Guide For Authors

SUBMISSION

Authors should submit manuscripts through the journal’s online submission system: https://amst.utm.my/index.php/amst/about/submissions.
Authors are encouraged to prepare submissions using the official template (edit the template; do not create a new file from scratch) to ensure formatting consistency (Download Submission Packages).

MANUSCRIPTS PUBLISHED

The journal publishes the following types of manuscripts:

Full Research Articles

  • Substantial new findings and conclusions relevant to the journal scope
  • Minimum number of words: 4,000 (excluding list of references)
  • Minimum references: 20

Review Articles

  • Current state-of-the-art knowledge with future research directions
  • Minimum number of words: 5,000 (excluding list of references)
  • Minimum references: 35

Book Review

  • Critical assessment of a book
  • Overview of the book's content, evaluate its strengths and weaknesses, and offer personal insights or recommendations.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

General layout: Single-spaced, Single column, English, Times New Roman, Font 12 (main text).

Manuscripts should include the following sections:

  • Title Page: Times New Roman, Font 14
  • Authors: Affiliation superscripts, Corresponding author mark with an asterisk (*) and provide email
  • Affiliations: Full address including country with superscripts
  • Abstract: One paragraph with max 250 words, No citations/figures/tables
  • Keywords: 5 keywords
  • Introduction
  • Experimental
  • Results and Discussion
  • Conclusions
  • Declaration of Generative AI & AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process (Optional)
  • Declaration of Competing Interest
  • Acknowledgements
  • Author Contributions (Optional)
  • Appendices (Optional)
  • References

MANUSCRIPT STRUCTURE  

TITLE

The title should be concise and informative, as it serves as a key element in information retrieval systems where titles are frequently utilized as search terms. Whenever feasible, refrain from using abbreviations and formulas in the title.

AUTHOR NAMES AND AFFILIATIONS

Prior to submitting the manuscript, please ensure that each author's given name(s) and family name(s) are clearly indicated and accurately spelled. The affiliation addresses of the authors should be listed directly beneath their names. Each affiliation should be denoted with a lowercase or Roman numeral as a superscript letter immediately following the author's name and preceding the corresponding address. Please include the complete affiliation, including the country name, as well as the email address of the corresponding author.

Corresponding Author

The corresponding author(s) should be clearly designated, and their email address must be provided for all correspondence throughout the reviewing and publishing processes, as well as after the paper has been published. This individual will be responsible for addressing any future inquiries related to the Methodology and Materials. The corresponding author must ensure that their email address and contact details are current. The email address should be indicated with an asterisk (*) preceding the corresponding author's name.

ABSTRACT

A well-written abstract should be concise and informative, with a maximum of 250 words. It must include the aim of the study, a brief overview of the methodology, key findings, and major conclusions. The abstract should stand alone, providing a clear summary of the research without relying on external references. It should not contain citations, tables, or figures. Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided; however, if necessary, they must be defined upon their first mention within the abstract.

KEYWORDS

Keywords should be listed immediately following the abstract, consisting of 3-5 distinct terms. Use abbreviations judiciously; only well-established abbreviations in the field are acceptable. These keywords will be utilized for indexing purposes.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

  • Background, context, significance, and clear objectives.

2.0 EXPERIMENTAL (template uses section numbering starting from 2.0)

  • Use sub-sections such as 2.1, 2.2, 2.3… (e.g., “2.1 Materials”).
  • Provide enough detail for replication, cite prior methods and note modifications.

3.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

  • Results and Discussion sections may be combined into a single section
  • Present results clearly and concisely, with a detailed discussion of the significance of the findings
  • Avoid excessive citations and discussions of previously published material.

4.0 CONCLUSION

  • Concise paragraph summarizing main achievements/findings.

ABBREVIATIONS

Authors should define all abbreviations upon their first use in the text. Additionally, a list of abbreviations may be provided at the end of the manuscript for clarity.

UNITS 

Authors are strongly encouraged to use the International System of Units (SI) throughout the manuscript. If other units are referenced, please include their SI equivalents for clarity.

DECLARATION OF GENERATIVE AI & AI-ASSISTED TECHNOLOGIES IN THE WRITNG PROCESS (OPTIONAL)

The authors may optionally include a declaration describing the use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies during the preparation of the manuscript.

