Submission Guidelines

Preparing Your Manuscript

Format

Manuscript files (including abstract and references) should be 1.5-spaced, have a standard font of at least 11 points, and have one-inch margins on all four sides. The manuscript should be in a single-column format. Please do not use footnotes; incorporate subsidiary material that would otherwise appear in footnotes in the main text, possibly in parentheses or brackets.

Papers cannot exceed 35 pages, including all references, tables, and graphs, and 15 pages for the appendices, when formatted in the journal’s style. This page limit applies to all material that will be reviewed by the editors and reviewers, including supplemental files. Data sets or extended results made available to readers, but not considered in the review, are not included in the page count.

Authors should be mindful of paper length. Papers that are excessively long will be returned to authors before review.

Double Anonymous 

Transportation Science conducts soft double-anonymous reviews, meaning that the authors are not provided with the identity of the reviewers and reviewers are not provided with the author names. Please be sure to remove all author names and institutions on the title page of the manuscript. As a soft double anonymous process, authors may still post preprints online. More information can be found here.

Papers submitted before January 2024 will be grand-parented. 

Mathematical Notation

Mathematical expressions in the body of the text should be no more complex than necessary. If there are numbered equations, the numbers should be given in parentheses, flush with the right margin of the page. Important details can be found here.

Abstract

Each submitted article to Transportation Science should contain an abstract of not more than 300 words. The abstract should be adequate as an index and should summarize the principal results and conclusions. It is important that your abstract not contain mathematical notation that may be difficult to properly present in Web browsers. The abstract is not only a part of the full article (print and online) but, more importantly, serves as the only free-to-all record of your paper. It is reused and remapped by a variety of online portals and metadata databases, some of which are text only. Please provide a text-only abstract, or, if that is impossible, try to minimize the use of math symbols and avoid accented variables. We encourage authors to follow a recommended structured abstract, including the following:

Problem definition: What is your research problem?

Methodology/results: What is the research method and the key findings?

Implications: How can academics / practitioners / policy makers benefit from your paper?

Keywords

Authors should select keywords to describe their paper’s theoretical and methodological orientation. A list of keywords is available within ScholarOne Manuscripts. Keywords should appear beneath the abstract in the manuscript file.

References

References should be listed alphabetically by author name at the end of the paper in conformance with journal style. In-text citations should be indicated by the author’s last name and year of publication, e.g., (Norman 1977) or Norman (1977). Click here for examples of reference style.

Footnotes

Please do not use footnotes; incorporate subsidiary material that would otherwise appear in footnotes in the main text, possibly in parentheses or brackets.

Figures

Color figures will publish online in color but be converted to black and white for the print journal unless the authors agree to pay the additional expense associated with printing color.

Style Templates

Authors can write their manuscript using their preferred software as long as they can create a PDF that meets the above guidelines. The manuscript style is specified in the template file for Transportation Science, which handles most stylistic issues. You can find the template and other necessary files here.

Submitting Your Manuscript

All papers for publication consideration by Transportation Science should be submitted electronically through ScholarOne Manuscripts at the ScholarOne Manuscripts site for Transportation Science.

IMPORTANT NOTE: By submitting a manuscript to or reviewing for this publication, your name, email address, and affiliation, and other contact details the publication might require, will be used for the regular operations of the publication, including, when necessary, sharing with the publisher (INFORMS) and partners for production and publication. The publication and the publisher recognize the importance of protecting the personal information collected from users in the operation of these services, and have practices in place to ensure that steps are taken to maintain the security, integrity, and privacy of the personal data collected and processed. You can learn more here.

The ScholarOne Submission Process

There are six steps for uploading a manuscript in the ScholarOne system:

Step 1: Type, Title, & Abstract: Enter your manuscript type. Please read the journal’s Area Mission Statements for information regarding area designations. The Editor-in Chief will use the area suggested by the authors to select the appreciate area for the paper. To further guide this selection, authors are asked to provide (1) a brief explanation of the paper’s fit with the suggested area and (2) a brief statement of the paper’s contributions. Denote whether this is regularly submitted manuscript or for a special issue. Provide the manuscript title and a running head. Add the abstract (not more than 300 words).

