Guide for Authors (Print ISSN: 1738-3110 / Online ISSN: 2093-7717)

1. Introduction 

The Journal of Distribution Science (JDS) is an official and public journal published by the KODISA Foundation. The JDS is an international peer-reviewed journal, which is devoted to distribution economics, distribution management and science, and interdisciplinary topics. The journal is published twelve issues per year (monthly) in English. The mission of JDS is to bring together the latest theoretical and empirical distribution management research in international markets.

1.1. Submission

Authors are requested to submit their papers electronically by e-mail attachments to Editorial office: ygodson@knou.ac.kr  or using online paper submission on the journal website (JDS). The attached files should be in MS Word, WordPerfect or RTF format. Any supplemental files should also be in Microsoft Word, RTF, WordPerfect, or Excel format. PDFs are not acceptable. Authors are requested to submit the text, tables, and artwork in electronic form to this address. The Publisher and Editor regret that they are not able to consider submissions that do not follow these procedures. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail. 

1.2. Submission Declaration 

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published seminar, lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere including electronically in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright-holder. Each submission must contain “Submission Declaration Statement” in its cover letter as follows: “We hereby confirm that the manuscript has no any actual or potential conflict of interest with any parties, including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence or be perceived to influence. We confirm that the paper has not been published previously, it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and the manuscript is not being simultaneously submitted elsewhere.” 

1.3. Copyright

The author(s) have full copyright to the published article. Thus the authors are allowed to reuse their own work for any purpose.

KODISA applies the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) to works we publish (read the human-readable summary  or the full license legal code).  This license was developed to facilitate open access – namely, free immediate access to, and unrestricted reuse of, original works of all types. Under this license, authors agree to make articles legally available for reuse, without permission or fees, for virtually any purpose. Anyone may copy, distribute or reuse these articles, as long as the author and original source are properly cited. 

2. The Preparation of Manuscripts (Main Document)

2.1. Language 

Please write your text in well-written English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these).

2.2. Word Count 

While no maximum length for manuscripts is prescribed, authors are encouraged to write concisely. As a guide, articles should be between 5,000 and 7,000 words in length. 

2.3. Style of Presentation 

1) Use A4 sheet size.

2) Margins should be one inch (2.5cm) at the top, bottom, and sides of the page.

3) Font type should be 12-point Times New Roman throughout the document.

4) Double-space all body text, including abstract, references, endnotes and appendices.

5) Number all pages in your manuscript, starting with the Abstract Page.

6) Manuscript text should be left-aligned. 

2.4. Use of Word Processing Software  

It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. Do not embed "graphically designed" equations or tables, but prepare these using the word processor's facility. Do not import the figures into the text file but, instead, indicate their approximate locations directly in the electronic text and on the manuscript. To avoid unnecessary errors, you are strongly advised to use the "spell-check" and "grammar-check" functions of your word processor. 

3. The Presentation of Manuscripts 

3.1. Topic of Interest

Research topics covered by the journal are focused on, but not limited to, distribution science, distribution management, distribution economics, logistics, SCM, distribution information technology, innovation in distribution, strategy and competitiveness of distribution channels, market development, materials and acquisition management, consumer shopping behavior, CRM, retail information management, manufacturing-wholesaling-retailing channel, social issues in distribution. Authors are encouraged to include terminology related to distribution, such as distribution, retailing, wholesale, shops/outlets, online shopping, offline shopping, logistics, physical distribution, and delivery service, in the abstract, main body, and keywords. Authors should include numerous other terminology (e.g., private-labels, centralized buying, location strategy, store advertising, e-commerce, product returns, merchandising, balance-of-power, commercial zoning etc.) related to distribution management and retailing throughout the manuscript. Papers that do not address these topics will be screened out by the editor and will not be sent out for peer review. 

3.2. Article Structure

Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Sections should be numbered 1., 2., etc. Subsections should be numbered 1.1. (then 1.1.1., 1.1.2., ...), 1.2., etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to "the text". Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line. 

3.2.1. Introduction 

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results. 

3.2.2 Literature Review 

Provide an adequate background with detailed literature survey or a summary of the results of previous studies.

3.2.3. Methodology 

Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference.

3.2.4. Results 

Provide sufficient detail to allow the results to be meaningful and informative.

3.2.5. Discussion 

This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature. 

3.2.6. Conclusions 

The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

3.2.7. Appendices 

If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc. 

3.3. Tables, Figures, and Artwork 

3.3.1. Abbreviations 

Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field in a footnote to be placed on the first page of the article. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their first mention there, as well as in the footnote. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article. 

