Author Guidelines

Submission Guidelines

Australian Journal of Cross-Disciplinary Innovation (AJCDI)

The Australian Journal of Cross-Disciplinary Innovation (AJCDI) welcomes original, rigorous, and innovative scholarly contributions that connect multiple disciplines and address significant academic, technological, social, economic, environmental, or societal challenges.

The journal particularly encourages research that demonstrates meaningful interaction between disciplines and offers new theoretical insights, methodologies, technologies, applications, or evidence.

1. Scope of Submissions

AJCDI considers manuscripts addressing interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary topics, including but not limited to:

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

• Data Science and Big Data Analytics

• Cybersecurity and Information Technology

• Blockchain and Emerging Technologies

• Healthcare and Biomedical Innovation

• Engineering and Sustainable Technologies

• Environmental Science and Climate Innovation

• Education and Learning Technologies

• Business, Management, and Entrepreneurship

• Economics and Social Sciences

• Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies

• Public Policy and Governance

• Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0

• Smart Cities and Sustainable Development

• Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Social Innovation

• Human-Computer Interaction

• Interdisciplinary research methodologies

• Emerging technologies and their societal implications

Submissions should demonstrate a clear connection between two or more disciplinary perspectives, or demonstrate how a disciplinary contribution addresses a broader cross-disciplinary problem.

2. Types of Manuscripts

The journal welcomes the following categories:

2.1 Original Research Articles

Full-length papers presenting original theoretical, experimental, computational, empirical, or applied research.

2.2 Review Articles

Critical and systematic reviews that synthesize existing literature and identify research gaps, emerging trends, methodological developments, or future research directions.

2.3 Systematic Literature Reviews / Meta-Analyses

Evidence-based reviews following an appropriate and clearly documented methodology.

2.4 Case Studies

Detailed studies of innovative projects, technologies, organizations, communities, policies, or real-world implementations with significant cross-disciplinary relevance.

2.5 Short Communications

Concise reports describing significant preliminary findings, emerging methodologies, innovative applications, or important research developments.

2.6 Perspectives and Conceptual Papers

Scholarly discussions proposing new frameworks, theories, models, methodologies, or interdisciplinary perspectives.

2.7 Technical and Methodological Papers

Papers introducing significant methods, algorithms, frameworks, tools, datasets, or technological approaches with demonstrated academic or practical relevance.

3. Originality and Exclusivity

Submitted manuscripts must:

• Be original work of the authors.

• Not have been previously published in substantially similar form.

• Not be simultaneously submitted to another journal or publication.

• Contain appropriate acknowledgment of all sources.

• Clearly disclose any substantial overlap with previous publications by the authors.

• Have the approval of all listed authors before submission.

Simultaneous submission to multiple journals is not permitted. Manuscripts that substantially duplicate previously published work may be rejected.

4. Manuscript Language

Manuscripts should be written in clear academic English.

Authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to have their manuscript professionally proofread before submission.

The manuscript should maintain consistent spelling, terminology, grammar, punctuation, and academic style throughout.

5. Manuscript Length

Recommended manuscript lengths are:

The editorial team may consider manuscripts outside these ranges when the length is justified by the contribution.

6. Manuscript Structure

Research articles should generally follow the structure below:

1. Title

2. Author Information

3. Abstract

4. Keywords

5. Introduction

6. Literature Review / Related Work

7. Research Gap / Problem Statement

8. Research Objectives / Questions

9. Materials and Methods / Methodology

10. Results / Findings

11. Discussion

12. Implications

13. Limitations

14. Conclusion

15. Acknowledgements, where applicable

16. Funding Statement

17. Conflict of Interest Statement

18. Ethics Statement, where applicable

19. Data Availability Statement, where applicable

20. References

21. Supplementary Materials, where applicable

The exact structure may be adapted according to the discipline and manuscript type.

7. Title

The title should:

• Clearly describe the subject of the manuscript.

• Be concise and informative.

• Reflect the actual research contribution.

• Avoid unnecessary abbreviations.

