Submissions

Author Guidelines

Article types

Full length research article

For this journal, full research articles have an 8000-word limit, including figures and tables, but excluding references.

Review papers

The maximum word count for a review paper submitted to this journal is 10000 words, which includes all figures and tables but excludes the references section.

Case Studies

The maximum word count for case studies submitted to this journal is 8000 words, which includes all figures and tables but excludes the references section.

Short Communication

The maximum word count for short communications submitted to this journal is 10000 words, which includes all figures and tables but excludes the references section.

Peer review

This journal follows a double-blind peer review process. Every submission will be first assessed by the editors for its suitability for publication in this journal. If the submission is found suitable, it will typically be sent to a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. An article acceptance or rejection decision is taken by the editors based on the assessment report received from the expert reviewers.

The journal forbids editors from making decisions on papers which:

• they are one of the authors or wrote themselves.
• have been written by individuals close to them (family) or professional associates (colleagues).
• involves products or services they have personal interest.

In such instance, the submission will undergo usual journal’s procedure and the peer review process will be handled by an independent editor, who is not affiliated with the research and research group.

Authors could appeal decisions taken by submitting a formal appeal request to the editorial email address. For each submission, only one appeal will be reviewed, and the appeal decision is conclusive

Open access

This journal is open access. The publication fee for Nigerian authors with affiliation(s) in Nigeria is N50,000 while a publication fee of $100 will be paid by foreign authors with foreign affiliation(s)

Ethics and policies

Ethics in publishing

Authors must follow the journal ethical guidelines.

Submission declaration

Before submission to the journal, authors must declare that:

• the work is original and has not been previously published, excluding preprints, abstracts, lectures, theses, or registered reports.
• the article has not been submitted for publication to any other journal.
• all the authors and the relevant authorities have granted their approval for the publication of this manuscript.
• Upon acceptance, this article will not be republished without the copyright holder's written permission.

In order to confirm that your manuscript is in accordance with our journal's publication standards, we may utilize our screening software.

Authorship

It is expected that all authors made substantial contributions to all of the following:

1. The conceptualization and design of the research, the obtaining of data, or the analytical and interpretive processes applied to the data.
2. The preparation of the article draft or its thorough revision, focusing on the essential intellectual components.
3. Final approval of the submitted version.

It is essential for authors to designate a corresponding author to liaise with the journal throughout the editorial process. All authors must collectively take responsibility for every aspect of the work, ensuring that any issues concerning the accuracy or integrity of any part are thoroughly examined and addressed.

Changes to authorship

The journal's editors typically do not entertain requests for changes to the list of authors after a manuscript has been submitted. Authors should thoroughly review and finalize the list and sequence of authors before the initial submission.

The policy of this journal around authorship changes:

• The manuscript must include all authors, and their information should be entered into the submission system.
• Changes to the list of authors, whether adding, removing, or rearranging names, should be made only before the paper is accepted and must have the journal editor's approval.
• Any modifications to the authorship of a manuscript must be initiated by the corresponding author, who is required to submit a detailed rationale to the journal editor, accompanied by written confirmation of consent from all authors, including those being added or removed, regarding the proposed alterations.
• All requests to change authorship must be submitted via email to the editor.
• The journal editor will only entertain requests for additions, deletions, or rearrangements of authors following acceptance under highly unusual circumstances.
• The journal may temporarily halt the publication of the manuscript while evaluating a request to alter the author list.
• In the event that the journal editor approves a request to modify authorship after publication, a corrigendum will be issued to reflect the changes.
• Unauthorized alterations to the author list can result in the rejection of the manuscript prior to publication or, if already published, its subsequent retraction.

Declaration of interests

Authors are required to declare any financial or personal associations with individuals or entities that may create a perception of bias or undue influence on their research. Common examples of such competing interests are:

• Consultancies
• Honoraria
• Grants or any other funding
• Employment
• Stock ownership
• Patent applications or registrations
• Paid expert testimony

Funding sources

Authors must fully disclose all funding sources that contributed to the financial support of the research and the article's preparation. The role of sponsors, if applicable, regarding the study's design, data gathering, analysis, interpretation, report writing, and the decision to submit the article for publication must be detailed. In the absence of such involvement, this must be explicitly stated in the submission.

