 section 1 and 2 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of people using a connection to the processing of personal data and relate to the activity of such data and repeal of provisions 95/46 / EC (General provisions on data protection) (Official Journal EU L 119 of 05/04/2016 , p. 1; corrected, Journal of Laws EU L 127 of 23/05/2018, p. 2), hereinafter referred to as "GDPR", the Editorial Team of the Archives of Transport informs and authors, reviewers and other stakeholders acknowledge:

• the administrator of your personal data is the Faculty of Transport of the Warsaw University of Technology, 75 Koszykowa Street, 00-662 Warsaw;
• contact regarding personal data protection:

1. by correspondence: Editorial Team of the Archives of Transport, Faculty of Transport, Warsaw University of Technology, 75 Koszykowa Street, 00-662 Warsaw,
2. e-mail: aot.wt@pw.edu.pl,
3. through the correspondence module after logging into the portal: https://aot.publisherspanel.com;

• your personal data will be processed on the basis of art. 6 clause 1 lit. b GDPR in order to conclude and implement a cooperation agreement related to publications in the Archives of Transport, as well as for archiving purposes and will be made available to entities authorized to receive them under the law;
• providing personal data is voluntary, but the result of not providing data will be the inability to conclude and implement cooperation related to the publications of Archives of Transport;
• your personal data will be stored for the period necessary to perform it and control of cooperation, and for the purposes of the Accounting Act for a period of 5 years starting from the year following the financial year;
• you are entitled to:

1. the right to access your personal data,
2. the right to rectify your personal data,
3. to the extent resulting from legal provisions - the right to delete as well as the right to limit the processing of your personal data;

• you have the right to lodge a complaint to the President of the Office for Personal Data Protection, if you believe that the processing of your personal data violates the law.

 

7. Distribution

• The journal is available online in the open-access formula.
• After printing, the journal printed version is forwarded to libraries as a compulsory copy.
• Other scientific entities and libraries may submit a request for free copies of printed version (please contact aot.wt@pw.edu.pl) - however, we do not guarantee such a possibility.
• Authors may submit a request for an original copy. The cost is 30 EUR per piece. Please inform us about such will after the review process. The fee will be included in the invoice with the article processing charge.

 

8. Publishing activity

Archives of Transport is published and financed by Faculty of Transport, Warsaw University of Technology. 

In 2022 - 2024 Archives of Transport received funding under the "Development of scientific journals" program implemented by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Poland.

The project aims to improve the quality of the journal, including the quality of the publishing process, increase the range of its impact and maintain the journal in international circulation.

INFORMATION ABOUT RECEIVED FUNDING (IN ENGLISH) and (IN POLISH)

 

ARCHIVES OF TRANSPORT
ISSN 0866-9546
E-ISSN 2300-8830