Dear Contributors,
We have compiled a simple list of editorial rules to help you proofread your contributions.
These editorial rules are enforced through the selection process and camera-ready preparation.
-- IARIA Logistics Team

Note: If you have more to add to these recommendations, please email them to cosmin@iaria.org using subject "Editorial Rules"

General Considerations

- Clarify the relation with the conference topics (either in title, abstract, or introduction section)
- Identify a significant, challenging, not yet solved, or only partially solved problem
- Identify and present the prior art or related work (including references)
- Propose an understandable, defendable, and feasible solution
- Identify the target: theoretical, architectural, modeling, practical implementation, optimization, evaluation of existing solution, etc.
- Select evaluation metrics and show the practicality, scalability, and the benefits of your contribution
- Draw appropriate conclusions and compare your results with the prior art
- Clarify the contribution with respect to the promises in the abstract, the metrics, and the target
- Clarify the contribution with respect to the previous work (others, yourself)

Title and Authors

- in a title, no word with less than 4 letters starts with a capital letter, e.g., "Robots in Space"
- emails of all the authors must be mentioned
- addresses of the institutions must be mentioned
- use of full names is preferred /not preferred: M.P.D. Jones, preferred: Mary Price Danny Jones/
- in case initials are used, leave a space after notations like "M.", e.g., correct: M. N. Jones, incorrect: "M.N. Jones "
- no nicknames in the authors lists

Abstract

- avoid abbreviations in the abstract
- introduce the problem you are dealing with by one succinct sentence
- make it clear why the paper is related to the conference you are submitting to
- specify if it is a survey, an evaluation of existing work, or new ideas with new results
- end the abstract with one sentence reflecting the conclusion of the paper
- don't use references /no [x]s in the abstract/
- follow the style of the template
  "Abstract - The paper..... "

Keywords

- no more than 4-5 keywords
- follow the style of the template
  "Keywords-component; formatting; style; styling; insert (key words)"
- note: use a semicolon between keywords words

General

Language

- keep uniform, across the paper, of either "US-English" and "UK-English, to avoid word variations
  e.g., behavior vs. behaviour, modelling vs. modeling, center vs. centre, etc.
- we recommend either one or the other, not a mix
- one might need help even in our native language, so
  + have a peer cross-check
  + have a native English speaker or an English speaker specialist help with a cross-check

Capital Letters

- use a capital letter "S" when saying "In Section 2, we..."
- don't use capital letters when saying "There are four sections, ..."
- use a capital letter when "figure" is followed by a number, e.g., "In Figure 3 we...."
- don't use when no number follows, e.g., "The two figures ..."

Structure

- introduction must end with a paragraph describing the structure of the paper
- between two titles and subtitles, have a sentence or a small paragraph, e.g.,
  "1. Title 1
  We will present...
  1.1 Subtitle 1
  ...................
  "
- don't end a section with a figure
- don't start a section with a figure
- last section must be "Conclusion and Future Work"
- "Conclusion" must reiterate accomplishments announced in the "Abstract"
  note: many submissions fail on this coherence

Punctuation

- "e.g." is always followed by a comma, so the correct usage is "...substantial, e.g., one and the other"
- no spaces between reference enumerations, e.g., [2][3][5].
- use a uniform figure capture, e.g., "Figure 3. The point of..."
- in the text, refer to it also by "see Figure 3", and not by "see Fig. 3"
- leave a space after a comma, e.g., "Alfa, Omega" and not "Alfa ,Omega"
- all abbreviations must be fully spelled when first used, e.g., "...and RR (Remote Retrieval) can be used [x]."
- usually, when there is no confusion, use the reference identifier [x] at the end of the sentence.
- note the difference US- vs. UK style when using quotes
  + US: ".... text text [x]."
  + UK: ".....text text . [x] "
  + the last form may confuse the reader, when used inside a paragraph.
- ending a quote and a sentence style
  + US: "..text text text 'bataille'.
  + UK: "..text text text 'bataille.'
- in English, the correct use of colon is immediately after a word without a space, e.g., "Peter said: text..."

Correct Spelling

- it is 'Related work" and not "Related works'
- it is Conclusion", and not "Conclusions"
- avoid "Let's ...", use "Let us..." instead
- avoid "I did...", or "We did", except when you want to specifically highlight a team's work; instead, use passive voice, e.g.,"Something was done"
- when used, usually mid-sentence, "i.e." and "e.g." are surrounded by commas
- "e.g.," is used when an example is intended [Latin: "exempli gratia", English: "for example", "for the sake of example", French: "par example"]
- "i.e.," is used when a clarification is needed [Latin: "id est", English: "that is", French: "c'est-a-dire"]
- "etc." [Latin: etcetera, English: and the rest, French; et autre]
- "Q.E.D." [Latin: "quod erat demonstrandum", English: "which was to be demonstrated", French: "ce qu'il fallait demonter"
  + used for mathematical formulas, at the end of a proof.

Claims & Formulae

- own claims must be substantially defended
- someone else's statements endorsed by you must be referred to by a reference identifier [x]
- when formulae are used, their source must be disclosed (via references)
- formulae must be numbered by (x)
- your own formulae must be carefully explained and the ownership must be clearly specified
- all the abbreviations or key concepts must have a reference, possibly even explained

Figures

- don't use blurry figures
- even though one can enlarge an electronic document, use legible text for the figures
- imported figures /even enhanced/ must have their origin specified as a reference
- text inside the figures must be legible
- describe every figure in plain text; don't assume the reader understand it
- abbreviations in a figure must be explained in the plain text, not on the figure
- place the figures close to the text referring to them
- larger figures or sequences of figures related to a given concept can be placed at the end

Results

- clarify the tools used for obtaining the results /benchmarks, software, hardware, etc./
- for special tools, provide a reference
- when theory is the core, a concrete application greatly increases the value of the contribution
- when pure applications/systems are the main scope of the contribution, stressing out the concepts and theories behind them gives more value to the work
- when simulations are shown, explain why particular parameters where chosen
- diagrams must be explained /what?/ and interpreted /why?/
- summarize the results by comparison tables/graphs/etc. with the prior-art; it proves your understanding and makes your message clearer
- defend new proposals by general metrics such as performance, robustness, complexity, scalability, etc. in addition to the metrics specific to your contribution
- conclude with "lesson learned'
- provide next steps by 'future work', usually in "Conclusion and Future Work"

References

- follow the style recommended in the Call for Papers
- URL references should be limited
- URL references must be verified at the time when the camera-ready is submitted
- the checking date must be written, e.g., [x] <link> 01.12.2009
- references must be uniform in terms of
  + first vs. last name
  + abbreviation, e.g., P. Jones, or Peter Jones - use of the "and"
  + Peter Jones and Patrick Smith /no comma in front of "and"/
  + Peter Jones, Anne DuBois, and Patrick Smith
- all references must be used in the text, i.e., referred to
- references are assumed to be the most up to date, unless fundamental concepts are enhanced and one must refer to the original proposal
- note that the freshness of the references gives a good idea on how actual a given contribution is

Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism

- avoid cut&paste of big portions from your previous work
- when used, any quoted "fragment"must rely on a reference.
- reusing ideas and enhancing them should be based on a paraphrase
- always refer to your published work (in "References"), if small portions are ethically reused
- some images and figures may require explicit accept from the original authors or from those owning the "copyright"
- make it always clear what is "from the literature" and what is "your own contribution"
- there is no shame to give credit to someone else!
- use an "Acknowledgments" section, after "Conclusion and future work", to thank those who contributed, either scientifically or financially, but not at the level to be an author

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