Guide for Authors

Manuscript Submission Overview

Technical Report Press (TRP) welcomes high-quality scholarly manuscripts that make a clear contribution to their respective fields. All submissions must be original, methodologically sound, clearly written, and aligned with the aims and scope of the relevant TRP journal.

Manuscripts submitted to TRP must not be under consideration by another journal or publisher at the same time and must not have been previously published, except where explicitly permitted by the journal policy, such as preprints or substantially expanded conference papers. Any related or overlapping work must be clearly disclosed at the time of submission.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts contain sufficient methodological detail to allow readers, reviewers, and editors to evaluate the validity of the work and, where applicable, reproduce or verify the results. Essential controls, procedures, datasets, software, materials, and analytical methods should be reported clearly and transparently.

Types of Publications

TRP journals generally consider the following categories of manuscripts. Availability may vary according to the scope and editorial policy of each journal.

Article

An article presents original research, new findings, methods, analyses, models, interpretations, or applications. Research articles should be technically sound, clearly situated within the relevant scholarly literature, and supported by appropriate evidence.

A typical article may include:

• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods or Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions, where appropriate
• References

Review

A review article provides an analytical and critical synthesis of existing literature. It should identify key developments, trends, limitations, research gaps, controversies, and future directions. Review articles should not present new unpublished experimental results as primary findings.

A typical review may include:

• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction
• Thematic sections
• Discussion
• Conclusions
• Future directions
• References

Scoping Review

A scoping review may be submitted under the review category, depending on the journal’s policy. Authors are expected to follow recognized reporting guidance, such as PRISMA-ScR, and should submit the completed checklist where applicable.

Flow diagrams, protocol registration, and transparent reporting of search strategy, inclusion criteria, exclusion criteria, and data-charting methods are strongly encouraged. Where a protocol has been registered, registration details should be included in the Methods section.

Submission Process

All submissions to TRP journals are handled online through Scholar Manuscript or the relevant submission system specified by the journal.

The submitting author, usually the corresponding author, is responsible for:

• entering accurate author names, affiliations, and contact details;
• ensuring that all eligible co-authors are included;
• confirming that all authors have approved the submitted version;
• uploading all required files, declarations, and statements;
• ensuring that the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere;
• communicating with the editorial office during review, revision, and production.

Where the submission system permits, co-authors may access manuscript details by creating accounts using the email addresses provided during submission.

Accepted File Formats

TRP accepts manuscripts prepared in standard scholarly formats. Microsoft Word and LaTeX are recommended.

For Microsoft Word submissions, authors should upload a single main manuscript file in .doc or .docx format. Figures may be embedded near their first mention for review purposes and may also be uploaded separately as high-resolution files.

For LaTeX submissions, authors should upload the compiled PDF together with all source files, including .tex files, bibliography files, style files, and figures. These files should preferably be submitted as a single ZIP archive to allow editorial and production staff to recompile the manuscript if necessary.

Supplementary files may be submitted in common file formats. Non-proprietary and widely accessible formats are preferred wherever possible.

Where files are too large for upload, such as extensive datasets, videos, or software packages, authors should deposit the material in a trusted repository and provide permanent links, DOIs, accession numbers, or other identifiers in the manuscript and Data Availability Statement.

Free Format Submission

TRP does not require strict journal-specific formatting at initial submission. However, manuscripts must be complete, clearly organized, and contain the core sections appropriate to the article type.

At minimum, submissions should include:

• author names, affiliations, and corresponding author contact details;
• abstract and keywords;
• introduction;
• methods or materials and methods;
• results;
• discussion, or combined results and discussion;
• conclusions, where appropriate;
• figures and tables with captions;
• funding statement;
• author contribution statement;
• conflict of interest statement;
• ethics statements, where applicable;
• data availability statement, where applicable;
• references.

At initial submission, references must be complete and consistent. If revision is invited, authors may be required to format the manuscript fully according to the relevant TRP journal style, including APA reference formatting where applicable.

Cover Letter

A cover letter is required at submission. The cover letter should briefly explain:

• the significance of the work;
• the original contribution of the manuscript;
• the relevance of the submission to the journal’s scope;
• any related manuscripts, preprints, conference papers, or overlapping work;
• any major changes made from a previous preprint or conference version, where applicable.

The cover letter must confirm that:

• the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere;
• the manuscript has not been previously published, except for disclosed preprints or permitted prior versions;
• all authors have approved the submission;
• all authors agree with the manuscript content.

