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Modares Civil Engineering journal

  • Editor-in-Chief: Masoud Ghodsian
  • Manager-in-Charge: Farhad Daneshjo
  • Publisher: Tarbiat Modares University
  • Journal Type: Scientific
  • Publication Period: Bi-monthly
  • Access Policy: Open
  • Publication Format: Electronic
ISO Abbreviation: MCEJ
Language: Persian with English Abstract
Average Time to First Decision: 6 Weeks
Peer Review Policy: Double Blind Peer Review
Publication policy: Open Access Journal Support
Citation Impact (CI) in ISC: 0.071
Ranking in Portal of Scientific Journals: B
Article Processing Charges: Free
System Similarity Finder:: Yes (Samimnoor)


“Modares Civil Engineering journal is following of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and complies with the highest ethical standards in accordance with ethical laws”.
Best Workflow Statement and Prevention of Publishing Violations
The statement outlines the best workflow and prevention of publishing violations. The COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) set of rules for magazine editors is designed to establish a set of minimum standards expected to be followed by all COPE members. The best practices have garnered widespread support and were formulated in response to editors' requests for guidance on a wide and evolving range of complex ethical issues. While COPE expects all members to adhere to the set of rules related to journal editors (and addresses complaints related to members who do not comply), it is recognized that editors may not be able to implement all voluntary best practice recommendations. However, it is hoped that our suggestions will lead to the identification of journal policies and practices that require review and discussion. In this combined version of documents, a mandatory set of rules for journal editors' standards is written in organized texts with numbered articles.
General Duties and Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief
1-1. The Editor-in-Chief must be accountable for any content published in the journal.
This implies that the Editor-in-Chief should:
1-2. Strive to meet the needs of readers and authors.
1-3. Endeavor to continuously improve the journal.
1-4. Adopt approaches to ensure the quality of published content.
1-5. Advocate for freedom of expression.
1-6. Uphold the accuracy and integrity of academic records.
1-7. Meet professional needs through compliance with rational and ethical standards.
1-8. Always be eager to publish corrections, clarifications, apologies, and retractions when necessary.
Best practices for Editors-in-Chief may include:
Actively seeking input from authors, readers, editors, and editorial board members on ways to improve the journal's approaches.
Encouraging and being aware of research on reviewing and publishing, and periodically reassessing the journal's approaches in light of new findings.
Striving to encourage publishers to provide appropriate resources and seek guidance from experts (e.g., designers and legal experts).
Supporting initiatives designed to address existing issues in research and publication.
Supporting initiatives aimed at educating researchers on publication ethics.
Evaluating the impact of journal policies on the behavior of authors and reviewers, and revising policies when necessary to strengthen accountability and address behavioral issues.
Ensuring that any published material by the journal reflects the message of the article and is accurately presented in the text.
2. Engagement with Readers
2-1. Readers should be informed about financial contributors or sponsors and be aware of whether financial contributors played a role in the research and publication, and if so, what role they played.
Best practices for Editors-in-Chief would include:
Ensuring that reports of published research and reviews are conducted by qualified and competent reviewers (including statistical reviews where necessary).
Ensuring that unreviewed sections of the journal are clearly identified.
Adopting approaches that enhance the accuracy, comprehensiveness, and clarity of research reports, including technical editing and the use of appropriate guidelines and checklists.
Focusing on improving transparency policies to maximize transparency regarding the sources of non-research articles.
Implementing systems of authorship or contribution that enhance accountability (e.g., accurate indexing to show who has contributed to the work) and reduce issues (such as ghost and guest authors).
Assuring readers that writings by journal staff or editorial board members are evaluated impartially.
3. Engagement with Authors
3-1. The decision of the Editor-in-Chief to accept or reject a manuscript should be based on the importance, originality, and clarity of the paper, the credibility of the study, and its alignment with the journal's objectives.
3-2. The Editor-in-Chief should not change their decision to accept manuscripts unless serious issues are identified.
3-3. A new Editor-in-Chief should not alter the previous Editor-in-Chief's decisions regarding the publication of manuscripts unless serious issues are identified.
3-4. Descriptions of re-evaluation approaches should be published, and the Editor-in-Chief should be prepared to justify any significant deviation from the stated approaches.
3-5. Journals should define a mechanism for authors to appeal against the decisions of the Editors.
3-6. The Editor-in-Chief should communicate expectations to authors through guidelines. These guidelines should be regularly updated and referred to or linked to in the code.
3-7. The Editor-in-Chief should develop guidelines on the necessary criteria for authorship or who should adhere to such standards in this area.
Best practices for Editors-in-Chief would include:
Regularly reviewing author comments and providing relevant links to these guidelines.
Disclosing relevant conflicts of interest for all stakeholders and publishing corrections if conflicts of interest are identified post-publication.
Ensuring that reviewers of manuscripts are appropriately selected (e.g., individuals capable of reviewing the content and free of disqualifying conflicts of interest).
