Archives: Questions

Reviewer of the Year: Professor Nikhil Gupta, Polytechnic Institute of New York University, United States

Outstanding Reviewer: Mr Kaushik Parmar, University of Calgary, Canada

When you submit to a journal you will be asked to select an article type for your manuscript. The most common article types are

It is vitally important that you fully acknowledge all relevant work. You should also consult the IOP ethical policy for journals for general guidance on compiling your reference list. You can find information on how to structure and format your references in the style guide for journal articles. Please note it is not necessary to format your references in the ways shown in the guidelines, however we find some authors like to have a style to work to. We will ensure your references adhere to house style during the production process, whatever format you submit them in.

A reference should give your reader enough information to locate the article concerned, and you should take particular care to ensure that the information is correct so that links to referenced articles can be made successfully.

Please also note the following:

• Material that is really a footnote to the text should not be included in the reference list.
• Copies of cited publications not yet available publicly should be submitted for the benefit of the reviewers.
• Unpublished results and lectures should be cited for exceptional reasons only.
• Please reference and link to the original Version of Record (where it was first published) rather than to other versions of an article and/or a link to a repository or third party database.
• We discourage the referencing of online material hosted at web addresses that have no guarantee of perpetuity. Permanent or persistent web links should be used, as these are intended to remain unchanged for many years into the future, yielding hyperlinks that are less susceptible to ‘link rot’. Examples of acceptable links include: Digital Object Identifier (DOI), PubMed identifier (PMID), PubMed Central reference number (PMCID), SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) Bibliographic Code, and arXiv e-print number. If you have any questions regarding what constitutes an acceptable web link then please email the journal.
• Before submitting your article, please ensure you have conducted a literature search to check for any relevant references you may have missed.

Be sure to check the ‘About the journal’ page for the journal your submitting to see if you need to list page numbers, article titles or a particular reference style in your submission.

Reference labelling systems

There are two main systems for labelling references.

In the Vancouver numerical system, references are numbered sequentially through the text. The numbers should be given in square brackets, e.g. [1], [6-7] etc., and one number can be used to refer to several instances of the same reference. The reference list at the end of the article then lists the references in numerical order, not alphabetically.

Alternatively, in the Harvard alphabetical system, the name of the author appears in the text together with the year of publication, e.g. (Smith 2001) or Smith (2001) (as appropriate). Where there are only two authors, both names should be given in the text, e.g. (Smith and Jones 2001) or Smith and Jones (2001). However, if there are more than two authors only the first name should appear followed by et al: (Smith et al 2001) or Smith et al (2001). If you refer to different works by one author or group of authors in the same year they should be differentiated by including a, b, etc, after the date (e.g. 2001a). If you refer to different pages of the same article, the page number may be given in the text, e.g. Smith (2001, p 39). The reference list at the end of your article using this system should be in alphabetical order.

Please use a single referencing system consistently throughout your article. You may use either of these two systems for your references (unless you are submitting to Fluid Dynamics Research, Physics in Medicine and Biology or Physiological Measurement, which require all references to be written using the Harvard alphabetical style, or Nuclear Fusion, which requires all references to be written using the Vancouver numerical system).

Carefully chosen and well-prepared figures, such as diagrams and photographs, can greatly enhance your article. You are encouraged to prepare figures that are clear, easy to read and of the best possible quality and resolution.

To make your figures accessible to as many readers as possible, try to avoid using colour as the only means of conveying information. For example, in charts and graphs use different line styles and symbols. Where colours are used try to ensure that:

• there is good contrast between adjacent colours;
• colours are distinguishable if the figure is converted to greyscale;
• different line styles, fill styles, symbols or labels are used in addition to different colours.

We accept that it is not always possible to follow these guidelines, for example with figures that use colour gradient scales to convey information, or for photographic images. As with all figures, it is important to use the figure caption to describe the information conveyed by the figure. See below for further details.