Where reviewer suggestions or exclusions are requested by the journal, these should be provided through the submission system according to journal instructions.

Author Identification

Authors may be asked to provide a short biography, depending on journal policy. A typical biography may include:

• full name and current position;
• educational background;
• institutional affiliation;
• relevant academic or professional experience;
• research interests;
• professional memberships, honors, or awards, where relevant.

TRP strongly encourages authors to provide ORCID iDs to support accurate attribution, author identification, indexing, and discoverability.

Author Affiliations

Authors should provide their current institutional affiliation and, where different, the affiliation at which the research was primarily conducted.

Affiliations should normally include:

• department or unit;
• institution;
• city;
• country.

Accurate affiliation information is important for indexing, institutional reporting, funding recognition, and citation databases. After publication, changes to author names or affiliations may be limited and may require a formal correction procedure.

Authors without an active institutional affiliation may use “Independent Researcher” as their affiliation and should provide their city and country.

Manuscript Preparation

General Requirements

Research articles should normally contain:

• front matter: title, author list, affiliations, abstract, and keywords;
• main text: introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusions where appropriate;
• back matter: supplementary materials, author contributions, funding, ethics statements, data availability, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest, and references.

Review articles should normally contain:

• front matter: title, author list, affiliations, abstract, and keywords;
• main body organized into appropriate sections and subsections;
• back matter: author contributions where applicable, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest, and references.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should follow appropriate reporting standards, such as PRISMA, and should include checklists, flow diagrams, and registration details where required.

Acronyms and abbreviations should be defined at first use in the abstract and again at first use in the main text. They should also be defined in figures and tables where necessary.

SI units should be used wherever possible. Non-SI units may be included where standard in the discipline, but equivalent SI units should be provided when appropriate.

Equations should be editable and prepared using Word Equation Editor, MathType, or LaTeX. Equations should not be submitted as images.

Authors should clearly state where data, materials, code, or software can be accessed and should disclose any restrictions on access.

If the study was preregistered, registry details and links should be included in the manuscript.

Front Matter

All manuscript types should include the following front matter:

Title

The title should be clear, specific, concise, and informative. It should avoid unnecessary abbreviations. Where relevant, the title may indicate the study type, such as systematic review, meta-analysis, trial, case study, or methodological study.

Author List and Affiliations

Authors should provide full names and complete institutional affiliations. At least one corresponding author must be identified. The author order, spelling of names, and affiliations should be finalized before submission.

Equal Contribution Statements

If two or more authors contributed equally, this should be indicated clearly. The nature of equal contribution should also be reflected in the author contribution statement.

Abstract

The abstract should provide an accurate and concise summary of the manuscript. A structured flow is recommended, including background or purpose, methods, key findings, and main conclusions. The abstract should not contain claims that are unsupported by the manuscript.

Keywords

Authors should provide three to ten keywords that support indexing, searchability, and discoverability.

Back Matter

Supplementary Materials

Supplementary materials should be listed clearly and consistently, for example: Figure S1, Table S1, Dataset S1, Appendix A. Each item should include a short descriptive title.

Author Contributions

For multi-author manuscripts, a contribution statement is required. TRP encourages the use of the CRediT taxonomy, including roles such as Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data Curation, Writing — Original Draft, Writing — Review and Editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project Administration, and Funding Acquisition.

Funding

All funding sources and grant numbers must be disclosed. If no external funding was received, authors should state:

“This research received no external funding.”

Ethics Statement

Where applicable, authors must provide the name of the ethics committee or institutional review board, approval number, and approval date. If ethics approval was not required, the reason should be stated.

Informed Consent Statement

For studies involving human participants, authors must state whether informed consent was obtained or waived. Where identifiable individuals appear in images, videos, case descriptions, or other materials, written consent for publication must be confirmed.

Data Availability Statement

Authors must provide a Data Availability Statement explaining where the data can be accessed or why access is restricted.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments may recognize individuals, institutions, administrative support, technical assistance, or other contributions that do not meet authorship criteria.

Conflicts of Interest

All potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed. If no conflicts exist, authors should state:

“The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

References

TRP uses APA reference style unless an individual journal specifies otherwise. In-text citations should follow the author–date format, and the reference list should be arranged alphabetically. Full bibliographic details should be provided, including DOIs where available.