Respecting requests from authors that acceptable and feasible revisions to their work not be subject to further review.
Referring to COPE guidelines in cases where the reviewer's performance is problematic.
Publishing details of how suspicious authorship or publication issues were resolved.
Publishing the dates of writing and acceptance of articles.
4. Engagement with Reviewers
4-1. The Editor-in-Chief should communicate their expectations of reviewers, including the use of provided materials to ensure confidence, in the form of guidelines. These guidelines should be regularly updated and referred to or linked to in the code.
4-2. Editors should have potential conflicts of interest disclosed by reviewers before referral.
4-3. The Editor-in-Chief should have a system in place to ensure that reviewers' identities are kept confidential unless explicit disclosure occurs that authors and reviewers are informed.
Best practices for Editors-in-Chief would include:
Encouraging reviewers to challenge ethical and potential research questions and problems arising from writings about publication (e.g., unethical research design, insufficient information for consent or support of research topics, such as animals).
Encouraging reviewers to challenge the authenticity of writings and awareness of the publication of materials with plagiarism and literary theft.
Providing the necessary tools to reviewers for identifying relevant publications (e.g., providing links to cited sources and searching the book list).
Announcing reviewer comments to authors with complete integrity unless the statements are insulting or defamatory.
Ensuring that reviewers cooperate with the journal.
Encouraging academic institutions to accept review activities as a research approach.
Reviewing the performance of reviewers and taking steps to ensure their high standards.
Developing and maintaining a suitable and updated database of reviewers based on their performance.
Using a wide range of sources (not just personal contacts) to identify potential new reviewers (e.g., author recommendations, databases related to the book list).
5. Engagement with Editorial Board Members
5-1. The Editor-in-Chief should consider new members of the editorial board and provide them with guidelines based on expectations from them, keeping them up-to-date with policies and new developments.
Best practices for Editors-in-Chief would include:
Having the necessary policies for managing the writings of editorial board members to ensure impartial reviews.
Identifying editorial board members with the competence to actively collaborate in the development and good management of the journal.
Regularly reviewing the composition of the editorial board.
Providing clear guidance to editorial board members on expected roles and responsibilities, which may include:
Acting as an executive member of the journal
Supporting and enhancing the journal
Seeking the best authors and best works (e.g., from leaked abstracts) and actively enhancing writings
Editing writings for the journal
Accepting responsibility for editing, reviewing, and commenting on articles in their field of expertise
Joining and participating in editorial board meetings
Periodically consulting with editorial board members (e.g., annually) to review feedback on journal management, inform them of any changes in journal policies, and identify challenges ahead.
6. Relations with Journal Owners and Publishers: 6-1. The relationship between the editor-in-chief and the publisher is often complex but must fundamentally be based on the principles of editorial independence. 6-2. The editor-in-chief should decide on the publication of articles based on their quality and relevance to the journal, without interference from the owner or publisher of the journal. 6-3. The editor-in-chief should have a written agreement regulating their relationship with the owner or publisher of the journal. 6-4. The provisions of this agreement should align with the Code of Conduct for Journal Editors.
Best practices for the editor-in-chief include:
Establishing mechanisms for resolving conflicts with owners or publishers with legal formalities.
Maintaining continuous communication with the owner and publisher of the journal.
7. Editorial Approaches and Review: 7-1. The editor-in-chief must ensure that the review process in their journal is fair, impartial, and timely. 7-2. The editor-in-chief should have a system in place to ensure that the materials presented in the journal remain confidential during the review process.
Best practices for the editor-in-chief include:
Ensuring that editorial staff, including themselves, undergo sufficient training and stay updated on the latest guidelines and evidence regarding review and journal management.
Staying informed about research on reviewing and technological advancements.
Adopting the most appropriate review methods for the journal and its research community.
Periodically reviewing the performance of the review process for potential improvements.
Referring problematic cases to the COPE, especially when questions arise that cannot be addressed in the normal course of the COPE process or when new issues about the journal emerge.
Conducting meetings to arbitrate complaints that could not be resolved.
8. Quality Assurance: 8-1. The editor-in-chief must take reasonable steps to ensure the quality of the content published, considering that journals and journal sections will have different goals and standards.
Best practices for the editor-in-chief include:
Having a system for identifying incorrect information (e.g., misplaced images or plagiarized texts) when suspicions arise.
Making decisions about the journal's layout based on evidence related to factors that enhance the quality of reports, rather than relying on aesthetic or personal preferences.
9. Protection of Personal Information: 9-1. The editor-in-chief must adhere to principles of confidentiality in their judgments. Regardless of internal rules, they must always keep personal information obtained during research or professional interactions confidential (e.g., between doctor and patient). Therefore, written consent for disclosure should always be obtained from individuals who may be identifiable or recognized by others (e.g., through reports or images).
