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 Authors Guide

INFORMATION FOR CONTRIBUTORS TO APPLIED SPECTROSCOPY

FORM AND PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS

Applied Spectroscopy publishes full-length articles, notes, and spectroscopic techniques. Submissions are handled electronically through the journal’s online submission system, AllenTrack. Manuscripts can be submitted by visiting http://applspec.allentrack.net and following the instructions. Most word-processing files are acceptable, including MS Word (.doc), WordPerfect (.wpd), Rich Text Format (.rtf), LaTeX (.tex), and ASCII text (.txt). Graphic files containing figures must also be uploaded, preferably in high-resolution, in the following native applications: Tagged Image File Format (.tiff), Encapsulated PostScript (.eps), Joint Photographic Expert’s Group (.jpeg), Graphics interchange format (.gif), Adobe Photoshop (.psd); Adobe Acrobat (.pdf); Illustrator (.at); Corel Draw (.cdr); Canvas (.cvs); PowerPoint (.ppt); MS Word (.doc); Excel (.xls); InDesign (.id); PageMaker (.pmd); and QuarkXPress (.qxd). Halftone and color images should be scanned at a minimum of 200 pixels per inch (ppi), and ideally at 350 ppi, and line art at a minimum of 600 ppi, and ideally at 1200 ppi. Files should not contain any embedded links or linked content, including reference-generating programs such as EndNote.

To be acceptable for publication in the Journal, a manuscript must adhere to certain formatting standards.

  1. It must be composed in a 12-point font and double-spaced throughout; this requirement holds for abstracts, references, footnotes, tables, and all captions, as well as for text material.
  2. Wide margins, at least 2 cm top and bottom and on each side, must be used.
  3. The body of the paper, as well as tables and figures, must all be numbered consecutively. Tables and figures should not be integrated into the text. References should not appear as footnotes; a separate reference list that meets the conventions described later in these instructions should be provided at the end of the text, after any acknowledgments.
  4. For authors who do not have internet access or otherwise must submit their manuscripts via mail, our Journal Office staff will create a scanned PDF file and enter the manuscript into the system. Two copies plus an original manuscript (with original figures for each copy) should be submitted, along with electronic files meeting the specifications above. Hard copies of manuscripts should be sent to: Joel M. Harris, Editor-in-Chief, Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0850, U.S.A.

Abstract

An abstract of no more than 300 words must accompany each regular article or Spectroscopic Techniques paper submitted. No abstracts are required for Notes. The abstract should mention the subjects studied and new methods used, new observations (quantitatively if possible), and conclusions. Brief numerical results and their accuracy are encouraged.

  1. Abstracts must be printed, double-spaced, as one paragraph.
  2. Avoid the use of reference citations and trade names within the abstract.
  3. INDEX HEADINGS should be included after the abstract. These should contain at least three key words which best describe the classification of the paper.
  4. INDEX HEADINGS should also be included for Notes and should appear below authors’ names and addresses.

Spectroscopic Nomenclature

The spectroscopic nomenclature to be used in all papers submitted to Applied Spectroscopy must comply with the conventions recommended by the International System of Units (SI) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). A brief summary of acceptable terms appears periodically on the back page of Applied Spectroscopy.

Mathematical Expressions

  1. These should be typeset as completely as possible, set apart by line breaks, with no ending punctuation, and numbered consecutively.
  2. Conventions for publishing mathematics should be followed, such as italics for variables and constants, bold Roman capitals for matrices, etc. Greek letters should never be italicized. A good guide for math can be found in the The ACS Style Guide, 2nd Edition, Chap. 5.
  3. Refer to equations using “Eq. #” in the body of the text or “Equation #” when beginning a sentence.
  4. Use fractional exponents to avoid root signs.
  5. Complicated exponents, and the repetition of an elaborate expression a number of times, should be avoided.
  6. Use the solidus (/) wherever possible for fractions within the text.
  7. Do not repeat mathematical derivations that are easily found elsewhere in the literature; merely cite the references.

