Information for Contributors

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Aims and scope

The peer-reviewed electronic journal “Tribology Online” is dedicated to facilitating global exchange of up-to-date information among tribologists and researchers in relevant fields through rapid publication of high-quality papers on all aspects of tribology: science and technology of lubrication, friction, wear, lubricants, tribo-materials, tribo-systems, and so on. The journal is open access and fully supported by the Japanese Society of Tribologists; authors can publish with no publication fee, and readers can access the publication with no subscription fee.

Types of contribution

Tribology Online publishes Article, Short Communication, Technical Report and Review.

Article is intended to be an original report of researches in tribology and relevant fields.

Short Communication is intended to be a preliminary report of new concepts, findings, and opinions whose rapid publication will be important for a large number of readers in relevant fields.

Technical Report is intended to be an original report of technological developments in tribology and relevant fields, with emphasis on application and practice.

Review is intended to be a review of researches and technological developments in tribology and relevant fields.

Length of manuscripts

Recommended length for manuscripts of Short Communication is four printed pages (e.g. 2,000 words plus less than ten figures/tables).

There is no page limit for manuscripts of Article, Technical Report and Review.

Ethics and responsibilities of authors

It is essential that all who participate in producing the journal conduct themselves as authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers in accord with the highest level of professional ethics and standards. By submitting a manuscript to this journal, each author implicitly confirms that it meets the highest ethical standards. Also, authors should be responsible for statements or opinions advanced in papers to be published in this journal.

Originality

Submission of manuscripts implies that it has not been published previously and is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Plagiarism and falsified data

Submitted manuscripts must not contain plagiarized material or falsified research data. Proper acknowledgement must be given when using data, text, or theories by others.

Authorship

Authorship of submitted manuscripts should be limited to the individuals who have made a significant contribution to the study and manuscript preparation.

Measures in case of infraction

If an author is determined not to comply with the above rules, corrective measures will be implemented, which include but not limited to the following:

• If the manuscript is under review, it may be rejected.

• If the paper has already been published, depending on the severity of the infraction, either of the following may occur:
- Addition of an erratum/correction to the paper
- Publication of an expression of concern on the paper
- Retraction of the paper

Competing interests

All authors should disclose any financial or non-financial competing interests or conflicts of interest that actually or potentially influence, or could be perceived to influence, the objectivity, integrity and value of their work. Competing interests include but are not limited to funding or other support, employment or consultancy, stock or share ownership, and patents or patent applications.

Authors should list all funding sources for their work in the Acknowledgements section of their manuscript.

Confidentiality

The journal maintains the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts. Authors should treat all communication with the journal on their submitted manuscript as confidential.

Preparation of manuscripts

Manuscripts must be written in English and prepared in accordance with Authors' Guide for Manuscript Preparation, which describes structure of manuscripts, necessary elements to be included and their formats. Manuscripts should be prepared in electronic form using accepted word-processing software. Figures should be prepared in preferred formats to ensure the highest-quality reproduction in the journal.

Graphical abstract is optional but encouraged as it will help readers to determine the content and importance of the paper at a glance.

For details, please see Authors' Guide for Manuscript Preparation
<https://www.tribology.jp/trol/AuthorGuide.html>.

 

Submission of manuscripts

Manuscript submission and correspondence between authors, editors and reviewers in peer review are made through Editorial Manager®—an online manuscript submission and peer review system—, except for signed materials.

To submit a manuscript, go to
<https://www.editorialmanager.com/trol/>.

 

Peer review

Submitted manuscripts are peer reviewed by at least two reviewers. Reviewers make one of the following recommendations:
- accept with no change required
- accept with minor revisions
- re-review after major revisions
- reject for publication

Decisions regarding acceptance of manuscripts are made by the Editor based on reviewers' recommendation. Mandatory and/or optional revisions, and minor amendments, if any, are listed and sent to the authors, who are responsible for making required changes or improvements in the manuscript and responses or rebuttals to reviewers’ comments.

Evaluation of manuscripts of Article is based upon novelty, technical quality and significance of research, clarity and conciseness in presentation, and completeness. English language quality is also considered in the evaluation.

Evaluation of manuscripts of Short Communication is based upon novelty, technical quality and significance of research, and clarity and conciseness in presentation. English language quality is also considered in the evaluation.

Evaluation of manuscripts of Technical Report is based upon novelty, technical quality, applicability and practical importance of technological development, and clarity and conciseness in presentation. English language quality is also considered in the evaluation.

Evaluation of manuscripts of Review is based upon technical quality, significance in relevant fields, and clarity and conciseness in presentation. English language quality is also considered in the evaluation.

When revisions are required, authors should submit a revised manuscript within a month after receipt of the list of comments and suggestions of the reviewers, otherwise the manuscript will be treated as a new submission.

Views and opinions expressed in published papers are, even if changed or improved in the course of required revisions, those of the authors and not of the society.

English language editing

Manuscripts with poor language quality will not be published. The Editor will ask the authors to have them edited by a native English speaker or a language editing service before they submit the final version.

Publication fees

Tribology Online is fully supported by the Japanese Society of Tribologists. There is no publication fee (article processing charge).

Errata

Correction of errors in papers previously published in Tribology Online may be published as an editorial.

Authors who notice an error should contact

mailto:puboffice.trol@tribology.jp

Rights and permissions

Tribology Online is published by the Japanese Society of Tribologists. Copyright of papers accepted for publication is owned by the Japanese Society of Tribologists; all authors are asked to transfer copyright to the society prior to publication.

Copyright Guidelines and Copyright Transfer Form are available to download from <https://www.tribology.jp/trol/download.html>.

All papers published in Tribology Online after July 15, 2017 are open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/>.

CC BY-NC-ND allows users to copy and distribute the paper, only upon conditions that (i) users do not copy or distribute such paper for commercial purposes, (ii) users do not change, modify or edit such paper in any way, (iii) users give appropriate credit (with a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI (Digital Object Identifier)) and provide a link to this license, and (iv) users acknowledge and agree that users and their use of such paper are not connected with, or sponsored, endorsed, or granted official status by the Licensor (i.e. Japanese Society of Tribologists). On submission of the paper, the authors should understand and agree that their published paper will be subject to the above Creative Commons license.

Note that the authors must indicate, onto the paper, the copyright holder of third-party materials such as figures in their paper and obtain the permission from the copyright holder, because the third-party materials in the paper are NOT included in the paper’s Creative Commons license.

Author reuse

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of the Creative Commons license, the authors of the papers published in Tribology Online may reproduce any part of their papers to recognized publications without written permission. The authors are requested to cite the original sources.

Repository policy

Tribology Online allows authors the use of the published version of a paper for self-archiving in author’s personal website and/or an institutional repository after the publication of the paper. The published source must be acknowledged. Authors are not allowed to archive a submitted version or an accepted version.

Archiving policy

The full text of all papers is deposited in the Portico archive <https://www.portico.org/publishers/jstage/> to guarantee long-term digital preservation.

Post acceptance

Manuscripts accepted for publication will be sent to production for copyediting and typesetting upon receipt of the Copyright Transfer Form, which must be completed and submitted by the corresponding author.

Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author, who should check and return them as soon as possible. Only essential corrections of typesetting errors are accepted; excessive changes to the proofs are not permitted.

After receipt of the corrected proofs, the paper will be published online in a forthcoming issue or the relevant special issue.

Author enquiries

All author enquiries should be addressed to

mailto:puboffice.trol@tribology.jp