Language

All papers should be written in English.

Writing

Articles should be clearly and concisely written, and be accessible to an international audience. It is important to avoid colloquial terms and sayings that may not be widely understood. Short sentences and paragraphs make for easier reading. You should aim for consistency within your article in matters such as hyphenation and spelling. All acronyms and abbreviations should be clearly explained when they first appear in the text. Introduce any ideas that may be unfamiliar to readers early in the paper so that your results can be easily understood. IOP Publishing follows Guidelines on Inclusive Language and Images in Scholarly Communication to ensure that journal articles use bias-free and culturally sensitive communication. We ask authors to please follow these guidelines in their manuscript submissions.

Editing

On completion of the first draft, carefully re-read your paper and make any amendments that will improve the content. When complete, send the paper to colleagues and co-authors, and use their feedback to improve the clarity of the text. When all co-authors are satisfied that the draft is ready to be submitted to a journal, carry out one final spelling and grammar check before submission.

IOP Editing Services, in partnership with Editage, provides editorial support if you need it. We also have support for authors based in China with our China IOP Editing Services.

You can choose from a range of options, including:

• English-language editing
• Translation services
• Plagiarism checking
• Technical review.

Visit our language editing service to find out more.