3.3.2. Mathematical Formulae 

Present simple formulae in the line of normal text where possible. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line, (e.g., X p /Y m). Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separate from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text). 

3.3.3. Other Symbols 

Greek letters and unusual symbols should be identified in the margin. Distinction should be made between capital and lower case letters; between the letter O and zero; between the letter I, the number one and prime; between k and kappa. The numbers identifying mathematical expressions should be placed in parentheses. 

3.3.4. Footnotes 

Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article, using superscript Arabic numbers. Many word processors build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Should this not be the case, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list. 

3.3.5. Table Footnotes 

Indicate each footnote in a table with a superscript lowercase letter. 

3.3.6. Artwork 

1) Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.

2) Save text in illustrations as "graphics" or enclose the font.

3) Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times, Symbol.

4) Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.

5) Provide captions to illustrations separately.

6) Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.

7) Submit each figure as a separate file. Please do not:

8) Supply embedded graphics in your word processor document;

9) Supply files that are optimized for screen use (like GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG);

10) Supply files that are too low in resolution;

11) Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content. 

3.3.7. Color Artwork 

Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures then the Publisher will ensure that these figures will appear in color in the printed version. For color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from the Publisher after receipt of your accepted article. Please note: Because of technical complications which can arise by converting color figures to "gray scale" (for the printed version should you not opt for color in print) please submit in addition usable black and white versions of all the color illustrations.

3.3.8. Figure Captions 

Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

3.3.9. Tables 

Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Avoid vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. 

3.4. Citation and References 

Per JDS’s "Citation and Reference Style Guides" authors are expected to adhere to the guidelines of APA Style (American Psychological Association).

Text: Citations in the text should follow the referencing style used by the American Psychological Association. You are referred to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth (6th) Edition, ISBN 978-1-4338-0561-5. 

References List: references should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication.

Web References: As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

3.4.1. Citation in Text 

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list, they should follow the standard reference style of the journal.

All citations in the text should refer to: 

Single author: the author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication; 

Two authors: list all authors' names with "&" separating the two authors and the year of publication; 

Three or more authors: first author’s name followed by et al.

Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically). Groups of references should be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically. For example, Kim and Lee (2008) suggest ..., or Lee and Cormier (2009) find that ..., or A study of distribution economics (Youn, 2007) has shown that ...' 

When citing a list of references in the text, put the list in alphabetical order and separate authors by semicolons; for example, "Several studies (Kim &Lee, 2008; Lee &Cormier, 2009a, 2009b; Youn &Kim, 2003) support this conclusion." 

To cite a direct quotation, give pages after the year, separated by a comma and a space. For example: "Smith argues that for something to happen it must be not only 'favorable and possible but also wanted and triggered' (2008, p.38)".

3.4.2. List of References 

References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters "a", "b", "c", etc., placed after the year of publication.

Reference to an article in journals:

Kim, P. J. (2009). A study on the risk management of Korean firms in Chinese market. Journal of Distribution Science, 7(2), 5-28. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

Lee, J. W., &Cormier, J. F. (2010). Effects of consumers’ demographic profile on mobile commerce adoption. Journal of Distribution Science, 8(1), 5-11.

Youn, M. K., Kim, Y. O., Lee, M. K., &Namkung, S. (2006). Domestic restrictions on the opening of retail stores. Journal of Distribution Science, 6(2), 121-160. doi:10.1080/14622200410001676305

Reference to an article in journals:

Kim, P. J. (2009). A study on the risk management of Korean firms in Chinese market. Journal of Distribution Science, 7(2), 5-28. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

Lee, J. W., & Cormier, J. F. (2010). Effects of consumers’ demographic profile on mobile commerce adoption. Journal of Distribution Science, 8(1), 5-11.

Youn, M. K., Kim, Y. O., Lee, M. K., & Namkung, S. (2006). Domestic restrictions on the opening of retail stores. Journal of Distribution Science, 6(2), 121-160. doi:10.1080/14622200410001676305

Reference to a book (ISBN):

Greenberg, P.l. (2001). CRM at the speed of light (5th ed.). Emeryville, CA: Lycos Press.

Youn, M. K., & Kim, Y. O. (2017). Principles of distribution (2nd ed.).  Seoul, Korea: Doonam Publishing.

Reference to a book (ISBN): digital version

Shoton, M. A. (1989). Computer addiction? A study of computer dependency [DX Reader version]. Retrieved from http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/html/indix.asp

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:

Burton, R. R. (1982). Diagnosing bugs in a simple procedure skill. In D. H. Sleeman, &J. S. Brown, Intelligent tutoring systems (pp.120-135), London, UK: Academic Press. 

