Submissions

Submission Preparation Checklist

Before submission, authors should ensure that all manuscript components comply fully with the journal’s submission requirements and publication standards.

Authors should confirm that:

• the manuscript aligns with the aims and scope of IJNIA,
• the submission represents original work,
• the manuscript has not been previously published or simultaneously submitted elsewhere,
• all authors have approved the submission,
• the manuscript is professionally written and proofread,
• ethical and funding declarations are included where applicable,
• and all required files and supporting materials have been prepared appropriately.

The manuscript should be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word format using the journal’s prescribed template, where applicable.

Abstracts should not exceed 250 words and should clearly communicate:

• the purpose of the study,
• research methodology,
• key findings,
• and the significance of the contribution.

Authors should ensure that manuscripts comply with the prescribed word limits for their selected article category.

Ethical and Compliance Requirements

IJNIA is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, research integrity, and professional responsibility. Research involving human participants, surveys, interviews, observations, indigenous communities, cultural heritage documentation, or sensitive information must comply with recognised ethical standards and institutional approval requirements where applicable.

Authors should clearly state:

• whether ethical approval was obtained,
• the approving institution or ethics committee where applicable,
• and whether informed consent procedures were followed.

Where ethical approval was not required, authors should indicate this clearly within the manuscript.

Authors are also required to disclose:

• funding sources,
• conflicts of interest,
• sponsorship arrangements,
• and any affiliations that may influence the research.

The journal strictly prohibits plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated data, manipulated results, unethical research practices, and any form of publication misconduct. Manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism detection and similarity-checking software prior to peer review.

Failure to comply with ethical and publication requirements may result in manuscript rejection or withdrawal.

Title Page Requirements

Each submission must include a separate title page containing complete author and manuscript information.

The title page should include:

• full names of all authors,
• institutional affiliations,
• ORCID identifiers where available,
• corresponding author details,
• contact email addresses,
• brief professional biographies,
• article title,
• structured abstract,
• up to eight keywords,
• and article classification.

The corresponding author is responsible for all communication with the journal throughout the review and publication process.

To preserve the integrity of the double-anonymous peer-review process, author-identifying information should not appear within the main manuscript file.

Manuscript Structure

Authors are encouraged to organise manuscripts using a clear, coherent, and logically structured format appropriate to the nature of the study.

Depending on the article category, manuscripts may include:

• Title,
• Abstract,
• Keywords,
• Introduction,
• Main sections relevant to the study (Literature Review, Methods, Perspectives, etc.)
• Results & Discussion
• Conclusion (Must include thought-provoking insights and recommendations for further research)
• Recommendations and Future Research,
• Acknowledgements,
• Funding Statement,
• Conflict of Interest Statement,
• and References.

The introduction should clearly establish the research problem, objectives, context, and significance of the study. The methodology section should provide sufficient detail to support transparency, scholarly verification, and reproducibility. The discussion should critically interpret findings and situate them within broader theoretical, professional, technological, or policy contexts. Conclusions should clearly articulate the scholarly contribution, practical implications, limitations, and opportunities for future research.

Language and Writing Quality

Manuscripts must be written in clear, professional, and grammatically accurate English suitable for an international scholarly audience. Authors are strongly encouraged to ensure that manuscripts are professionally proofread prior to submission. Submissions with inadequate language quality may be returned to authors for revision before entering the review process. The journal may recommend or require professional language editing services where necessary to improve clarity, readability, coherence, and overall presentation quality. Clear academic writing, coherent argumentation, appropriate terminology, and precise communication significantly improve the effectiveness of scholarly dissemination and peer review.

Figures, Tables, and Visual Materials

Figures, tables, diagrams, architectural drawings, renderings, charts, maps, BIM outputs, Digital Twin visualisations, and other graphical materials must be professionally prepared and of sufficiently high quality for publication.

Authors should ensure that:

• all figures and tables are clearly numbered consecutively,
• captions are informative and properly structured,
• all visuals are appropriately referenced within the text,
• image quality is suitable for digital publication,
• and all reproduced or copyrighted materials have appropriate permissions.

Visual materials should contribute meaningfully to the communication of research findings and should not be included solely for decorative purposes. Where requested, authors may be required to submit editable or high-resolution source files during the production stage.

References and Citation Style

IJNIA adopts a modified APA 7th edition referencing style.

Authors are encouraged to use reference management software such as EndNote, Mendeley, or Zotero to maintain consistency and accuracy.

References should:

• be complete and accurate,
• follow the prescribed citation format,
• be arranged alphabetically,
• and include DOI identifiers or stable URLs where available.

Authors are encouraged to engage critically with current and relevant literature within architecture, urbanism, sustainability, digital technologies, construction innovation, and built environment studies. References should reflect both foundational scholarship and contemporary developments relevant to the submitted research.

AI and Emerging Technologies

The journal recognises the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, computational systems, and emerging digital technologies within architecture, urbanism, construction, and scholarly communication. Authors using AI-assisted technologies during research or manuscript preparation must disclose such use transparently within the manuscript.

Authors remain fully responsible for:

• the originality of submitted content,
• factual accuracy,
• ethical compliance,
• interpretation of findings,
• and the integrity of all submitted materials.

AI systems may not be listed as authors.

The journal does not permit unethical AI-assisted manipulation, fabrication, or misrepresentation of figures, renderings, datasets, research outputs, or scholarly content. Where AI-assisted systems form part of the research methodology itself, authors should clearly describe the tools, workflows, algorithms, software platforms, and analytical procedures used.

Formatting of Accepted Manuscripts

Following acceptance, authors are required to prepare and format the final manuscript according to the official IJNIA publication template and formatting requirements.  Formatting instructions may include requirements relating to:

• headings and section styles,
• figure and table formatting,
• referencing consistency,
• citation structure,
• image quality,
• metadata preparation,
• and production formatting.

Additional templates, formatting guidelines, and production instructions will be provided following acceptance. The journal is committed to maintaining high standards of scholarly presentation, editorial quality, and professional publication across all published articles. IJNIA seeks to promote impactful architectural scholarship and interdisciplinary built environment research that bridges professional practice, academic inquiry, technological innovation, and global architectural thought.

Formatting of Accepted Manuscripts

- Once a paper is accepted, it is the author's responsibility to format the manuscript according to the journal’s official template.

- Download the official templates here:

• IJNIA MS Word Template
• IJNIA Endnote Template
• Our LaTeX template is also available here. 

- If the author is unable to format the manuscript, the publisher will impose a £150 service charge to complete the formatting.