Scope and general policies of ZFW –
Advances in Economic Geography
In the context of ongoing internationalization of academic disciplines, ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography [formerly Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie (The German Journal of Economic Geography)] was relaunched in 2022 as an English-language journal with the goal to open up to the global academic community.
To support this relaunch and invite a broad readership, ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography was transferred to Diamond Open Access on a year-by-year basis. All articles immediately appear under the Creative Commons license CC-BY, at no publication costs for the authors. The Open Access transformation is based on Subscribe-to-Open, an alternative model that enables the full Open Access transformation of journals through the continuation of existing subscriptions.
ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography aims to become a driver of and contributor to the global knowledge architecture in the field of economic geography broadly defined through its commitment to diversity regarding innovative themes and authors and by pushing for a non-partisan cross-disciplinary agenda. It invites contributions that develop novel conceptualizations and present new empirical insights into economic structures, processes and practices, as well as their variations and outcomes in spatial perspective. Themes of particular interest include the actors and institutions shaping regional economic development, the institutional and socio-economic triggers of localized knowledge generation and innovation, the flows of people, knowledge and resources over distance, the development and persistence of unequal economic geographies worldwide, the global organization of capitalism and its evolution in spatial perspective, the impact of new societal challenges across space, and related topical areas.
Article categories
We accept research articles with a maximum length of 9,000 words and editorials with less than 3,000 words.
Peer review, turnaround times and preprint policies
The editorial team invites the submission of manuscripts that fit the agenda and goals of ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography to contribute to the conceptual and empirical advances within the field broadly defined, including neighboring disciplines. The submission process is conducted online through the Manuscript Central online platform: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/zfw
Peer review information
ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography is a double-blind journal. Manuscripts are reviewed anonymously by at least two independent reviewers, selected by the editors.
The editors reserve the right to reject submitted manuscripts without peer review if studies are not novel or of limited interest to the target audience.
Turnaround time
ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography aspires to inform authors of the peer review decision within about 6 weeks after submission. Revised manuscripts should be returned within 2 or 4 months, depending on whether requested modifications are minor or major in character, respectively. Accepted articles will be published online within 2–4 weeks of acceptance.
Ahead of Print publication
Articles are first published online as DOI citable articles and are later assigned to an issue with final page numbers.
Preprint policy
De Gruyter does not consider the following purposes of a paper as pre-publication: publication in the form of a congress abstract, publication as an academic thesis, working or research paper, publication as an electronic preprint on recognized servers such as arXiv, RePEc, bioRxiv, ResearchSquare, etc.
Inclusive language policy
Inclusive language recognizes diversity, conveys respect for all people, is sensitive to differences and promotes equal opportunities. Content should not make assumptions about readers’ beliefs or commitments; should not contain anything that might suggest that one person is superior to another because of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability or health condition; and should use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that their writing is free from prejudice, stereotypes, slang, references to the dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions.
We advise the following approach: Aim for gender neutrality by using plural nouns (clinicians, clients, participants) as standard and avoiding "he" or "she", wherever possible. Instead, rather use "they". We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal characteristics such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability or health status unless they are relevant and valid.
Preparation of manuscript
Manuscript length
Research articles have a maximum length of 9,000 words, editorials should be no longer than 3,000 words. They should be delivered in Times New Roman, 12 pt, double- or 1.5-spaced
Title page information
Write at least one given and family name in full. For all other names, initials are sufficient. List authors in the order you want them to appear in the final version. Indicate the corresponding author by using an asterisk "*" after the family name. Please note that as per De Gruyter policy, no author list changes are permitted after acceptance of a manuscript.
Provide a descriptive, concise and comprehensible main title as well as an abbreviated form of the main title (running head) with no more than 40 characters (including blanks). The short title will be displayed on the top of each page of the final version.
The article title and subtitle should be in "sentence case". Use uppercase letters after colon.
For the corresponding author supply the following details: e-mail address, department, institution, street, city, postal code and country; for all other authors department, institution, city, postal code and country are mandatory. Please also provide all details concerning the current institutional affiliation in case you changed affiliation during the manuscript preparation and publication process.
Language
All manuscripts must be written in clear and concise English, preferably using American English. De Gruyter does provide a light copyedit of manuscripts, but authors remain responsible for being their own copyeditors. If you are unsure about your proficiency with respect to spelling, grammar, etc. (e.g., because English is not your native language), then you should consider employing – at your own expense – the services of a professional language editor.
