For Authors

JAFT welcomes original research, review papers, industrial case studies, technical notes, and perspective articles covering the iron and steel sector. All submissions are subject to double-blind peer review.

Article types & word limits

Article type	Word limit	Description
Original Research Article	Up to 6,000	Original experimental, computational, or theoretical research with novel findings. Up to 6,000 words.
Review Paper	Up to 10,000	Systematic critical review of an established or emerging topic. Up to 10,000 words.
Industrial Case Study	Up to 4,000	Plant-level implementation case with process flowsheet, KPIs, and commercial context. May be anonymized. Up to 4,000 words.
Technical Note	Up to 2,000	Concise report on a specific technical observation, modification, or trial. Up to 2,000 words.
Perspective / Innovation Paper	Up to 3,000	Forward-looking commentary on emerging technologies, policy, or strategy. Up to 3,000 words.

Submission requirements

✓Manuscript must be original and not under consideration elsewhere.
✓All submissions are screened for similarity using iThenticate (Crossref Similarity Check); excessive overlap is grounds for return or rejection.
✓Double-blind review: upload an anonymised manuscript (no author names or affiliations) plus a separate title page with full author details — the submission wizard guides you through this.
✓An ORCID iD for the corresponding author is encouraged.
✓All uses of generative AI tools must be declared in the manuscript.
✓Any preprint deposition (arXiv, ResearchGate, etc.) must be declared.
✓Funding sources and competing interests must be disclosed.
✓References should follow IEEE numbered style.
✓Figures must be at minimum 300 dpi; high-resolution PNG or JPEG (PNG preferred for charts and line art).

Preparing your manuscript

Accepted file formats

DOCXMicrosoft Word — preferred for initial submission.
PDFCompiled PDF accepted for initial review.
LaTeXSubmit a compiled PDF; include source files as a single .zip on acceptance.

Manuscript structure

Title page — title, all authors with affiliations, corresponding author e-mail and ORCID iD.
Abstract — max 250 words; structured (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions) for research articles.
Keywords — 4–6 terms, not duplicating the title.
Main text (suggested) — Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion.
Declarations — Funding, conflicts of interest, AI tool use, data availability.
References — IEEE numbered style.
Figures & tables — embedded for review; supply figures separately (≥ 300 dpi PNG or JPEG) on acceptance.

For double-blind review, the title page is uploaded as a separate file — the manuscript itself (Abstract onward) must be anonymised, with funding and acknowledgements moved to the title page.

Language: Manuscripts must be written in English. Authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to have their manuscript reviewed by a fluent English speaker before submission to avoid delays during peer review.

Author service (optional): A chargeable manuscript-preparation and language-editing service is available on request. It is entirely optional and has no bearing on peer review or the editorial decision.

Industrial case studies

JAFT treats Industrial Case Studies as a first-class article type. Authors may anonymise plant and company details where commercially sensitive. A process flowsheet and quantified KPIs are required. Authors must complete a commercial confidentiality declaration on submission.

Access & charges

JAFT operates a hybrid model. Authors may publish their article open access — free to all readers under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC‑BY‑4.0) licence — by paying the article processing charge (APC). Articles without the open-access option are available on a subscription or pay-per-view basis. The APC, set by author category, is as follows:

Author category	Article processing charge (APC)
Industry / integrated-steel-plant authors	₹30,000 + applicable GST · or US $400
Academic authors (all)	₹7,500 + applicable GST · or US $100
Students	₹3,000 + applicable GST · or US $40

The APC is requested only after a manuscript has been accepted through peer review and has no influence on editorial decisions. There is no submission fee or page charge. Your tier is set by the corresponding author’s primary affiliation, and GST is added as applicable under Indian tax regulations. Invited papers are exempt from the APC. Printed hard copies of an article or issue are charged separately.

Peer review

JAFT uses double-blind peer review: authors and reviewers remain anonymous to one another throughout the process. Editorial decisions are based on reviewer recommendations and the Editor's judgement on scope and quality.

Typical timeline

Stage	Target timeframe
Desk review (scope, formatting check and similarity check)	≤ 5 business days
First decision (accept / revise / reject)	≤ 8 weeks from submission
Author revision — minor	2 weeks
Author revision — major	4 weeks
Final decision after revision	≤ 6 weeks
Online publication after acceptance	≤ 1 week

*Timelines are indicative and may be delayed by reviewer availability.

Submit your manuscript →

Questions? Contact the editorial office.