Figures

  1. All illustrations must accompany submitted manuscripts and copies.
  2. Every illustration must be referred to in the main text in consecutive numerical order.
  3. A caption (legend) must accompany each illustration. Captions must be collected and printed double-spaced on a separate page at the end of the manuscript.
  4. Choose the scale used in plotting and the size of letters, points, symbols, and line width so that each figure may be reduced to one column width (8.8 cm), or one-half column width with two figures side by side. All letters or numbers, after such reduction, should be at least 1.5 mm high, and symbols should be at least 1.0 mm. For example, a drawing made 18 to 25 cm wide should have letters or numbers at least 3 mm high, and symbols at least 2 mm high, if it is to be reduced to one column (8.8 cm). Drawings made on larger scale, or for greater reduction, must have proportionately larger lettering, symbols, etc.
  5. Color figures can be published when the use of color is necessary for communicating information and no other means exist to do so. Color reproduction adds significantly to the cost of publishing an article in the JOURNAL, and authors are required to cover a portion of the additional expense; this requirement can be waived under unusual circumstances. Color should not be used to specify multiple lines and points in simple x-y plots since different line styles (solid, dashed, dotted) and plotting symbols in a black-and-white figure are equally effective. Similarly, a false-color scale should not be used to denote a single intensity variation in a two-dimensional image; a high-resolution (16-bit) gray-scale image created directly from the intensity-dependent data (not from a false-color image) provides an equivalent and often clearer representation of the intensity variation. Alternative formats for such data sets include 3D mesh plots, contour plots, or 3D hidden-line projections. Color is considered effective and necessary when multiple composition domains are being mapped in the same image.
  6. For figures that have been published elsewhere, permission must be obtained from their author and publisher to reproduce them. Proper acknowledgment at the end of the figure caption is made as follows: [From J. Jones, Spectroscopy (Smith Press, Chicago, 1984).] – where this is the only reference in the paper to J. Jones. Where the article by J. Jones has been cited in the main text, the reference can be cited as usual with the reference number.
  7. Important spectra that are necessary for the proper development of the paper will be published. Large collections of routine spectra will not be published with manuscripts in Applied Spectroscopy. Infrared and Raman spectra may be published with the Coblentz Society. In addition, supplemental electronic files such as spectra or video can also be published and maintained through the Society for Applied Spectroscopy website. These supplemental files can be submitted through AllenTrack. Reference to this material can be made within the article.

Tables

  1. Tables must be double-spaced, each on separate pages at the end of the manuscript. Do not insert tabular material within the text.
  2. Each table must be numbered (with a Roman numeral) consecutively in order of appearance.
  3. Each table must carry a caption at its head.
  4. Footnotes in a table must be printed at the bottom of the table and they must be lettered consecutively. If a reference is used in a table, it should be numbered consecutively with regard to the table’s first mention in the text and the reference should be included in the reference list.

References and Footnotes

  1. Footnotes should be placed on the bottom of the page of the paper on which they appear.
  2. References must consist solely of citations to material that has been published elsewhere; i.e., they must be citations of specific works contained elsewhere in this JOURNAL, in other journals, books, technical reports, etc. If a paper has been submitted or accepted for publication, reference may be made by citing the authors, the full title of the article, and the journal title, followed by “paper submitted” or “paper in press”, and the year. “In preparation” and “To be submitted” citations are unacceptable. References to “unpublished data” or “private communications” are acceptable, but should identify the source of the information cited, such as name, institution, and year.
  3. All references must be numbered consecutively in order of appearance in the text. References must not be included alphabetically by author, as in a bibliography. Reference citations in the text should appear as arabic numerals, placed as superscripts; the numerals should not appear in parentheses or brackets. Reference citations appear immediately after the punctuation mark (with the exception of the dash mark). Example of reference citations in the text:

The equipment used9 – inexpensive and easily constructed in the laboratory – met the criteria established by Smith et al.10 In later experiments, Jones and Percy,11,12 who perfected the technique, found modifications unnecessary.

  1. A reference to a particular article or chapter in a book may be cited in the text multiple times but must only appear once in the references.
  2. Each reference number should refer to only one piece of literature; multiple citations within one reference are not acceptable.
  3. Direct quotes from other sources must be cited, including the page number where the quoted material appears.
  4. Pertinent patents should be cited as follows: John Q. Smith, U.S. Patent 1,234,567 (1984).
  5. All comments should be included as footnotes and should not appear in the list of references. Footnotes, including those to the byline, are designated by *, †, ‡, §, ║, **, and ††, in that order.
  6. Care must be taken that footnote material is not made overly long. Footnotes longer than two or three sentences should be reworked for inclusion within the text, possibly as a separate paragraph or as a parenthetical statement.
  7. Do not include tables within footnotes.

Forms and Samples for Citations from the Literature

All references should be printed double-spaced and in 12-point font, collected on to one or more separate pages at the end of the manuscript.

