For Authors
Editorial policy
The broad objective of Statistics in Transition new series (SiTns) is to advance statistical and associated methods used primarily by statistical agencies and other research institutions and academia. To meet this objective, the journal encompasses a wide range of topics in statistical design and analysis, including survey methodology and survey sampling, census methodology, statistical uses of administrative data sources, estimation methods, economic, social and demographic studies, and novel methods of analysis of socio-economic and population data. With its focus on innovative methods that address practical problems, the journal favours papers that report new methods accompanied by real-life applications. Authoritative review papers on important problems faced by statisticians in agencies and academia also fall within the journal’s scope.
Guidelines for Authors
We will consider only original work for publication in the journal, i.e. the submitted paper must not have been published before or be under consideration for publication elsewhere. The author will be asked to confirm that the manuscript has not been submitted elsewhere. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Editor-in-Chief.
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1. Length of the paper – guidelines
1.1. Reports of original empirical research and conceptual essays normally should not exceed 10.000 words in body text (about 20 pages). However, wherever possible, we would like to ask Authors for shorter papers – around 14-16 pages in many cases will be enough for a deep yet concise reporting. Some studies can be effectively reported in an even shorter form – within the 6.000-8.000 words range, especially in the ‘Research Communites and Letter’ section designed to present a summary of the ogoing research results. [Note: Word counts in these guidelines refer only to the body of text or the main text, not to other elements such as abstract, keywords, acknowledgments, references or appendices].
1.2. Brief reports should be no more than 2.500 words in the body of text.
1.3. Papers longer than 10.000 words in the body of text may be accepted in some cases, but in general should be avoided, as they might pose a burden on both reviewers and readers. Authors should justify the need for that length in their cover letter. Normally, a concluding or summing-up of the discussion section would be the final part of the paper.
The above guidelines are not meant to restrict Authors in sharing their work. However, the essence of scientific writing is in concise and clear reporting. In the era of information overflow, SiTns would like to encourage Authors to aim for focused and balanced writing, in order to maximize each papers’ potential for a greater contribution to the readers’ knowledge.
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2. Submission of a paper
2.1. What and how to submit
The manuscript (addressed to the Editor-in-Chief of SiTns: sit@stat.gov.pl or Editorial Office: P.Barszcz@stat.gov.pl) should be sent as a file, preferably in Microsoft Word format (.docx file) or, after having agreed upon it with SiTns’s Editorial Team, as a set of LaTeX files (in the .tex, .pdf format and .jpg, .eps format for graphics files) excluding bibliographic files in the (.bib) format. A file with bibliography cannot be in the attachment or in the second separate file. Bibliography should be included in the main file with an extension (.tex) at the end of the article.The attachment filename should use the surname (last name) of the submitting author, e.g.
Authors preparing their papers in Word and LaTeX format are advised to use our template (https://sit.stat.gov.pl/ForAuthors)
2.2. Preferably, the file containing the submitted paper should not be larger than 1 MB (WORD, 5 MB LaTeX)
Manuscripts should be in the form ready for review and should conform to the formatting and other instructions provided below. All elements of the paper (i.e. abstract, body/main text, tables and figures, etc.) must be compiled in one file, and placed where they would normally appear in the published paper, i.e. tables and figures should not be placed at the end of the paper.
Please be advised that it is our policy not to print papers written by the same Authors in the same issue of the journal.
2.3. Details of the cover letter to the Editor-in-Chief
The e-mail message (cover letter) to the editor should include:
- a statement that the manuscript [title] is submitted for review and publication in SiTns. If there are multiple authors, the submitting author should also state that all authors have agreed to have the manuscript submitted to SiTns for review and possible publication. All Authors are asked to provide – as an endnote – information about their affiliations and the main field(s) of current research interest (in total, up to 130 words for each Author);
- Authors’ statements of observing the rules of ethics and quality assurance, as set out in our ‘Ethics and quality assurance policy’. In particular, there should be a statement that the submitted paper is original, i.e.that it has not been previously published in any form nor it is currently considered for publication elsewhere, or information which parts were published before and other details (where and when etc.); for more details see the above document;
- full contact information of each Author, i.e., name, surname, e-mail, institutional affiliation, complete mailing (postal) address, ORCID number;
- optionally, other details or requests, such as e.g. the request for allowing a manuscript loger than indicated in the above rules and a relevant justification for that request, explanation of the paper’s relevance to SiTns when it addresses a novel or unusual topic, a clarification of technical details such as the name of the corresponding author if it is not the person submitting the paper for review, or other information as might be required.
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3. The refereeing process and editorial decisions
3.1. An incoming paper is at first read by the Editor-in-Chief often in consultation with member(s) of the editorial board, to ensure its relevance to SiTns aims and scope. If a problem arises, the editor will typically provide the Author(s) with advice on what is necessary to change in order to make the paper suitable for review and the potential publication.
