Author's Guidelines and Checklist

Authors are required to ensure that their submissions meet all of the following criteria, and submissions that do not comply with these guidelines may be returned. Prior to submitting your articles, please review the following manuscript checklist:

  • All papers must be formatted according to PMJ template. (We recommend that you copy and replace the contents in the provided Word file with your own contents)
  • Author should submit final manuscript as a single file in Microsoft WORD format
  • All papers must not exceed 15 pages in PMJ template
  • Authors must strictly follow journal reference style, PMJ adopts APA style for referencing.
  • All illustrations, figures and/or tables in the manuscript must be captioned (Figure 1, Table 1, etc).
  • The manuscript should include: Title; Author(s) name, One Corresponding Author; the Abstract; Keywords; Introduction; Methods; Results; Discussion; Acknowledgement, Disclosure Statement and References.
  • The manuscript is within the journal's aims and scope and clearly states its original scholarly or professional contribution.
  • The manuscript is not published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal; all related papers, preprints, reports, theses or conference versions have been disclosed.
  • All listed authors meet the journal's authorship criteria, approve the submission and agree to be accountable. No eligible contributor has been omitted.
  • A separate title page and a fully anonymised manuscript have been uploaded. Author identities and acknowledgements are not present in the anonymous file or file properties.
  • Full affiliations, countries, current email addresses, corresponding-author details, ORCID iDs where available and CRediT contributor roles are complete.
  • The abstract, keywords, main text, references, tables, figures and supplementary files follow the current template and article-type requirements.
  • Every in-text citation appears in the reference list and every reference is cited in the text. References have been checked for accuracy and DOI links included where available.
  • All tables, figures, maps, photographs and third-party material are original or used with permission, accurately labelled and not misleadingly manipulated.
  • Ethics approval/exemption, informed consent and privacy safeguards are stated where applicable, and supporting documents can be supplied on request.
  • A Data Availability Statement is included and repository identifiers or justified restrictions are provided where applicable.
  • All funding and financial/non-financial competing interests are disclosed, or a no-conflict statement is included.
  • Any substantive use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools is transparently declared; AI has not been listed as an author; and all outputs, citations and data have been verified by the authors.
  • The manuscript has not been submitted on behalf of the authors by an unauthorised third party, paper mill or commercial service that controls the content or peer-review process.
  • The authors understand that similarity screening is evaluated qualitatively and that plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, citation manipulation and peer-review manipulation are prohibited.
  • Integration of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Research Publications - Mandatory SDG Keyword: Authors must identify and include at least one SDG (SDG 1–SDG 17) that is directly relevant to the subject matter, research objectives, findings or implications of their manuscript.
  • Standardised Format: The SDG must be clearly identified using its official number and title, for example:
    • SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
    • SDG 13: Climate Action
    • SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
  • Multiple SDGs: Authors may include more than one SDG where the research meaningfully contributes to multiple sustainable development objectives.
  • Relevance: The selected SDG(s) must reflect the actual scope and contribution of the research. Authors should not include unrelated SDGs merely to fulfil this requirement.
  • Editorial Compliance: Manuscripts submitted without a relevant SDG keyword may be returned to the authors for revision before proceeding to the editorial review process.
  • Example of SDG(s) Keywords - Keywords: Urban Planning; Sustainable Urban Development; Housing Accessibility; SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities; SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities.

The maximum number of authors for one manuscript is five authors.

For authors’ reference, the official 17 SDGs are:

1) No Poverty

2) Zero Hunger

3) Good Health and Well-Being

4) Quality Education

5) Gender Equality

6) Clean Water and Sanitation

7) Affordable and Clean Energy

8) Decent Work and Economic Growth

9) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

10) Reduced Inequalities

11) Sustainable Cities and Communities

12) Responsible Consumption and Production

13) Climate Action

14) Life Below Water

15) Life on Land

16) Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

17) Partnerships for the Goals

Official reference: United Nations – The 17 Sustainable Development Goals.