Full Paper Submissions
Full papers can be submitted to the Stapp Car Crash Journal editorial office at any time throughout the year in either the Research or Technical Paper category. Manuscripts will be assigned an associate editor who will seek out three reviewers from the scientific community at large to provide peer review. Results of the review will be decided by the associate editor and may go through a revision process, with a final recommendation to the editor-in-chief. For papers that are accepted prior to the planning of the current year’s Stapp Car Crash Conference, authors will have the opportunity to present their paper at the conference. If the peer review process is not completed in time for the current year’s conference, presentation at the conference can occur in the subsequent year.
View Editorial Board | Contact the Stapp Editorial Office
Full Paper Categories
Research Paper
The Stapp Car Crash Journal will consider submissions in this article category summarizing a completed hypothesis-based research project or project answering a significant research question(s). The scope of research for consideration for publication in the Stapp Car Crash Journal includes research on the biomechanics of human impact/injury tolerance, injury measures, or new understanding of current injury trends. The research analysis may consist of laboratory, computational, or real-world injury data that advance knowledge and understanding pertaining to injury causation and may lead to improved countermeasures and injury assessment tools for reduction of injuries and fatalities. Research Articles should include a clear motivation, methodology, validation, results, and discussion to advance understanding in injury causation, human tolerance, or injury prevention. Computational modeling research articles must have documented validation and also answer a specific research question. There is no page limit or figure/table limit for manuscripts in this category.
Topics may include but are not limited to:
- Research and development related to injury causation and prevention for vulnerable road users, such as pedestrian and cyclist; studies on sports-related injuries, blast/military injuries, aviation injuries
- Research and development in crash-avoidance technologies, driver-assist technologies, and objective test procedures and assessment methods for these technologies
- Research related to autonomous vehicles, particularly with regard to improving safety for occupants of autonomous vehicles
Technical Paper
The Stapp Car Crash Journal will consider manuscripts in this article category that summarize the technical development of new injury assessment methodological techniques or statistical analyses, advanced methods of injury-related computational modeling, or advances in anthropomorphic test device (ATD) design or measurement techniques. Unlike a Research Article, a Technical Article does not necessarily require hypothesis-driven inquiry but should provide a concise yet rigorous analysis of new tools, methods, or validation procedures that enhance research capabilities. Such manuscripts will still be peer-reviewed and be published as a Journal article. Technical articles will be limited to 5000 words and limited to a total of ten figures and tables.
Topics may include but are not limited to:
- Design improvements of an ATD that demonstrate improved biofidelity or new or improved injury assessment capabilities
- Introduction of a new or improved human body model (HBM) describing improvements in biofidelity or injury assessment capabilities
- Description/presentation of a new or improved methodology needed to improve the use of one of the standard assessment tools such as an ATD or HBM
- Description and derivation of a new or improved analytical methodology or statistical method related to the analysis of real-world injury data or computational modeling results
Submission Requirements
All submissions should be written in concise language that describes the study as a whole. Extra detail and individual results or graphs may be included in as a supplement in an appendix. Manuscripts must be prepared in clear English, and all data must be presented using SI units. Manuscripts should be double spaced in a 12-point font and submitted as a Microsoft Word file (.docx) or PDF (.pdf) and include the following:
- Title/Author Information including name, affiliation, address, phone, and e-mail
- Abstract of not more than 250 words that provides a concise summary of the objectives, methodology, key results, and major conclusions of the study
- Keywords
- Introduction section indicating reasons for the study, including a summary of relevant background materials published in the scientific literature to clarify why the study was undertaken
- Methods section identifying the apparatus and procedures used in the study in sufficient detail to allow others to reproduce the results
- Results section briefly and clearly presenting the experimental findings of the study
- Discussion section commenting on the results and findings of the study and interpreting the results
- Conclusion section of what was accomplished and what was determined by the study
- Acknowledgement section of identifying external financial sources of support and those who assisted in the study
- Reference section containing a list of all the literature that has been cited in the paper
In addition, all papers submitted must adhere to the guidelines provided for their specific category.
All papers submitted for review must include new data and results that will not have been submitted or published elsewhere.
Papers reporting on research involving human or animal subjects require a statement indicating that the methods used have been approved by a properly constituted institutional review board (IRB). Papers that do not provide this information will not be reviewed.
Short Communications
The Stapp Advisory Committee regularly invites Short Communications for presentation at the upcoming Stapp Car Crash Conference. A Short Communication is not considered a terminal publication (i.e., a completed study) and is most appropriate for quickly reporting on novel and important findings from research studies, and new and novel research methodologies and/or technologies. Authors of Short Communications will be allotted a shorter time for presentation at the conference than full papers. A Short Communication does not preclude the future submission of a full-length paper for the Stapp Car Crash Journal on the same topic with expanded background, methods, data, results, discussion, and references.
Each Short Communication will be assigned an associate editor and will be reviewed by two reviewers for one round of comments. A decision will be sent to authors with a rating of Accept, Accept with Suggested Modifications, Accept with Required Modifications, or Reject. For Short Communications receiving a rating of Accept with Required Modifications, the authors must respond with a revision and other appropriate responses to reviewer comments. The authors will then receive a final decision as to whether the revised Short Communication is accepted or rejected. Accepted Short Communications will have the opportunity to present at this year’s conference and their paper will be available for download on the Stapp website after the conference.
View Editorial Board | Contact the Stapp Editorial Office
Topics
Submissions of Short Communications for Stapp are desired on the same wide range of topics as for full papers. Appropriate topics include but are not limited to:
- results of research in impact/injury biomechanics including analyses of laboratory and real-world injury data that advance knowledge and understanding pertaining to injury causation and that lead to improved countermeasures and injury assessment tools, such as crash-test dummies and computational models, for reduction of injuries and fatalities to occupants of motor vehicles
- research and developments related to injury causation and prevention for vulnerable road users such as pedestrian and cyclists
- studies related to sports-related injuries, blast/military injuries, aviation injuries
- research and developments in crash-avoidance technologies, driver-assist technologies, and objective test procedures and assessment methods for these technologies
- research related to autonomous vehicles, particularly with regard to improving safety for occupants of autonomous vehicles.
Submission Requirements
Short Communications should be submitted in the final format in time to be reviewed and accepted before the conference in October but no later than August 19, 2024. Short Communications submitted to Stapp must be no more than three (3) pages long including figures, tables, and appendices. They should contain only essential references and minimal tables and figures.
Short Communication articles require at least a one month turn-around time for review and should be submitted directly to the Stapp Journal editorial office using the template below.
Download Short Communications Template (.pdf)
Download Short Communications Template (.doc)