Step 2: Attributes: Authors should select keywords to describe their paper’s theoretical and methodological orientation.

Step 3: Authors & Institutions: All authors and their institutions must be identified. Please note that the submitting author is required to provide their ORCID iD (more information about ORCID iDs can be found here).This information will not be passed along to reviewers.

Step 4: Details & Comments: Authors can include their cover letter either in the text box or as a separate file. This information will be viewed by the Editor, Area Editor, and the Associate Editor but will not be viewed by the reviewers. Authors will denote funding in this section. Last, authors will certify that they are complying with the journal's ethical policy.

Step 5: File Upload: Authors will upload as many files as needed for their manuscript. These files will be combined into a single PDF document for the peer review process. For revisions, authors should include only the latest set of files.

Step 6: Review & Submit: As the final step, authors will review the previous five steps for completeness and view the PDF proof generated by the ScholarOne system (this is required). Be sure to select “Submit” when done.

Ethical Statements Authors Will Certify

As part of Step 4 (above), authors will certify the following ethical statements within the ScholarOne System:

Prior Submission

Has this manuscript been submitted previously to Transportation Science by you or any of your current or past co-authors? If yes, what is the manuscript ID of the previous submission? Resubmissions of rejected papers should be accompanied by a detailed explanation of why the authors believe the resubmission addresses the critical concerns of the original submission.

Plagiarism & Copyright

Confirm the following:

1. Confirm that the manuscript has been submitted solely to this journal and is not published, in press, or submitted elsewhere.

I acknowledge that in submitting this paper I am aware of INFORMS policy on plagiarism and copyright (https://pubsonline.informs.org/authorportal/copyright-plagiarism). Further I acknowledge that I will report to the editor(s) of the journal all of my manuscripts (e.g., prior publications, conference proceedings, book chapters, papers submitted to other journals) that have substantial overlap with the submitted paper. I also certify that the copyright for all portions of this paper can and will be transferred to INFORMS upon acceptance.

Ethical Guidelines

I acknowledge that I am aware of Transportation Science's guidelines for ethical behavior in publishing (http://pubsonline.informs.org/trsc/guidelines-for-ethical-behavior-in-publishing) and all INFORMS policies referred to therein and that this submission conforms to those policies. I have disclosed (in my cover letter and in any related submission questions) any possible perceived conflicts of interest and noted all of my work that has substantial overlap to prior publications, conference proceedings, book chapters, and papers submitted to this journal or any other journals. I also certify that the copyright for all portions of this paper can and will be transferred to INFORMS upon acceptance.

Authorship Policy

According to the Council on Science Editors (CSE), authors are defined as “persons who have contributed sufficiently to a scientific report to be listed on the byline of the published report.” Principles related to authorship include, in part:

• Identification of authors and other contributors is the responsibility of the people who did the work (the researchers) not the people who publish the work (editors, publishers). Researchers should determine which individuals have contributed sufficiently to the work to warrant identification as an author.
• Individuals who contributed to the work but whose contributions were not of sufficient magnitude to warrant authorship should be identified by name in an acknowledgments section.
• All individuals who qualify for authorship or acknowledgment should be identified. Conversely, every person identified as an author or acknowledged contributor should qualify for these roles.
• Individuals listed as authors should review and approve the manuscript before submission. Individuals listed as corresponding authors are generally empowered by all other authors to review and approve the final article proof before publication.
• The ultimate reason for identification of authors and other contributors is to establish accountability for the reported work.

(Source: Council for Science Editors, White Paper on Publication Ethics, Section 2.2.1 Authorship, https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/2-2-authorship-and-authorship-responsibilities, accessed February 12, 2024.)