Figures are converted and sized to the journal template as part of the production process for accepted articles, but they are not normally edited further. It is your responsibility to ensure that the figures you supply are legible and technically correct.
Characters should appear as they would be set in the main body of the article. Aim for text sizes of 8 to 12 pt at the final figure size: typically 8.5cm for a small/single-column figure and 15cm for a large/double-column figure. Micrographs should include a scale bar of appropriate size, e.g. 1 μm. Figures should be numbered in the order in which they are referred to in the text, using sequential numerals (e.g. figure 1, figure 2, etc.).

If there is more than one part to a figure (e.g. figure 1(a), figure 1(b), etc.), the parts should be identified by a lower-case letter in parentheses close to or within the area of the figure.

File types

For articles prepared using LaTeX2e, please make sure that your figures are all supplied as vector Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) and linked to your main TeX files using appropriate figure inclusion commands such as \includegraphics. For articles prepared using Word, where possible please also supply all figures as separate graphics files (in addition to being embedded in the text). Our preferred graphics format is EPS. These files can be used directly to give high-quality results, and file sizes are small in comparison with most bitmap forms.
If you are unable to send us images in EPS, we can also accept:

• TIFF
• JPEG
• PDF (and images embedded within PDF files)
• Images/drawings coded using TeX/LaTeX package
• Images/figures embedded in MS Word, Excel or PowerPoint
• Graphics application source files (Photoshop, Illustrator, CorelDraw).

Vector formats

The advantage of vector graphics is that they give the best possible quality at all output resolutions. In order to get the best possible results, please note the following important points:

• Fonts used should be restricted to the standard font families (Times, Helvetica, Courier or Symbol).
• Certain proprietary vector graphics formats such as Origin, Kaleidagraph, Cricket Graph and Gnu Plot should not be sent in their native format. If you use these applications to create your figures, please export them as EPS.

Permissions

Note that it is also your responsibility to obtain written permission from the copyright holder for any figures you have reused from elsewhere. This will also include any figures that you created yourself but have previously been published by another publisher, unless that publisher allows you to reuse them without permission under their author rights policy. Check individual publisher’s policies for details. Many scientific, technical and medical publishers use RightsLink to grant permission. Information on how to request permission can usually be found on the website of each publisher. For further information about permissions and when permission is required, please see the Permissions section.

Inappropriate images

Please carefully consider both the subject matter and provenance of images included in your work before submitting to the journal. If the submitted images could be potentially offensive to the journal’s readership, IOP Publishing reserves the right to request that authors seek alternative images or other means to express the same results before the final version is published.

IOP Publishing will not consider submissions which feature the Lena/Lenna image (a crop of an image of Lena Söderberg from a 1972 issue of Playboy magazine), as the image and its history conflicts with our commitment to inclusivity in science. Alternatives to the Lena image are widely available, see https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09500340.2016.1270881 for examples.

Figure captions

Captions should be included in the text and not in the graphics files. Figure captions should contain relevant key terms and be self-contained (avoiding acronyms) so that a reader can understand the figure without having to refer to the text. To make your figures accessible to as many readers as possible, include the main points that the figure demonstrates in the caption. We provide further information and examples on this page.

Figure captions should also reference the source of the figure if the figure has been reused from elsewhere, including any permission statement required.

Need help with your figures?

IOP Editing Services, in partnership with Editage, can help to check and refine all technical aspects of your artwork to adhere to journal requirements, including resolution, colour and image and file size. Find out more about our figure preparation services.

Some of our journals have guidelines for the maximum recommended length for each different type of article (see the ‘About the journal’ section of the Journal you are submitting to on IOPscience).

If there is a maximum article length then it is important that you follow this guidance when preparing your submission. Articles that are longer than the length limit may still be considered for publication, provided the length is clearly justified by the scientific content.

You can format your paper in the way that you choose! It is not necessary to try to produce pages that look like published journal pages, as the detailed design (typesetting) work will be undertaken by IOP as part of the production process.

If you would prefer to work from a template, we do provide this for both LaTeX and Word.

LaTeX template
Word template

When submitting a new article, we only require you to upload a single PDF file (and any relevant supplementary data). Check the peer review model for the journal you are submitting to. If the peer review model is single-anonymous then your PDF will need to contain the names and institutes of authors at the start of the text. Figures and tables also need to be included within the text. If double-anonymous then you will need to anonymise your manuscript.

