MTS Journal Submissions

The Marine Technology Society Journal is a peer-reviewed quarterly publication of the Marine Technology Society. Papers regarding original and significant findings in the field of marine technology and ocean engineering are particularly encouraged. Technical and scientific papers and notes, and commentaries on ocean policy, law, economic—and especially those dealing with scientific and technical aspects of the ocean—are solicited for the Journal.

Managing Editor: Kacey Beddoes

Review Process

All papers submitted to the MTSJ undergo a rigorous peer review process that typically takes between 3 and 4 months to complete. Submissions are first reviewed by the Editor to determine if they should be sent out for peer review. If they are sent out for peer review, they will be reviewed by a minimum of two anonymous reviewers. Authors will be asked to incorporate the reviewers' comments and revise their paper prior to publication. If major revisions have been requested, the paper will go back to reviewers for a second round of review. Reviewers are asked to assess whether a paper should be included in the Journal or in a more specialized publication, whether it is of broad interest to the marine community or several significant portions thereof, and how the work ranks within the particular field discussed.

Please also note that if your paper is accepted, it may not appear in the next issue of the journal. Publication may be delayed due to backlog and/or planned theme issues.

When submitting a scientific/technical paper or technical note, authors are required to suggest four potential reviewers who are not closely affiliated with the author(s) and do not work at the authors’ institutions but who are experts in the area of the paper topic and can provide an objective review.

Categories of Submissions

All categories of submissions should be double-spaced, one column, and in a font size of 12 points with 1-inch margins all around. They should follow the Manuscript Style described in the section below. 

1. Technical Article 

Technical Articles present new empirical research findings and should fully address a topic that is timely and significant to the marine engineering, technology and science communities. Articles should be no longer than 25 double-spaced pages (excluding figures and references), and include no more than 10 figures. 

2. Technical Note

Technical Notes also present new empirical research findings but may be less fully developed than Articles. Notes may be works-in-progress, addenda to previously published work, or expansions of conference presentations. Notes should be no longer than 10 double-spaced pages (excluding figures and references), and include no more than 3 figures.

3. Systematic Review or Synthesis

Systematic reviews and syntheses may be literature reviews, meta-analyses, or historical retrospectives related to a topic of interest to the marine engineering, science, and policy community. Systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses should follow best practice guidelines for those methods, and authors should describe their systematic methods in sufficient detail to allow replicability. Reviews and syntheses should be no more than 25 double-spaced pages (excluding figures and references), and should contain no more than 10 figures.

4. Commentary

Commentaries offer an informed point of view on a topic of current interest to the marine engineering, science, and policy community. Perspective authors should note that Commentaries should not be advertisements for promoting commercial products. Commentaries should be between 2 and 10 double-spaced pages.

5. Book Review

Submit Your Manuscript

Manuscripts should be submitted with the online form and instructions found here. 

Submit your manuscript online

Manuscript Style

Abstract

The abstract should be 250 words or fewer and should be a statement of the problem to be addressed. It should identify the issues and describe the nature and utility of the results. Abstracts are used in the online MTS Web site database and elsewhere. Include up to five keywords or phrases for your manuscript.

Citations

Use an (Author, date) in-text citation style. If the name of the author appears as part of the narrative, cite only the publication year in parenthesis: Smith (2012) found that …. Otherwise, place both author surname and date in parenthesis: …study shows a predicted energy increase of 15% by 2030 (Smith, 2012).

Multiple citations are separated by a semi-colon: (Smith, 2012; Roberts, 1999; Jones et al., 2013).

For works by multiple authors, list all authors in the first citation. If there are up to 5 authors, use all names in the first citation, and the surname with “et al.” for subsequent citations. For works with 2 authors, use both surnames for all citations (Smith & Jones, 2010). For works with more than 5 authors, use the surname and “et al.” for all citations.

Headers

Up to three levels of headers may be used. The first level should be Bold. The second level should be bold italics. The third level should be italics. If more than three levels of headers are needed, please use a number system to denote the different levels. All headers should have the first words capitalized.