Abstract
Give a concise summary of your article in an abstract of max. 200 words in a single paragraph. As abstracts are published separately by abstracting and indexing services, please spell out abbreviations at first use and do not include footnotes, tables, figures or equations. Avoid using references in the abstract. If it is essential to use a reference in the abstract, please expand it as per journal reference style.
Keywords
Keywords are used by abstracting and indexing services as well as search engines and are, together with the abstract, a key tool enabling readers to find your paper and for increasing citations. Supply 3–6 specific keywords in alphabetical order and lower case, separated by comma.
These can be single words, but also short phrases representing the content. Make sure to select precise and concise keywords to your field or sub-field of research. Avoid abbreviations and the repetition of words already used in the article’s title.
Headings
Your manuscript should be subdivided into sections (and, if necessary, subsections). These sections should be labeled with headings in a consistent format and with a clear hierarchy of section headings. Limit your subsections to a maximum of three (preferably two) levels. For subdivided sections ensure that they have at least two subheadings on one level. Headings do not have an end period.
All headings (also for figures and tables) should be provided in "sentence case" and numbered in Arabic numerals. Use uppercase letters after colon.
References
Please adhere strictly to the Harvard Reference Style as outlined in the Reference Style Sheet (full guide). The style sheet provides examples for different types of citations in the text as well as for different bibliographic items in the reference list. Please note: All references listed in the reference list must be mentioned in the text, and vice versa.
Figures and figure captions
Graphs, line drawings, photographs, schemes, diagrams, etc. may be used to illustrate your findings. Publication of color figures is provided free of charge in both online and print editions. The publication quality always depends directly on the quality and size of the delivered data.
Please label the illustrations as "Figure". Each figure should be uploaded separately as .jpg, .eps,.png or .tiff file. Images should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi (color or black-white pixel graphics/half-tone images) in the intended size (600dpi combination of pixel graphic and line drawing, 1200dpi for line drawings). When drawing bar graphs, use patterning/color instead of grey scales (faint shading may be lost upon reproduction). Figures should not display any frames.
Figures should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals (from 1) throughout the text. Please make sure that all figures are explicitly referred to in the text. Do not end the text immediately preceding the suggested positioning of a figure with a colon and avoid expressions such as "in Figure 1 below/above", as the exact positioning of these elements cannot be determined until after the manuscript has been typeset. Note that figures will usually be placed on the top or the bottom of the page in the final layout.
Provide a concise and self-explanatory caption for each figure. In case of multi-part figures, please include a main caption as well as part figure captions.
The key to the symbols depicted in the figures should be included in the figure itself, where possible. Otherwise, include it in the caption. The caption itself should not be included in the figure.
Please make sure that letters, numbers, symbols, text, etc. included in the figure are clear, easy to read (not below 6pt, preferably in Arial or Helvetica) and uniform in style.
It is the authors’ responsibility to use images that do not infringe on any copyrights, performing rights, trademark rights, personal rights or any other third-party rights or are otherwise unlawful. Copyright permissions can be obtained through the Copyright Clearance Center (https://www.copyright.com/).
Tables and table captions
Number tables consecutively using Arabic numerals. Tables should be provided in an editable source format (Word, LaTeX). Please avoid handing in tables as image or Excel files.
Provide a short descriptive title, column heads, and (if necessary) notes to make each table self-explanatory. In column heads, separate units with a comma and use parentheses or square brackets for additional measures (e.g., %, range, etc.). Use notes in alphabetical order (a, b, c, etc.) to give emphasis or further information. Expand abbreviations used in tables in notes.
In case bold type or italics are necessary to highlight information, please explain their meaning.
Avoid color, shading, vertical lines, and other cell borders. Note that most horizontal lines within the table body will be removed during the production process.
Indicate where to place the table approximately (e.g., [Place Table 1 near here]). Do not end the text immediately preceding the suggested positioning of a table with a colon and avoid expressions such as "in Table 1 below/above", as the exact positioning of these elements cannot be determined until after the manuscript has been typeset. Note that tables will usually be placed on the top or the bottom of the page in the final layout.
Abbreviations
Generally, we suggest avoiding abbreviations. If not possible or impractical, the use of abbreviations and acronyms is permitted given that they are expanded in full when used the first time with the abbreviation in parentheses (applies to abstract and main text). Please use abbreviations consistently thereafter. Avoid using non-standard abbreviations unless they appear more than three times in the text.
