Several multilayer InAs/GaAs(001) samples were grown in a Molecular Beam Epitaxy chamber under critical growth conditions in order to induce the self-assembling of chains of InAs Quantum Dots over mounded GaAs surfaces. As the number of deposited layers was increased, an increasing in-line ordering was observed. Finite Element Method simulations confirmed this trend which is driven mainly by the propagation of the elastic strain held through the layers. On the other hand, the morphological features of the surface contribute to improving the alignment of the InAs Quantum Dots in every chain. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.