Author's Guidelines
Journal of Immersive Media and Creative Arts is a double peer-reviewed, open access, bi-annual research journal and is published by Riphah Institute of Media Sciences.
The journal encourages innovative and thought-provoking research contributions in the form of research papers, review papers, book and film reviews, reflective practice in Visual Arts etc. from the scholars, academicians and doctoral students of national and international Arena.
- Types of articles
- Language
- APA Formatting and JIMCA Manuscript Template
- Artwork Guidelines
- Submission Declaration and Plagiarism Policy
- Image Integrity (Not Applicable to Digital Artworks)
- Submission Procedure and checklist
- Further Considerations
- Revised Submissions
- Paper Rejection and Blacklisting Policy
- Copyright
- ORCID iD
1. Types of articles
Submissions may be made under the following five categories:
1.1. Immersive Media - Conventional Research Article:
360 degree video, 360 degree Virtual Reality videos, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, eXtended Reality and immersive gaming. The length of an article, including the title, author information, abstract, text, tables, figures, notes, references, and appendices, should be approximately 5000-7000 words. Details of article template are explained in point no. 3 APA formatting and referencing guideline.
1.2. Creative Arts Research Papers - Conventional Research Article:
Research papers which advance theory, method, and empirical analysis of any tool or practice in fine arts or digital arts may be submitted with a maximum of 5000 to 7000 words. Details of article template are explained in point no. 3 APA formatting and referencing guideline.
1.3. Creative Arts Reflective Practice Papers - Practice-Based Research
Reflective papers by practitioners of Creative Arts and visual communication which document current and emerging practices and trends in all areas of visual communication, whether from a critical perspective or with a view to exploring the expansion of the resources of visual communication and their uses can write a practice based Article. Artist wishing to publish their art practice can follow international guidelines on Practice-based Research and write articles on any art form, with a maximum of 4000 words. Details of article template are explained in point no. 3 APA formatting and referencing guideline.
1.4. Visual Essays in Creative Arts and Photography
Visual essays in any of the above areas like artwork analyses, thematic Essay, which make their argument predominantly through visual communication with maximally 12 pages. Details of article template are explained in point no. 3 APA formatting and referencing guideline.
2. Language
Please write your manuscript in good English. Only British English usage is accepted. Make sure the manuscript is spell checked and grammatically correct. JIMCA also offers language assistance services, if requested.
3. APA Formatting, Referencing Guidelines and JIMCA Manuscript Template:
General guidelines for preparing the manuscript for submission are summarized in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.; APA, 2010; pp. 228–231). Authors may also find the following documents helpful for preparing manuscripts for submission in JIMCA.
APA Kit
3.1 Title Page
The first page of the manuscript should contain the title of the paper, the name(s) of the author(s), and a footnote giving the current affiliation of the author(s) and any acknowledgements or author’s note.
3.2 Abstract and Keywords
All manuscripts must include an abstract containing a maximum of 250 words typed on a separate page. After the abstract, please supply up to five keywords or brief phrases (APA). The abstract should explain the purpose of the research, the primary results, major conclusions and any policy prescriptions. It should not exaggerate or contain material, not in the main text. The abstract should be followed by atleast six keywords.
3.3 Introduction
A strong introduction engages the reader in the problem of interest and provides a context for the study at hand. In introducing the research concern, the author should provide a clear rationale for why the problem deserves new research, placing the study in the context of current knowledge and prior theoretical and empirical work on the topic. The summary of results should have been dealt with the abstract.
3.4 Literature Review / Literature Practice Review
The author needs to extend the background to the article’s introduction and identify the most relevant previous literature on the topic for positioning the paper and demonstrate its significance. A separate section for setting out the theoretical or conceptual framework is recommended. In short, this section of the literature review should explain the motivation for the paper and the importance of this research relevant to the contributions.
Incase an article is made on practice based or practice-led research, Literature Review maybe replaced by Literature Practice Review, where by the artist or practitioner takes into account all available practice, the different styles, the outcome of such articles and how they are inspiring or directing his/her current practice.