Equations and symbols
Equations should be well-aligned and not crowded. Use only Latin and Greek alphabets. Avoid complicated superscripts and subscripts by introducing new symbols. Avoid repetition of a complicated expression by representing it with a symbol. For MS Word submissions create equations using the Microsoft equation editor or a corresponding add-on. Do not submit math equations as images, but as editable text. Number displayed equations consecutively with Arabic numerals (if referred to in the text).
Appendices
Use appendices for information that supports your findings but is not essential for the understanding of your paper (e.g., lengthy mathematical proofs, tables, graphics, etc.). Cite appendices within the main text. Tables and figures in the appendix should be numbered consecutively as follows: Figure A.1, Table A.1, Figure A.2, Table A.2, etc. The appendix is placed at the end of the main text before the reference list.
Supplementary online material
Supplementary material which may offer further information on your work but does not belong to the core part of the article, will not be part of the typeset article PDF. The material will be made available as a separate download in the online version of the article. Supplementary material may contain questionnaires for discussed surveys, protocols, code samples, datasets, extensive tables, additional figures, multimedia files (audio, video, animations), etc. If the manuscript is accepted, supplementary material will be referenced in the print version, but will be published online only.
Please provide supplementary material data as separate file(s) of no more than 10 MB per file during submission. Note that the material should be publication-ready (not in track-changes mode), as it will not be typeset, but published exactly as supplied. Within the text, the supplementary material must be cited consecutively and be referred to as online supplement material or data (e.g., see Online Supplement, Fig. 1, or Figure S1, Table S1, etc.).
Submission of manuscripts
Please submit manuscripts exclusively online at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/zfw.
You will be guided through the whole submission process.
We strongly recommend that authors register with institutional e-mail addresses, and refrain from using private e-mail addresses. A cover letter must be submitted with each manuscript upon first submission. It should contain a brief statement by the authors regarding the element of novelty upon which they base their request for publication in ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography. Revised manuscripts must be accompanied by a point-by-point reply to the reviewers’ criticisms and suggestions. Major changes in the revised manuscript must be highlighted, in track-changes mode or through the use colored fonts. It is advisable to submit a second, clean version of the manuscript should there be major changes.
ORCID
The ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a non-profit, publisher-independent system that is used to uniquely identify academics and their publications. Click here for detailed information about ORCID. Submitting authors can login to ScholarOne with username and password or with their ORCID number. Providing an ORCID number for each author is recommended. ORCID numbers should be listed on the title page.
Submission declaration and verification
For information on plagiarism, please refer to COPE – Committee of Publication Ethics. Submission of a manuscript to a journal implies that the work described has not been published previously, except in the form of an abstract, academic thesis, lecture or preprint; that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere (multiple, redundant, concurrent publication); that publication of the work is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out. Exceptions are listed under Preprint policy.
To exclude potential overlap with prior publication(s), your manuscript may be checked by the plagiarism checker Crossref Similarity Check (iThenticate). Previously published material must be referenced appropriately in the manuscript, regardless of whether the material was previously published in a subscription based, hybrid or open access journal, or in another language.
Scientific misconduct
Only articles that have not been or will not be published elsewhere will be published in the journal, excluding articles that fall under De Gruyter’s Repository Policy. Multiple submissions/publications or redundant publications (i.e., republication of data already published by the same authors) will be rejected. If identified after publication, the journal reserves the right to publish a retraction note. In any case, editors will follow COPE’s Code of Conduct and implement its advice.
Research integrity and Artificial Intelligence
The authors are responsible for all aspects of the study and will ensure that any questions regarding the accuracy and integrity of any part of the work are adequately investigated and resolved.
With submission of their manuscript to ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography the authors declare that they are the sole and intellectual authors of the manuscript. Submissions that name Artificial Intelligence (AI) and/or Machine Learning Tools as credited author(s) on a manuscript are not accepted because such tools cannot take responsibility for the submitted work and therefore cannot be considered as eligible authors. Where such tools or technologies are used as part of the design or methodology of a research study, their use should be clearly described in the Acknowledgments section.
Post-acceptance
Galley proofs (online proofreading)
The corresponding author of an article receives the galley proofs in electronic form to check them for editing and typesetting accuracy. Corresponding authors receive an e-mail notification ("Check your proof") with a link to the online proofreading system (Proof Central) through which they can access their galley proofs. The interface is similar to MS Word: authors can edit the text by entering their corrections directly, adding comments, and answering questions from the copy editor. If preferred, authors can also annotate and upload edits to the PDF version.
