Submission Guidelines for Editorial Contribution and Letters to the Editor
Hong Kong Engineer provides an all-inclusive forum for the exchange of information among industry stakeholders of all varieties on the latest developments in 21 engineering disciplines under the HKIE's umbrella. Hong Kong Engineer welcomes the contribution of articles, technical and general, on topical interest relevant to the development of engineering and engineering practice in Hong Kong or abroad. It embraces diversity: article contributors may be any companies, bodies, agencies or organisations (commercial or otherwise) that are associated with the engineering sector in any way. In deciding an article’s suitability for publication, no considerations are ever given to whether the contributor belongs to the public or the private sector.
Criteria
The quality of writing must be high. Submissions must be original, apart from any permitted third-party copyright material the author included, and do not infringe any intellectual property rights of any other person or entity and cannot be construed as plagiarising any other published work, including but not limited to the author’s own research and published material.
The submission must not be currently under submission to/ under consideration by/ have been accepted by/ have been previously published by any other print/digital journal/publication, nor has been assigned or licensed by you to any third party.
The topic should be of interest to members and other industry practitioners, and of value and use to the profession and the community. Articles of knowledge or idea sharing are also welcome. Reports of divisional activities are not taken as editorial contribution or letters to the editor. Separate submission guidelines are available.
Length and Style
Articles should be written in plain English offering clarity and readability. Hong Kong Engineer is a professional journal of general engineering interest. Articles should preferably have a journalistic style and jargon should be avoided unless the submission is a technical paper.
- Cover Story
Topics on projects or trends of the engineering industry can be proposed for development as cover stories. An editorial brief detailing the direction, proposed content, author, reasons of making the suggestion etc should be provided for consideration prior to submission of a full story. A cover story should be about 3,500 words in length. Authors are requested to submit at least 4 photographs infographics and illustrations to make the article more interesting. However, the Editorial Office reserves the right to omit some images as it sees fit. - Update
Submission should be key events, occasions or awards that had already taken place. Promotion of future events will not be considered. Submission should not exceed 200 words in length. Authors are encouraged to submit one photograph/infographic/illustration to make the articles more interesting.
- Technology Focus/Engineers and the Environment/Feature stories
Each submission should not exceed 2,000 words in length. Authors are particularly encouraged to submit photographs, infographics and illustrations to make the articles more interesting. However, the Editorial Office reserves the right to omit some images when page limit is exceeded. - Letter to the Editor
Submissions should not exceed 400 words in length. No image should be submitted for this column.
Reviewing Process
Submissions are subject to assessment by the Journal Editorial Committee and Technical Reviewers. Comments from the reviewers will be forwarded to the authors to facilitate revision, if necessary. Once the articles or letters have been accepted, changes may be made to the style, readability and length to fit the style of the journal and space allocated.
The Journal Editorial Committee will monitor the development of discussion on any engineering topics. In an effort to maintain a balanced coverage for all disciplines, if submissions of letters/articles concerning the same topic become a growing trend, the Journal Editorial Committee may refer the topic to the Division(s) concerned to organise any suitable learned society activities, e.g., forum, technical seminar for discussion.
The Journal Editorial Committee reserves the right to accept or reject any contribution and the decision is final.
Copyright
Articles are considered for publication on the understanding that they are original works and are not currently under submission to/ under consideration by/ have been accepted by/ have been previously published by any other print/digital journal/publication, nor has been assigned or licensed by you to any third party.
Authors who wish to reproduce illustrations/tables/figures/images and any supplementary information that are under submission to, under consideration by, accepted by, or have already been published by other print/digital journal/publication must inform the Journal Editorial Office upon article submission and provide the written permission obtained from the copyright holder. Otherwise, it is assumed that the illustrations/tables/figures/images and any supplementary information have not been submitted to, accepted by, previously published in or is not going to be published in whole, in part or in substance by any other print/digital journal/publication.
For submissions (including illustrations/tables/figures/images and any supplementary information) found to have plagiarised/self-plagiarised, or if the redundant submissions (including illustrations/tables/figures/images and any supplementary information) are submitted without prior notification, the Journal Editorial Committee has the right to reject the submission and publication of the article. Any discovered instances of plagiarism may result in future submissions from that author being disregarded.
The Journal Editorial Committee has the right to withdraw or retract any published articles (including illustrations/tables/figures/images and any supplementary information) that have been found, before/during/after publication, to have plagiarised/self-plagiarised/been submitted without prior notification of redundant submission or appear to the said Committee to have plagiarised/self-plagiarised/been submitted without prior notification of redundant submission. The Journal Editorial Committee also reserves the right to make claims against authors of such articles for any damages incurred as a result of the act of withdrawal or retraction.
In line with common publishing practice, the corresponding authors are required to sign a Copyright Consent Form consenting to the HKIE the right to use and edit the works prior to publication. All materials published in the Hong Kong Engineer, unless otherwise mentioned, carries the copyright of the HKIE. The Institution requires and takes that the authors have obtained all necessary consent and permission for reproduction of all materials included in the articles have been obtained by the author(s).
Republication of submissions
Authors may have their submission(s), including but not limited to text, illustrations, tables, figures and images, and any supplementary information to be republished in another publication if the following conditions are met:
- the submission(s) is first appeared in Hong Kong Engineer;
- the author to submit a written request to the Journal Editorial Committee one-month prior to the submission to another publication;
- there should be a minimum of a one-month gap between the submission being published in Hong Kong Engineer and its subsequent republication; and
- the republished submission(s) must contain the following attribution: “This article/ illustrations/ tables/ figures/ images/ supplementary information first appeared in the [MONTH] [YEAR] issue of Hong Kong Engineer, the monthly journal of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.”
Submission
Articles can be submitted via email, written in Word or Rich Text format. Images sent electronically should be at not less than 300 dpi and in JPEG format. All editorial contribution should be forwarded to Email: editor@hkie.org.hk.
An acknowledgement will be sent to the person who submits the article or letter upon receipt. This acknowledgement does not represent a commitment to publication.