Papers which have passed such an initial screening are reviewed by an associate editor who also acts as an internal referee and may at times coordinate the review process that typically involves at least two external referees.
3.2. Based on the reports from referees (double-blind reviews), the Editor-in-Chief editor will make one of the following possible decisions:
- to approve the manuscript for publishing as submitted (with no changes necessary);
- to approve the manuscript on condition the suggested (relatively minor) revisions are made;
- to reject the manuscript in the submitted form, at the same time encouraging the Author(s) to re-submit a revised (rewritten) version of the paper for a new review; yet with no guarantee that the corrected paper will be accepted;
- to reject the manuscript (as either not qualified or not fitting the scope of the journal).
3.3. The Editor’s-in-Chief decision of accepting or rejecting the paper with an attached copy of the anonymized reports from the referees will be mailed to the Author(s) directly after completing the refereeing process.
3.4. Papers accepted for publication may be further revised by editors (or an associate editor) to improve the clarity of the presentation and, if necessary, correct some technical issues. If time permits, papers considered ready for publication will be sent to the Author(s) for the final proofreading, and in such a case, the Author(s) will be asked to respond to the proposed corrections/alterations within 2-3 days and indicate any other necessary changes (preferably small). The Author(s) will be e-mailed an electronic copy of their paper when it is published on the SiTns website.
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4. Manuscript preparation and formatting
4.1. Writing style and presentation
Authors should aim for their papers to be interesting and comprehensible for researchers, practitioners and statisticians, also for those not necessarily specialising in the topic of the paper. Given the international audience of SiTns, Authors should make sure to provide relevant explanation of any country-specific terms, acronyms, concepts or issues whose understanding is essential for readers from other countries to comprehend the gist of the paper.
Papers should be concise and focused, but at the same time contain all information necessary for both referees and readers.
4.2. Formatting and layout
Authors should consistently follow all the specifications below when preparing their manuscripts. Attention to those details early on reduces the need for extra processing later and helps both the editors and the Authors in preparing files for publication in an efficient manner.
4.2.1. Title and Author(s). The title should appear at the beginning of the paper, followed by each Author’s name, institutional affiliation and email address. The title and the name(s) of an Author/Authors should be centred. Only the first letter of the first word in the title and proper names (if applicable) should be capitalized. The Author’s/Authors’ affiliation(s) and email address(es) should be provided in a footnote. An affiliation should indicate the Author’s/Authors’ academic institution or employing organization, or town of residence if the Author is not associated with an academic institution or organization.
4.2.2. Abstract. A blank line should be left below the Author’s/Authors’ name(s). The word ‘Abstract’ should be bolded and centred, and separated from the text of the abstract by another blank line. The abstract should contain no more than 1,600 characters (including spaces). It should be right-indent at 0.6 cm (0.24”).
It is advisable to make the abstract informative, accurate, non-evaluative and coherent, as most researchers read the abstract either in search of the main result or to decide whether or not to read the whole paper. With this in mind, the abstract should specify the aim of the study, its approach or methodology and the key findings or conclusions, in such a way that the paper’s contribution to its field is clear. The abstract should be self-contained, i.e. there should not be any bibliographic citations in it.
4.2.3. Key words. A blank line should be left between the last verse of the abstract and key words (the words themselves written in bold italics). The key words should consist of 3–5 words or brief phrases, preferably other than those used in the title of the paper, separated by commas. These words will often be used to index the paper by bibliographic services.
4.2.4. Sectioning. The paper should be divided into sections, and if necessary, into subsections and smaller divisions. Section titles should be written in bold and left-justified, and numbered as follows: 1., 2., 3., …. Subsection titles should be left-justified and numbered as follows 1.1., 1.2., 1.3., ….
4.3. Formatting. Please implement all the following:
- Page size. Please set the page size to non-standard: 16.6 cm width x 23.8 cm height (.docx and .tex file). Please use the margins of 1.9 cm at the left and the right side, 2.7 cm at the top, and 1.3 cm at the bottom (.docx file).
- Font. All text should be typed using 10.5 point Minion Pro font, with two exceptions: (a) the title should be 13 point, and (b). the text inside tables should be 9 points, all in the same font.
- Emphasis. Words within the body of text can only be emphasized by using different formatting (like italics or bold characters); beyond that, no other text alterations are allowed.
- Justification. The whole body of text should be both-side (fully) justified, except for titles and section titles
- Indenting. The first line in each paragraph of the body of text should be indented by 0.6 cm (0.24”). For numbered or bullet lists, please do not use indenting.
