Data-Centric Engineering (cambridge.org/dce) is a new, peer-reviewed open access journal at the interface of engineering and data sciences, published by Cambridge University Press and supported by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation. It is overseen by an editorial board drawn from a range of engineering backgrounds, who have expertise in data-centric approaches in their particular fields.   

The advent and accelerated rate of development of new methods of sensing, measurement, and data capture, from the macro to the nano-scale, open up opportunities for new scientific and technological advances. These data-centric approaches are having a transformative impact across all of engineering with the discovery of new materials, new methods of manufacture, and new methods of operation, control and construction being made possible. 

DCE is a cross-disciplinary journal that focuses on the potential of data-centric approaches across a broad range of engineering subjects. It welcomes submissions in any of the following categories:

• Research articles using data science methods and models for improving the reliability, resilience, safety, efficiency and usability of engineered systems;
• Translational papers: case studies showing how data-centric methods can be successfully translated into downstream applications;
• Systematic reviews providing a detailed, balanced and authoritative account of the existing literature concerning data-centric methods in a particular facet of engineering sciences;
• Tutorial reviews providing an introduction and overview of an important topic of relevance to the journal readership;
• Position papers that describe and promote new standards and benefits, in terms of ethics, policy, regulation, dissemination and usability, for the role of data in engineering;
• Perspectives providing a personal view on a particular data-centric approach or on the uptake of or obstacles to data-centric approaches in an engineering discipline.

In this early period for the DCE journal, we are particularly keen to receive translational papers (case studies; whether positive or negative) in order to share experience of data-driven approaches in practice.

Articles should be accompanied by an impact statement (200 words) that summarises the significance of the research for engineering practice. 

Full details of the article types and requirements are in the DCE Instructions for Authors.

Special collections 

We also encourage the proposal of special 'issues' (or collections) of articles that might, for example, arise from a workshop or event exploring the potential of data-driven methods and models for particular areas of engineering. For more detail, see the proposal guidelines for Special Collections.

Who is involved?

Mark Girolami (Sir Kirby Laing Professor of Civil Engineering at the University Cambridge & Programme Director in Data-Centric Engineering The Alan Turing Institute) is the Editor-in-Chief of the DCE Journal. He oversees a team of Executive Editors: leading names in their fields, who play an active role in the commissioning and handling papers.

How do I submit?

See the DCE Instructions for Authors for full details of how to submit, including the LaTeX and Word templates that authors can use to help with the formatting of the paper.

Papers should be submitted through the DCE ScholarOne system, but please consult the instructions for authors before you submit. 

Open access

DCE is an open access journal that uses Creative Commons licensing to make content it publishes freely available for anyone in the world with an internet connection to read and redistribute.  

To help contribute to the costs of publishing on this open basis, we ask authors of accepted research articles who have access to grant or institutional open access funds to contribute an article processing charge (APC) of £1250 / $1600 USD. 

We recognise that not all authors have access to this kind of funding. Thanks to the support we receive from the Lloyd's Register Foundation, we are able to unconditionally waive the APC for anyone who cannot meet this payment. When they submit to the journal, authors are asked whether they have the funds to pay the APC. If this is not the case, it is waived with no questions asked. The ability of the author to meet the charge has no bearing on the editorial process and the eventual decision to accept or not.