ELEMENTS MAGAZINE – Guidelines for Guest Editors


	Guidelines for Guest Editors DOWNLOAD GUIDELINES TABLE Deadlines The table gives actions for which Guest Editors are responsible and the deadlines we recommend for your issue of Elements. You have, of course, some flexibility in all deadlines except the date by which final and complete manuscripts have to be with the Managing Editor. We would be very pleased if this stage could be reached as far in advance of the deadline as possible. It is most important that authors are made fully aware of the deadlines that they will have to meet, and the space constraints to which they must conform. Because of its thematic character, Elements has to adhere to a tightly defined and carefully planned production schedule without the freedom of conventional journals to hold back or accelerate articles. A copy of ‘Instructions to Authors’, which will be sent to authors from the Elements office, is attached here for your information. Note that you must provide a short introductory article (guidelines below) and you may, if you wish, also contribute a normal article to the issue. The author guidelines are also available on the websites of participating societies. Length Guidelines The total length of your thematic section will be 24 Elements pages, corresponding to approximately 96 doubled-spaced typed pages with 250 words/page (Times New Roman, 12 pt font). Any figure or table counts as one manuscript page. You therefore have 90 double-spaced typed pages for your articles (including figures), 4 double-spaced typed pages for your introduction, and 2 pages for presentation of the authors. If you have invited: • 3 articles: Allow each author 30 typed pages (7500 words) • 4 articles: Allow each author 22 typed pages (5500 words) • 5 articles: Allow each author 18 typed pages (4500 words) You are welcome to use any variation in numbers of articles and length provided the total manuscript pages, double spaced, do not exceed 96. If you have any concerns with the page allocation please contact the Managing Editor. If required you may shorten articles which exceed the length you have stipulated. Consult with the Principal Editor if necessary. Illustrations and Cover Elements will be published in full colour and authors should be encouraged to provide exciting illustrations, either colour photographs or high quality, coloured computer-generated drawings. Detailed instructions for electronic submission are given in the Instructions to Authors. Individual authors and institutions may vary considerably in their ability to produce high-quality graphics. If you feel that illustrations have been submitted that are good in concept but fall short in quality of execution please get in touch with the Managing Editor as early as possible. Think carefully about a dramatic cover design (each issue will be different), using either one of your own images or one submitted by an author. Contact the Managing Editor with your suggestions as soon as they crystallize. Introductory article Your introductory article (4 double-spaced typescript pages) should provide an overview of the theme of your issue, perhaps with some historical background and some speculation about future developments. It could put the main articles into context but should not simply be a summary of their content. Its main objective is to draw potential readers into the magazine, including Earth scientists who perhaps do not consider themselves to be primarily mineralogists, geochemists or petrologists. Your introductory article should include a 100 word abstract. It should provide a summary of the content of your article so that (1) readers can determine their interest in reading further, (2) literature searches will find the article in relevant searches, and (3) a broad audience can appreciate the significance of the article. The abstract should be complete and understandable in itself, adequate as a summary of your primary points and conclusions. Do not include references, figures, tables, or equations. General Guidelines • Elements is for technical non-specialists, so articles should be somewhat tutorial in nature and should place topics in a wider Earth Sciences context. Authors should relate the theme to the interests of our broad geochemistry-mineralogy readership and include connections to related disciplines and practical applications when appropriate, particularly in the introduction and conclusion. Authors should avoid using jargon and acronyms, except very common ones. Terms unfamiliar to the non-specialist should be omitted, or defined and explained clearly. • As Guest Editor, you are free to cover the field as you think appropriate, and you may select those expert authors you feel can write in a way accessible to non-specialists and who will meet your deadlines. You may wish to have a number of review articles of various areas within the topic, or you may wish to have one or two such articles and a number of shorter anecdotal pieces concerning specific developments. We encourage you to find your own innovative way to cover your topic. • In selecting authors, consider choosing a balance of contributors from industry, universities, and government labs. We also encourage you to consider authors from countries other than your own. • The ‘Instructions to Authors’ document, which is attached for your information, will be sent to authors by the Managing Editor once she has received your Author Information forms. • It is desirable to secure balanced coverage of your subject with little overlap among the contributions and to avoid the need for major last-minute revisions at the time you receive manuscripts. To facilitate this process, each contributor is requested in the Instructions to Authors to send you a preliminary abstract or outline within one month (or shorter). You can then advise authors on what should be added or deleted. It may be helpful to circulate these abstracts to all authors in the issue. • If your issue is likely to contain a significant number of mathematical symbols or acronyms you may find it useful to provide a ‘style sheet’ for the authors from the outset. • Each Elements article must be reviewed by yourself, by an independent expert reviewer suggested by yourself, and by the Principal Editor assigned to your issue. Please forward each article by e-mail to the independent reviewer and to the relevant Principal Editor as soon as you receive it. Send a copy of the Elements Referee Request Letter to the independent reviewer. Many referees like to make corrections and comments on a hard copy of the manuscript, and they are invited to do this, but please bear in mind that there are time issues if the reviewer or the author are in a country other than your own. • Unless they happen to have expert knowledge of a topic, the Principal Editor will be concerned mainly with the general level of the article, the attractiveness of illustrations and its accessibility to non-specialists. He or she will send you their comments as soon as they have read the manuscript. You should consider these and the comments of the independent reviewer, and forward your final decisions and recommendations to the author (or first author) as soon as you can. If you have any scientific problems with the paper you should discuss them with the Principal Editor. Technical problems (for example with figures) should be discussed with the Managing Editor. • The authors should send the revised manuscript to you as soon as possible before the final deadline. You should check that requested changes have been made, and when satisfied forward the article and its illustrations electronically to the Managing Editor. You should not wait until all the articles in your issue have been sent in their final form. • The importance of sticking to deadlines and to the space assigned to the paper must be stressed, particularly with your authors and reviewers. Elements is not a normal scientific journal in which issues are filled as papers arrive and there is flexibility with regard to length. It is tightly focussed on a carefully planned production schedule. The review articles must arrive by the deadlines you have been given to ensure that each thematic issue can be produced by the planned date, and they must not exceed 96 double spaced typed pages in total length. To Contact the Managing Editor Pierrette Tremblay INRS-ETE 490, rue de la Couronne Québec (QC) G1K 9A9 Phone: (418) 654-2606 Fax: (418) 653-0777 e-mail: Pierrette_Tremblay@inrs-ete.uquebec.ca or mac.amc1@sympatico.ca