Follow this standard format when listing funding sources; this will help us comply with the funders' requirements:

Funding: This work was supported by the Tertiary Education Fund (Tetfund) [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Odusote & Yahaya Foundation, Ilorin, Nigeria [grant number zzzz]; and the University of Ilorin Research Support Grant [grant number aaaa].

Detailed descriptions of grant programs, scholarships, and awards are not required. When funding originates from block grants or other institutional resources, please provide the name of the university, college, or research institution that supplied the funding.

In the event that no financial support was received for the research, it is advisable to incorporate the subsequent sentence:

This research was carried out without receiving any specific grant funding from agencies operating within the public, commercial, or not-for-profit domains.

Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing

When submitting a paper, authors must explicitly state any use of generative AI in the writing of the manuscript. This policy exclusively addresses the writing stage and does not cover the application of AI tools for data analysis and the derivation of research findings.

• Generative AI and AI-assisted tools are to be employed solely for the purpose of refining the readability and linguistic accuracy of the manuscript during the writing phase.
• The application of this technology necessitates human supervision and control. Authors are required to meticulously review and edit the generated output, acknowledging that AI can produce seemingly authoritative content that may contain inaccuracies, omissions, or biases. The authors retain ultimate responsibility and accountability for the content of the final work.
• Authors are prohibited from listing or citing AI and AI-assisted technologies as authors or co-authors on manuscripts, as authorship entails responsibilities and tasks that are exclusively human attributes.

The application of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the scientific writing process must be acknowledged by authors through the inclusion of a statement at the conclusion of the manuscript during the initial submission phase. This statement will be incorporated into the final published version, positioned within a new section preceding the list of references. An example is presented here:

• Disclosure Regarding the Application of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing of This Manuscript.
• Statement: In preparing this work, the author(s) utilized [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] for [REASON]. Following its use, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as necessary and bear(s) full responsibility for the final published article.

This declaration requirement excludes the use of standard tools employed for grammar, spelling, and reference verification. If no generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were utilized beyond these basic tools, no statement is necessary.

Jurisdictional claims

JEIS acknowledges and respects the decisions of its authors concerning the designation of territories and the identification of their affiliations within their published content. JEIS's editorial stance is one of neutrality regarding territorial disputes or jurisdictional claims, encompassing, but not limited to, maps and institutional affiliations. For journals published by JEIS on behalf of third-party owners, these owners may establish their own distinct policies regarding such matters.

• Maps: Readers must be able to easily locate study areas depicted in maps using standard mapping platforms. Maps should be confined to the specific area of study, and authors should refrain from including broader location maps. Authors are required to add a clear note stating that 'map lines outline study areas and do not necessarily describe accepted national boundaries.' JEIS editors may request map revisions during the review process if these guidelines are not adhered to.
• For the purpose of ensuring research integrity, authors are required to provide either the full, standard title of their institutional affiliation or its recognized abbreviation, enabling independent verification of the institutional name.

Copyright and Licensing

The Journal of Engineering, Innovation, and Sustainability (JEIS) allows authors to retain the copyright of their papers without restrictions. Articles are published under the terms of a Creative Commons license CC BY-SA which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. First Published in 2025. Published by the Faculty of Engineering & Technology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.

Writing and formatting

File format

Kindly provide the source files, which should be editable, for your entire submission, including all figures, tables, and graphical text elements. We have provided some guidelines below:"

• Submit your Word files in .doc or .docx format; PDFs are not considered editable source files.
• Use a one-column layout for your text.
• Please ensure your manuscript is free of strikethrough and underlined text, except where these formatting elements are essential for conveying scientific meaning within your article.
• Proofread your work using spell-check and grammar-check to minimize mistakes.