​[References Example: Not recommended]

Reference to a Thesis for Doctorate (or Master's thesis):

Kim, Y. M. (2001). Study on factors of introduction of supply chain management of Korean companies. (Doctorial dissertation, Jungang University). Retrieved May 22, 2019, from http://www.static.cc.gatech.edu/~asb/thesis/

For published conference proceedings: on-line publication

Lee, J. W., & Kim, Y. E. (2007). Green distribution and its economic impact on the distribution industry. Proceedings of the Second International Conference of KODISA. Korea, 105, 12-32. doi:10.1073/pnas.0805417015

For published conference proceedings: as a book

Katz, I., Gabayan, K., & Aghajan, H. (2007). A multi-touch surface using multiple cameras In J. Blanc-Talon, W. Philips, D. Popescu, & P. Scheuunders (Eds.), Lectures Notes in Computer Science: Vol. 4678. Advanced Concepts for Intelligent Vision Systems (pp. 97-108). doi:10.1007/978-3-540-74607-2_9

For Magazine Article: 

Youn, M. K. (2010, July). Distribution science in medical industry. Medical Distribution Today, 39(4), 86-93.

For newspaper articles:

Kim, Y. E. (2011, May 30). New challenges and opportunities for traditional markets. Korea Distribution News, pp. A1, A4.

For newspaper articles(on-line):

Broody, J. E. (2007, December 11). Mental reserves keep brain agile. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

For newspaper articles (non-authored):

Korea Distribution News (2011, June). Future of traditional markets. Korea Distribution News, 21 January, Section 3-4. Seoul, Korea.

For Internet resources:

Kim, D. H., & Youn, M. K. (2012, November/December). Distribution knowledge, research, and journal. Proceeding of 2012 Summer International Conference of KODISA, Seoul, Korea (pp.73-78). Retrieved from http://www.kodisajournals.org/index.php?mid=Conferences&document_srl=8862

China National Petroleum Corporation (2009). 2009 Annual Reports. (Research Report No. 09.6) Retrieved from Research on CNCP　http://www.cnpc.com.cn/resource/english/images1/2009.pdf

4. The Information of Title Page 

4.1. Title 

Concise and informative. Maximum 12 words. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.

4.2. Author Names and Affiliations 

Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name, and, the e-mail address of each author. Note: This information should be provided on a separate sheet and authors should not be identified anywhere else in the manuscript. 

4.3. Corresponding Author 

Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that telephone (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address.

4.4. Abstract  

A concise, factual and structured abstract is required. About 200 words in total are recommended. The abstract should state briefly 1) the purpose of the research, 2) research design and methodology, 3) the principal results, and 4) major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself. 

4.5. Keywords 

Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 5 keywords. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes. 

4.6. JEL Code 

Immediately after keywords, provide a maximum of 5 JEL codes. These codes will be used for indexing purposes. 

4.7. Acknowledgements  

Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the title page and do not, therefore, include them on the main document (manuscripts) or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).

5. The Checklist of Submission 

It is hoped that this list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal's Editor for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item. For email submissions you have prepared 3 files: 

File 1. The Title Page  

Ensure that the following items are present: 

- Full detail of authors

- One author designated as corresponding author: • E-mail address • Full postal address • Telephone and fax numbers 

- The title page must contain “Submission Declaration Statement” in its cover letter as follows:

“We hereby confirm that the manuscript has no any actual or potential conflict of interest with any parties, including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence or be perceived to influence.

We confirm that the paper has not been published previously, it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and the manuscript is not being simultaneously submitted elsewhere.”

Note: Author identification: Every effort should be made to ensure that submission material outside of the title page file contains no clues as to author identity. Footnotes containing information pertaining to the identity of the author or institutional affiliation should be on separate pages. The complete title of the article and the name of the author(s) should be typed only on the title page file to ensure anonymity in the review process. Subsequent pages should have no author names, but may carry a short title at the top. Information in text, citations, references, or footnotes that would identify the author should be masked from the manuscript file. These may be reinserted in the final draft. In addition, the author's name should be removed from the document's Properties, which in Microsoft Word is found in the File menu. When submitting a revised version of a manuscript, please be sure to submit a blind version of your response letter detailing changes made to the manuscript as this is letter can be accessed by reviewers.

File 2. The Main Document (Manuscript). 