3.5 Methodology/ Analysis (Conventional research Articles)
The author is required to provide the relevant and reliable supporting empirical or other material to the conclusion and that the methodology is appropriate and systematic.
3.6 Results & Discussion (Conventional research Articles)
Results should be clear and concise. The significance of the results of the research work, with no repeatedly mentioning of results in the text is often appropriate.
3.7 Tables, Figures, Formulas and Equations (Conventional research Articles)
Tables should be numbered and headed with appropriate concise titles. The tables are preferred to be presented after the main body of the text and not inserted in the manuscript. Tables for the main text and each of its appendices should be numbered serially and separately. The title of each table, as well as the captions of its columns and rows, should be clearly expressive of the contents. The source of the tables should be given in a footnote immediately below the line at the bottom of the table; but, unlike other footnotes, which must be numbered consecutively, it should not be numbered.
3.8 Mathematical formulae/ Equations: (Conventional research Articles)
Please include mathematical equations and expressions as editable text and not as images. Write equations and formulas using the equation editor.
3.9 Materials and Method/ Method and Implementation: (For reflective practive articles or visual essays)
for the artists and practitioners who are not hard-core conventional researchers and are contributing in the form of there practice in Art and Design or digital art, these heads may replace the Methodlogy head, where they can discuss their exploration and contribution and explain their technique in detail. these articles will not have data findings or data analyses heads. they may have discussion or analysis though.
3.10 Figure captions:
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. The resolution of the image should be 300dpi.
Tables: Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the relevant text in the article, or on separate page(s) at the end (not a mixture of both).
3.11 Conclusion
The original contribution of the manuscript and the discussion of implications of findings should be clearly mentioned in this section. Provide a critical assessment of the limitations of the study, and outline possible directions for future research.
3.12 References
End References: JIMCA requires all references in APA format. All references used in the text should be listed in the alphabetical order of the authors’ surnames at the end of the text. References should be complete and correct. References in the text should include the name(s) of the author(s) with the year of publication in parentheses. List of all these references needs to present at the very end of the paper under the heading of “References”. Use of DOI is highly encouraged. Write the DOI of all the references, if available.
Citation in text: Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Reference management softwares such as Mendeley, EndNote etc. are preferable for reference citation.
4. Artwork guidelines
Illustrations, pictures and graphs, should be supplied in the highest quality and in an electronic format that helps us to publish your article in the best way possible. Please follow the guidelines below to enable us to prepare your artwork for the printed issue as well as the online version.
4.1. Format: TIFF, JPEG: Common format for pictures (containing no text or graphs).
4.2. EPS: Preferred format for graphs and line art (retains quality when enlarging/zooming in).
4.3. Placement: Figures/charts and tables created in MS Word should be included in the main text rather than at the end of the document.
4.4. Supplementary Files: Figures and other files created outside Word (i.e. Excel, PowerPoint, JPG, TIFF and EPS) should be submitted separately. Please add a placeholder note in the running text (i.e. “[insert Figure 1.]")
4.5. Resolution: Rasterized based files (i.e. with .tiff or .jpeg extension) require a resolution of at least 300 dpi (dots per inch). Line art should be supplied with a minimum resolution of 800 dpi.
4.6. Colour: Please note that images supplied in colour will be published in colour online and black and white in print (unless otherwise arranged). Therefore, it is important that you supply images that are comprehensible in black and white as well (i.e. by using colour with a distinctive pattern or dotted lines). The captions should reflect this by not using words indicating colour. If however, a work is to be printed in color, the author must explicitly state the hexacode for the colors used in the images for exact printing.
4.7. Dimension: Check that the artworks supplied match or exceed the dimensions of the journal. Images cannot be scaled up after origination
4.8. Fonts: The lettering used in the artwork should not vary too much in size and type (usually sans serif font as a default).
5. Submission Declaration and Plagiarism Policy:
JIMCAS's editorial policy welcomes submissions which are original and not under consideration for any other publication at the same time. All authors should be aware of the importance of presenting content that is based on their own research and expressed in their own words. Plagiarism is considered to be bad practice and unethical. As per the part of HEC Plagiarism Policy, originality guidelines are designed to assist authors in understanding acceptable and unacceptable practice.