Figures, Schemes, and Tables

TRP supports the use of figures, schemes, tables, and, where appropriate, multimedia files as part of the article or supplementary materials.

Figures should be high resolution and should be submitted in suitable formats such as PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF, or EPS, depending on journal requirements. Labels, legends, and symbols must be legible.

Figures and tables should be numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text. Each figure and table must include a clear caption explaining abbreviations, symbols, scale bars, statistical indicators, and other relevant details.

Color figures are acceptable. Authors should ensure that color choices remain understandable in grayscale where possible and are accessible to readers with color-vision differences.

Images must not be manipulated in a way that misrepresents the data. Any adjustments to brightness, contrast, color balance, or sharpness should be applied uniformly and should be described where relevant.

If third-party figures, tables, diagrams, images, or other materials are reused or adapted, authors must ensure that permission has been obtained where required and that appropriate credit lines are included.

Supplementary Materials, Data Deposit, and Software Source Code

TRP supports transparent and reproducible research. Authors are encouraged to share protocols, materials, datasets, software, and code wherever feasible, lawful, and ethically appropriate.

Data should, where possible, follow the FAIR principles: findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.

Authors are encouraged to deposit data and code in trusted repositories and to cite them in the manuscript using DOIs, accession numbers, or persistent URLs.

If data cannot be shared because of privacy, ethical, legal, commercial, or proprietary restrictions, this must be clearly explained in the Data Availability Statement. Where appropriate, authors should state how qualified researchers may request access.

Authors should specify software names, versions, packages, and settings used in the study. If custom code is essential to the findings, it should be made available through a repository or supplementary file where possible.

Research and Publication Ethics

TRP expects all authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members to follow high standards of research integrity and responsible publication practice.

Research Ethics

Authors must comply with applicable ethical standards, institutional requirements, professional guidelines, and national or international regulations relevant to the research reported.

Research Involving Human Subjects

For studies involving human participants, human data, human tissues, or identifiable personal information, authors must provide ethics approval details, including committee name, approval code, and approval date. If exemption was granted or approval was not required, a justified statement must be provided.

Informed Consent

For human participant studies, authors must state whether informed consent was obtained or waived. Any waiver must be justified. If identifiable information, images, videos, or detailed descriptions are included, authors must confirm that written consent for publication was obtained.

Research Involving Vulnerable Groups and Organ or Tissue Research

Research involving vulnerable groups may require additional ethical documentation. For organ, tissue, or transplant-related research, authors must clearly describe ethical sourcing, consent procedures, and compliance with applicable laws and recognized ethical standards. TRP does not consider work involving unethical or unlawful procurement of biological materials.

Clinical Trial Registration

Where a study meets the definition of a clinical trial and registration is required by applicable standards, authors must provide the registry name, registration number, and date of registration. Randomized trials should follow recognized reporting guidance, such as CONSORT, where relevant.

Animal Research

Animal studies must comply with institutional, national, and international animal welfare requirements. Authors must provide ethics approval details and should describe procedures, housing and husbandry where relevant, and measures taken to minimize harm. Authors should consider the principles of replacement, reduction, and refinement.

Research Involving Cell Lines

Authors should report the source and provenance of cell lines and provide details of authentication and contamination testing where appropriate. For human-derived materials, ethics approval and consent information must be provided where required.

Research Involving Plants

Plant research should comply with institutional, national, and international rules governing collection, use, transportation, and conservation. Where relevant, authors should document permits, origin of specimens, and voucher information. Voucher specimens are encouraged for rare or non-model species where appropriate.

Dual-Use Research of Concern

Authors must disclose in the cover letter and manuscript if the work has potential for misuse or presents safety, security, or public risk concerns. Editors may apply additional assessment to ensure that the benefits of publication outweigh potential risks.

Sex and Gender in Research

Where relevant, authors should consider sex and gender in research design, analysis, interpretation, and reporting. If sex or gender analysis is not applicable, this should be stated or explained where appropriate.

Borders and Territories

TRP remains neutral regarding jurisdictional claims in maps, institutional affiliations, and territorial descriptions. Geographic descriptions should be accurate, respectful, and relevant to the research. Disputes relating to affiliations, maps, or territories are handled on a case-by-case basis.

Publication Ethics Statement

TRP maintains publication ethics standards to protect the reliability and integrity of the scholarly record. Plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, falsification, image manipulation, inappropriate authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and citation manipulation are not tolerated.

