Author Guidelines

Before preparing and submitting article manuscripts, please note that author(s) are discouraged from withdrawing submitted papers after they are in the publication process (review, copyedit, layout, etc.). During this time, Systec has spent valuable resources besides the time expended in the process. Please prepare your manuscript before submission, using these guidelines and the article template provided.

Format

Article files should be presented in Microsoft Word format.

Article Length

Articles should range from 4–8 pages, including references. A maximum of 2 pages long appendices are allowed.

Article Title

A title of 10 words maximum should be provided.

Author Details and Authorship

All contributing authors’ names should be added and arranged in the correct order for publication. A correct email address should be supplied only by the corresponding author. The full name of each author must be presented in the exact format they should appear for publication, including or excluding any middle names or initials as required. The affiliation of each contributing author should be correct on their individual author name.

The criteria of authorship are as follows: substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; final approval of the version to be published; agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Structured Abstract

Authors must supply a structured abstract in their submission, which includes:

  • - Purpose
  • - Design/methods/approach
  • - Findings/results
  • - Conclusions

A maximum of 250 words in total excluding keywords. It needs to be in English regardless of the article’s content language.

Keywords

Authors should provide appropriate and short keywords that encapsulate the principal topics of the paper. The maximum number of keywords is 5 (five) words.

Article Organization

The body of articles should be organized (at least) into the IMRaD structure as follows:

  • Introduction: Provides adequate background or context (problem and its significance) of the study. Express the rationale or purpose of the study (gap analysis), the object in general and specific, and hypothesis (if any) clearly. Include a concise "state of the art" with at least 5 recent related works to support the research's novelty.
  • Methods: Describe sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Summarize existing methods with references, include participant demographics, experiment design, and procedures clearly.
  • Results and Discussions: Present results logically. Highlight key findings. Avoid repeating data in text that’s already in tables/figures. Discuss implications, limitations, and relate findings to prior work.
  • Conclusions: Should link to the title and objectives. Highlight improvements or contributions made by the work. Avoid repeating the abstract or using bullet points.

Biographies and Acknowledgments

Those who contribute but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged at the end of the text, including only names without roles. Declare external funding sources in the acknowledgments. Authors who wish to include biographies should submit them in the Word file (max 100 words per author).

Article Categories

Choose the category that best fits the article:

  • Research paper: Covers any research, modeling, action research, surveys, etc.
  • Technical paper: Evaluates technical products or services.
  • Conceptual paper: Develops hypotheses, philosophical, or comparative discussions.
  • Case study reports: Describes interventions or experiences in organizations.

Headings

Use concise and hierarchical headings as per the article template.

Notes/Endnotes

Use only if necessary, identified in the text by numbers in square brackets, and listed at the article's end.

Figures

Submit high-quality, legible figures numbered with Arabic numerals. Preferred in color and native file format. Place figures in the main body of the article.

Tables

Include tables in the body of the article, close to where they’re referenced. Use footnotes for superscripts or special notes.

References

Systec prefers journal articles, research reports, and proceedings over textbooks. Use Mendeley and follow the IEEE citation style. Ensure references are accurate and consistent.

Please download the article template by clicking on this hyperlink or click the pop-out icon on the top right-hand corner of the preview below.