GENERAL INFORMATION
Altogether, 182 abstracts have been submitted from 31 countries worldwide. The below graph is based on the country codes in the e-mail addresses of corresponding authors.
Needless to say that both the 13th ICAAR Organizing and Scientific Committees are very pleased with this great response. At the same time, this reconfirms that AAR indeed is a serious problem in concrete structures worldwide, illustrating the need for continued research as well as for the ICAAR series of conferences to be organized for many more episodes to come.
Imagine the global budget spent annually on inspection, investigation, research, remediation, repair, rehabilitation, and/or replacement of AAR affected structures. Imagine how happy we scientists would be with only 1% of that global amount as a research budget!
Journal Special Issues
Tentatively, the editors-in-chief of two leading international scientific journals will attend the 13th ICAAR conference in Trondheim, June next year. Both have agreed to the publication of a Special Issue in each of their journals, dedicated to a selection of papers from the 13th ICAAR proceedings.
Suitable manuscripts will be selected from the final contributions published in the 13th ICAAR proceedings, first and foremost depending on the scopes of the respective journals. Additional criteria will include whether or not a manuscript reports a new findings of generic interest and is of a high scientific standard. Review articles may be considered.
Authors of selected papers will be individually invited by one of the two journals to submit their manuscript for the special issue, in a separate process independent of the 13th ICAAR. All manuscripts are subject to the journal’s regular peer review process.
Nota bene: manuscripts in the 13th ICAAR Proceedings will NOT ‘automatically earn’ a place in either of the special issues.
AUTHORS INSTRUCTIONS AND MANUSCRIPT TEMPLATES
Download the authors instructions from the download page via the navigation menu on the left. The complete authors instructions consist of a Manuscript Template and a White Paper, downloadable from the downloads page. Both apply, and both need to be consulted when preparing a manuscript.
Manuscript Templates are available in two different versions: the .doc for Word 97 and later, and the .wpd for WordPerfect 6 and later. Use of any one of the provided templates is obligatory for reason of compliance.
The current text in the Manuscript Template provides authoring instructions for the respective section. Meanwhile, save the template under another name and you can conveniently copy and paste in your own text, replacing the current text. In Word, mouse click Edit | Paste Special | Unformatted Text to preserve the lay-out settings of the template. In WordPerfect, use Shft+Ctrl+V to paste, or right mouse click and select “Paste without Font/Attributes” for the same.
The White Paper (.pdf) is supplementary to the Manuscript Template. The White Paper provides details on lay-out settings and formatting of manuscripts including margins, type face, use of units and measures, special characters and symbols, formatting of artwork, etc.
The most important instructions include:
- a 10 page limit applies for the complete manuscript, including all text, references, tables and figures, ie. everything and all included;
- the 10pt Garamond font saves substantial space compared to Times New Roman, free downloadable from the download section, or eg. www.janthor.de/jGaramond and many other locations. Both templates have this font already installed;
- elaborate descriptions of all materials and methods in adequate detail. Be as exact as required, and provide reference where applicable;
- separate results and discussion chapters: do not mix observations with their interpretation;
- figures are to appear AFTER all text + references + tables, ie. NOT in line with text! Pay proper attention to minimum resolution requirements of artwork.
For all above points (and many more), further details are given in the complete author instructions, consisting of the Manuscript Template and supplementary White Paper.
The instructions have been carefully prepared to make authoring and reviewing easier. The very same instructions as provided in the Manuscript Template + White Paper will be used in the review process. Thus, following the instructions supplied saves everyone precious time!
Peer-review
All submitted manuscripts are subject to a peer-review process. For that purpose, an international Board of Reviewers has been installed, with over fifty invited members.
The Editor-in-chief will assign a manuscript to a member of the Board of Reviewers who will critically review the submitted material for compliance with the author instructions, as well as general structure and content. The identity of the reviewer will remain undisclosed to the manuscript author (‑s).
The review recommendation will be submitted through the editorial system to the Editor-in-chief, who will forward it to the manuscript’s corresponding author. You will then have opportunity to revise the manuscript according to the recommendations given, and finally upload a change-log of implemented revisions together with your revision.
This revised version will be included in the 13th ICAAR Proceedings, and will in principle be eligible for journal special issues as mentioned above.
Extended Abstracts
In addition to the 10-page full manuscript, you will be required to submit a 2-page Extended Abstract that will be included together with the final program. Extended Abstract Templates (Word, WordPerfect) will be available for download when the peer-review result comes available (ultimo March 2008).
Presentations
Submitting (co-) authors attending the 13th ICAAR conference will be scheduled to present their contribution in one of the themed technical sessions. For your convenience, you will have the opportunity to upload your presentation through the Trondheim ICAAR Editorial System TIES.
As per today, the ICAAR organizers anticipate to run two parallel sessions all the way to accommodate all contributions. Sessions will be synchronized to enable delegates to cross over. Presentations will be limited to 15 minutes, including 12 minutes talk time and 3 minutes of discussion. Session chairs do have authority to intervene as deemed necessary to maintain time schedule.
Guided poster sessions
The 13th ICAAR intends to organize "guided poster sessions" in the early evening hours, with posters arranged per session. Thus, delegates have the freedom to redo sessions already attended, or assess sessions missed.
The ICAAR organization explicitly emphasizes that posters are solely intended to enhance communication between delegates, and NOT as a second ranking publication. All authors are encouraged to submit a poster in addition to the 10-page full manuscript, extended abstract and presentation. Posters will be included in the digital version of the ICAAR Proceedings. Ready-to-use templates will be made available for download (ultimo March 2008).
Each poster will be outlined in a 1-minute talk, after which delegates will have time for discussion in an informal and relaxed atmosphere. Beverages, light-alcoholic drinks and light snacks will be available for purchase.