Best practices for the editor-in-chief include:
Publishing their policy on the publication of personal information (e.g., information or personal images) and providing a comprehensive explanation to authors.
Noting that consent to participate in research or related matters, similar to consent for the publication of information, images, or personal quotes, is not the same.
10. Encouraging Ethical Practices (e.g., Human and Animal Research): 10-1. The editor-in-chief must ensure that the research they publish is conducted in accordance with internationally accepted ethical guidelines (e.g., the Declaration of Helsinki for clinical research and the AERA and BERA guidelines for educational research). 10-2. The editor-in-chief should seek assurance that all research has been approved by the competent authority (e.g., ethics review committee). However, the editor-in-chief should be aware that such approvals do not guarantee the ethical conduct of the research.
Best practices for the editor-in-chief include:
Being prepared to request evidence of the ethical approval of research and questioning authors about ethical aspects (e.g., how participant consent was obtained or the method used to minimize animal harm) in case of concerns or the need for clarification.
Ensuring that reports of clinical trials are based on the Declaration of Helsinki, Good Clinical Practice, and other relevant guidelines for ensuring participant safety.
Ensuring that reports of experiments or studies on animals comply with the World Health Organization's guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals or other relevant guidelines.
Appointing a consultant or ethical board for advice on specific issues and conducting periodic reviews of the journal's policy.
11. Dealing with Potential Misconduct: 11-1. The editor-in-chief is obligated to take action upon observing misconduct or signs of potential misconduct, covering both published and unpublished articles. 11-2. The editor-in-chief should not simply reject articles suspected of misconduct. Ethically, they must investigate such cases. 11-3. The editor-in-chief should follow the COPE guidelines wherever possible. 11-4. Initially, the editor-in-chief should seek a response from the parties involved in suspected misconduct. If a satisfactory response is not obtained, the matter should be addressed by staff, the institution, or other qualified individuals. 11-5. The editor-in-chief must make every effort to ensure that appropriate action is taken regarding the misconduct. If this does not happen, the editor-in-chief must make every effort to find a solution to the problem. This task is challenging but crucial.
12. Assurance of Academic Record Accuracy: 12-1. Errors or mistakes in writings must be corrected promptly based on their significance. 12-2. The editor-in-chief should use COPE guidelines to rectify errors.
Best practices for the editor-in-chief include:
Moving towards reducing inflammatory content in publications (e.g., ensuring that all clinical cases are documented).
Ensuring that published content is securely archived (e.g., in permanent repositories like PubMed Central).
Having a system to provide authors with an opportunity for open presentation of research articles.
13. Intellectual Property: 13-1. The editor-in-chief must be aware of intellectual property issues and collaborate with their publisher to manage the ability to violate intellectual property laws and commitments. Best practices for the editor-in-chief include:
Adopting a system to detect literary theft (e.g., software for searching similar titles) in submitted articles.
Supporting authors whose copyrights have not been respected or who have been victims of literary theft.
Being prepared to collaborate with the publisher to defend the rights of the author and take action against offenders (e.g., by requesting retractions or removal from websites), regardless of whether the journal adheres to copyright or not.
14. Encouraging Discussion: 14-1. The editor-in-chief should be eager to address convincing criticisms of works published in the journal. 14-2. The author of the criticized article should be given an opportunity to respond. 14-3. Reading negative results in work reports should not be overlooked.
Best practices for the editor-in-chief include:
Freedom to investigate cases where published content is challenged in the journal.
15. Complaints: 15-1. The editor-in-chief must promptly address complaints and understand that unresolved complaints lead to more complaints. The mechanism and process for referring unresolved issues to COPE should be clearly outlined in the journal. 15-2. The editor-in-chief should follow the procedure outlined in the COPE for handling complaints.
16. Economic Considerations: 16-1. Journals must have policies and systems to ensure that economic considerations do not interfere with editorial decisions (e.g., the advertising department should operate independently of the editorial department). 16-2. The editor-in-chief should have a clear advertising policy regarding the content of the journal and the approaches needed for sponsorship.
Best practices for the editor-in-chief include:
Publishing a general explanation of the journal's income sources (e.g., the share of income from advertising, sales, sponsorship requirements, etc.).
Ensuring that the sponsorship review process is similar to the journal's own sponsorship.
Ensuring that items included in sponsorship are based solely on academic merit and appeal to readers and that decision-making on these requirements does not interfere with commercial considerations.
17. Conflict of Interest: 17-1. The editor-in-chief must have a system to manage their own conflict of interest and that of staff, authors, reviewers, and editorial board members. 17-2. Journals must have a transparent policy for resolving writings from editors, staff, or editorial board members to ensure unbiased review.
Best practices for the editor-in-chief include:
Publishing a list of common interests (financial, academic, or other types) of editorial staff and editorial board members (to be updated annually).


