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IOP Science

Preparing your ebook manuscript

To help you preparing your manuscript for submission, our Author Handbook provides full guidance to assist you, including artwork and video preparation, copyright and permissions, file formats and manuscript structure, and much more. The Handbook is intended to help you more easily prepare a manuscript that will be as close as possible to a standard format so that we can achieve the most effective use of resources when your ebook enters production. Some essential points concerning manuscript preparation are:

  • Do not focus on the look and feel of your manuscript. There is no need to try and make the material look like a book page, or introduce excessive formatting. As we have our own set house style all this will be removed during production, creating extra work for the production editors in removing the unnecessary extra effort you have spent on the material. For more details on our house style, see our Style guide for ebooks.
  • We accept manuscripts written using MS Word or LaTeX. If you are intending on using different software please discuss this with your commissioning editor.
  • If you are writing in LaTeX you can use the generic book class, or our template (zip file) and for authors using Word simply type into a plain new document.
  • Include an abstract of up to 150 words for each chapter.
  • Figures can be embedded in the manuscript if you find that helps, but alternatively place the caption in the text. We will take care of their exact placement in the finished publication.
  • Even if you embed figures in the manuscript, please also submit separate electronic files for each one, using a naming convention that refers to the figure number. Do take note of the minimum resolutions for figures and animations listed in the Handbook.
  • Tables can be included in the appropriate place in the text, or collected at the end of each chapter.
  • Remember to include a ‘call out’ to each figure and table in the text; i.e. ensure they are referred to in the body text by number, e.g. ‘… figure 2.3 shows the relationship between …’ not ‘…as you can see in the following figure …’.
  • Please include references at the chapter level, not at the end of the book
  • Ensure the Permission Clearance Form and all permissions are included with your manuscript, and all credits for material from third parties are included.
  • If your book references or makes use of MATLAB®, Simulink®, and other MathWorks® products you are encouraged to sign up to MathWorks® Book Programme which offers a range of services and promotional tools for authors.