Author Guidelines

2026-03-01

1. Language and submission channel

Since December 2024, JOTMI accepts manuscripts written exclusively in English. Either American or British English spelling is acceptable, provided it is used consistently throughout the manuscript.

All submissions must be made through the JOTMI Submissions platform. Manuscripts sent by email will not be considered. The entire process — submission, tracking, editorial communication, peer review — is conducted exclusively through the online platform. Registration and login are required.

2. Manuscript types

JOTMI publishes three types of manuscripts. Select the type before writing and follow the length and reference limits for that category. Word counts exclude abstract, tables, figures, captions, and references.

  • Research Article — 5,000 to 8,000 words; 10 to 40 references (typical around 30). Original empirical, theoretical or methodological study.
  • Case Study — 4,000 to 6,000 words; up to 30 references. In-depth analysis of a real-world innovation context, linking theory and practice.
  • Review Paper — up to 9,000 words; up to 50 references. Critical synthesis: narrative, systematic or meta-analytic.

3. Required submission documents

Each submission comprises two separate Word documents:

3.1 Title Page

All author-identifying information goes here. Download: JOTMI Title Page Template (.docx)

Must include:

  • Full title of the article (≤ 15 words)
  • Author details: full names, institutional affiliations, postal addresses, institutional emails, ORCID IDs
  • Designation of the corresponding author
  • Abstract (150 to 250 words)
  • Keywords (4 to 6, separated by semicolons)
  • Brief biographical notes per author (~50 to 75 words, optional)
  • CRediT contribution table (see section 8)
  • Declaration on the use of Artificial Intelligence (see section 9)

3.2 Document for Blind Peer Review

Fully anonymized manuscript body. Download: JOTMI Anonymous Manuscript Template (.docx)

Must not contain any author-identifying information in text, references, acknowledgements, or file metadata.

Anonymization checklist — remove or neutralize:

  • Author names, affiliations and ORCIDs (these go only in the Title Page)
  • Acknowledgements, funding statements naming specific grants, and dedication notes
  • Self-citations written in a way that reveals authorship (for example, "in our previous work, Smith & Lee (2022)…") — replace with neutral phrasing ("prior work (Smith & Lee, 2022)")
  • Institutional logos, watermarks, IRB approval numbers that reveal institution, internal document codes
  • Document metadata: File → Info → Inspect Document → Remove all personal information and hidden properties

Failure to anonymize may result in desk rejection or delay in the review process.

4. General formatting

  • File format: Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx)
  • Font: STIX Two Text 11 pt recommended — available free at stixfonts.org; Word falls back to Cambria if not installed. Times New Roman 12 pt is also acceptable.
  • Spacing: double-spaced throughout, including references
  • Margins: 1 inch (2.54 cm) on all four sides
  • Page numbers: bottom-center, consecutive, from page 1
  • Line numbering: continuous, left margin — strongly recommended to enable reviewers to reference specific lines

5. Manuscript structure

Structure the blinded manuscript as follows.

Abstract (150 to 250 words). Unstructured single paragraph. No citations, no abbreviations. Must state: (a) objective and research question; (b) methods; (c) key findings; (d) conclusions and implications.

Keywords. 4 to 6 keywords, separated by semicolons.

1. Introduction. Background and justification; research gap; objectives and research questions. Expected length: 500 to 800 words.

2. Literature Review. Review of prior work; identification of gaps the present study addresses. Expected length: 800 to 1,500 words.

3. Methodology. Research design; sample and selection criteria; data collection procedures; analytical methods; validity, reliability, and ethical approval. Expected length: 800 to 1,200 words.

4. Results. Findings presented logically, following the research questions. Tables and figures embedded inline and referenced in the text. Expected length: 800 to 1,500 words.

5. Discussion. Interpretation relative to the literature; theoretical and practical implications; limitations; future research directions. Expected length: 800 to 1,500 words.

6. Conclusions. Summary of main findings; contribution to the field. Expected length: 300 to 500 words.

Acknowledgements (optional). Added only in the final accepted version. The anonymized submission must not contain this section.

References. APA 7 format. See section 7.

Appendices. Use only if essential. Label clearly (Appendix A, Appendix B, …).

6. Tables and figures

  • Placement: embed inline at the appropriate point in the text — not bundled at the end, not submitted as separate files.
  • Numbering: number consecutively (Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, Figure 2…).
  • Captions: table titles go above the table ("Table 1. Descriptive statistics…"); figure captions go below the figure ("Figure 1. Conceptual framework…"). Every table and figure must be referenced in the text before it appears ("as shown in Table 1", "see Figure 1").
  • Table formatting (APA 7): horizontal rules only — a thick top rule, a thin rule under the header row, and a thick bottom rule. No vertical lines and no side borders. Numerical columns right-aligned.
  • Figure quality: minimum 300 DPI for raster images (PNG, JPEG, TIFF). Vector formats (SVG, EPS, PDF) strongly preferred for diagrams and charts.
  • Reproduction rights: for figures or tables reused from prior publications, the corresponding author must obtain and document the necessary permissions, and include the credit line in the caption.

