Guide for Authors

Authors should prepare their manuscripts according to the instructions given in the authors’ guidelines. Manuscripts that do not conform to the format and style of the Journal may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected. The Journal reserves the right to make any further formal changes and language corrections necessary in a manuscript accepted for publication so that it conforms to the formatting requirements of the Journal Submission guidelines.

General Submission Guidelines:

  • Manuscript submission is through the PJArchp online submission website.
  • The article can be written in Arabic or English. However, the title and abstract must be written in both languages.
  • The article should be based on original research.
  • At least two reviewers should review each manuscript. If one of the two reviewers disagrees, the editor may assign a third reviewer.
  • After evaluating the essay, the editor in Chief should notify the author if it was approved or rejected.
  • The manuscript should not have been submitted previously or concurrently to any other Egyptian or international journals.
  • For multi-author manuscripts, the corresponding author must confirm that all authors read and approved the work.
  • If relevant, acknowledgement is required.

Types of Manuscript:

Pharos Journal for Architecture and Planning publishes the following types of papers:

  • Contributed/Original papers – detailed explanations of new research or applications.
  • Review papers.
  • Brief papers – short discussions of new technical concepts or developments, or new applications of existing techniques.
  • Case studies or software reviews – evaluative and descriptive reviews of existing available engineering software systems, discussing the experience gained and lessons learned from using or developing systems for engineering applications.

Preparation of the Manuscript:

The manuscript should be compiled in the following order: title; abstract; keywords; introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion; acknowledgments; references; appendices (if applicable); table(s) and figure(s).

The manuscripts should be in English or Arabic and typed with double column and single line spacing on single side of A4 paper. The first page of an article should contain: (1) a title of paper which well reflects the contents of the paper (Times New Roman, 12pt), (2) all the name(s) and affiliations(s) of authors(s) (Times New Roman, 10pt), (3) an abstract of 150~250 words (Times New Roman, 9pt), (4) 5-8 keywords beside the abstract, and (5) personal title and email address of the corresponding author (required) and other authors’ (not mandatory). The paper should be concluded by proper conclusions which reflect the findings in the paper. The normal length of the technical paper should be about 8-16 journal pages (double-column format). Authors are advised to read the details in the author guide for guide and use the following paper templates:

PJArchp paper template for English version

Tables and Figures:

Each table should be given a brief, descriptive title placed above the table, while each figure should include a caption placed below the figure; neither captions nor titles should be embedded within the figures or placed inside text boxes, and figures should not have external borders. All table titles and figure captions must be centered, written in Times New Roman font, 10pt, with only the first letter of words, phrases, and sentences capitalized as appropriate. Tables and figures must be referenced in the text as “Table 1” or “Figure 1,” not abbreviated, and should appear in the order they are cited, positioned at the top or bottom of the page as close to the reference as possible. A spacing of 10 points should be maintained between a table title and the table itself, or between the figure and its caption, and the same spacing should follow each table or figure before the subsequent text begins.

Units and Mathematical Expressions:

It is desirable that units of measurement and abbreviations should follow the System International (SI) except where the other unit system is more suitable. Equations should be formatted in 10pt, with 10 points of spacing both above and below each equation to ensure clear separation from surrounding text. Each equation must be set flush left on the page without any indentation. Numbering of equations should be consistent throughout the manuscript, with the equation number placed flush right on the same line as the equation. When referring to equations in the text, use the format “Eq. (1)” rather than spelling out the word.

References:

A list of references that reflect the current state of technology in the field must be located after conclusions of the paper. All sources listed in the references section must be cited within the text, and they should be numbered in the order of their first appearance using Arabic numerals enclosed in square brackets (e.g., [1], [2], [3]), without superscript formatting either in the body of the text or in the reference list. Ensure that each citation corresponds to a unique reference entry, and maintain consistent formatting throughout. If a source has a digital object identifier (DOI), it must be included at the end of the reference entry; DOIs can be found using tools such as the search feature at http://www.crossref.org/guestquery/#.

Copyright Policy:

Submission of an article to PJArchP Journal implies that the work is original and unpublished, and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. The acceptance of the submitted manuscript implies that the copyright is passed to the Department of Architecture at Faculty of Engineering, Pharos University in Alexandria. The Agreement of Authorship, Originality, and Copyright Transfer must be signed and delivered.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is strictly prohibited by the journal. Professional plagiarism-checking software is used to examine all submitted publications for plagiarism. Manuscripts that are submitted and have an unacceptable similarity index due to plagiarism are rejected right away. The similarity check is applied to all papers submitted before they are subject to the review process. The similarity report will be available to the reviewers during the review process. A maximum similarity score limit of 25% (15% single source) is applied.

Review Approach:

All the submitted papers that have passed the preliminary check by the editors will undergo a rigorous peer-review process to judge their significance and originality. Those papers positively recommended by at least two expert reviewers will be finally accepted for publication in the PJArchp or after any required modifications are made.

Publication Fees:

For authors residing in Egypt:

  • Reviewing Fees: 1500 EGP
  • Publication Fees:500 EGP (paper with pages up to 15) plus 50 LE per extra page

For non-residents authors in Egypt:

  • Reviewing Fees: 100 $ or Equivalent
  • Publication Fees: 50 $ (paper with pages up to 15) plus 10 $ or Equivalent per extra page

 

Submission Checklist:

You can use this list to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to the journal for review.

Ensure that the following items are present:

  1. Title page (with author and affiliation details)
  • One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details (E-mail address, Full postal address)
  1. A cover letter detailing the significance of the research.
  2. Manuscript (without author details):
  • Ensure author details are removed from the manuscript file
  • MS Word Template for PJArchp are used
  • Include keywords
  • All figures (include relevant captions)
  • All tables (including titles, description, footnotes)

 

Further considerations:

  • The manuscript has been proofread for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
  • All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa.
  • Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet).
  • A competing interest’s statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare.
  • Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed.