Journal of Green Building

I. Editorial Guidelines for Research Articles

Papers submitted for consideration of publication in the Journal of Green Building should advance the body of knowledge related to green, sustainable, or high performance built facilities and infrastructure systems that foster sustainability at the building, community, neighborhood and urban scale. Acceptable paper topics include original reviews of past practice, present information of current interest, or exploration of new concepts pertinent to green building. Manuscripts should be free of evident commercialism or private interest, and all manuscripts of this nature will be rejected without review. However, case studies and descriptions of new technologies are welcome, and in these papers it may be appropriate to use proper names or other identifying information to aid the reader’s understanding. Papers should not have been published previously, and authors, by submitting their paper to the Journal of Green Building, are certifying this fact and acknowledge a copyright release to the Journal of Green Building that permits publication without restriction in the event that the paper is accepted for publication. This acknowledgement of copyright release to the Journal of Green Building in no way restricts paper authors from making use of their work and research findings in future publications that are substantively different from their published paper in the Journal of Green Building and therefore do not dminish its value.

All papers will be reviewed by at least two peers that are competent to evaluate the technical and professional quality of the work. At least two positive reviews are required for acceptance of the paper for publication, and two negative reviews are grounds for rejection of the manuscript. Revisions, with or without re-review, are often required conditions of acceptance. Review criteria for papers include originality of approach, concept, and/or application; intellectual merit of approach and findings; significance of findings and potential benefits and impact; and relevance to the domain of green, sustainable, or high performance built facilities and infrastructure systems. Both practical papers and theoretical papers are encouraged. Submissions are expected to be well written, clear to understand, and relatively free of grammatical error. Papers that are difficient in these areas will be rejected without review.

Topics of interest for the Journal of Green Building span the whole scope of the green building domain and include, but are not limited to:

Indicators of sustainability for built facilities and infrastructure systems
Mathematical and systems modeling (BIM) of facilities and infrastructure performance
Integrated design and facility life cycle methods and practices
Innovation and performance modeling for mechanical systems, building envelopes, lighting, and other key facility systems
Green building materials and structural innovations
Urban and community sustainable planning
Research and education needs to support sustainability implementation
Emerging technologies for sustainable facilities & infrastructure (e.g. smart buildings, AI, 3D-printing, etc.)
Building science, energy performance, and indoor environmental quality issues
Alternative project delivery methods for green building projects
Information architectures for facilities data related to green building
Impacts of facilities on human performance
Life cycle analysis and assessment methodologies and models
green building policy and developmental studies
occupant behavior
landscape development
Energy systems, conservation, and generation
Water, stormwater, and wastewater systems
Historic preservation and green building
The built environment as industrial ecosystem
Deconstruction methodologies and waste management innovations
Sustainability and security in facility and infrastructure design
Prevention and sustainable mitigation of mold and other building hazards
Barriers to sustainability implementation
Economics of green building and cost models/methods
Operational frameworks for sustainability implementation
Decision making and management of tradeoffs in green building projects

Initial submittal of papers will be accepted via electronic submission in Adobe Portable Document Format (pdf) via the Journal of Green Building Scholastica Submission Platform. Two PDF files of the submitted paper should be sent: 1) a version that is anonymous without any identifying information related to the paper authors or affiliations, and 2) a version that has the paper authors’ names at the top of the manuscript’s first page and their identifying university or work affiliations and contact information at the bottom of the first page. Paper authors’ Orchid ids are welcome if available.

Papers accepted for publication are to be submitted according to the guidelines below.

The Journal of Green Building is a quarterly publication published in the winter, spring, summer and fall of each calendar year. Papers may be submitted on an ongoing basis for consideration in subsequent editions of the Journal; accepted papers will be scheduled, as space allows, for the most immediately available issue that has not exceeded its limit for publishable papers. The Publisher or General Editor of the Journal of Green Building will work closely with accepted paper authors through the scheduling and publication process.

The following subsections describe required and/or suggested components to be included in the structure of papers submitted to the Journal of Green Building:

Front Matter. Include a title for the paper of no more than 100 characters, including spaces between words. Authors should be listed sequentially by full name, with any professional registrations or other designations abbreviated after each name. A footnote should be included for each author listing his or her title, organization, and contact information.