References

References should be listed following Acknowledgements in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name. References must be referred to in the text in the form of (author's last name, year of publication); numbered footnotes should not be used. Complete and correct references are the author's responsibility. Full journal titles should be used; abbreviated journal titles should not be used.

If an author list includes more than 7 names, include the first 6 names and the last name, following an ellipsis: Author, A., Author, B., Author, C., Author, D., Author, E., Author, F., … Author, S. 2010. …

If you have more than one reference with the same lead author and publication date, DO NOT use (a), (b) notations with the date unless the list of authors is identical. If not identical, include as many subsequent author names as necessary to distinguish the correct reference.

References should be in the following formats:

Article in Journal

Author(s) (Last name, initials). Year. Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number): inclusive pages.

Example: Ayala, S.C. & D’Alessandro, A. 1973. Insect feeding behavior of some Columbian fruit-eating bats. Journal of Mammalogy, 54(1): 266-67.

Book Chapter

Author(s) (Last name, initials). Year. Title of chapter. In: Title of Book. Editors, inclusive pages. Publisher Location: Publisher.

Example: Baker, H.G., Bawa, K.S., Frankie, G.W., & Opler, P.A. 1983. Reproductive biology of plants in tropical forests. In: Tropical Rain Forest Ecosystems, Ed. F.G. Golley, pp.183−215. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Book

Author(s) (Last name, initials). Year. Title of Book. Publisher Location: Publisher.

Example: Merk, J.S., Fogg, I.J., & Snowe, C.A. 1987. Astrology for the Beginning Meteorologist. Chicago: Darkweather and Clere.

Proceedings

Author(s) (Last name, initials). Date. Name of paper. In: Name of Proceedings, name of conference, inclusive pages (if applicable). Location: Publisher. DOI if there is one.

Example: Simon, P.A. 1987. Operational considerations for a scientist-piloted research submersible. In: Intervention '87, ROV '87 Conference, pp. 79-82. San Diego, CA: Marine Technology Society.

Thesis

Author (Last name, initials). Year. Name of thesis. Masters/Ph.D. thesis, Name of university.

Example: Rintoul, B. 1988. Mass, heat and nutrient fluxes in the Atlantic Ocean determined by inverse methods. Ph.D. thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology/ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Joint Program.

Abbreviations

Acronyms and other abbreviations must be identified the first time they are used in a paper. The solitary use of an abbreviation or acronym is discouraged. All capital letters should be used only for an acronym. Ship and underwater vehicle names should be italicized. For example, Dolphin refers to the U.S. Navy's deep diving test submarine, while DOLPHIN(Deep Ocean Logging Profiler with Hydrographic Instrumentation and Navigation) refers to Canada's remote controlled survey submarine.

Measurements and Numbers

For consistency and ease in comparison, the International System of Units (SI) should be used. Measurements should be identified the first time they are used. Symbols for a unit of measurement are not to be punctuated and should be used only when preceded by a number (e.g., "5 km but "a few kilometers"). For specific questions regarding style, please consult The Chicago Manual of Style by the University of Chicago Press or contact the managing editor.

Illustrations

A sharp image and good contrast are essential for quality reproduction. Send the illustrations as separate, high-resolution files: 300 dpi, if possible, using the original program in which they were created (JPG, TIFF, EPS or Illustrator). Both the print and online versions of the MTS Journal are in full color, so color figures are encouraged. Each figure or table should be accompanied by a complete caption (including any necessary credit lines) and should be cited and explained in the text.

Permissions

Authors are solely responsible for obtaining permission to use drawings, photographs, figures, tables, and lengthy quotations (300 to 500 cumulative words or more from one source) and other previously published material. 

Copyright

It is the policy of the Marine Technology Society to own the copyright to all Journal contributions and to facilitate the appropriate reuse of these materials by others. To comply with the U.S. copyright law, authors are required to sign a Copyright Transfer Form before publication. 

Reprints and Page Charges

Institutions are asked to pay a voluntary page charge of $60 per page of each published article. Reprints are also available at discounted rates. For more information, please see the reprint order form.

English as a Second Language

Authors who want to refine the use of English in their manuscripts should consider utilizing the services of one of the many companies that provides editing for non-native English-speaking authors.