Guide for Authors

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Aim and Scope

HeliX is a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to advancing scientific discovery and fostering innovation across all fields of research. The journal seeks to provide a platform for the dissemination of high-quality, ethical, and scientifically rigorous research that adheres to global publishing standards.

The primary aim of HeliX is to encourage the publication of scientifically valuable and accurate information, including studies reporting negative or null results, replication studies, and interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary research. We are committed to promoting transparency, reproducibility, and inclusivity in scientific publishing by welcoming contributions from all areas of science.
HeliX publishes original research articles, review articles, and other scholarly contributions across a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines, including but not limited to:

    • Life Sciences (biology, biotechnology, environmental sciences)

    • Physical Sciences (chemistry, physics, materials science)

    • Health Sciences (medicine, public health, clinical research)

    • Engineering and Technology (artificial intelligence, robotics, energy systems)

    • Social Sciences and Humanities (psychology, education, economics)

We are particularly interested in:

Negative or Null Results: Recognizing the scientific value of experiments that do not yield expected outcomes, fostering transparency, and minimizing publication bias.

Replication Studies: Encouraging reproducibility and validation of existing research to strengthen scientific reliability.

Interdisciplinary and Cross-Disciplinary Research: Bridging gaps between fields and addressing complex challenges through integrated approaches.

Innovative Research: Publishing cutting-edge findings that advance knowledge or solve practical problems.

Publishing Features:

    • Open access to ensure global availability and dissemination of knowledge.

    • Assignment of unique DOI numbers for each article to enhance citation and sharing.

    • Expert handling of submissions by dedicated editors and in-house reviewers to maintain rigorous quality standards.

HeliX is committed to providing an inclusive, ethical, and transparent publication process that serves the global scientific community, contributing to the advancement of research and innovation.

Article Types

HeliX welcomes the submission of the following types of articles:

    • Original Research Articles: Presenting new findings, including negative or null results, incremental advances, and replication studies.

    • Review Articles: Comprehensive analyses of current knowledge, including narrative, literature, and scoping reviews.

    • Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: Combining and analyzing results from multiple studies to provide robust conclusions.

    • Case Reports: Detailed descriptions of unique or rare cases.

    • Case Series: Summarizing a group of similar cases to highlight patterns or trends.

    • Short Communications: Brief reports of important findings or preliminary data.

    • Commentary or Opinion Articles: Expert perspectives or critiques on recent developments or research topics.

    • Letters to the Editor: Constructive feedback or discussion related to previously published articles.

    • Book Reviews: Evaluations of newly published books relevant to the journal’s scope.

    • Methodological Articles: Introducing or improving research methods, tools, or techniques.

    • Data Papers: Sharing datasets with detailed descriptions of their collection and relevance.

    • Technical Notes: Highlighting technical innovations or modifications to existing methods.

    • Erratum or Corrigendum: Addressing corrections to errors in previously published articles.

    • Clinical Trial Studies: Reporting interventional or observational trial outcomes.

    • Protocols: Including study designs and clinical trial protocols.

HeliX provides a platform for a wide array of scholarly contributions, ensuring high-quality, peer-reviewed publications across all scientific disciplines.

Language

All submissions to HeliX must be written in clear, concise, and grammatically correct English to ensure global accessibility and understanding. If needed, authors are encouraged to use professional language editing services to enhance the quality of their manuscripts.

To assist authors, HeliX offers optional language editing services at competitive rates. These services are available to help refine and polish your manuscript to meet the journal’s language standards. Payment options for these services will be provided upon request. Follow language editing services link.

Manuscripts that do not meet the required language standards may be returned to authors for revision prior to peer review.

Peer Review

HeliX is committed to ensuring a thorough, fair, and unbiased review process for all submitted manuscripts. The journal follows a double-blind peer review process, meaning that the identities of both authors and reviewers remain anonymous to each other. This ensures that submissions are judged solely on their scientific merit, originality, and relevance to the journal’s scope.

Peer Review Process

1. Initial Assessment:
All submitted manuscripts are first screened by the editorial team to ensure adherence to the journal’s aims and scope, as well as compliance with ethical and quality standards. Manuscripts may be returned to authors at this stage if they do not meet basic requirements.

2. Reviewer Selection:
Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are sent to two or more independent experts in the relevant field. Reviewers are selected based on their expertise and prior experience with the topic under consideration.

3. Review Criteria:
Reviewers evaluate submissions based on the following criteria:

    • Scientific rigor, validity, and methodology.

    • Originality and contribution to the field.

    • Clarity of presentation and structure.

    • Relevance to the journal’s multidisciplinary scope.

      • Ethical compliance, including proper use of citations and adherence to research ethics. 

4. Reviewer Feedback:
Reviewers provide detailed, constructive feedback and recommendations, which may include:

    • Accept: Suitable for publication as is or with minor revisions.

    • Minor Revision: Requires minor changes before acceptance.

    • Major Revision: Requires significant changes before further consideration.

    • Reject: Does not meet the journal’s standards for publication.

5. Editorial Decision:
The editorial team reviews all feedback from reviewers to make a final decision. The decisions may be:

    • Accepted.

    • Accepted after revisions.

    • Rejected with feedback for improvement.

8. Revision Process:
Authors are expected to address all reviewer comments in a detailed revision response. Revised manuscripts may be sent back to reviewers for further evaluation.

7. Final Approval:
The editor-in-chief reviews the revised manuscript and final feedback from reviewers to make the ultimate publication decision.

Open Access

HeliX is a fully open-access journal, ensuring that all published articles are freely available to readers worldwide without any subscription or paywall barriers. This model promotes the dissemination of knowledge, making high-quality research accessible to scientists, educators, policymakers, and the public globally.