Abstract. Include an abstract of 150-175 words that describes the problem or question addressed in the paper, the scope of the work and approach taken, and the key conclusions or major findings. It should be written for a technical audience and should avoid domain-specific jargon since the audience for the Journal will include multiple disciplines related to the built environment. Do not include mathematics or references to other literature in the abstract.

Narrative. The suggested maximum length for papers submitted to the Journal of Green Building is 10,000 words. Special exceptions may be made for papers on topics that cannot be sufficiently addressed within these limitations. Publication standards of the primary author’s domain or discipline (e.g., American Society of Civil Engineers, American Institute of Architects, American Planning Association) should be consulted for issues such as notation, units, and proper citation of references. If no such standards exist, the default standard for publication format and content shall be the American Society of Civil Engineers Author’s Guide - see http://www.asce.org for more information. As a guideline, the narrative of the paper should include the following key components as appropriate for the content of the paper. Sections should be titled appropriately to reflect the specific contents of each section. Not all papers may fit this recommended structure, and authors should use their discretion to develop a structure for the paper that is most appropriate to clearly convey the information to the Journal’s audience. Recommended sections to include in the body of the paper are:

Introduction. The introduction section of the paper should include a description of the problem or question being pursued in the work, and should provide an overview of the significance of the problem. It may also include sections establishing the scope of the work undertaken. It should clearly establish the purpose of the paper and the objectives of the work described therein.

Background or Point of Departure. The background section of the paper should describe prior work conducted to address the problem or answer the question described in the introduction, and should establish a clear point of departure for the work described in the paper. It may also include a summary subsection to clearly articulate the research need based on gaps in the literature or problems being addressed.

Methodology or Approach. The methodology section of the paper should clearly describe the research design and decisions underlying that design, the instruments and/or apparatus used to conduct the research, the population(s) being studied, any analytical methods employed, and other details that would allow readers to repeat the work or evaluate its validity. Authors may refer readers to Appendices containing details about the methodology if the detail contained therein would interrupt the flow of the narrative itself.

Findings. The findings section of the paper should describe the primary outcomes of the work based on application of the methodology. Include summaries and/or analysis of data in this section of the paper. Authors may refer readers to Appendices containing details about the data or analysis if the detail contained therein would interrupt the flow of the narrative itself.

Conclusions. The conclusion section of the work should discuss the significant implications of the findings described earlier. This section should refer back to or otherwise discuss the original problem or question being investigated, and should present the author’s evaluation of the work. The conclusion should also include areas for further research, benefits and impacts, and significance of the work.

Acknowledgments. Acknowledgements may be included to recognize financial or technical support received for the work described in the paper. They are not required for manuscript submission.

Appendices. If necessary, appendices may be included to provide additional detail or data essential to understanding or replicability of work described in the paper. All appendices should be clearly referenced at least once in the main body of the paper. Appendices should be included when estimating the total length of the paper.

References and Bibliography. All information in the manuscript derived from other sources should be clearly referenced in the body of the text using the author-date method. For instance, one author might be cited as (Jones 2001), two authors as (Jones and Lang 2001), and three authors or more as (Jones et al. 2001). Direct quotes or other information linked to specific locations in the text should include page numbers, e.g., (Jones 2001, p. 35). Formatting of all sources listed in the references and bibliography should follow the guidelines of the primary author’s domain, with the American Society of Civil Engineers being the default format. Reference lists should contain sources cited directly in the manuscript, and should be included in all papers. Bibliographies may be included separately to list other key resources of interest to the reader but not specifically cited in the text.

II. Editorial Guidelines for Research Articles for Peer Review, New Directions in Teaching and Research and Campus Sustainability Articles

Initial submittal of Research, New Directions in Teaching and Research and Campus Sustainability Articles should be submitted via the Journal of Green Building’s Scholastica Submission Platform. It is important that two versions of Research Articles are submitted: 1) a PDF with the authors’ names present as well as their affiliations, contact information, and Orchid ids if available, and 2) a PDF with the authors’ names absent as well as any other identifying information. The second version is essential to keep the review process anonymous. Paper authors who wish their papers to be considered for our non-peer-review sections, New Directions in Teaching and Research and Campus Sustainability, need not send a “blinded” version of their manuscript and must indicate in a cover letter to the General Editor/Publisher of the Journal of Green Building that their submission is intended for one of these sections.

