Guidelines for Authors
The editorial office of the journal “Precious and Decorative Stones” accepts for consideration original, previously unpublished research articles on current issues in the fields of gemology, mineralogy, geology, as well as related disciplines associated with the study, extraction, processing, and use of precious and decorative stones.
The following types of submissions may also be considered:
– review articles;
– methodological and problem-oriented studies;
– short scientific communications;
– conference materials;
– reviews of scholarly publications.
All submitted manuscripts undergo independent anonymous peer review.
Manuscripts that do not correspond to the journal’s scope, have a low scientific quality, or are not formatted in accordance with the requirements may be rejected without further consideration.
Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy of the submitted data, citations, statistical materials, bibliographic information, as well as for the correct spelling of geographical names and proper names.
Manuscripts are accepted for publication in Ukrainian or English.
Publication in the journal is free of charge.
Submissions must be made electronically via the official journal website: https://kdkjournal.org.ua/
In the event of changes in funding policy, the founder and publisher of the journal guarantee free publication of dissertation research results in the field of “Earth Sciences” for postgraduate students enrolled under state-funded programs, provided the work is single-authored.
Manuscript Preparation Requirements
Length of manuscripts:
– original articles – up to 15 pages;
– review, problem-oriented, and methodological articles — up to 20 pages;
– short communications, reviews, conference materials — up to 5 pages.
Format:
– Microsoft Word text editor;
– font size – 12 pt;
– line spacing – 1.0.
Structure of the Article
1. Front Matter
Includes: UDC index; full name(s) of the author(s); name of the institution (with indication of affiliation); address, phone number, e-mail; ORCID of the author(s). If the article has multiple authors, the corresponding author should be marked with an asterisk.
The title of the article should be provided in CAPITAL LETTERS.
The abstract must include: purpose, methods, results, and scientific novelty. The length of the abstract in Ukrainian is up to 1,800 characters; in English — not less than 1,800 characters. Keywords: 5–6 words.
For articles prepared in Ukrainian, an English version must be provided, including: authors’ names; institutional affiliations; article title; abstract; keywords.
2. Main Text
2.1. Structure of the article:
– Introduction (analysis of current research, unresolved issues, purpose of the study);
– Materials and Methods (for original research);
– Results and Discussion;
– Conclusions.
2.2. Figures and Tables:
– all tables, maps, and illustrations must be numbered and referenced in the text;
– number of illustrations — up to 8–10;
– tables should be placed after their first mention;
– maps must be clear, with scale and legend;
– graphics should be provided in TIFF, BMP, JPEG formats (≥350 dpi);
– figures, graphs, diagrams, etc. must also be submitted as separate files.
3. Reference List and Citation Requirements
The reference list must be formatted according to APA Style https://apastyle.apa.org
Sources should be arranged alphabetically, without numbering, with a first-line indent of 0.5 cm. Sources from the Russian Federation and Belarus published after 2014 are not included.
For articles in Ukrainian, two reference lists are required: one in the original language (formatted according to APA style) and one “References” list (in English transliteration/translation).
For articles in English, a single “References” list is provided. Sources originally published in non-Latin scripts (e.g., Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese) should be translated into English, with the language of the source indicated in square brackets at the end (e.g., [in Ukrainian]).
In-text Citations
Formatted as (Author, 2023), with possible variations:
– one author: (Surname, 2023);
– two authors: (Surname & Surname, 2023);
– more than two authors: (Surname et al., 2023);
– page numbers: (Surname, 2023, p. 12);
– multiple works: (Surname, 2022, 2023);
– same year: (Surname, 2023a, 2023b).
Examples of References (APA Style)
Book:
– Surname, N. (Year). Title of the book. Publisher.
Journal article:
– Surname, N. (Year). The article title. Journal Title, volume(issue), pages. URL
Conference proceedings:
– Surname, N. (Year). Title of the publication. In Editors (Eds.), Title of the Conference (Date, Place), pages. Publisher. URL
Legal documents, standards:
– Title of the document. (Year). URL
Dissertation abstracts:
– Surname, N. (Year). Title of the work. Abstract of dissertation (PhD/Doctoral) (field of science: specialty code). Place of defense, city. URL (if available)
DOI requirement:
A DOI must be provided for each source where available.
Detailed requirements and examples of APA formatting can also be found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), 7th Edition and in official APA reference examples. https://apastyle.apa.org/products/publication-manual-7th-edition