Title page

The title page must contain the following information:

• Article title. Keep your article titles short and clear, ensuring they accurately reflect the content. Avoid abbreviations and formulas unless they are universally recognized, like DNA.
• Author names. Provide the authors' full names (given and family names) in the order they appear in the submission system. Double-check all spellings for accuracy. If your name has a different script, you may provide it in parentheses after the English transliteration.
• Affiliations. Provide complete affiliation addresses for each author, indicating where the research took place. Use lowercase superscript letters to connect authors to their addresses. Ensure you include the full postal address with the country and, if available, the author's email address.
• Corresponding author. Clearly identify the corresponding author who will be responsible for all communication related to your article during review, publication, and beyond. This person will answer queries about your results, data, methodology, and materials. Please ensure their email and contact information are current.
• Present/permanent address. If an author's current address differs from where the research was conducted, provide their present or permanent address as a footnote, using superscript Arabic numerals, linked to their name. Retain the original affiliation address where the work was performed as their primary address.

Abstract

You are required to submit an abstract of no more than 250 words, summarizing your research's purpose, key findings, and main conclusions. The abstract must be concise and factual. Here are some guidelines:

• Abstracts should stand alone, as they are frequently viewed independently of the full article. They must be understandable on their own.
• References should be avoided in the abstract. If absolutely necessary, cite only the author(s) and year(s).
• Non-standard abbreviations should be avoided in the abstract. However, if they are necessary, you must define them at their first use.

Keywords

Provide 1 to 7 keywords for indexing. It should be in English and avoid keywords with multiple words (containing “and” or “of”).

It is advisable to use abbreviations in keywords only when they are standard and well-established in your area of study.

Highlights

We suggest including article highlights with your submission.

Highlights are short, concise, and bullet-point lists, outlining the research's key findings and new methodologies. Highlights improve your article's visibility in search engines. Here are some guidelines:

• Provide 3 to 5 bullet points for your highlights, with each point limited to 85 characters, including spaces.

Math formulae

• For mathematical equations, use editable text format, and not image submissions.
• If possible, include simple formulas as part of the running text.
• For simple fractions like X/Y, use a forward slash (/) instead of a horizontal line.
• Variables should be shown in italics.
• Use 'exp' to represent exponential functions with base e.
• Present equations on separate lines from the main text and number them sequentially, according to their appearance in the text.

Tables

Tables should be submitted in editable text format; images are not acceptable. Here are some guidelines:

• Tables should be located either adjacent to the related text or grouped on separate pages at the article's end.
• All tables must be cited within the manuscript text.
• Number tables consecutively according to their appearance in the text.
• Add captions to your tables.
• Put table notes at the bottom, directly following the table's body.
• Tables should not contain vertical rules or shaded cells.

It's advisable to use tables only when necessary, ensure they present unique data, not duplicate information found elsewhere in the article."

Figures, images and artwork

All figures, images, artwork, diagrams, and other visual materials must be provided in your manuscript and not submitted as separate files.

When submitting:

• Provide citations for all images in the manuscript text.
• Number the images in the order they appear in your article using a logical naming convention (Figure 1, Figure 2 etc).
• All figures, images, and artwork should have captions.

Artwork formats

After finalizing your artwork, use the 'save as' or conversion function to create files in the following formats, ensuring they meet the resolution guidelines for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations.

• Vector drawings: Save your files in EPS or PDF format, ensuring that fonts are either embedded or converted to graphical elements.
• Color or grayscale photographs (halftones): Save your files as TIFF, JPG, or PNG, with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi, or 1063 pixels for single column and 2244 pixels for full page width.
• Bitmapped line drawings: Save your files as TIFF, JPG, or PNG, ensuring a minimum resolution of 1000 dpi (or 3543 pixels for single column, 7480 pixels for full page width).
• Combinations bitmapped line/halftones (color or grayscale): Use TIFF, JPG, or PNG format for your files, and maintain a resolution of at least 500 dpi (1772 pixels minimum for single column, 3740 pixels for full page width).