Campus Sustainability, and New Directions in Teaching and Research articles are reviewed by our in-house editorial staff and by members of our editorial board who will suggest necessary corrections and revisions. These articles must adhere to the highest standards of excellence and clarity, and those that do not meet these criteria will not be published. Articles published in these sections follow the Research Articles section and are not peer-reviewed. They constitute a specialty section per issue, normally with two or fewer articles, and are treated like book reviews or other submissions that while scholarly and valuable to the academic community, fall outside the expected rigor of research articles that have extensive sections on methodology, experimental analysis and the other sections noted in our submissions guidelines that are suggested elements of a high quality research submission.

Campus Sustainability articles are written by academics and members of the university community actively engaged in sustainable design, construction, and programs that collectively enhance sustainability on campus. Articles may focus on building projects (e.g. dormitories, libraries, classrooms, athletic and dining facilities, and research buildings) that achieve notable objectives like the Living Building Challenge, Net Zero Energy, or various country specific green building standards—LEED, Green Star, BREEAM certification, to name a few. Articles from members of university environmental stewardship programs and departments of building, construction and facilities management are especially welcome. New Directions in Teaching and Research articles are written by academics who either wish to share teaching modules and curriculum guidance that enhances sustainable student instruction or discusses emergent and important research topics and their likely direction for future research.

Submission of Manuscript Accepted for Publication

If your paper is selected for publication, then your final submission should be submitted via the Scholastica Submission Platform for the Journal of Green Builidng as files in both PDF and native formats (native formats are described immediately below under Text). Our production department requires your native formats to manipulate text, while the PDF files will offer an accurate visual reference and possibly serve as a source for text and/or images if the native files are problematic.

Text
Text files should be prepared in a common word processing program, such as Microsoft Word, and saved as native Word files (.doc) or Rich Text files (.rtf). Files should be provided both in native format and saved as a generic format such as Rich Text, PDF, or ASCII.

Text should be formatted in a single column. Use the style feature of your word processing program to format headings, extracts, etc. Figures, tables, and boxes should appear exactly where you want them to fall; you can insert page breaks as needed to keep them from breaking awkwardly across pages. Avoid using text boxes, as these can be lost in conversion to the typesetting program.

*The maximum suggested length for papers is 10,000 words, though special excpetions may be granted.

Tables
Tables should be prepared using the programs table feature, with all columns and headings aligned as you wish them to appear in the final form. Tables should be numbered sequentially, and should be referenced by number in the text.

Equations
Simple in-line equations should be set as text, with italic, bold, superscript, and subscript formatting as needed. More complex built-up equations (i.e., those with numerator and denominator) can be created using Word’s Equation Editor.

Graphics/Figures (Illustrations should be saved at the highest resolution possible, with 600 dpi being a minimum. The Journal of Green Building can handle most image file formats.)

Graphics should be embedded within the word processing file, and should also be submitted as separate files. All figures should be numbered sequentially, and should be referenced by number within the text. Graphics files should be named with the author or article name and the figure number (for example, Smith_fig6.eps or Straw_fig10.tif).

Graphics should be sized to a maximum width of 6 inches (36 picas) and a maximum depth of 7 inches (42 picas). Type within graphics should be at least 6 point, and should be set in a sans serif font such as Helvetica.

Vector-based graphics (line art) should be prepared in black only, with no colors. Screens may be used to distinguish areas, such as pie chart segments. Adjacent screens should have a minimum 10% difference in value; e.g., do not set an area filled with a 15% screen next to an area filled with 20%. In line graphs, use dashed and dotted lines to distinguish curves. Lines within art should have a minimum thickness of 0.5 point.

Photographs should be supplied at a minimum resolution of 600 dpi. Scans of line art (e.g., maps or blueprints) should be saved at a minimum resolution of 800 dpi. When selecting photographs, consider how they will appear as grayscale; good contrast is essential.

Preferred graphics formats for line art are eps and pdf; preferred formats for photos and other scans are eps and tiff. Photos can also be supplied as jpgs; however, be sure they are saved at sufficient resolution (i.e., minimum 600 dpi). Web-quality jpgs are usually 72 dpi, and are not acceptable for print.