Licensing Policy


Attribution-NonCommercial 
CC BY-NC

This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.
View License Deed | View Legal Code



Director-in-Charge
Daneshjo, Farhad; professor of civil engineering
Affiliation: Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Email: danesh_fa@modares.ac.ir
Tel: -
Editor-in-Chief
Ghodsyan, Masood; professor of Hydro Engineering
Affiliation: Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran​
Email: ghods@modares.ac.ir​
Tel: - ​
Editorial Board

Ahmadi, Mohammad Taghi; Professor of Dynamic Interactions, and Static Joint Opening
Affiliation: Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Email: mahmadi@modares.ac.ir
Tel: -
 
Salehi, Ali Akbar; Professor of Hydraulic Engineering
Affiliation: Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Email: salehi@modares.ac.ir
Tel: -
 
Safarzadeh, Mahmoud; Professor of Transportation Planning
Affiliation: Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Email: saffar_m@modares.ac.ir
Tel: -
 
Ganjidoust, Hossein; Professor of Environmental Engineering
Affiliation: Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Email: h-ganji@modares.ac.ir
Tel: -
 
Aghakouchak, Ali Akbar; Professor of Analysis and Design of Offshore Structures Dynamic, Analysis and Seismic Design of Steel Structures
Affiliation: Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Email: a_agha@modares.ac.ir
Tel: -
 
Maleki, Shervin; Professor of Civil Enginering
Affiliation: Sharif University, Tehran, Iran
Email: smaleki@sharif.edu
Tel: -
 
Ghodrati Amiri, Gholamreza; Professor of Civil Enginering
Affiliation: University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
Email: ghodrati@iust.ac.ir
Tel: -
 
Yasrebi, Shahabuddin; Associate Professor of Soil and Foundation
Affiliation: Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Email: yasrobi@modares.ac.ir
Tel: -
 
Afshar, Abbas; Professor of Hydro Engineering
Affiliation: University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
Email: a_afshar@iust.ac.ir
Tel: -
 
Tajrishi, Masoud; Professor of Water Quality Management
Affiliation: Sharif University, Tehran, Iran
Email: tajrishy@sarif.ir
Tel: -
 
Mirbagheri, Seyyed Ahmad; Professor of Environmental Engineering
Affiliation: K.N. Toosi University, Tehran, Iran
Email: mirbagheri@kntu.ac.ir
Tel: -
 
Mir Mohammad Hosseini, Majdaddin; Professor of Soil and Foundation
Affiliation: Amir Kabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
Email: mmirhos@aut.ac.ir
Tel: -
 
Hassani, Abolfazl; Professor of Roads and Transportation
Affiliation: Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Email: hassani@modares.ac.ir
Tel: -


