ComSpective Bi-annual Magazine

With the aim of exploring today’s world-changing sciences and technologies in the domain of computing, we have taken a step forward to unite with scholars, industry professional, logical thinkers, and problem-solvers through ComSpective the ICT Technical Magazine presented by the Faculty of Computing, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. The first issue of the bi-annual Magazine which will be published in print and electronic form, will be launched in February 2021 in parallel to the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of the SUSL. ComSpective provides a brilliant opportunity for individuals who wish to contribute to the knowledge-base through articles on their research investigations, insights, and experiences in the domain of computing. Moreover, the Magazine will certainly encourage students and undergraduates to improve their writing and multimedia-related skills.

For countries to stand out in a technological world where computing expertise is specifically required to thrive with innovations, it is indeed required to have individuals with a coherent education and awareness about novel and updated knowledge. This platform would undoubtedly provide an excellent foundation in inspiring such learning and increasing wisdom.

Editor-in-Chief

Mrs. Subodhi Wasalthilaka

Deputy Editor

Ms. Nirubikaa Ravikumar

Coordinating Editors

Mr. Banujan Kuhaneswaran

Ms. Upeksha Kudagamage

Mr. P. Vigneshwaran

Ms. Lohara Chathumini

Ms. Ashansa Wijeratne

Managing Editor (Finance)

Ms. Lohara Chathumini

Advisory Panel

Prof. S. Vasanthapriyan

Prof. B.T.G.S. Kumara

Dr. Sugeeswari Lekamge

Dr. Pubudu Jayasena

Dr. Piumi Ishanka

Review Panel

Prof. S. Vasanthapriyan

Prof. B.T.G.S. Kumara

English Language Editing

Ms. Miurangi Jayasinghe

Layout and Design

Mr. Salinda Wijayabandara

Scope

The scope of the Magazine will cover the following major areas of computing but will not be limited to:

Information Systems
Software Engineering
Business/IS Alignment
Knowledge and Data Engineering
Intelligent Systems
Multimedia
Big Data
Computational Biology
Human Informatics
Affective Computing
Devices and Circuits
Pervasive Computing
Networking
Parallel and Distributed Systems
Cloud Computing
Mobile Computing
Services Computing
Secure Computing

Beyond the above-mentioned areas within the own discipline of computing, the Magazine encourages articles and contributions on interdisciplinary research, education, and practices in computing. In addition to the articles on technical topics, articles focusing on ethical, sustainable, and responsible approaches, issues, and challenges in computing are also welcomed.

Article Categories

Technical Articles
Features
1. Profile/ Personality - Based on an interview
2. Profile/ Personality - “Tribute” - On a renowned scholar who has made a significant contribution e.g., to the field of computing education in Sri Lanka
3. Historical - History/ evolution of a computing theory/ concept/ technology etc.
4. News/ Achievements (non-paid in-house + paid promotional)
5. Photo Feature
Editor’s Choice (The best student article)
Alumni Views
Industry – Current/ emerging technologies and trends
Industry - On professional/ personal development
Entrepreneurship/ Startup
Software development projects (Student articles)

Title

Include relevant keywords in the title.
Think about the problem you are solving when writing your title.

Structure and Content

The structure and content of the article may vary depending on the article category.
Please refer to the table below for detailed descriptions and guidelines on each of the article categories.