Additional required files
A cover letter is not required with your submission unless their are special considerations the Publisher ought to know about your paper before evaluating. It is assumed that the importance and uniqueness of your paper will be clearly explained in the Abstract and Introduction of the submitted work.

Editorial and Peer Review Process

The first stage of of the evaluation process involves an in-house reading of your manuscript by the Journal of Green Building’s editorial team. Before a paper is accepted to go out for peer review, it must be deemed to be of high quality, scientifically rigorous, well structured and written, and to be within the scope of the Journal of Green Building. Submitted papers that do not meet these criteria are rejected at this stage and do not move onto the peer review process.

Papers selected to move on to the peer review process are sent to competent scholars in the field who have specialized knowledge in the subject area of the paper. Papers that receive two positive recommendations for publication are accepted for publication and paper authors are notified of their projected publication date by Volume and Issue number. A schedule is communicated to the authors for a revision of their papers based on reviewers’ comments and when final files should be submitted.

Some papers are deemed by reviewers to have obvious merit but need signifant revision before acceptance. These papers are returned to the authors with the reviewers’ comments and a revised paper file is requested for re-review. If the revised files now meet the reviewers’ objections, acceptane will be granted; otherwise, these papers will be rejected without further consideration.

Standards of Writing

Papers submitted to the Journal of Green Building are expected to be well written, logically constructed, clear, and with few grammatical errors. A large number of initial submittals are rejected at the desktop stage due to concerns regarding these issues. Non-native speakers of English should especially seek the services of English copyediting and proofreading specialists, unless they are confident of their own English writing skills, who can improve the readability of their papers. While the Journal of Green Building provides all accepted papers a round of proofreading and copyediting, these services are intended to cover slight problems with a paper’s presentation, not major issues. No matter the potential scientific merit of a paper, if it is poorly written, it will not be read or understood as widely as it might be, and as a consequence have a greatly diminished impact.

Production Details and Author Charges

There is a twenty-five dollar fee for authors to submit their papers into the Scholastica peer review system. All submitted papers will be initally vetted by our editorial team to determine if a paper’s content and quality is suitable to move on to the next stage of peer review. Papers not deemed suitable are rejected at this “desk review” stage. The twenty-five dollar submission fee is not refundable if a paper is “desk rejected” and does not move on to the peer review stage. After this in-house review, authors whose papers are accepted into our peer review process, which may or may not lead to publication depending on the reviewers’ assessments, are asked to pay an additional seventy-five dollar fee to help cover the Publisher’s costs of publication. This nonrefundable fee is a small fraction of the cost to edit, design, produce, print, host, market and distribute the Journal of Green Building. For authors publishing under our “restricted access” model, these are the only fees for publication of their work–all other publication costs are covered by the Publisher. Under this model, access to paper content is restricted to faculty and students whose universities hold active subscriptions to the Journal of Green Building. Authors who wish to publish their papers Open Access have the option to pay an Open Access Charge of eighteen hundred and should contact the publisher at collegepub@mindspring.com for futher details.

The timeline between acceptance and publication of a paper varies considerably depending on many factors, including but not limited to how many papers are in queue to be published, how quickly authors revise and sbumit final, revised files, how quickly assigned reviewers complete their tasks, etc. In general, we attempt to receive reviews and notify authors of their acceptance or rejection within six weeks of first receipt of a paper. Accepted papers are then requested to make “reasonable” reviewer request for change to their works within two to three months of receipt of these comments. Publication normally happens within twelve months of receipt of revised files, which should be in Word and PDF format. Several weeks prior to publication, authors will receive “page proofs” of their paper to vet for any necessary changes required before publication.

Paper authors are not responsible for the formatting, typesetting and design of the final pages of their published article. The Journal of Green Building’s professional production department handles all these matters. To aid the efforts of the production department, paper authors are expected to submit final files for publication that follow the guidelines for submittal for accepted papers as set forth in our instructions for authors. It is helpful for paper authors to submit both a Word and PDF file of their work.

Copyright
The paper authors hold the copyright for their article. It is understood that while the authors have the freedom to use essential research findings from their Journal of Green Building publication in the issuance of new works, any derivative papers using these findings ought to have a “uniqueness” of inquiry and findings that substantially differentiate the published Journal of Green Building paper from any future works. In short, any reader should find it obvious that any derivative works do not diminish the importance and originality of the published Journal of Green Building paper.