Artificial Intelligence Authorship

Authors are welcome to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the preparation of their manuscripts. However, machine learning (ML) and AI tools (such as ChatGPT or Bard) should not be listed as authors. Authors are expected to take full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the submitted work. Submission of a manuscript is taken as a declaration that the author(s) have reviewed and edited any AI-generated content as needed.

(Source: Council for Science Editors, White Paper on Publication Ethics, Section 2.2.2 Other Authorship Issues, https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/2-2-authorship-and-authorship-responsibilities, accessed February 12, 2024.)

Order of Authors

The order of authors in the byline is a collective decision of the authors or study group. Disagreements about author order should be resolved by the authors before the article is submitted for publication. Disputes that arise after submission could delay or prevent publication. Authors should not expect editors to become embroiled in disputes among authors over name placement in the byline.

(Source: Council for Science Editors, White Paper on Publication Ethics, Section 2.2.4 Order of Authors, https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/2-2-authorship-and-authorship-responsibilities, accessed December 15, 2016.)

Deceased Authors

If a co-author dies following submission, during the peer-review process, or prior to publication, the deceased co-author may be annotated with a dagger (†) symbol in the published article. A deceased individual may not be added to the authorship of a paper without explicit permission from a familial or legal proxy. If the deceased co-author was listed as the corresponding author, the co-authors may designate an alternate corresponding author by submitting an Authorship Change Form as described below. Since it would be impossible to secure the permission of all authors on a paper with a deceased co-author, no author additions, removals, or reordering will be permitted.

(Source: Council for Science Editors, White Paper on Publication Ethics, Section 2.2.2 Other Authorship Issues, https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/2-2-authorship-and-authorship-responsibilities, accessed February 12, 2024.)

PROCEDURE

Authorship Changes

When authorship, including corresponding author designation, changes between versions of a manuscript, the authors must complete an Authorship Change Form, signed by all authors, stating clearly which author(s) are being added, removed, or reordered. All authors, including those being added or removed, must sign the Authorship Change Form before the authorship change can be approved.

Updated April 12, 2024

Proceedings Policy

Papers that were published in proceedings can be accepted for publications in Transportation Science as long as the following conditions are met:

1. The paper extends the results published in the proceedings version in substantial and meaningful ways. “Substantial and meaningful” can include one or more of the following: extensions of key results, additional methodological contributions, and detailed development of key proofs. The paper must be accessible and of interest to a large part of the Operations Research community, which means that additional background and motivation might be required in the Introduction of the paper. The "substantial and meaningful" criterion is subject to the discretion of the Area Editor, Associate Editor, and Reviewers.
2. The paper refers to the previously published proceedings versions and clearly explains the contributions made in the paper that extend the original proceedings paper.
3. The following supplemental material are included: a) the original proceedings paper and b) a 1-page summary of the key contributions made in the paper that extend the original proceedings paper
4. The author will work to secure appropriate copyright release permissions from the proceedings so that any copyrighted material can be included in Transportation Science.

Troubleshooting

For additional training and support for using the ScholarOne Manuscripts submission system, please visit ScholarOne’s Author Resources page.

Contact Your Managing Editor

Hayes Simpson
INFORMS
5521 Research Park Drive
Suite 200
Catonsville, Maryland 21228
[email protected]

The Review Process

All papers submitted for publication are refereed and accepted solely on the basis of quality and importance. The contribution of each paper should be clearly stated in the introduction. Decisions regarding the publication of the paper are based on the value of the contribution to the field of transportation science. Criteria such as relationship with existing literature, length, and style are taken into account.