1-Article format
1-1-Types of files
 The only accepted format for the text and tables of the article is Word, and the article is received in two columns.
2-1-Magazine style
 To see the guidelines of publications of Tarbiat Modares University click here
3-1-Referencing style
Publications of Tarbiat Modares University, depending on the journal, follow Harvard or Vancouver referencing style. Vancouver style instructions in the form of two pdf files is provided to the authors. Authors should make sure their article references match them.
4-1-Preparation of the article
 To see the format file for writing articles in this publication  click here.
1-4-1-Title, keywords and abstract
 The title, keywords and abstract help the reader to find your article more easily and make the text easier to read.
2-4-1-The contact details of the corresponding authors
All full contact details of the responsible author are required. For other authors, mention of academic affiliation is required. To facilitate anonymous peer review, this information should be provided separately from the article.
3-4-1-Instructions for sending pictures and other diagrams
1-3-4-1-Pictures
1. The images should come in the word text file.
2. The numbered images should come in the same order as they are mentioned in the text.
3. For images with multiple parts, each part should be marked with alphabet letters (A, B, P, ...). 4. The description of the pictures should be in English first. At the beginning of the explanation, Fig. 1. Come with two dashes, one before the number and one after it.
4.The Persian description should come below with the word shape (in bold) and with the number of the image: Figure 1. A dot must come after the number. If the description is more than one line, the lines should be straight and regular.
5. To use images from other publications, permission must be obtained from them. Some publishers like Elsevier request a specific text.
6. Where a license is required, it should appear under the photo (Vancouver style) or under the author's name and date (Harvard style).
7. Photos and other scanned images must come with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.
8. The only acceptable file format is Microsoft Office Word. If you plan to convert the Word file to other formats such as PDF, PowerPoint, Photoshop or T.I. F. F convert, match your final version exactly to the initial version.
9. The descriptions of the images come on a separate page after the sources. Images and descriptions should be understandable without reading the article.
2-3-4-1-Tables of contents
 If incomplete sentences are used, use bullet points to list the sentences. Start the list with quotation marks and end with a dot.
 Lists should be separated from the rest of the text by a comma.
All the numbers in the equations must come in parentheses and be aligned.
3-3-4-1-Tables
 1. The titles of the tables should be right-aligned in all cases (such as when they appear in two columns of the article).
2. Tables should be created with the "table" tool of Word software. Tables created with Excel or other software cannot be used.
 3. Number the tables in order and refer to them in the article as Table 1, Table 2...
4. The table word must be written in full.
5. Number the tables in the order they appear in the article.
6. Tables should have clear titles and explanatory footnotes (and be marked in alphabetical order.)
8. Do not repeat the details provided in the original text.
9. The dates in the tables should be numerically: 5/11/2015
10. The description of the table should be right above it.

2-After acceptance
1-2-The final version
The PDF file of the final version will be emailed to the responsible author.
2-2-Electronic version
The journals of Tarbiat Modares University are free and having access to the full text of their articles is free. Authors are not charged for refereeing and printing. Pdf files of articles will be available electronically after acceptance.

3-The main file of the article
The main file of the article should include the following parts:
1-3-The full title of the article
2-3-Names of authors, organizational affiliation of authors and email
3-3-Abstract
The first page of the article begins with the abstract. The abstract should be clear enough for the reader to fully understand the main content of the article. Avoid referencing and quoting.
4-3- Keywords
Provide up to 5 keywords. Keywords should describe the exact content of the article because they are used to write the index.
5-3-Introduction
The introduction of the research should be brief and not have subheadings. This section should provide the reader with the necessary information to understand the article.
6-3-Objectives
 Objectives should describe the main purpose of the research.
7-3-Materials and methods
This section contains essential research information and processes so that other researchers can replicate them. If several different methods are used, subheadings should be used.
8-3-Results
This section may include tables, lists, and images. Focus on the important points of the research results; But avoid repeating the information given in the pictures and tables. Up to 6 photos and tables can be used in this section.
9-3-Discussion
The information in this section is different from the information in the results section.
10-3-Conclusion
This section should briefly explain the final result of the study.
11-3-Conflict of interest
Authors must declare any conflict of interest in the research in this section.
12-3-Contribution of authors
Contribution and help of all authors in the research process should be mentioned in this section.
13-3-Acknowledgments
14-3-References
All references must be verified by the author. Authors should make sure that the references mentioned in the text match the list of references at the end of the article. The referencing style, depending on the journal, can be either Vancouver or Harvard. But style consistency must be maintained. The references come right after the thanks for the help and before the signs and abbreviations.
15-3-Signs and abbreviations
Symbols and abbreviations come after references and on a separate page. This section should be understandable without reading the article.