• Avoid promotional or exaggerated terminology.

The title should normally be no longer than approximately 20 words.

8. Abstract

The abstract should be 150–300 words and should be understandable without reference to the main manuscript.

For research articles, the abstract should generally identify:

• Background or research problem

• Objective

• Methodology

• Key findings

• Principal contribution or implication

Citations should normally not be included in the abstract.

9. Keywords

Authors should provide 4–8 keywords that accurately represent the main themes of the manuscript.

Keywords should be specific enough to improve discoverability while avoiding unnecessary repetition of the title.

10. Figures and Tables

All tables and figures must:

• Be numbered consecutively.

• Have clear and descriptive titles or captions.

• Be cited in the main text.

• Be of sufficient resolution and readability.

• Include appropriate source attribution where applicable.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted figures, photographs, datasets, or other third-party materials.

11. References and Citations

Authors must ensure that:

• Every source cited in the manuscript appears in the reference list.

• Every reference in the reference list is cited in the manuscript.

• References are complete and accurate.

• Persistent identifiers such as DOI numbers are provided where available.

• Sources are cited consistently throughout the manuscript.

Unless otherwise specified for a particular article type, authors should use a consistent recognized academic referencing style appropriate to their discipline.

Authors should prioritize relevant, authoritative, and recent scholarly literature while appropriately acknowledging foundational research.

12. Research Ethics

Authors must comply with applicable research ethics requirements.

Where research involves:

• Human participants

• Personal or sensitive data

• Medical or health-related information

• Animals

• Interviews or surveys

• Institutional data

• Vulnerable populations

the manuscript should include an appropriate Ethics Statement and, where applicable, details of institutional ethics approval.

Where ethical approval was not required, authors should state the reason where appropriate.

13. Authorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual or scholarly contributions to the work.

All authors should:

• Have contributed meaningfully to the research.

• Approve the submitted manuscript.

• Agree to the order of authorship.

• Accept responsibility for their contribution to the work.

The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the journal and confirming that all authors have approved the submission.

Changes to authorship after submission should be appropriately justified and agreed upon by all affected authors.

14. Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research.

If there are no relevant conflicts, authors should provide a statement such as:

“The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest associated with this manuscript.”

15. Funding Statement

All sources of financial support for the research should be disclosed.

Where no external funding was received, authors may state:

“This research received no external funding.”

16. Data Availability

Where applicable, authors should provide a statement explaining whether research data, software, code, datasets, or other supporting materials are available.

Examples include:

• Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

• Data are publicly available through the repository identified in the manuscript.

• Data are not publicly available due to ethical, privacy, or confidentiality restrictions.

17. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors who use generative AI or AI-assisted technologies during manuscript preparation should disclose such use where it materially contributes to the manuscript.

AI tools should not be listed as authors.

Authors remain fully responsible for:

• The accuracy of the manuscript.

• The originality of the work.

• Appropriate citation of sources.

• Verification of AI-assisted content.

• Protection of confidential or personal information.

AI-generated material should not be presented as independently verified scholarly evidence.

18. Plagiarism and Similarity Screening

All submissions may be screened using plagiarism and similarity-detection tools.

The journal expects authors to properly attribute ideas, quotations, data, figures, and other material originating from other sources.

Manuscripts containing substantial unattributed overlap may be rejected or returned for investigation.

Similarity results will be evaluated in context rather than solely on the basis of a numerical percentage.

19. Peer Review

AJCDI follows an editorial screening and peer-review process.

After submission:

1. The manuscript is checked for basic compliance and journal scope.

2. The editorial team evaluates the manuscript for suitability and scholarly quality.

3. Manuscripts considered suitable are sent for peer review.

4. Reviewers evaluate the manuscript's originality, methodology, significance, clarity, evidence, and contribution.

5. Authors may be asked to revise the manuscript.

6. Revised manuscripts may undergo additional review.

7. The final publication decision is made by the editorial team.

The journal may use double-blind peer review, where the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed during the review process.