JIMCA follows HEC Plagiarism policy that allows similarity less than 18%. And plagiarism from each source should be less than 3%. Every article submission and all resubmissions invited by the editors or reviewers, must be accompanied with a Turnitin plagiarism report clearly stating that the plagiarism is less than 18%. In case your paper is extracted from your own previously conducted research work, then also place the following statement in the author’s note:
“I hereby declare that the given paper is extracted from my MPhil/PhD thesis and/or is an extension of my previous research work.”
For complete reference to HEC Plagiarism Policy please click here.
6. Image Integrity (Not Applicable to Digital Artworks)
Figures should be minimally processed and should reflect the integrity of the original data in the image. Adjustments to images in brightness, contrast, or color balance should be applied equally to the entire image, provided they do not distort any data in the figure, including the background. Selective adjustments and touch-up tools used on portions of a figure are not appropriate. Images should not be layered or combined into a single image unless it is stated that the figure is a product of time-averaged data. All adjustments to image date should be clearly disclosed in the figure legend. Images may be additionally screened to confirm faithfulness to the original data. Authors should be able to supply raw image data upon request. Authors should also list tools and software used to collect image data and should document settings and manipulations in the Methods section.
7. Submission Procedure and checklist
You can use this list to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to the journal for review. Ensure that the following items are present:
7.1. Contributors and Corresponding Author:
One author has been designated as the corresponding author with complete contact details including email and postal addresses. JIMCA will not publish articles contributed by more than three authors.
7.2. Medium of Correspondence:
Submission and Correspondence Manuscripts should be electronically submitted via ‘Make a Submission’ link. However, all correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.
7.3. All necessary files listed below have been included in the manuscript:
7.3.1. Include keywords
7.3.2. All figures (include relevant captions)
7.3.3. All tables (including titles, description, footnotes)
7.3.4. Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided
7.3.5. Supplemental files (where applicable)
7.3.6.Please ensure the figures and tables included in the single file are placed either next to the relevant text in the article or on separate pages(s) at the end (not a mixture of both).
8. File Type
The manuscript should be submitted as a single Microsoft Word file including all contents. The author owns full rights of the text as well as the image information provided and the changes will not be made by the editors and publishers. In the case of the reprinting of previously published or copyright-protected material, both textual as well as visual or graphical, the author is solely responsible for obtaining permission in this regard.
9. Further considerations
9.1. The manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar checked'
9.2. All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa
9.3. Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)
9.4. A competing interest’s statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare
9.5. The full form of abbreviations for abstracting and abstracting purposes should be presented in the manuscript.
9.6. Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed
10. Revised Submissions
Make sure that you have first 'accepted' all changes previously listed in earlier versions under 'track changes', and that all embedded comments or highlighting of the text have likewise been removed. To avoid unnecessary errors, you are strongly advised to use the "spell-check" and "grammar-check" functions of your word-processor. It is also advised that the author must include Turnitin plagiarism report of less than 18% along with every resubmission.
11. Paper Rejection and Blacklisting Policy
Aligned with the guidelines of HEC, JIMCA has set up certain policies for rejection or cancellation of a submission and refusing to abide by the policies may even result in blacklisting of the contributor. the policies are listed under:
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JIMCA will not accept papers that are already rejected by another journal.
- Papers already in review process for publication in another journal must not be submitted for review at JIMCA. if a contributor is found to be violating this rule, JIMCA WILL NOT ONLY BLACKLIST THE CONTRIBUTOR, BUT ALSO RESERVES THE WRITE TO INFORM THE OTHER JOURNAL ABOUT THE MIS-CONDUCT VIA EMAIL.
12. Copyright
The manuscripts submitted in the JIMCA must be original and unpublished. They must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. The authors are solely responsible to acquire the permission to reproduce the copyrighted material from other sources, if necessary.
13. ORCID iD
ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities ensuring that your work is recognized.
JIMCA requires all the contributing authors and co-authors to provide their ORCID iDs, as they are important for indexing and profiling, but also for enhancing their integral search visibility all over the internet. ORCID iDs are for a lifetime and can be obtained free of charges through a simple registration process at https://orcid.org/.
