I have a new manuscript to be published in an Elsevier engineering journal that has a maximum limit of 8000 words. I can't fit the content in this space. Fortunately, the manuscript can be easily split into two manuscripts, say A and B. The first will be concerned with assessing the potential of, say, wind energy in country X and the measurements carried out, while the second manuscript B will be focused on simulating wind energy systems. The first manuscript will be independent, but I'll have to refer to it in the second one (although, the second article will be understandable without reading the first manuscript). So, I have the following questions:
- Should I split the manuscript, or submit it to another journal with flexible space limitations?
- Is it a good idea to do that, based on your experience? (I have read a lot about this, but I want to know what the editors prefer and how they handle this situation)
- Most importantly, how do I submit the two manuscripts (to the same journal): at the same time or consecutively?