Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology

Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology

Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tus to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned. Remember you can log in to the submission site at any time to check on the progress of your paper through the peer review process.

Sage Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions from a diverse range of authors from across all countries and backgrounds.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology will be reviewed.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology will consider submissions of papers that have been posted on preprint servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the Journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the Journal's author archiving policy.

If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.

If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal.

1. What do we publish?
   1.1 Aims & Scope
   1.2 Article types
   1.3 Writing your paper
2. Editorial policies
   2.1 Peer review policy
   2.2 Authorship
   2.3 Acknowledgements
   2.4 Funding
   2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
   2.6 Research Data
3. Publishing policies
   3.1 Publication ethics
   3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
   3.3 Open access and author archiving
4. Preparing your manuscript
   4.1 Formatting
   4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
   4.3 Identifiable information
   4.4 Supplemental material
   4.5 Reference style
   4.6 English language editing services
5. Submitting your manuscript
   5.1 ORCID
   5.2 Information required for completing your submission
   5.3 Permissions
6. On acceptance and publication
   6.1 Sage Production
   6.2 Online First publication
   6.3 Access to your published article
   6.4 Promoting your article
7. Further information
   7.1 Appealing the publication decision

 

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope

Before submitting your manuscript to Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

A fourth Industrial Revolution – driven by disruptive technologies like the mobile Internet, as well as big data, and artificial intelligence - is now transforming cities globally. China’s hyper-industrialization and accelerating urbanization present researchers with new questions for understanding cities and a lens through which to understand this fourth Industrial Revolution. While many of these emerging questions are unique in the social-science literature, all require rigorous contextual and comparative analysis.

Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology is an interdisciplinary, international, peer-reviewed journal. It seeks to publish innovative research in urban analytics on the new science of cities and the science of new cities with a focus on China. The journal is a space for the analysis of Chinese cities and the study of Chinese urbanization, in local, regional, and comparative context.

It focuses on - but is not limited to - topics like: smart city/infrastructure, future cities driven by disruptive technologies, urban modelling, planning/design support systems, big data and related analytics using emerging technologies, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, wearable devices, and applications in urban studies and planning. Research from the building scale to the international scale is welcomed.

Committed to topical, theoretical, and methodological diversity, the journal welcomes contributions from a wide range of disciplines including: computer science, anthropology, environmental studies, economics, geography, political science, and sociology.

1.2 Article Types

Research article: Advances existing knowledge and debates significantly through theoretical elaboration or empirical analysis. May contain up to 8,000 words (text only, excluding abstract, keywords, references, tables and figures, but including table/figure titles and legends) in addition to a title (max. 30 words), an abstract (max. 200 words), and 25-60 references. Links to the datasets are encouraged to be submit together with the article.

Review article: Summarizes existing knowledge, identifies key insights and controversies, and outlines directions for future research and/or practice. May contain up to 10,000 words (text only, excluding abstract, keywords, references) in addition to a title (max. 30 words), an abstract (max. 200 words) and no less than 25 references.

Perspective article: Stimulates discussion by providing a fresh, out-of-the-box, and forward-looking perspectives on existing debates and topics. May contain up to 3,000 words (text only, excluding abstract, keywords, references) in addition to a title (max. 30 words) and an abstract (max. 100 words). There is no limit on the number of references. Perspective articles are commissioned by the editors, but suggestions are welcome.

Note from the field: Written by a decision maker or practitioner in order to highlight needs for further knowledge generation and/or to share lessons learned from practice. May contain up to 3,000 words (text only, excluding  abstract, keywords, references) in addition to a title (max. 30 words) and an abstract (max. 100 words). There is no limit on the number of references allowed.

Comment: Puts an article published in the journal in the previous six months into perspective, either by highlighting its relevance or pointing out its shortcomings. May contain up to 500 words in addition to a title (max. 30 words) and no more than 12 references.

Data descriptor: Describes all kinds of urban datasets in detail, the description should include the methods used to collect the data and sufficient technical analyses to support the quality. May contain up to 6,000 words (text only, excluding abstract, keywords, references, tables and figures, but including table/figure titles and legends) in addition to a title (max. 30 words) and an abstract (max. 200 words). There is no limit on the number of references allowed. Links to the datasets are required to be submit together with the article.

Data visualization: Visualizes and describes all kinds of urban data, the description should include the data collection methods, the visualization methods, and the discovery. May contain up to 4,000 words (text only, excluding abstract, keyword, references, tables and figures, but including table/figure titles and legends) with one or two high resolution images in addition to a title (max. 30 words) and an abstract (max. 200 words). There is no limit on the number of references allowed. Links to the visualizations are required to be submit together with the article.

Practical case: Covers a brief description of how a city is influenced by disruption technologies; an account of contemporary conditions, problems or issues; and a critical review of the current policy, planning or management responses. May contain up to 3,000 words (text only, excluding abstract, keywords, references) in addition to a title (max. 30 words) and an abstract (max. 100 words). There is no limit on the number of references allowed.

In general, there is no limit on the maximum number of references for each category of submission.

1.3 Writing your paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

1.3.1 Make your article discoverable

For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

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2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy

Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology adheres to a rigorous double-blind reviewing policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties.

Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication.

Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a paper if:

• The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors.
• The reviewer is based at the funding body of the paper.
• The author has recommended the reviewer.
• The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g. Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution).

The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the Journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

2.2 Authorship

All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

2.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.

Per ICMJE recommendations, it is best practice to obtain consent from non-author contributors who you are acknowledging in your paper.

2.3.1 Third party submissions
Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

2.4 Funding

Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading.  Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. 

2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

2.6 Research data

At Sage we are committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research. Where relevant, Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology, encourages authors to share their research data in a suitable public repository subject to ethical considerations and where data is included, to add a data accessibility statement in their manuscript file. Authors should also follow data citation principles. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway, which includes information about Sage’s partnership with the data repository Figshare.

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3. Publishing Policies

3.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

3.1.1 Plagiarism

Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the Journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society.  For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway.

3.3 Open access and author archiving

Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

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4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

4.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. A LaTex template is available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.

4.3 Identifiable information

Where a journal uses double-blind peer review, authors are required to submit:

1. A version of the manuscript which has had any information that compromises the anonymity of the author(s) removed or anonymised. This version will be sent to the peer reviewers.
2. A separate title page which includes any removed or anonymised material. This will not be sent to the peer reviewers.

See https://sagepub.com/Manuscript-preparation-for-double-blind-journal for detailed guidance on making an anonymous submission.

Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online.

4.4 Supplemental material

This Journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc.) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files.

4.5 Reference style

Transactions in Urban Data, Science and Technology adheres to the Sage Harvard reference style. View the Sage Harvard guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the Sage Harvard EndNote output file.

4.6 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the Journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

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5. Submitting your manuscript

Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tus to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.  For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

5.1 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

5.2 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

5.3 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.

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6. On acceptance and publication

6.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. Please note that if there are any changes to the author list at this stage all authors will be required to complete and sign a form authorising the change.

6.2 Online First publication

Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

6.3 Access to your published article

Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

6.4 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice. 

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7. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Transactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology editorial office as follows:

ylong@tsinghua.edu.cn

7.1 Appealing the publication decision

Editors have very broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a very general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.

If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com