Author guidelines

Manuscripts may be written in French or English. They must address industrial management, logistics or supply chains. RAILS welcomes transdisciplinary, academic, professional or applied approaches grounded in rigorous analysis and an explicit contribution.

The journal welcomes three types of contributions:

Research articles (maximum 8,000 words)

A research article presents a precise question, a theoretical grounding, a method, and an original contribution. The following structure is recommended:

• Title page (including the title, author name(s), affiliation(s), and corresponding author’s contact details), Abstract (≤ 200 words, unstructured), Keywords (3 to 6)
• Main text: Introduction, Literature review, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion
• Acknowledgments (where applicable)
• References (APA 7th edition, with DOIs where available)
• Appendices (where necessary)

Case studies (maximum 4,000 words)

A case study provides an in-depth analysis of an organizational situation, its lessons, and their implications. It may be structured as follows:

• Title page (including the title, author name(s), affiliation(s), and corresponding author’s contact details), Abstract (≤ 200 words), Keywords (3 to 6)
• Main text: Introduction, Context, Description of the case/project/initiative, Analysis and discussion, Lessons learned, Conclusion
• Acknowledgments (where applicable)
• References (APA 7th edition, with DOIs where available)
• Appendices (where necessary)

Critical reviews (maximum 4,000 words)

A critical review clearly identifies the material reviewed, the analysis undertaken, and its scientific contribution. It may be structured as follows:

• Title page (including the title, author name(s), affiliation(s), and corresponding author’s contact details), Abstract (≤ 200 words), Keywords (3 to 6).
• Main text: Introduction, Description of the material reviewed (for example, a book, report, or conference), Critical analysis, Contribution to research and/or practice, Conclusion
• References (APA 7th edition, with DOIs where available)

Submissions are made through the RAILS platform. Prepare the two Word files required by the form: a complete version and an anonymized version for peer review. The complete version includes the title, author names and affiliations, the corresponding author’s contact details, and ORCID identifiers, if available.

The anonymized version must not contain names, affiliations, identifying acknowledgments, or wording that reveals the authors’ identities. Check file properties, comments, and tracked changes. Identifying information belongs in the complete version; declarations are entered in the submission form.

To support international dissemination, prepare the title, abstract, and keywords in both French and English. Bilingual metadata are checked by the editorial team for publication. Authors remain responsible for linguistic quality; changing the website language does not automatically translate manuscripts.

Give the manuscript a precise and informative title. The abstract presents the objective, method, main results, contribution, and implications, within the form’s 200-word limit.

For an empirical article, the recommended structure is: introduction, theoretical framework, method, results, discussion, and conclusion. An alternative structure may be adopted if it suits the contribution and is clearly presented.

Use APA style, 7th edition. Check that in-text citations and the reference list match, and verify the accuracy of references and DOIs. Number and title tables and figures, refer to them in the text, and indicate their sources. Obtain the necessary permissions for third-party material.

The manuscript must be original, must not have been published, and must not be under simultaneous consideration by another journal. Disclose in the form any earlier version made public: conference contribution, working paper, dissertation, thesis, report, or preprint. The editorial team assesses overlap and the new contribution.

At the time of submission, enter funding, conflicts of interest, and any use of artificial intelligence in the form, either selecting that there is nothing to declare or providing brief details. All coauthors must have approved the submitted version. No separate declaration document or summary declaration section in the manuscript is required.

Methods, data, and analytical choices must be described in sufficient detail to enable assessment. Where required by the research, specify in the manuscript the ethics approvals and consent obtained, as well as the conditions for accessing the data or the reasons for restrictions. Information that could identify the authors must be removed from the anonymized version and communicated to the editorial team through the form.

These declaration arrangements apply to first submissions made after their introduction, including drafts submitted subsequently. Previously submitted manuscripts retain their earlier arrangements, including for revisions.

Any significant use of generative AI must be declared in the submission form: the tool used, its purpose, the sections concerned, and the human checks performed. These details may be provided in a short description. Authors assume full responsibility for the accuracy, sources, results, and final content. Where AI is used as part of the research method, its role must also be described in the manuscript’s methodology section.

If there is no use to declare, select the corresponding option in the form: no generative AI tool contributed to the manuscript’s scientific content or writing, beyond standard non-generative spelling and grammar correction tools.

An AI tool cannot be an author or coauthor. The fabrication of data, results, or references, and the delegation of substantial writing presented as the authors’ original intellectual work, are prohibited. The full policy is available in the Code of ethics section.

The editorial team checks eligibility, anonymization, fit with the journal’s scope, scientific quality, and ethical requirements. A manuscript may be rejected editorially before external peer review.

Manuscripts selected for review are assessed by at least two independent specialists with no conflicts of interest, through double-anonymous peer review. Reviews address the contribution, method, results, and reasoning. The editorial team makes and explains the decision; reviewers’ recommendations are not applied mechanically.

Decisions may result in rejection, major or minor revisions, or acceptance. Authors submit a revised version and a detailed response to the comments received. After acceptance, final checks, metadata, and proofs precede publication. Correspondence and submission progress are tracked in the author area. Editorials follow a dedicated process under the editorial team’s responsibility.

For a revision, upload one anonymized Word file containing the complete article. You may attach one response letter per reviewer in the designated fields; each reviewer can access only their own letter. For manuscripts submitted under the new arrangements, confirm or update the form declarations.

Check the selected contribution type, length, abstract, keywords, and anonymization. Check references and permissions, complete the form’s declarations, and then confirm the manuscript’s originality, the absence of simultaneous submission, the agreement of all coauthors, that the necessary permissions have been obtained, and the accuracy of the information provided. ORCID, main theme, and declared word count remain optional in the form; this does not exempt authors from complying with the journal’s guidelines.

For questions about a manuscript’s fit or preparation, contact contact@rails-journal.org. Submissions and revisions are made through the author area.

RAILS provides immediate open access: full texts are freely available upon publication, without embargo or registration. No author fees are charged at any stage from submission to publication, including editorial processing and peer review.

Authors retain copyright without restrictions and grant RAILS a non-exclusive right of first publication. Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0).

This licence permits reading, downloading, copying, distributing, printing, searching, indexing, sharing and adapting the texts, including for commercial purposes, with credit to the authors and source, a link to the licence and an indication of changes, without implying their endorsement of the reuse. Third-party material carrying a separate notice remains subject to its own terms.

The CC BY 4.0 licence takes effect from volume 2, no. 2 (2026).

Licence text: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

After acceptance, the editors prepare a short public statement of funding, conflicts of interest and, where applicable, generative AI use. The corresponding author checks it with the coauthors at proof stage. The editors include it in the final version and on the article page. No additional section is required at submission; confidential form responses and correspondence are not published automatically.