Please do not submit:

• low-resolution files, such as those designed for screen display (GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG).
• images that are much larger than the text, which can make the text difficult to read.

Figure captions

Every image must include a caption. This caption should provide a short title (separate from the image) and an image description. Keep text within the image minimal, and explain any symbols or abbreviations used.

Provide captions in a separate file.

Color artwork

Provided your color figures meet our standards, they will be published in color in the online version of your article.

Design your color images with consideration for those who may have difficulty perceiving colors.

After your article is accepted and sent for printing, you will receive pricing information for color reproduction. At that point, you'll need to decide whether you want color only online or in both the online and print versions

Generative AI and Figures, images and artwork

Our policy regarding the use of generative AI and AI-assisted tools in figures, images, and artwork is available in JEIS’s GenAI Policies for Journals. Please review it. This journal policy on the use of generative AI and AI-assisted tools in figures, images and artwork states:

• The use of Generative AI or AI-assisted tools for image creation or modification in submitted manuscripts is not allowed.
• AI or AI-assisted tools can only be used for image creation or alteration if they are integral to the research design or methods, such as in biomedical imaging. In these cases, the methods section must provide a detailed, reproducible description of their use, including the model or tool name, version, extension numbers, and manufacturer.
• Generative AI or AI-assisted tools are not allowed for creating graphical abstracts. Cover art production using these tools may be permitted in certain cases, but only with prior approval from the journal editor and publisher, proof of cleared rights, and proper content attribution.

Video

This journal does not accept video material and animation.

Research data

We are committed to promoting research data storage, access, and discovery, and we partner with the research community to enhance research efficiency and transparency.

Research data includes the results of observations or experiments that confirm research findings, as well as software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, methods, and other useful materials about the project.

For this journal, the following instructions apply.

Research data deposit, citation and linking

You are required to:

• Upload your research data to an appropriate data repository.
• In your article, cite the dataset and include a link to where it's located.
• If you are unable to share the data, please provide a statement justifying the data's unavailability.

Data statement

To maintain transparency, you must indicate whether your data is available during the submission process.

If your funding body or institution requires data availability, and you cannot share your data (e.g., because it's sensitive or confidential), state the reason during submission. This statement will be included in your published article on JEIS.

Data linking

Providing links to the research data allows for greater exposure and collaboration opportunities, while also facilitating a more thorough understanding of your research by readers

If you've made your research data available in a data repository, you can connect it to your article in several ways:

• "When asked during the online submission, include a link to your dataset.
• If you use specific data repositories, a banner linking to your data will automatically appear with your article on JEIS.
• You can also create links to relevant data or entities within your article's text using identifiers, following this format: Database: 12345 (e.g., SAAR: PA1K01020; WNND: 954053; XRF: 1HFQ).

Article structure

Article sections

Ensure your manuscript is organized into distinct sections with headings that address all the essential elements

Glossary

Provide a separate list to define any specialized terminology used within your article.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledge individuals who provided research support, such as language editing, writing assistance, or proofreading, in a separate 'Acknowledgements' section that comes right before the references. Avoid placing acknowledgements on the title page, as a footnote to the title, or in any other part of your article.

Author contributions: CRediT

Corresponding authors are required to acknowledge co-author contributions using CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) roles: Conceptualization, Data collection, Data analysis, Funding, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing

Not all CRediT roles will apply to every manuscript and some authors may contribute through multiple roles.

We advise you to read more about CRediT and view an example of a CRediT author statement.

Funding sources

Authors are required to declare all sources of funding that supported the research and/or the preparation of this article. If sponsors were involved, their role in the study's design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, report writing, and the decision to submit must be stated. If the funding sources had no such involvement, this should also be explicitly mentioned in your submission.

Present funding sources in this standard format to help you meet the requirements of your funding bodies.

Funding: This work was supported by the National Research Fund (NRF)  [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Odusote & Jamiu Foundation, Ilorin, Nigeria [grant number zzzz]; and the Unilorin Researchers Fund [grant number aaaa].

