Author Guidelines
GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS
The conference proceedings consist of papers from the conference that are published electronically and distributed to delegates who attend the event. Printed copies are available on order. The papers are made available free of charge on the SAIMM website approximately six months after the event. This document sets out the requirements for preparing and submitting manuscripts for publication in the conference proceedings. In order to obtain a technical publication with a consistent and professional appearance, it is essential that all manuscripts conform to these instructions. This document itself serves as an example of a properly prepared manuscript. All papers are refereed in line with internationally accepted standards. A double-blind review process is followed.
General standards for publication
To merit consideration for publication, a paper should conform to the high standards that have been established over many years. The paper should contain material on research and scientific items that are new, with interpretations that are novel or of new significance, or conclusions that cast fresh light on old ideas. A paper can incorporate developments that would be of interest to technical people or be of benefit to the industry. A paper should not be a repetition of well-known practices or concepts.
Well-prepared, topical, and original review papers will be considered for publication. Review articles should be comprehensive and indicate worthwhile new advances, new directions for research, and deficiencies in knowledge. A review article merely recording published work without any critical comments and conclusions is not acceptable.
All papers, no matter how technical the subject, should be written with the average professional reader in mind. There should be sufficient background to enable the implications of the work to be readily understood. The amount of textbook material should be kept to the minimum essential to the argument. The length of a paper is not a criterion of its worth, and all submissions should be as brief and concise as possible. Although reference to the names of new products, processes, and services is not restricted, it is the SAIMM’s policy not to allow editorial matter to be used for blatant advertising purposes.
The Conference proceedings encourages articles with a Southern African flavour that reflect challenges and opportunities relevant to Southern Africa. This includes current and future technologies, commodities, and operations of importance to the mining and metallurgical sector in the region. Papers from elsewhere presenting global innovations, research and developments applicable to the minerals, mining and metallurgical sector in general would also be considered.
Permission to publish and copyright
Authors are required to sign the Permission to Publish agreement in which the first publication rights for a contribution to be published by the SAIMM are strictly reserved by the Institute. Reproduction of material for non-commercial purposes is permitted, and indeed encouraged, provided that the source is fully acknowledged.
The author is the owner of the copyright in the contribution.
Preparation and submission of contributions
To submit a paper, the Author shall first register as an Author on the SAIMM’s Online Conference Paper System (OCS). Once registered, the Author will be able to submit the paper (in MSWord format) on OCS. In the event of a problem with registering on the OCS, the corresponding author shall contact the Conference Publications Coordinator, Ms Nazli Mamdoo, at nazli@saimm.co.za. If you have previously registered on the OCS System there is no need to register a second time.
Layout and style
The manuscript shall be set for A4-sized (210 mm × 297 mm) paper. Left-hand and right-hand margins should be 20 mm. The manuscript must be prepared in Microsoft Word in 11 point Arial font with 1.5 line spacing. The text shall be left-justified. Pages shall be numbered. The manuscript should not exceed 12 pages, including figures, tables, and references.
Language
Authors shall use UK English, with spelling that conforms to the style of the Oxford English Dictionary. An online dictionary and language reference is available from the Oxford University Press at http://oxforddictionaries.com.
It is recommended that authors who are not proficient in English should use the services of a professional English-language editor prior to submitting their article for technical review. As a JSAIMM partner, Edanz Editing offers a 10% discount on editing services and provides a certificate of compliance to the journal guidelines. Use of a professional editing service does not guarantee publication; this decision remains that of the Conference Organising Committee.
Headings
Sections shall not be numbered and shall be kept to a maximum of three levels:
- First level headings are bold
- Second level headings are bold italic
- Third level headings are italicized
Only the first letter of headings is capitalized.
Equations and symbols
Mathematical and chemical equations shall be placed on separate lines, numbered consecutively in square brackets at the right-hand margin. All equations should be set in
Typeface: Cambria Math italic size 12 or Times New Roman italic size 11.
For reactions, the normal text arrow (Equation 1) should be used. Ensure that the correct Word symbols are used for multiplication (×: Alt+0215, not x) and minus (−: Alt+8722, not a hyphen or the n-dash, alt+0150).
Symbols in formulae should be in italics and should be defined at first use in the text. A separate Nomenclature section at the end of the paper, immediately preceding the list of references, should be included if a large number of symbols is used.
Equations should be numbered in right-justified square brackets, and punctuated appropriately if they form part of a sentence:
2ZnS + 3O2 → 2ZnO + 3SO2 [1]
E = 1.23 – 0.06 pH [2]
E = mc2 [3]
Simple mathematical expressions and sub- and superscripted characters, such as SO42−, are inserted in the text. Do not embed equations as images. Do not use computer code (Fortran, etc.), such as the asterisk * for multiplication or the carat ^ to that indicate that superscripts follow.
Units
The International System of Units (SI) units and symbols shall be employed, as laid down in the SI guide from the US National Institute of Science and Technology (http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/pdf/sp811.pdf).