20. Editorial Decisions

Possible editorial decisions include:

• Accept

• Minor Revision

• Major Revision

• Revise and Resubmit

• Reject

Authors receiving a revision decision should provide:

1. A revised manuscript.

2. A detailed response to reviewers.

3. Clear identification of changes made in the manuscript.

Authors should respond professionally and substantively to reviewer comments.

21. Manuscript Formatting

Authors should submit manuscripts in an editable format such as Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx) unless the submission system specifies otherwise.

Recommended formatting:

• Font: Times New Roman or another standard academic font

• Font size: 12 pt

• Line spacing: 1.5

• Page size: A4

• Standard margins

• Page numbers included

• Tables and figures numbered consecutively

• Consistent heading hierarchy

• References formatted consistently

Authors should avoid unnecessary formatting, embedded macros, or non-standard fonts.

22. Submission Files

Authors should normally provide:

Main Manuscript

A complete manuscript containing the title, abstract, main text, references, tables, figures, and other required sections.

Title Page

Where applicable, a separate title page should contain:

• Manuscript title

• Full names of all authors

• Institutional affiliations

• Country

• Email addresses

• Corresponding author information

• ORCID iDs, where available

For double-blind review, identifying information should be removed from the anonymized manuscript.

Supplementary Materials

Datasets, questionnaires, source code, appendices, additional figures, or other supporting materials may be submitted where appropriate.

23. Cover Letter

Authors are encouraged to provide a brief cover letter containing:

• Manuscript title

• Manuscript type

• Brief description of the contribution

• Explanation of the manuscript's interdisciplinary relevance

• Confirmation that the manuscript is original

• Confirmation that it is not under consideration elsewhere

• Disclosure of conflicts of interest

• Any additional information relevant to the editors

24. Interdisciplinary Contribution

Because AJCDI is explicitly cross-disciplinary, submissions should clearly explain how the work connects disciplines.

Authors should identify, where applicable:

• The disciplines involved.

• The problem requiring interdisciplinary investigation.

• How knowledge or methods from different disciplines are integrated.

• What new insight emerges from this integration.

• The potential academic, technological, social, economic, environmental, or practical implications.

A manuscript that merely mentions multiple disciplines without meaningful integration may not satisfy the journal's cross-disciplinary focus.

25. Submission Checklist

Before submitting, authors should confirm that:

☐ The manuscript falls within the journal's scope.
☐ The work is original and has not been published elsewhere.
☐ The manuscript is not under consideration by another journal.
☐ All authors have approved the submission.
☐ The corresponding author has been identified.
☐ The title is clear and concise.
☐ The abstract meets the required length.
☐ 4–8 keywords have been provided.
☐ All tables and figures are numbered and cited.
☐ References are complete and accurate.
☐ Copyright permissions have been obtained where required.
☐ Ethics approval has been obtained where applicable.
☐ Funding information has been disclosed.
☐ Conflicts of interest have been disclosed.
☐ Data availability has been addressed where applicable.
☐ AI use has been disclosed where applicable.
☐ The manuscript has been checked for plagiarism and inadvertent text overlap.
☐ The manuscript has been carefully proofread before submission.

26. How to Submit

Manuscripts should be submitted through the journal's designated online submission system.

Authors should create an account, complete the required submission metadata, upload the manuscript and supporting files, and complete the required declarations before final submission.

Authors should retain a copy of the submitted manuscript and all supplementary materials for their records.

27. Editorial Contact

For questions regarding manuscript suitability, submission requirements, special issues, or the peer-review process, authors may contact the Editorial Office of the Australian Journal of Cross-Disciplinary Innovation (AJCDI) through the journal's official contact channel.

Authors are encouraged to consult the journal's current website and submission system for the latest requirements before submitting.

Important Note

Submission of a manuscript does not guarantee publication. All manuscripts are subject to editorial assessment and, where appropriate, peer review. Publication decisions are based on the manuscript's relevance, originality, scholarly quality, methodological rigor, interdisciplinary contribution, and compliance with the journal's policies.