Guidelines for Guest Editors

DOWNLOAD GUIDELINES TABLE

Deadlines

The table gives actions for which Guest Editors are responsible and the deadlines we recommend for your issue of Elements. You have, of course, some flexibility in all deadlines except the date by which final and complete manuscripts have to be with the Managing Editor. We would be very pleased if this stage could be reached as far in advance of the deadline as possible. It is most important that authors are made fully aware of the deadlines that they will have to meet, and the space constraints to which they must conform. Because of its thematic character, Elements has to adhere to a tightly defined and carefully planned production schedule without the freedom of conventional journals to hold back or accelerate articles.

A copy of ‘Instructions to Authors’, which will be sent to authors from the Elements office, is attached here for your information. Note that you must provide a short introductory article (guidelines below) and you may, if you wish, also contribute a normal article to the issue. The author guidelines are also available on the websites of participating societies.

Length Guidelines

The total length of your thematic section will be 24 Elements pages, corresponding to approximately 96 doubled-spaced typed pages with 250 words/page (Times New Roman, 12 pt font). Any figure or table counts as one manuscript page. You therefore have 90 double-spaced typed pages for your articles (including figures), 4 double-spaced typed pages for your introduction, and 2 pages for presentation of the authors.

If you have invited:
• 3 articles: Allow each author 30 typed pages (7500 words)
• 4 articles: Allow each author 22 typed pages (5500 words)
• 5 articles: Allow each author 18 typed pages (4500 words)

You are welcome to use any variation in numbers of articles and length provided the total manuscript pages, double spaced, do not exceed 96. If you have any concerns with the page allocation please contact the Managing Editor. If required you may shorten articles which exceed the length you have stipulated. Consult with the Principal Editor if necessary.