Where acronyms (e.g., UNO) are used for the first time, the full definition shall be given with the abbreviation in brackets; thereafter, the abbreviation shall be used throughout the text. Abbreviations shall generally be avoided in titles, headings, table and figure captions. Abbreviations should not be used in the Abstract or Keywords.
Use a full stop (period) as the decimal indicator. In accordance with SI convention, numbers greater than 9999 or smaller than 0.0001 shall be separated into groups of three to the left and right of the decimal place, respectively, with a space between the groups as the thousand separator. A comma shall be used as the thousand separator only for financial figures.
Figures and tables
All figures and tables shall be placed at appropriate breaks after they have been cited in the text.
Figures
Figures shall be numbered in Arabic numerals and the title shall not be abbreviated—thus, Figure 1, not Fig. 1. Each figure shall be described in a short informative caption. There is no punctuation at the end of a caption. All figures shall be cited in the text before the figure appears.
The style of figures for a particular paper shall be uniform—i.e., typeface of wording, line widths, etc. All lettering and lines shall be of consistent density. The use of a san-serif typeface like Arial is preferable. Figures should contain only essential wording, such as the indication of nature and units on the axes of graphs. Please keep in mind that your figure will be reduced to fit in the most appropriate of the following section column widths of 65, 103, 135, and 175 mm. Lettering should therefore be big enough on the original to be legible on the reduced image.
All figures (including line diagrams, maps, charts, and graphs) should be of good quality, whether in black and white or colour. Figures should not be ‘stretched’ in the horizontal or vertical direction, i.e., they must preserve their original aspect ratio. High-resolution colour or greyscale photographs are acceptable and shall be submitted as EPS or JPEG files and labelled in the same manner as figures.
Tables
Tables shall be numbered in Roman numerals, e.g., Table I, Table II, and have a short caption (heading). There is no punctuation at the end of a caption.
The left column of a table should be left-justified. Other columns are typically centre-justified, depending on the content. Decimal points should be aligned in a column. Only the first word of a column or row heading should be capitalized.
Format
A paper should typically consist of an Abstract; Introduction; Theory (if appropriate); Experimental procedure or Methodology; Results; Discussion; Conclusions; Acknowledgements; References. The Results and Discussion can be combined if deemed appropriate. Except for review articles, inclusion of a lengthy literature review should be avoided.
Title
The title should accurately reflect the contents of the submission, with adequate specificity, but not be too wordy. Use of articles (a, an, the) should be avoided where possible. The title should avoid abbreviations, contractions, and acronyms.
Author names
Provide only the initials and surnames of the authors. Affiliations shall be indicated by superscript numbers after the names of authors. The corresponding author shall use his/her professional email address of the institution at which the work was carried out.
The ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor Identification; https://orcid.org/) of all authors shall be included in articles submitted to the journal. Authorship shall conform to the notions of responsibility and credit. The list of authors shall include only individuals who have made a significant contribution to the production of the work at an intellectual, practical, or conceptual level. Examples of criteria to consider include who conceptualized the study, who solicited funding for the study, who carried out the study, who wrote the manuscript, and who supervised the study.
Abstract
The Abstract shall not exceed 250 words and shall cover the principal aims and scope of the work: a brief background and reason for the study, the experimental procedure, main results, and summary of findings. The abstract shall not contain abbreviations or references. Provide a list of about six keywords.
Acknowledgements
Provide details of all funding sources. Do not abbreviate these sources.
References
The Conference proceedings adopts the Harvard convention for referencing.
Citations in the text
- Single author: author's name (without initials, unless there is more than one author with the same name and year of publication) and the year of publication
- Two authors: both authors' names and the year of publication
- Three of more authors: first author's name followed by 'et al.' and the year of publication
- For more than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year, use 'a', 'b', 'c', etc. after the year of publication
- Citations may be made directly or in parentheses. Groups of references should be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically
Examples: '…as demonstrated (Jones, 2019, 2020a, 2020b; Jones and Kramer, 2015). Kramer et al. (2017) showed that...'
List of references
References should be arranged alphabetically by first author, citing all authors (not ‘… et al.’) and then further sorted in ascending order of year, if necessary. For multiple authors with the same first author, arrange alphabetically by second author. The n-dash (Alt+0150 (–)), not the hyphen (-), should be used to indicate page ranges.
Article in a journal
Roux, R.N., Van der Lingen, E., Botha, A.P., and Botes, A.E. 2020. The fragmented nature of the titanium metal value chain. Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, vol. 120, no. 11, pp. 633–640. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2411-9717/1126/
Do not abbreviate journal titles.
Include the doi (digital objective identifier) for all references for which this is available.
Paper published in conference proceedings
Sole, K.C., Parker, J., Cole, P.M., and Mooiman, M.B. 2018. Flowsheet options for cobalt recovery from African copper–cobalt hydrometallurgy circuits. Proceedings of ALTA Nickel Cobalt Copper Conference, ALTA Metallurgical Services, Melbourne. pp. 1–21.