Key Features of Open Access in HeliX:

    • Global Accessibility: Readers can access, download, and share articles at no cost.

    • Creative Commons Licensing: All articles are published under appropriate open-access licenses, allowing for reuse and distribution with proper attribution to the original authors.

    • Author Rights: Authors retain copyright of their work while granting HeliX the right to publish and disseminate it widely.

HeliX is committed to advancing scientific knowledge by breaking down barriers to access, fostering collaboration, and supporting the open exchange of ideas.

Ethics and Policies

HeliX is dedicated to maintaining the highest ethical standards in scientific publishing. The journal follows internationally recognized guidelines, including those established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), to ensure the integrity, transparency, and credibility of all published research.

Author Responsibilities

Authors are expected to:

    • Submit original work that has not been published or submitted elsewhere.

    • Acknowledge and appropriately cite all sources, avoiding plagiarism in any form.

    • Ensure that all listed authors have made significant contributions to the research and approve the final manuscript.

    • Disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

    • Provide ethical approval documentation for research involving human or animal subjects, as applicable.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers are expected to:

    • Provide constructive, unbiased, and timely feedback on submitted manuscripts.

    • Maintain confidentiality of the manuscripts and refrain from using unpublished data for personal benefit.

    • Disclose any potential conflicts of interest and decline to review if impartiality cannot be guaranteed.

Editor Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for:

    • Ensuring that all submitted manuscripts undergo a fair and rigorous review process.

    • Making impartial decisions based solely on the scientific merit of submissions.

    • Handling any ethical concerns, including allegations of misconduct, following COPE guidelines.

    • Ensuring confidentiality throughout the peer review process.

Publication Ethics

    • HeliX upholds a strict policy against plagiarism, data fabrication, and falsification. Manuscripts found to violate these policies will be rejected, and appropriate actions will be taken.

    • Studies involving human participants or animals must comply with ethical standards such as the Declaration of Helsinki or relevant institutional guidelines.

Conflict of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial or personal relationships that could influence their work. Conflicts of interest will be transparently handled to maintain trust and credibility.

Corrections and Retractions

    • If errors are identified in published articles, the journal will issue corrections or corrigenda.

    • Articles found to involve ethical breaches, such as plagiarism or data fabrication, will be retracted with a clear statement explaining the reason for retraction.

By adhering to these policies, HeliX is committed to fostering a culture of ethical scientific publishing and ensuring the credibility and reliability of the research it disseminates.

Manuscript Organization

To ensure effective communication of research, all submissions must include the following sections: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and/or Conclusion, Figures and Tables with captions, and any relevant Supplementary Material.

Title

Provide a concise, informative title, ideally no longer than 25 words.

Authors

List all authors in the order of their contribution and importance to the manuscript. The corresponding author will be responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the author order.

Abstract

The abstract should summarize the purpose of the research, key findings, and primary conclusions in a brief and standalone format. Avoid using references or abbreviations in the abstract.

Keywords

Provide 1 to 7 keywords in English for indexing purposes. Avoid multi-word keywords (e.g., those using “and” or “of”) to enhance searchability.

Introduction

Clearly outline the research goals in the context of prior studies, providing sufficient background without performing an exhaustive literature review.

Theory/Calculation (if applicable)

Expand on background material introduced in the Introduction. Use the Theory section to present theoretical underpinnings and the Calculation section for practical development of these concepts. Avoid repeating content from the Introduction.

Results

Present your findings clearly and succinctly, using visual representations (e.g., graphs, tables) where appropriate. Any comparative data must be properly cited.

Discussion

Discuss the significance, implications, and limitations of your findings, referencing related research where applicable. Avoid merely restating results. A combined “Results and Discussion” section may be used if suitable.

Conclusion

Summarize the key findings of your research. Conclusions may be presented as a standalone section or integrated into a “Results and Discussion” subsection.

Acknowledgments

Include a separate section to recognize contributions from individuals who do not qualify as authors. Authors must ensure that all individuals named in the Acknowledgments have given their consent.

References

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all references, which must be checked before submission.

Citing in Text

  • References should be numbered sequentially as they appear in the manuscript.
  • Insert reference numbers immediately after punctuation (e.g., [6], not [6]).
  • For multiple references, use commas (e.g., [1, 4, 39]) or hyphens for consecutive ranges (e.g., [22-25]).

Preparing the Reference List

  • References should be numbered consecutively in the order they appear in the text.
  • Only published or “in press” papers should be included; unpublished data must be cited in the text with permission from the source.
  • List up to 4 authors’ names; for more than 4 authors, list the first 4 followed by “et al.”

Reference Formatting Examples

  • Journal Article:
    [1] J. van der Geer, T. Handgraaf, R.A. Lupton, The art of writing a scientific article, J. Sci. Commun. 163 (2020) 51–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sc.2020.00372.
  • Book:
    [3] W. Strunk Jr., E.B. White, The Elements of Style, fourth ed., Longman, New York, 2000.
  • Chapter in a Book:
    [4] G.R. Mettam, L.B. Adams, How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: B.S. Jones, R.Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age, E-Publishing Inc., New York, 2020, pp. 281–304.
  • Website:
    [5] Cancer Research UK, Cancer statistics reports for the UK. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/aboutcancer/statistics/cancerstatsreport/, 2023 (accessed 13 March 2023).

Ensure all references are accurate, relevant, and up-to-date.

By adhering to these guidelines, authors can ensure their manuscript is well-organized and meets the submission standards for HeliX.