- Spacing. Please use single spacing throughout the whole paper, including the title, author information and the abstract. Exactly one blank line should be left before Authors’ names, abstract, acknowledgements, references, and appendices. Exactly one blank line should be left before and after section titles, subsection titles, and titles of tables and figures. The body of the text that follows a table or figure should be separated from the table or figure by exactly one blank line.
- Footnotes and endnotes. Please do not use any footnotes – except for authors’ information, footers, or endnotes. All key information should appear within the body of text.
- Page numbers. Please insert a page number in the centre of the top margin (top header), starting from page 2 of the paper. Otherwise, please do not write any text in the header.
- Things to avoid. Please do not add an extra 2nd space after a period at the end of a sentence. Please do not add blank lines between paragraphs or items in a reference list, or before subsections. Please do not use multiple spaces to indent text – always use tabs.
4.4. Figures and tables. In general, only tables or figures (charts, graphs) that are essential for the article should be included. They should be designed in such a way as to ensure effective communication of key information and of main patterns of findings. Tables and figures should be placed within the body of the text, not at the end. The title of the table should be placed above the table, while the title of a figure should be placed under the graph or chart. Tables should use only horizontal lines and no emphasis except italics (i.e. no bold or underlining). If you use tables, charts or graphs, please choose a format that is economical in space. This means that (a) the table or figure should fit within a single published page of the Journal (see Formatting), in legible type not below 9 points; (b) the resulting file size should be as small as feasible. Incorrect table and figure formats can lead to very large files, which might be difficult to send to reviewers and might prove hard for readers to download. If your file exceeds 5 MB in size, you will be asked to reconsider the use of non-essential or very large charts or graphs in order to reduce the file size.
Colour in charts or graphs is acceptable if it is a part of original research materials or makes it possible to highlight special features of the chart or graph. Yet, Authors must be aware that many readers will print or photocopy papers in black and white, not in colour. Hence, when planning and writing, Authors should consider the comprehensibility of the text that refers to colours, and of charts and graphs that contain colours, from the point of view of readers using texts printed only in black and white. In some cases, explanatory statements may be necessary to help readers understand the structure of colour-based charts or graphs. If necessary, please modify colourful charts and graphs so that they use such colours and patterns that are contrasting or distinct enough to be discernable in shades of grey (when printed without colour).
4.5. Acknowledgments (optional). Authors may add a brief ‘Acknowledgements’ section after the end of the body of text and before References, to acknowledge prior publication, support from funding agencies, or help by other researchers and collaborators.research assistants or various collaborators.
4.6. Referencing – bibliography and citations. Each listed reference item should be cited in the text, and each text citation should be listed in the References. Referencing should be modelled on the Harvard Chicago System – see http://www.libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm. When creating the list of bibliographic items, please list all the items in the alphabetical order using a hanging indent of 0.6 cm (0.24”) for each item. Please do not add extra blank lines or spacing between bibliographic items. References in the text should be cited with authors’ name and the year of publication. If a specific part of a reference (e.g. a particular page) is cited, please indicate it after the reference, e.g. (Novak, 2003, p.125).
4.7. Details of the corresponding author. At the end of the paper, below the references, a blank line should follow and then the name of the corresponding Author (in capitals) and the complete postal (mailing) address should be provided, right-justified. Usually, but not always, this will be the first Author.
4.8. Appendices (optional). Authors may add 1–2 appendices if there is a need to present valuable auxiliary information, such as the full text of a new research instrument or a questionnaire used in the study whose details are not already widely available. With a few exceptions, no results or tables with additional data should appear in the appendix – they should rather be incorporated into the main text. Appendices should be brief and essential to the understanding of the paper, and would be allowed at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.
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5. Final reminders and advice
Given the nature of reviewing and publishing electronic manuscripts, Authors are reminded that they must follow the length guidelines, number all sections and subsections of their paper in a consistent manner, follow the formatting and layout guidelines and apply the styles within it, avoid submitting large files (over 5 MB) without considering carefully the actual need for all the elements, and send a proper cover letter. Besides the technical aspects, the purpose of the reviewing process is to enable SiTns to accept high-quality manuscripts that are interesting, informative, and make a genuine contribution to statistical knowledge and practice. The review process is designed to provide authors with feedback that can help them further develop their papers and bring them to adequate quality. Yet, there is interplay between the initial quality of a submission and the comprehensiveness of the feedback that authors may receive. It is easier to review and provide constructive feedback on papers that describe well-planned studies, that are well-developed, logically organized, and written in a clear and succinct style. When there are serious problems with the design, conceptualization, interpretation or conclusions, when writing is poor or texts lack essential details or well-developed discussions, reviewers would most likely be unable to provide detailed feedback.
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6. Licence
After the submitted paper is accepted for publication by the Editor-in-Chief, the Authors will be asked to send a filled-in official licence document. Statistics in Transition new series uses Licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