All instructions for proof corrections, including deadlines, will be given in the e-mail notification to the corresponding author, along with a user guide, providing step-by-step instructions for inserting corrections.
Substantial changes to an article accepted for publication will only be considered with the permission of the editor or after additional peer review. The responsibility for proofreading lies solely with the authors. According to De Gruyter policy, once an article has been accepted, no changes to the author list and article title are allowed (except typos). The De Gruyter production team is instructed to enforce this policy during the production/proof correction process.
Offprints
Electronic files of typeset articles in Adobe Acrobat PDF format are provided free of charge. The corresponding author will receive an e-mail notification when the article has been published online along with instructions on how to access the article.
Repository policy
Policies for sharing published journal articles differ for subscription-based and open access articles.
Open Access Publishing
All De Gruyter open access publications are published under a Creative Commons license. The Creative Commons licenses specify the extent to which the work can be re-used by the scholarly community and the general public. ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography is published under the Creative Commons license CC-BY 4.0. For more information on De Gruyter’s open access policy, please read our Open Access Policies.
Post-acceptance
Galley proofs (online proofreading)
The corresponding author of an article receives the galley proofs in electronic form to check them for editing and typesetting accuracy. Corresponding authors receive an e-mail notification ("Check your proof") with a link to the online proofreading system (Proof Central) through which they can access their galley proofs. The interface is similar to MS Word: authors can edit the text by entering their corrections directly, adding comments, and answering questions from the copy editor. If preferred, authors can also annotate and upload edits to the PDF version.
All instructions for proof corrections, including deadlines, will be given in the e-mail notification to the corresponding author, along with a user guide, providing step-by-step instructions for inserting corrections.
Substantial changes to an article accepted for publication will only be considered with the permission of the editor or after additional peer review. The responsibility for proofreading lies solely with the authors. According to De Gruyter policy, once an article has been accepted, no changes to the author list and article title are allowed (except typos). The De Gruyter production team is instructed to enforce this policy during the production/proof correction process.
Offprints
Electronic files of typeset articles in Adobe Acrobat PDF format are provided free of charge. The corresponding author will receive an e-mail notification when the article has been published online along with instructions on how to access the article.
Repository policy
Policies for sharing published journal articles differ for subscription-based and open access articles.
Open Access Publishing
All De Gruyter open access publications are published under a Creative Commons license. The Creative Commons licenses specify the extent to which the work can be re-used by the scholarly community and the general public. ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography is published under the Creative Commons license CC-BY 4.0. For more information on De Gruyter’s open access policy, please read our Open Access Policies.
Open Access and Research Gate
Authors publishing Open Access will see their articles automatically added to their publication pages on Research Gate.
Ethical conduct of research
Manuscripts must follow certain ethical guidelines to be considered for publication. These can generally be found in the Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement. Accordingly, before submitting your manuscript, please make sure that you and your co-authors agree to the applicable requirements. For example, this may involve declaring and ruling out conflicts of interest or proving compliance with legal requirements related to human and animal testing.
Furthermore, our Code of Conduct for Publication Procedures and Ethics defines the responsibility of De Gruyter as a publisher and the editors we work with, to ensure the legitimacy and quality of our published research. Our principles are based on the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Acknowledgments
Authors may wish to acknowledge individuals, working groups, institutions, etc. who provided help and support (other than financial) during research and the preparation of the manuscript (e.g., language checking, writing assistance or proof reading of the article, etc.). Individuals acknowledged should not be included on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise.
Where Artificial Intelligence (AI) and/or Machine Learning Tools are used as part of the design or methodology of a research study, their use should be clearly described in the Acknowledgments section. We do not accept submissions that name such tools or technologies as credited author(s) on a manuscript because such tools cannot take responsibility for the submitted work and therefore cannot be considered as eligible authors.
Author contributions
In view of research integrity, authorship is generally confined to an individual who has made a substantial intellectual or practical contribution to the conception or design of the project or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work of a publication and/or has drafted the work or reviewed/revised it critically for important intellectual content. The individual(s) listed as author(s) must agree to be accountable for said contribution and approve of the final version. Honorary authorship is not allowed.
Individuals who helped or participated in certain substantive aspects of the project or work (e.g., technical services staff), but whose contributions were not of sufficient extent to be listed as co-authors, should be appropriately acknowledged, usually in an Acknowledgements section.
Research funding
Funding sources must be listed at the end of the manuscript. When the study benefitted from funding through an unrestricted grant or other resources provided to a university, college, other research institution, or an individual author, state the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding along with the grant number, if applicable.