Amos, S., Nkuna, V., and Matsetela. B. 2018. The Giant Kamoa–Kakula project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Proceedings of Copper Cobalt Africa, Incorporating the 9th Southern African Base Metals Conference, Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Johannesburg. pp. 1–13.
Mubarok, A., Antrekowitsch, H., and Mori, G. (2007). Passivation behaviour of copper anodes with various chemical compositions. Aryalebechi, P. (Ed.). Materials Processing Fundamentals. The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, Warrendale, PA. pp. 225–234.
The date may be repeated if it forms part of the proceedings title or subtitle.
If proceedings were edited, give editor(s) name(s) and initials as for a book.
Page numbers may be replaced by the paper number or other relevant identifier for electronic proceedings.
States in the USA should be abbreviated using the two-letter postal code.
Book
Wills B.A. and Finch, J.A. 2016. Wills’ Mineral Processing Technology: An Introduction to the Practical Aspects of Ore Treatment and Mineral Recovery. 8th ed. Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann, Amsterdam.
Chapter in an edited book
Mills, K.C. 1986. Estimation of physicochemical properties of coal slags. Mineral Matter and Ash in Coal. Vorres, K.S. (ed.). ACS Symposium Series 301. American Chemical Society, Washington DC. pp. 195–214.
Report
Only reports that are available in the public domain should be cited.
Tarrant, G. 2001. Assessment of support requirements associated longwall reorientation. Report No. MET2431. Strata Control Technology. Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
Preston, J.S. and Du Preez, A.C. 1988. The solvent extraction of cobalt, nickel, zinc, copper, calcium, magnesium, and the rare earth metals by organophosphorus acids. Mintek Report M378. Randburg, South Africa.
If no authors are identified, the organization issuing the report is regarded as the author.
Thesis/Dissertation
Forsbacka, L. 2007. Experimental study and modelling of viscosity of chromium-containing slags. PhD thesis, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland.
Patent
Arvidson, B. and Zhu, D. 2007. OutotecOyj. Methods of separating feed materials using a magnetic roll separator. US patent 7296687.
State name of inventor followed by the assignee if different from author. The issuing country may be abbreviated according to the ISO 3166 standard to be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-3
Newspaper report
Paul, S. 2012. Rio Tinto’s Australian trains go driverless. Star Business Report, 21 February p. 22.
If no author is given, use the publication’s name as the source.
Acts of Parliament and other government documents
South Africa. 2008. Mineral and Petroleum Resources Royalty Act of 2008. Government Gazette, vol. 351, No. 31636, 24 Nov. 2008, as amended. Mineral and Petroleum Resources Royalty (Administration) Act 29 of 2008, Government Gazette, vol. 521, No. 31624, 26 Nov. 2008, as amended.
Online references
As for the various types of publication above, with the URL and date of access appended.
Anglia Ruskin University. 2011. Guide to the Harvard style of referencing. DOI: 10.1038/nature10749. http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm [accessed 23 February 2012]
A URL should be cited in full, including the protocol (http, https, ftp, etc.). Ideally the address should be on a single line – break at a forward slash if necessary. No stop or other punctuation to follow the URL. If the DOI is available, it should be cited before the URL.
Unpublished results and personal communications
These should be used sparingly. Citation of a reference as 'In press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.
Check list prior to submission
Authors are urged to have an experienced English-speaking colleague or professional editor check their paper for appropriate language, correct format for presentation and elimination of typographical errors before the paper is submitted to the conference.
Please also check that
- All Guidelines for Authors are followed
- Abstract and keywords are provided
- All components of the manuscript are present
- All tables and figures are present and of appropriate quality
- All references are present in the defined style and cited in the text
- All information requested in the online OJS system is provided
Provide names of up to four recommended reviewers who are proficient and professional in the topic under review.
Review and revision procedure
The conference employs a single blind review process for industry papers and double blind review for academic papers. The quality of the initial manuscript will be assessed by at least two reviewers nominated by the Organising Committee. The reviewers will recommend acceptance, provisional acceptance with revision, or rejection. Where appropriate, the reviewer’s comments and suggestions will be returned to the principal author so that the paper can be revised. After revision, the paper must be returned to the Conference Publications co-ordinator who will ensure that all the recommended changes have been carried out to the satisfaction of the reviewers and the Organising Committee.
Final manuscript
One copy of the final manuscript should be submitted to OJS in Microsoft Word, conforming to the format and style prescribed in this document.
Correction of proofs
The paper will be returned to the corresponding author in proof form for final checking and authors are urged to ensure that the final version conforms to their accepted text. It must be emphasized that proofs are supplied to correct slips made by the typesetter and not in order to provide the author the opportunity to rewrite or update the material. The revised and final paper shall be returned to the Conference Publications co-ordinator together with the signed Permission to Publish agreement by the date specified.
Failure to meet the requested deadlines or submit the necessary documents in the specified format will lead to a delay or could prevent publication.