Article Category	Description	Character Count
Cover Story	The cover story refers to a story in the magazine whose subject matter appears on its front cover. The cover page quite often carries stunning headlines to facilitate a compulsive buying of the magazine. The cover story ought to be well-written and it should contain solid documentation, ample details, and illustrative examples in smooth and clear prose.	3500 - 3700 Characters (with spaces)
Editorial	The magazine editor sums up the events or recalls the most important event for the editorial topic. Magazine editorial gives opinions on important contemporary issues and intends to persuade readers to agree to a particular point of view. Thus the editorial is more about opinions than facts.	3500 - 3700 Characters (with spaces)
Articles	An article is a piece of nonfiction writing targeted at a specific interest group. The first paragraph is a creative beginning that captures the reader's interest and hence it must be interesting. The second part is the middle of the story. It includes the main points on how the author has approached the subject and also gives the author's expertise and opinion related to the topic. The final paragraph, the ending, should bring the article to a satisfying resolution from the reader's point of view.	3500 - 3700 Characters (with spaces)
News and Features	Features are articles that have human-interest and focus on particular people, places, and events. Features are descriptive, colorful, thoughtful, reflective pieces of journalistic writing about original ideas. Structure of a Feature A feature article takes a specific format and outline. There will always be a title, introduction, body of the story, and a conclusion. The title of the article should grab the reader's attention quickly to keep them reading. It should highlight the general topic of the story. The introduction of the story is contained in the first few paragraphs of the article. It should provide whatever background information is relevant to the story and should create a relationship between the author and the reader. The body of the feature should be broken into pieces with subheadings for easy organization. This section has most of the details of the story. It includes names, places, times, and quotes from those interviewed. The opinions of the author, those at the location of the story, and from experts of the subject are presented in the body of the article. Pictures, diagrams, and charts that illustrate the story would also be included. The conclusion should leave a lasting impression on the reader and provoke some sort of reaction. The conclusion should prompt an immediate response from the reader or encourage him/ her to shift his/ her stand on a particular issue.
Profiles or Personality Features	A profile is a type of feature that usually focuses on the personality of an individual on what is important or interesting about that person. Although profiles are usually of people, a journalist can also profile an entity, like a team or a company. Generally, the person and his/her achievements are the focus of the article. Profiles reveal an individual's character and lifestyle and exposes different facets of the subject so that readers feel they know the person. It is simply a word sketch drawn creatively.	3500 - 3700 Characters (with spaces)
Historical Features	These features commemorate important dates in history or turning points in the respective discipline. They offer a useful juxtaposition of then and now. Historical features take the reader back to revisit an event and the issues surrounding it. Objectivity and neutrality should be your aim at all times when conducting research and crafting a historical feature. You should aim at reporting the facts and nothing else.	3500 - 3700 Characters (with spaces)
News Features	A news feature is a kind of feature story that focuses on a hard news topic. News features combine a feature writing style with hard news reporting. News features typically try to shed light on problems in our society. What is expected of a news feature is a narrow, focused topic that can be covered reasonably well in a limited space. It thoroughly explores an issue through research, statistical data, and most importantly, interviews with news sources.	1750 - 1850 Characters (with spaces)
Photo Features	A photo feature is also known as a photo essay. It is a set or series of photographs that proposes to tell a story. The true spirit of what defines a photo feature is the capture of an exceptional moment within a common, everyday occurrence. A photo feature simply captures nice moments within a cultural environment or a happening that illustrates the quality of life in some sense. Photo features shall consist of pictures or sequences with informative content and emotional impact, including human interest, documentary, and spot news.	1/2pg
Columns	Columns, which are essentially opinion pieces, represent the strong, informed, and focused opinion of the author on an issue of relevance. Knowing how to present a strong point of view is an important skill for any column writer. It has a clearly defined point of view and represents clarity of thinking. Columns contain the strong, unique voice of the author. To write a good column requires more than just the ability to articulate an opinion. The opinions must make sense, provide insight, and be convincing.	Editor’s Choice: 3500 - 3700 Characters (with spaces) Alumni Views: 1750 - 1850 Characters (with spaces) Industry: 3500 - 3700 Characters (with spaces) Entrepreneurship/ Start-ups: 1750 - 1850 Characters (with spaces)

Writing style

Write your articles in conversational English.
Define all acronyms on first use.
Identify all persons quoted including their name, title, and company affiliation.
Hyperlink to your sources and related relevant content whenever possible.
If your article contains figures and/or tables, please do not exceed the lower limit of the Character Count specified above.
Include relevant captions and descriptions to all figures and tables.
Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided.
Include a two-line biography of the author that includes the author’s name, title, affiliation, and field of expertise.
Provide graphics in GIF, JPEG, or TIFF format; 6.25’’ W at 300 dpi (Minimum) and 8.5’’ W at 300 dpi (Maximum).

The submission file should be in Microsoft Word format.
Each article should be submitted to the editorial board via e-mail (editorial@comspective.sab.ac.lk).
Attach the graphics to your submission email. Include a caption of 15-25 words in complete sentences, cite the source of the graphics, and ensure that we have permission to reproduce the graphics online.
Articles should be submitted with the Copyright and Consent Form.

Preliminary screening - Articles submitted by the authors are subject to a preliminary screening by the respective coordinating editor, based on the appropriateness of the theme and quality of the content of the article. Articles that are not according to the author guidelines will be returned to the author without processing further.

Initial screening - The articles that pass the preliminary screening undergo a double-blind peer-review process. Three reviewers who are in the same or related fields are assigned by the Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the Deputy Editor to carry out the review based on the evaluation criteria.