7. References and bibliographic management

7.1 Citation style. Use APA 7th edition for in-text citations and the reference list. Do not mix styles within a single manuscript. The authoritative reference is the APA Style website.

7.2 DOIs and persistent identifiers. Every reference that has a DOI must include it, formatted as a full URL (https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx). For sources without a DOI (older books, grey literature), include a persistent URL or archival identifier: Handle, arXiv ID, ISBN.

7.3 Number of references.

  • Research Articles: 10 to 40 (typical around 30)
  • Case Studies: up to 30
  • Review Papers: up to 50

Principle of parsimony. Include only references that are strictly necessary. Every entry in the reference list must be cited in the body, and every citation in the body must map to one entry (1-to-1 correspondence). Inflated bibliographies are disfavored by reviewers; parsimony is an indicator of scholarly rigour, not laziness.

7.4 Bibliographic management (recommended). JOTMI strongly recommends using a reference management tool to build and format the bibliography. Manual reference lists are prone to formatting errors, broken DOIs, and citation–reference mismatches — all of which slow review and increase desk-reject risk.

  • Zotero — free, open source, multi-platform. Native APA 7 styles, browser capture, Word/LibreOffice plug-ins. Best default for most authors.
  • Mendeley Reference Manager — free, cloud-synced, strong PDF annotation, Word integration.
  • EndNote (Clarivate) — commercial, institutional license common in universities. Large style library, deep Word integration, advanced searching.
  • JabRef — free, open source, BibTeX/BibLaTeX native. Preferred for LaTeX workflows; exports to Word-compatible formats.
  • Paperpile — commercial, cloud-native, tightly integrated with Google Docs and Google Scholar. Good for collaborative writing.
  • Additional options: Citavi, RefWorks, Papers.

7.5 Integrity rules.

  • Verify every citation at source. Do not rely on second-hand citations, AI-generated reference suggestions, or auto-populated metadata without validation. Open the DOI and confirm authors, year, title, journal, and pages.
  • No predatory or retracted sources. Do not cite journals listed in Cabells' Predatory Reports or publishers on Beall's list successors. Do not cite papers flagged on Retraction Watch. Citations of retracted work without explicit discussion of the retraction will be treated as an integrity concern.

7.6 Reference examples (APA 7).

Journal article. Cohen, W. M., & Levinthal, D. A. (1990). Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(1), 128–152. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393553

Book. Anthony, S. D. (2017). The little black book of innovation with a new preface: How it works, how to do it. Harvard Business Review Press.

Book chapter. Teece, D. J. (2018). Dynamic capabilities. In M. Augier & D. J. Teece (Eds.), The Palgrave encyclopedia of strategic management (pp. 415–421). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-00772-8_689

Conference proceedings. Wang, J., Wang, Z., Yu, J., Kahkoska, A. R., Buse, J. B., & Gu, Z. (2020). Glucose-responsive insulin and delivery systems: Innovation and translation. In Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Advanced Materials (pp. 100–110). Advanced Materials Society.

8. Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT)

Specify each author's contribution using the 14 official CRediT roles: Conceptualization; Methodology; Software; Validation; Formal analysis; Investigation; Resources; Data curation; Writing – Original Draft; Writing – Review & Editing; Visualization; Supervision; Project administration; Funding acquisition.

The CRediT table is completed on the Title Page, not in the blinded manuscript.

9. Declaration on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

JOTMI recognizes AI as a legitimate catalyst for scientific excellence and actively encourages its responsible use in the preparation of manuscripts. The use of Generative AI or Large Language Models (LLMs) is not grounds for rejection or penalization.

The only non-negotiable requirement is transparency: authors must declare how and for what purposes AI was used, and retain full and exclusive responsibility for the scientific accuracy, empirical rigour, and parsimony of the final manuscript.

The AI Declaration is completed on the Title Page template. It includes:

  • Disclosure (yes/no)
  • Structured disclosure of tool(s), version(s), purpose, tasks performed, sections affected, and human oversight
  • A narrative statement of approximately 75 to 150 words
  • The authors' responsibility acknowledgment

AI systems cannot be listed as authors. Undisclosed AI use, fabricated content, hallucinated citations, ghost references, or any attempt at technical obfuscation will trigger the JOTMI Publication Integrity Protocol and Extended Retraction Policy.

10. Anonymization for blind peer review

The manuscript must contain no identifying information about the authors — in the text, references, acknowledgements, or file properties. Use the Anonymous Manuscript Template (see section 3.2) and its anonymization checklist to ensure compliance.

11. Submission checklist

Before submitting, verify:

  • Manuscript written in English, consistently American or British
  • Two Word files prepared: Title Page + Anonymous Manuscript
  • Manuscript type selected (Research Article / Case Study / Review Paper) and length and reference limits respected
  • Double-spaced, 1-inch margins, page numbers, line numbering
  • Abstract 150 to 250 words; 4 to 6 keywords
  • All tables and figures embedded inline with proper captions; figures at 300 DPI or higher
  • APA 7 references; DOIs included for every source that has one; parsimonious list
  • CRediT table completed on the Title Page
  • AI Declaration completed on the Title Page
  • Blind manuscript fully anonymized (text, references, metadata)
  • Submission made via the JOTMI online platform (not by email)