Once a paper is submitted, the Editor-in-Chief and relevant Area Editor initially review the submission. Authors are notified if their paper is judged to be outside of the journal’s scope, or unlikely to receive favorable consideration by the referees. Papers that pass the initial screening process are assigned to an Associate Editor in the selected topical area. The Associate Editor performs a deeper review of the submission for fit and quality. The Associate Editor can reject the paper if the contribution of the paper is viewed to be insufficient or if there are obvious omissions or corrections needed in the analysis. If either is the case, the Associate Editor writes a report for the authors detailing the reasoning behind the decision. If the submissions passes this screening, the Associate Editor selects referees on the basis of expertise and prior work in the area. After receiving reports from the referees, the Associate Editor prepares a recommendation regarding publication. The Associate Editor’s report provides a synthesis of the referees’ evaluations, the Associate Editor’s own assessment of the paper, and the Associate Editor’s recommendation. When the recommendation is reject, the report should provide an explanation and justification for this decision; to the extent it is possible, the report should also provide constructive feedback on what might make this into a publishable paper. When the recommendation is for a revision, the report should attempt to provide for the authors a clear set of actions to guide the revision, as well as some explanation as to why these actions will result in a better paper; this is particularly important when the reviewers make contradictory recommendations. Typically only one revision is expected, and only in unusual circumstances will a second revision be recommended.

The Area Editor reviews the reports (from the Associate Editor and reviewers) and makes a final decision. In most cases, the Area Editor follows the recommendation of the Associate Editor. If the Area Editor's recommendation differs from the Associate Editor's, then the Area Editor writes a detailed report explaining the decision. If the Area Editor's recommendation is to resubmit, the Area Editor provides guidance to the authors on how to proceed. All decisions will be communicated to the authors by the Editor-in-Chief.

The Appeals Process

Appeals are only considered for cases in which the author(s) believe that one or more significant technical errors have been made by the reviewers and/or editors that affected the final decision. Appeals are not for cases where the author(s) believe that the reviewers/editors did not sufficiently appreciate the paper.

In such cases, the author(s) may appeal by email to the Editor-in-Chief. This should be done at least two weeks after but not more than two months after the final decision was transmitted to the author(s). Appeals should document the error and its magnitude. All authors must be copied on the appeal email.

The Editor-in-Chief, in consultation with the Area Editor and Associate Editor, will consider the merits of the alleged error(s) and choose a path of action that consists of one the following: (i) uphold the decision made; or (ii) secure one or more additional reviews of the paper for further consideration. All appeals are final and only one appeal per paper throughout its entire review process is allowed. Please also note that while we are willing to entertain appeals, it is quite uncommon for editorial decisions to be reversed. This formal appeals process is the only option for appealing a decision. Informal appeals are not allowed.

After Acceptance

Final Submission

A decision of accept will cause the manuscript to appear in the “Manuscripts Accepted for First Look” section of the submitting author’s Author Center. We respectfully request that authors upload their final files to the submission site within 14 days from receipt of the acceptance decision letter. The decision of accept is not considered binding until final files have been received.

Within the “First Look” section of the submitting author’s Author Center, the author will submit the following files:

1. The final version of the manuscript in Word or LaTeX format (provide a .bib file if necessary);
2. A final, author-generated PDF;
3. Any supplementary material that will be published as an online appendix (ie, electronic companion, or e-companion), in PDF format. (E-companions are not copyedited, so please check the text carefully.);
4. A signed copyright transfer form;
5. The completed editorial checklist (please do not convert to PDF); and
6. A media promotion form (optional).

Figures

Color figures will publish online in color but be converted to black and white for the print journal unless the authors agree to pay the additional expense associated with printing color.

Open Access

The INFORMS Open Option (IOO) provides an Open Access alternative for articles accepted in any INFORMS journals that would have otherwise been available only through subscriptions or pay per view. Please be advised there is a $3,000 (US) fee to make an article Open Access. If you would like to make your article Open Access, you do not need to complete the regular copyright transfer form. Additional details for IOO as well as other types of Open Access can be found here.

Publication Forms

• Copyright transfer agreement
• Editorial Checklist
• Media Promotion Form
• IOO Publication License (if you would like to make your paper Open Access)

Working Papers

Authors may post their papers at arXiv upon submission. This gives the transportation science community instant access to the work and also establishes priority for the ideas while the paper is being reviewed. Submissions instructions can be found at: http://arxiv.org/submit.