PERIODICALS – the ordering is as follows:

  1. First initial(s) and last name(s) of author(s) followed by a comma, including a comma following the second to last author and preceding the “and” before the final author (serial commas).
  2. Title of article (only if the article cited has not yet been published).
  3. Periodical name, with no punctuation following. Periodical abbreviations strictly adhered to by this JOURNAL are those accepted by Chemical Abstracts. If you do not know the proper abbreviation and are unable to locate it in the Chemical Abstracts List, spell out completely the name of the periodical. Do not underline. Do not italicize.
  4. Volume number, followed by a comma. This is boldfaced, i.e., "19,".
  5. Issue number, followed by a comma, only if pages are not numbered consecutively from one issue to the next (volume pagination as opposed to issue pagination).
  6. Beginning page number. This should be included even when, as in some monographs and supplements, the article cited may be the whole issue. Include only the first page number, and do not follow with a comma.
  7. Year of publication, enclosed in parentheses.
Examples of Periodical Citations:
  1. T. H. Siddall III and R. N. Wilhite, Appl. Spectrosc. 20, 41 (1966).
  2. W. A. Rosenblith, Phys. Today 19, 1, 23 (1966).
  3. A. Baidedaev and A. A. Senkevich, “Vibrational Relaxation in Gases”, Akust. Zh. 9, 279 (1963) [English transl.: Sov. Phys.–Acoust. 9, 229 (1964) ].
  4. A. Nordon, C. A. McGill, and D. Littlejohn, Appl. Spectrosc. 56, 75 (2002).

BOOKS – the ordering is as follows:

  1. Initials and name(s) of author(s), followed by a comma.
  2. Title of chapter, in quotations, is permitted only if book is an edited collection by many authors.
  3. Title of book, in italics.
  4. Name(s) of editor(s), if any, followed by a comma and “Ed.” or “Eds.”
  5. Enclosed in parentheses: Publisher, followed by a comma; location of publisher, followed by a comma; year of publication.
  6. Edition.
  7. Volume number.
  8. Chapter number.
  9. Page(s) cited.
  10. Equation, figure, or table number cited.
Examples of Book Citations:
  1. W. P. Mason, Piezoelectric Crystals and Their Applications to Ultrasonics (D. Van Nostrand, New York, 1950), 2nd ed., p. 32.
  2. G. L. Rasmussen, “Efferent Fibers of the Cochlear Nerve and Cochlear Nucleus”, in Neural Mechanisms of the Auditory and Vestibular Systems, G. L. Rasmussen and W. F. Windle, Eds. (Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1960), Chap. 8, p. 105.

THESES – the ordering is as follows:

  1. Initial and last name of author, followed by a comma.
  2. Type of degree being sought (M.S. Thesis, Ph.D. Thesis), followed by a comma.
  3. Name of degree-conferring institution, comma, location of institution.
  4. Year of publication enclosed in parenthesis.
Example of Thesis Citation:
  1. S. Johnson, M.S. Thesis, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah (1998).

REVISED MANUSCRIPT

A manuscript sent back to an author for revision should be returned within six months; otherwise, it will be considered a new manuscript. Revised manuscripts and figures should be submitted online, and accompanied by a letter listing the responses to the reviewers’ concerns. If a revised manuscript is submitted as hard copy, it should be accompanied by electronic files of the article and all figures. File specifications are listed above.

PROOF

Take great care that revised manuscripts be accurate and complete. Some alterations in proof are unavoidable, but the cost of extensive alterations in proof will be charged to the author.

Authors are reminded to read the proof very carefully. Final proofreading responsibility resides with them.

Authors are also reminded to read proofs as soon as possible after receipt and return corrections without delay to avoid possible rescheduling of the paper into a later issue of the Journal.

STYLE MANUAL

The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors, 2nd ed., Janet S. Dodd, Ed. (American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 1997) contains much valuable information on the proper preparation of manuscripts, illustrations, and tables, as well as lists of acceptable abbreviations, spectroscopic nomenclature, etc.

CORRESPONDENCE

All correspondence should be addressed to: Joel M. Harris, Editor-in-Chief, Department of Chemistry, University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0850, U.S.A. Queries and comments can also be sent by e-mail to the editor's office.

Reference must be made to Journal, author(s), article title, and manuscript number. Correspondence not bearing this information may be returned to the sender for the necessary details. The delay incurred may result in important additional corrections not being made because the proper information was not received prior to press time.

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Last modified: August 22, 2007