DECLARATION OF COMPETING INTEREST (COMPULSORY)

The authors must disclose any financial or non-financial interests, including political, personal, or professional relationships, that may be perceived as influencing the manuscript. If no conflicts of interest exist, the statement "The authors declare no conflicts of interest" should be included.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This section should outline any sources of funding that supported the research. Additionally, it should detail the role of study sponsor(s), if applicable, in areas such as study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript writing, and the decision to submit the paper for publication. Personal acknowledgements should also be included, listing individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship, along with their specific contributions. Authors must ensure that all individuals mentioned have consented to their inclusion.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS (OPTIONAL)

Authors are encouraged to provide a statement detailing their specific contributions to the article, utilizing the appropriate author contribution roles to enhance transparency. This statement should be submitted during the manuscript submission process. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all authors agree on the accuracy of these descriptions. The following terms are used to describe author contributions:

  • Conceptualisation
  • Methodology
  • Validation
  • Formal analysis
  • Data curation
  • Investigation
  • Resources
  • Software
  • Visualisation
  • Writing - original draft
  • Writing - review & editing
  • Funding acquisition
  • Project administration
  • Supervision

Authorship statements should be formatted with the names of the authors listed first, followed by their respective contribution roles. For example:

  • M.M. Rahman (Conceptualisation; Formal analysis; Visualisation; Supervision)
  • W.T. Urmi (Methodology; Data curation; Writing - original draft; Resources)

APPENDICES

If multiple appendices are included, label them with letters (e.g., Appendix A, Appendix B). Each appendix should have its own numbering system for equations, tables, and figures. For instance, equations in Appendix A should be numbered as Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc., while those in Appendix B should be numbered as Eq. (B.1), and so forth. Similarly, tables and figures should follow the same format: Table A.1, Fig. A.1, Table B.1, Fig. B.1, etc.

REFERENCES STYLE

Relevant and current references must be included in the manuscript. All citations within the text should be numbered sequentially in square brackets, and the references in the reference section must follow the same numerical order. When citing multiple references within square brackets, separate them with commas to ensure clarity. For more than two consecutive references, provide a range (e.g., [1–3]).

Reference citations should not appear in the title, headers, or abstract of the paper. The reference list must adhere strictly to the APA 7th Edition Referencing Style. If there are six or fewer authors, all authors’ names should be listed in the reference. For works with seven or more authors, list the first three authors followed by "et al."

FIGURES

Figures should be clear, self-explanatory, and accompanied by concise yet detailed captions. Accepted formats include PNG, TIFF, JPEG and BMP. For grayscale images, a resolution of 300 dpi is required, while colour images should have a resolution of 300 dpi. Figures must be numbered sequentially in the text according to their order of appearance (e.g., Figure 1, Figure 2). Multi-part figures, such as Figure 1(a) and Figure 1(b), should have each part clearly labelled. Captions should be written in sentence case, centred beneath the figure and without a period at the end.

TABLES

Tables should be clear and self-explanatory, accompanied by concise yet descriptive captions. All tables must be numbered sequentially in the text in the order they appear (e.g., Table 1, Table 2). Tables should be submitted as editable text, not as images.

REPRODUCTION PERMISSION

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for any illustrations, tables, or figures that have been previously published. Typically, the publisher of the original journal or book is the copyright owner. In such cases, authors must include a letter from the copyright holder confirming that permission to reproduce the material has been granted.

PEER-REVIEW

All submitted papers undergo an initial evaluation by an Editor, who reserves the right to reject manuscripts prior to peer review if they do not align with the journal's scope or fail to meet quality standards. Following this preliminary screening, suitable manuscripts are subjected to single-blind peer review by a minimum of two independent reviewers or experts. Authors are encouraged to suggest at least three qualified individuals who can evaluate their paper and must provide the current email addresses of all recommended reviewers.

LANGUAGE

The manuscript must be written in clear and comprehensible English. Authors are responsible for proofreading their work to ensure proper spelling and grammar. Manuscripts that are incomplete or not in satisfactory condition will be returned promptly for revision.

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism screening is an integral part of the editorial process. All submitted manuscripts will undergo a plagiarism check using Turnitin software. The acceptable similarity index must be below 20%, excluding the list of references.

SELF-CITATIONS

Citation manipulation involves the excessive self-citation of an author's own work solely to increase the citation count (COPE, 2019). The Journal of Applied Membrane Science and Technology encourage authors to limit self-citations to prevent citation manipulation.

GALLEY PROOFS

Galley proofs are provided exclusively for the correction of printing errors. They should not be used for language or content revisions. Authors are advised to carefully proofread and address any errors promptly. Corrected galley proofs must be returned within 7 working days of receipt.

COST OF PUBLICATION

There are no fees associated with the publication of articles in this journal. All articles are published at no cost to the authors.

SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

This checklist is designed to assist you in conducting a final review of your article before submission to the Editor. Please ensure that the following items are included:

  • Manuscript is prepared using the journal template.
  • Copyright Transfer Agreement is provided.
  • All necessary files have been uploaded.

FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS

  • The manuscript has undergone spell and grammar checks.
  • References are formatted correctly according to the journal's guidelines.
  • All references cited in the text are included in the Reference list, and vice versa.
  • Permission has been obtained for the use of copyrighted material from other sources.