The text of the paper, including abstract, text, references and notes, tables, figure captions, figures, but without the names of authors, or any acknowledgements. Check that you have removed all author identification (names and affiliations) and any acknowledgements from the main document that you are going to submit. Please make sure that authors' names are not included in the document/file properties. 

Further Considerations 

1) All information about all figure captions and all tables (including title, description, footnotes) has been provided

2) Manuscript has been "spellchecked" and "grammar-checked"

3) References are in the correct format for this journal

4) All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa 

6. After Acceptance

6.1. EIC Final Evaluation

All submitted article goes through a 2-step evaluation. The first step is the peer-review step in the ACOMS system and the second step is the final EIC evaluation before publication. This means that publication of an article is not taken for granted after it is accepted from the peer-review step. If the article is deemed insufficient for publication at the final evaluation step due to the issues such as syntax/semantics, plagiarism, irrelevant or non-distribution science topic, failure to pay the article publication charges etc, publication may be postponed or even cancelled until the article is adequately revised in accordance to the journal’s publication policy. In particular, issue such as plagiarism will lead to immediate cancellation at any stage of evaluation, without notification.  

6.2. Proofs 

In the first week of the month, the Editorial Team will send a manuscript proof to the corresponding author of selected articles for the monthly issue. Generally, 12 articles are selected from the list of articles that have passed the final EIC evaluation. The author(s) may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return them to the Editorial Team by email. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by email. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the editor. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility and the publication may be cancelled if no response is received. 

6.3. Offprints 

The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use. 

SUBMISSION-REVIEW-ACCEPTANCE-PRODUCTION-PUBLICATION-INDEXING PROCESS

Step 1: Editor’s Decision on the Manuscript Submitted
Submission Consent Form, APC agreement, APA style format, Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice, and CrossCheck screening. The iThenticate software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Authors can be assured that JDS is committed to actively combating plagiarism and publishing original research.

[Editorial Board and Selection Policy: Please note that Editorial Board of JDS will be very selective, accepting only the articles on the basis of scholarly merit, research significance, research integrity and compliance with the journal style guidelines (APA). JDS and Editorial Board respect and promote all authors and contributors on the basis of research ability and experience without considering race, citizenship, or any of narrow frames of reference.]

Step 2: Double-Blinded Peer-Review
If the manuscript successfully passes the requirements of submission and the first round of screening and plagiarism checking, then the paper goes to external reviewers, which will take another 2 to 8 weeks.

Step 3: Decision Completed

Decision is made based on the reviewer’s recommendation – Reject, Major Revision, Minor Revision, Accept.  

Step 4: Selection for the Month – Editor-In-Chief’s Final Review
All accepted articles will go through another selection process every month as JDS publishes about 12 articles each month. The selection process examines the quality of article and its suitability to the monthly topic. Please note that the publication may be sent for the revision or cancelled for publication if EIC decided that the article is not written aligned with aims and scope of JDS.

Due to the limited number of manuscript that can be published each month the waiting may take up to 6 months. 

Step 5: Manuscript Proof and Payment for the Publication Fee

An email will be sent out to the author of selected manuscript in the Step 4. The email will contain the proof of manuscript and the payment guideline for publication fee. Please do not make the payment until this email is sent to the corresponding author. 

Any errors, author’s information, citations, references, tables, figures, heading, subheadings and etc will be double-checked and the editor may request the author to revise manuscript once again. The manuscript must be proofread by a native English speaker.

The email address that is written in the author’s information on the first page of manuscript will be primarily used and the publication will be cancelled if there is no response from the author for the reasonable time. 

[Important: The journal hold no responsibility on the payment made before this stage and there is no refund under any circumstances. Advance payment does not give any credit toward its acceptance for publication. ]

Step 6: Production
The paid manuscript will be sent to the professional printing editor for formatting.

Step 7: Final Confirmation from the Author

An email containing the final print version of manuscript will be sent to the author for the confirmation. If there is no response from the author within 24 hours from the time the email was sent the manuscript will be published as it was sent in the email. Please note that this is the final opportunity for the author to make change and any correction after the deadline may incur extra fee.

Step 8: Indexing on Scopus and ESCI

This process may take up to another 2 to 8 weeks. These steps can vary slightly between indexing agencies.

Overall, it takes at least 2 to 10 weeks from submission to acceptance. In addition, it takes at least another 4 to 10 weeks from APC payment to online DOI publication. Then, it takes at least another 4 to 10 weeks from online DOI publication to having indexed on Scopus. For example, due to an increasing number of submissions since 2018 and a limit of publication space in each journal, the average overall time from submission to publication and print from now on takes 3-6 months.