We do ask that you consider the readability for reviewers when formatting your manuscript. For example, please use a reasonable font size (at least 12 point) and line spacing. There is no need for you to include line numbers in your manuscript as these will automatically be added on submission. Figures and tables should be embedded at the appropriate point within the text, rather than placed at the end of the manuscript. Papers must be written in English.

When writing your article, please only use Roman characters and do not include Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters in the body of the manuscript, including the reference list. Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters are only permitted in the author list.

Need help formatting your paper?

IOP Editing Services, in partnership with Editage, also provides formatting and artwork services if you would like help preparing your paper for submission.

Articles should include a full list of the current institutional affiliations of all authors, both academic and corporate, and all author e-mail addresses listed should be correct to the best of the authors’ knowledge. We also encourage authors to provide ORCID identifiers for each named author on submission. If a researcher is not affiliated to an institution or company, they can list themselves as “independent researcher”.

Authors may use the Acknowledgements section of their paper to further clarify if some or all of the work was conducted at one or more different institutions.

Our “How to” videos below help you carry out research whether your submitting a paper or carrying out reviews.

How to submit your journal article

Submitting your review report

How to create an account on our submission system

Updating your account on our submission system

IOP Publishing (IOP) has a transformative agreement with BIBSAM in Sweden to enable a transition towards open access publishing.

Who can benefit?
All corresponding authors that are current staff members, researchers (permanent, temporary and visiting), or students at one of the institutions below at the point of submission, can publish open access at no cost to themselves. The corresponding author is the person listed as Corresponding Author at the time of submission, and is the person responsible for communicating with the journal during the peer review and publication process.

What’s included?
• Articles accepted will be eligible for transformative agreement funding to enable authors to publish open access with no cost to themselves
• Research papers, special issues, letters and review article types
• Included journals are those in lists A, B, C and D in the title list of eligible journals

Please note

You may find our author guide for submitting under a transformative agreement helpful located in our Transformative Agreement hub.

Discover the impact of the agreement so far through the papers published by eligible authors here.

Eligible Institutions

Chalmers Tekniska Högskola (contact: research.lib@chalmers.se)
Högskolan i Halmstad (contact: helpdesk.diva@hh.se)
Göteborgs Universitet (contact: esupport@ub.gu.se)
Högskolan I Borås (contact: biblioteket@hb.se)
Karlstads Universitet (contact: publiceringsstod@kau.se)
Kungl. Tekniska Högskolan (contact: publicering@kth.se)
Linköpings Universitet (contact: openaccess@bibl.liu.se)
Luleå Tekniska Universitet (contact: bib-epubl@ltu.se)
Lunds Universitet (contact: publicera@lub.lu.se)
Stockholms Universitet (contact: openaccess@su.se)
Umeå Universitet (contact: publicering.ub@umu.se)
Patent- Och Registreringsverket (contact: biblioteket@prv.se)
Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek (contact: e-resurser@ub.uu.se)

Is your institution not listed here? Recommend open access funding to your library.

IOP Publishing has a transformative agreement with the Max Planck Society to enable a transition to open access publishing.

Who can benefit?
All corresponding authors that are current staff members, researchers (permanent, temporary and visiting), or students at Max Planck Institutes at the point of submission, can publish open access at no cost to themselves. The corresponding author is the person listed as Corresponding Author at the time of submission, and is the person responsible for communicating with the journal during the peer review and publication process.

What’s included?

• Articles accepted will be eligible for transformative agreement funding to enable authors to publish open access with no cost to themselves
• Research papers, special issues, letters and reviews.
• This agreement includes journals in List A, B, C and D. Click here for a list of eligible journals.

Please note
You may find our author guide for submitting under a transformative agreement helpful located in our Transformative Agreement hub.
For more information, please contact the Max Planck Society at lic.contact@mpdl.mpg.de, or visit the Max Planck web page here – https://www.mpdl.mpg.de/en/463

Celebratory collection
Discover high impact papers published through the Max Planck agreement here.