Guidelines for Authors
Spring 2021
Submission Requirements
All articles should be no more than 5,000 words in length (20 double-spaced, letter size pages). Manuscripts not submitted according to the journal's style will be returned. Submission of the manuscript implies commitment to publish in the journal. Papers previously published or under review by other journals are unacceptable. All articles are subject to peer review. Factors considered in review include validity and significance of information, substantive contribution to the field of public transportation, and clarity and quality of presentation.
Copyright and Licensing
The author grants the journal the nonexclusive, royalty-free right to distribute, display, and archive this work in a digital and/or print format for non-commercial educational and research uses during the full term of copyright. Upon acceptance, contributions will be subject to editorial amendment. Authors may be provided with proofs for approval prior to publication. Following publication, the author's rights are protected under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC) license.
Formatting Requirements
Text Preparation
All manuscripts must be submitted electronically in MS Word format, with no linked images, using the following template: https://www.cutr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/JPT_Template_2021.docx
[We are planning to add a LaTeX template in the near future] The journal’s standard editorial reference is the current edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS). In addition to the printed edition, CMOS resources are available online by subscription at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html.
All manuscripts should include sections in the following order:
- Title – 12 words or less, author(s) and affiliation(s)
- Main Body – abstract (up to 150 words); keywords; text, tables, and figures organized under section headings (do not use section or subsection numbering); acknowledgments.
- References – author-date format
- About the Author(s) – for each author, email address(es), and short biosketch.
Tables and Figures
Tables in the manuscript must be created in Word or Excel format and must not be inserted as images. Figures should be inserted as images and, to meet Section 508 compliance requirements, must have alternative text (a thorough description of the image to assist persons with visual impairments in understanding the image). All tables and figures must be numbered consecutively and have a title. All non-original figures and graphics must indicate the source; the author should retain written permission for use of any non-original images. All images will be published in their submitted format; no alterations will be made. The editor retains the right to make paper design decisions according to the journal’s standards.
Preferred graphics formats include PDF, TIFF, and EPS. Using these formats will greatly expedite the preparation of your article for publication. Photographs may also be submitted as JPEG files if they have been saved at a resolution of 300 dpi or better. All JPEG files will be converted to TIFF format before publication. Please note that most Web JPEG graphics are low resolution and therefore not acceptable. Photographic transparencies, plan drawings, or other physical formats will not be accepted.
Captions must be provided for all figures and headings for all tables. Figure and table titles should be numbered (a format example is provided in the JPT Template). Tables and figures should be able to stand alone and be read independently of the text. They should appear after the first mention of them in the text.
Documentation
JPT uses the author-date citation format, listing sources alphabetically in the reference list. For further information, please consult the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS). Format examples of some of the most commonly used types of citations are provided in the References section of the JPT Template. An online format guide for CMOS is available at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html.
Citations in the text should follow the parenthetical author-year format. Listed below are examples of some variations:
- (Smith 2002) – Source with single author
- (Smith and Baker 2002) – Two authors
- (Smith, Baker, and Williams 2002) – Three authors
- (Smith et al. 2002) – Four or more authors [Note: For a source with four or more authors, include up to the first six authors in the reference list entry. If there are more than six, only the first three are listed, followed by et al.]
- (USDOT 2005) – Organization used as an author [Note: JPT prefers abbreviating the organization’s name to facilitate shorter in-text citations. Spell out the full organization name in the reference list. See JPT Template for example.]
- Citations may also be incorporated directly into the text where appropriate: “These methods were used successfully by Smith (2002).”
Footnotes should not be used for citing references and are discouraged. If more explanation is needed for a point being made in the text, the author should incorporate it into the main text. Separate appendices may be provided for longer explanations that would disrupt the flow of the main text but are essential for reader understanding. If an appendix is used, it must be cited in the main text. If a footnote is used, it must be very brief.
If equations are used, they should be numbered sequentially: (1), (2), (3) . . . Equations should not be provided as graphic files; authors should use the equation editing functions of their word processor (e.g., Equation Editor in Microsoft Word).