Final screening - Based on the evaluation report of the reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board then make the final decision of acceptance or rejection of the article.

ComSpective is a double-blind peer-reviewed magazine dedicated to ensuring the highest values of publication ethics. All stakeholders of the Magazine such as the editors, authors, reviewers, and publishers have to agree upon the total ethical behavior in this context.

Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief and the Deputy Editor

Making an initial evaluation of the articles exclusively based on their academic and intellectual merit, without considering the author’s race, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic origin, religious belief, citizenship, political orientation, or social class.
Deciding which of the articles submitted to the Magazine should be sent for reviewers’ evaluation following the preliminary screening based upon the policies and author guidelines of the Magazine and legal requirements concerning vilification, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
Ensuring appropriate peer reviewers are selected to evaluate the articles.
Guaranteeing a fair and unbiased double-blind peer review of the articles and ensure all information related to the authors and reviewers are kept confidential and to ensure both authors’ and peer reviewers’ identities are secured.
Provision of direction and guidance to members of the Editorial Board, authors, and reviewers on their responsibilities and ethical expectations and also on the description of peer review processes.
Developing and maintaining a database of appropriate reviewers and updating the same based on reviewer competence, punctuality, and responsiveness.

Responsibilities of the Editorial Board

Ensuring the maintenance of the overall quality of the Magazine.
Assuring the international standards of both online and print publications of the Magazine by providing opinions.
Making a set of clear guidelines available for authors with regard to the subject area of the Magazine and the overall design of the issues.
Establishing the Magazine policy and ensuring the implementation of it.
Assisting to ensure the international recognition and acceptance of the Magazine.
Ensuring the implementation of publication ethics of the Magazine by all the stakeholders.

Responsibilities of the Authors

Authors should not submit the same article simultaneously to more than one publication at a time. This is found to be an unethical publishing behavior and is obnoxious.
Authors must ensure and declare that their work is original, represent their own contributions and they have not been copied or plagiarized in whole or part from others’ work, and that any work or statement from other authors or sources has been appropriately acknowledged and referenced.
Authors should provide citations and references relevant to the submitted work.
Should understand and act towards the fact that plagiarism in all its forms that exhibits unethical publishing behavior is unacceptable.
Authors need to submit a written statement that clearly states the article has not been published elsewhere in any form of publishing.
Authors must take all the responsibilities in ensuring all the ethical considerations of the Magazine.
All the sources of financial support of the work submitted to the Magazine should be disclosed and acknowledged.
The Magazine is freely available online. Authors should agree with the open access policy which enables unrestricted access and reuse of all published articles.

Responsibilities of the Reviewers

Peer reviewers should assist especially the Editor-in-Chief and the Coordinating Editors, and the Editorial Board whenever necessary, in making editorial decisions by submitting their recommendations on eligibility and relevance of the articles for publication.
Articles received for review must be treated as confidential documents and should not be discussed on their content with outside parties and should not be multiplied in any form.
If a selected particular reviewer is not competent to review a given article or knows that the timely review of the same will be impossible, should immediately inform the Editor-in-Chief and the Coordinating Editors without delay, enabling the Editors towards calling an alternative reviewer.
Reviewers are requested to report to the Editors if they are aware of copyright breach and plagiarism on the author’s side.
Reviewers must strictly evaluate the articles, only based on content, without imagining the author’s race, age, gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, citizenship, political orientation, or social class.
Peer review must be done very objectively, with clear logic, so that authors can use it for improving the article.
Reviewers should not consider any article for reviewing in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, establishments, or institutions connected to the articles.

Author Guidelines

ComSpective - Author Guidelines

ComSpective - Copyright and Consent Form

Digital Editions

ComSpective - Volume 1 Issue I

ComSpective - Volume 1 Issue II

ComSpective - Volume 2 Issue I

If you require any further information, please feel free to contact us.

Postal Address:

Editor-in-Chief,

ComSpective Technical Magazine,

Faculty of Computing,

Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka,

P.O. Box 02, Belihuloya, 70140, Sri Lanka.

Tel: +94 (0) 70 2518629 (Mrs. Subodhi Wasalthilaka)

+94 (0) 77 9108852 (Ms. Nirubikaa Ravikumar)

Email: editorial@comspective.sab.ac.lk (Articles)

advertising@comspective.sab.ac.lk (Advertising/ Sponsorships)