Ethical concerns may lead to rejection before publication or, after publication, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate editorial action.

Citation Policy

Citations must be relevant, accurate, and used responsibly. Authors should avoid:

• excessive self-citation;
• citation padding;
• irrelevant citations;
• coercive citation practices;
• citation manipulation;
• citing works that have not been consulted.

Reviewer Suggestions

Where the submission system requests reviewer suggestions, authors may propose qualified reviewers who are independent and free from conflicts of interest. Suggested reviewers should not be recent collaborators, co-authors, close personal associates, or members of the same institution.

Editors are not obliged to invite suggested reviewers and retain full discretion over reviewer selection.

Language and English Editing

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the manuscript is written in clear, correct, and professional academic English. TRP may provide minor editorial corrections during production. However, manuscripts requiring extensive language revision may be returned to authors for improvement before peer review, acceptance, or publication.

Preprints and Conference Papers

TRP journals may consider manuscripts that have previously been posted as preprints, subject to the policy of the individual journal. Authors must disclose the preprint DOI, URL, or repository record at submission.

Expanded conference papers may be considered where the journal version contains substantial new content, the original conference version is properly cited, and necessary permissions have been obtained. Authors should describe the changes from the conference version in the cover letter.

Authorship

Authorship must reflect substantial scholarly contribution. All authors should:

• contribute meaningfully to the conception, design, data acquisition, analysis, interpretation, or writing of the work;
• participate in drafting or critically revising the manuscript;
• approve the submitted and final versions;
• accept responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the work.

Changes to authorship after submission, including addition, removal, or rearrangement of authors, require agreement from all authors and approval by the editorial office.

Editorial Independence

TRP maintains editorial independence. Publishing decisions are made by academic editors based on journal scope, scholarly quality, methodological soundness, originality, reviewer input, and ethical compliance.

Editorial administration and publisher support do not override scholarly decision-making. Editors, editorial board members, and staff do not handle their own submissions. Such manuscripts are assigned to independent editors and reviewers.

Conflicts of Interest

All authors must disclose financial and non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the work.

Conflicts may include, but are not limited to:

• employment;
• consultancies;
• funding;
• honoraria;
• stock ownership;
• patents;
• personal relationships;
• academic competition;
• institutional affiliations;
• involvement of funders in study design, data analysis, writing, or publication decisions.

If no conflicts exist, authors should state:

“The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

Editorial Procedures and Peer Review

Pre-Check

After submission, the editorial office conducts an initial assessment for completeness, scope fit, ethical compliance, and adherence to journal requirements. The academic editor may reject the manuscript, request changes before review, or proceed to external peer review.

Peer Review

Peer review is conducted through Scholar Manuscript or the relevant journal submission system. Manuscripts are normally evaluated by at least two independent reviewers. The peer-review model, such as single-blind or double-blind review, is stated on the journal homepage.

Optional Open Peer Review

Where a TRP journal offers optional open peer review or publication of reviewer reports, this will be clearly stated in the journal policy. Reviewer identity will be disclosed only with reviewer consent and in accordance with the selected peer-review model.

Editorial Decisions and Revision

Editorial decisions may include acceptance, minor revision, major revision, rejection, or other journal-specific decisions. Revised manuscripts must be accompanied by a detailed point-by-point response explaining how reviewer and editor comments have been addressed.

Failure to respond within the required timeframe may result in administrative withdrawal of the submission.

Author Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision by contacting the editorial office with a clear, evidence-based justification. Appeals should address the reasons for the decision and provide a point-by-point response where appropriate.

Appeals are reviewed by editorial leadership and may involve additional independent assessment. Submission of an appeal does not guarantee reversal of the original decision.

Production and Publication

Accepted manuscripts proceed to production, formatting, proofing, and online publication. Authors must check proofs carefully and return corrections within the requested timeframe.

Substantive changes after acceptance may require editorial approval and may delay publication.

Transfer Service

Where appropriate, the editorial office may suggest transfer of a manuscript to another suitable TRP journal. Transfers occur only with author consent and are handled through the submission system where available. There is no fee for manuscript transfer.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

TRP supports an inclusive and respectful scholarly publishing environment. TRP encourages diversity among authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members and is committed to fair treatment regardless of gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, socioeconomic background, institutional affiliation, or career stage.

Discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or abusive conduct is not tolerated in any TRP editorial, peer-review, or publication process.