Detailed descriptions of the specific grant programs, scholarships, or awards are not required. If funding is provided through a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or research institution, please provide the name of the institution or organization that supplied the funds.

If your research did not receive any financial support, it is advisable to include the following statement:

This research did not receive a specific grant from any funding agency, whether public, commercial, or not-for-profit.

Appendices

Kindly follow this format for any appendices included in your manuscript.

• Use the letters A, B, C, etc., to identify each separate appendix in your manuscript.
• Number formulae and equations in each appendix separately, starting with (A.1), (A.2) in Appendix A, then (B.1), (B.2) in Appendix B, and so on. Similarly, number tables and figures separately in each appendix as Table A.1, Fig. A.1, Table B.1, Fig. B.1, etc.

References

References within text

All references mentioned in your article must appear in your reference list, and conversely, all entries in your reference list must be cited in the article. The following guidelines are provided for your assistance:

• Any references you cite in your manuscript must be provided in their complete form.
• We recommend that you refrain from including unpublished research findings and personal communications within your reference list. However, it is permissible to make mention of these within the main body of your article where deemed relevant.
• Should you deem it necessary to include any unpublished research findings or personal communications within your reference list, kindly ensure that these entries adhere to the standard reference style employed by this journal. In lieu of the conventional publication date, please indicate either 'unpublished results' or 'personal communication', as appropriate to the source.
• When a reference is cited with the notation 'in press,' it signifies that the referenced work has successfully undergone the peer-review process and has been formally accepted for publication.

Providing links to the sources you cite will make your research easier to find.

Prior to the submission of your manuscript, please ensure the meticulous verification of all data provided within your reference list, with particular attention to the accuracy of any references that may have been copied. The provision of precise reference information is essential as it enables the establishment of crucial links to abstracting and indexing services such as Scopus, Google scholar, AJOL, DOAJ, Crossref, and PubMed, thereby enhancing the visibility and impact of your research. Any inaccuracies pertaining to surnames, journal or book titles, publication years, or pagination within your references may impede the creation of these vital links.

We encourage you to use Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for your reference links because they provide a permanent web address for the cited electronic article.

Reference format

This journal has adopted the APA 7 reference style, which must be strictly followed at submission. Any submission that does not comply with the reference style will be returned.  Author names, journal or book titles, chapter or article titles, year of publication, volume numbers, article numbers or pagination must be included, where applicable. It is advisable to provide the DOIs of all references. After acceptance, authors will be required to supply any missing reference data at the proof stage.

Reference style

Indicate references by mentioning the author(s) and adding the publication year within a bracket. You can cite within your text as demonstrated, “Ajimotokan (2021), Ibrahim and Kamaldeen (2022), and Hambali et al. (2023)”.

List references in the order they appear in your article.   

Reference to a journal publication:

Odusote, J. K., Yahaya, S. A., & Ahmed, I. I. (2024). Biocompatibility and Toxicity Assessment of Novel Nanomaterials and Biomaterials. Nigerian Journal of Technological Development, 5(2), 285 – 300. https://doi.org/10.32456/njtd-2024-0709-010

Reference to a journal publication with an article number:

Hambali, H. K., Yaqub, Z. A., & Ajala, M. I. (2021). Sustainable Production of Biofuels and Biochemicals from Renewable Resources. Heliyon, 8(1), 15, e00205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e00205

Reference to a book:

Adeleke, O. O. (2022). Fundamentals of Intelligent Transport Systems, first ed., University Press, Nigeria.

Reference to a chapter in a book:

Otuoze, A. O., & Abdulrahman, K. O. (2024). The impact of mobile technology on rural education in Kogi State, in: Odusote, J. K. (Ed.), Innovations in Educational Technology in Nigeria, Unilorin Press, Nigeria, pp. 105-122.

Reference to a website:

Nigerian Environmental Watch, (2023). Understanding climate change impacts in Nigeria. Retrieved from https://nigerianenvironmentalwatch.ng/climate-change-impacts (accessed 20 April, 2023).

Reference to a dataset:

Otuoze, A. O., & Abdulrahman, K. O. (2024). Internet subscriptions of students in University of Ilorin [dataset], Mendeley Data, v1, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1014/sdf15nc39e.1.

Reference to software:

Folowosele, T. Adeoti, R. Adeleke, O. Jimoh, A. Adedeji, A. Yusuf, I. T. Oyeleke, M. Advanced Highway Simulator (AHS) v0.88 [software], Clab, April 23, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1011/Clab.235209.

Web references

For web references, you must provide at least the full URL and the date you accessed the site. If available, also include the DOI, author(s), publication date(s), or a reference to the original publication.

When citing websites, you can either create a distinct section for them right after your regular references, or simply include them within your main reference list.

Data references

Please cite the underlying or relevant datasets directly in your article's text, and make sure to provide complete references for these datasets in your reference list.

When you cite data, make sure to include the following information:

• author name(s)
• dataset title
• data repository
• version (where available)
• year
• global persistent identifier

Please add '[dataset]' right before your data reference in the reference list. This helps us correctly identify it as a dataset. This '[dataset]' tag will not be visible in your published article

Preprint references

Please clearly indicate if you are citing a preprint. You should include the word 'preprint' or the name of the preprint server in your reference and provide the preprint's DOI.

In the event that a preprint cited within your manuscript has subsequently been published in a peer-reviewed journal, authors are requested to utilize the details of this formal publication as the primary reference, as it represents the finalized and validated version of the work.

Where preprints contain information that is fundamental to the understanding of your research or that describe crucial advancements within the field of study, and these preprints have not yet been formally published in a peer-reviewed journal, it is permissible to cite these preprint versions within your manuscript, ensuring they are clearly identified as such.

Reference management software

The APA 7 reference template is available in reference management software products. The products that support Citation Style Language (CSL) includes Mendeley Reference Manager, Endnotes, Zotero etc.

Authors who utilize citation plug-ins provided by the reference management software are advised to select the APA 7 template to ensure the automatic and accurate formatting of all citations and bibliographies in accordance with the journal's style. It is, however, strongly recommended that all field codes be removed from the manuscript prior to its submission to any reference management software product, in order to prevent potential formatting inconsistencies or errors during the processing of your submission.

If your citation software doesn't have a specific template for this journal, please follow the formatting shown in the examples within the reference style section of this Guide for Authors.

Submitting your manuscript

Submission checklist

We recommend that you go through our submission checklist before you complete the submission of your manuscript.

• A single author has been designated as the corresponding author for this submission, and their comprehensive contact information, including a valid email address, full postal address, and active telephone numbers, has been duly provided to facilitate all necessary communication.
• All the necessary files have been uploaded, including keywords, figure captions, and tables (which have titles, descriptions, and footnotes).
• It is confirmed that a thorough review of the manuscript has been undertaken to ensure accuracy in spelling and grammar.
• All sources mentioned in the text are listed in the references, and all references listed are mentioned in the text.
• We have the required permission to use any copyrighted content we've included from other sources, even from the web.
• The authors acknowledge that this journal operates under an open access publishing model. Consequently, all authors understand and accept their responsibility for the payment of the article publishing charge (APC) should the manuscript be accepted for publication. It is further understood that the payment of this APC may be facilitated by the corresponding author's institution or the research funding body that supported the work.

Submit online

The journal's online submission portal provides authors with a guided, step-by-step process for the input of manuscript details and the uploading of all necessary files. Upon completion of the upload, the submitted files will be used for the peer-review process.

Please be advised that editable file formats, such as Microsoft Word documents, are a requirement for the typesetting process that precedes the final publication of your article. Furthermore, kindly note that all official correspondence pertaining to your submission, including notification of the editorial decision and any requests for manuscript revision, will be communicated electronically via the email address provided during the submission process.

To submit your paper, please click on this link.