Illustrations and Cover

Elements will be published in full colour and authors should be encouraged to provide exciting illustrations, either colour photographs or high quality, coloured computer-generated drawings. Detailed instructions for electronic submission are given in the Instructions to Authors. Individual authors and institutions may vary considerably in their ability to produce high-quality graphics. If you feel that illustrations have been submitted that are good in concept but fall short in quality of execution please get in touch with the Managing Editor as early as possible. Think carefully about a dramatic cover design (each issue will be different), using either one of your own images or one submitted by an author. Contact the Managing Editor with your suggestions as soon as they crystallize.

Introductory article

Your introductory article (4 double-spaced typescript pages) should provide an overview of the theme of your issue, perhaps with some historical background and some speculation about future developments. It could put the main articles into context but should not simply be a summary of their content. Its main objective is to draw potential readers into the magazine, including Earth scientists who perhaps do not consider themselves to be primarily mineralogists, geochemists or petrologists.

Your introductory article should include a 100 word abstract. It should provide a summary of the content of your article so that (1) readers can determine their interest in reading further, (2) literature searches will find the article in relevant searches, and (3) a broad audience can appreciate the significance of the article. The abstract should be complete and understandable in itself, adequate as a summary of your primary points and conclusions. Do not include references, figures, tables, or equations.

General Guidelines

• Elements is for technical non-specialists, so articles should be somewhat tutorial in nature and should place topics in a wider Earth Sciences context. Authors should relate the theme to the interests of our broad geochemistry-mineralogy readership and include connections to related disciplines and practical applications when appropriate, particularly in the introduction and conclusion. Authors should avoid using jargon and acronyms, except very common ones. Terms unfamiliar to the non-specialist should be omitted, or defined and explained clearly.

• As Guest Editor, you are free to cover the field as you think appropriate, and you may select those expert authors you feel can write in a way accessible to non-specialists and who will meet your deadlines. You may wish to have a number of review articles of various areas within the topic, or you may wish to have one or two such articles and a number of shorter anecdotal pieces concerning specific developments. We encourage you to find your own innovative way to cover your topic.

• In selecting authors, consider choosing a balance of contributors from industry, universities, and government labs. We also encourage you to consider authors from countries other than your own.

• The ‘Instructions to Authors’ document, which is attached for your information, will be sent to authors by the Managing Editor once she has received your Author Information forms.

• It is desirable to secure balanced coverage of your subject with little overlap among the contributions and to avoid the need for major last-minute revisions at the time you receive manuscripts. To facilitate this process, each contributor is requested in the Instructions to Authors to send you a preliminary abstract or outline within one month (or shorter). You can then advise authors on what should be added or deleted. It may be helpful to circulate these abstracts to all authors in the issue.

• If your issue is likely to contain a significant number of mathematical symbols or acronyms you may find it useful to provide a ‘style sheet’ for the authors from the outset.

• Each Elements article must be reviewed by yourself, by an independent expert reviewer suggested by yourself, and by the Principal Editor assigned to your issue. Please forward each article by e-mail to the independent reviewer and to the relevant Principal Editor as soon as you receive it. Send a copy of the Elements Referee Request Letter to the independent reviewer. Many referees like to make corrections and comments on a hard copy of the manuscript, and they are invited to do this, but please bear in mind that there are time issues if the reviewer or the author are in a country other than your own.

• Unless they happen to have expert knowledge of a topic, the Principal Editor will be concerned mainly with the general level of the article, the attractiveness of illustrations and its accessibility to non-specialists. He or she will send you their comments as soon as they have read the manuscript. You should consider these and the comments of the independent reviewer, and forward your final decisions and recommendations to the author (or first author) as soon as you can. If you have any scientific problems with the paper you should discuss them with the Principal Editor. Technical problems (for example with figures) should be discussed with the Managing Editor.

• The authors should send the revised manuscript to you as soon as possible before the final deadline. You should check that requested changes have been made, and when satisfied forward the article and its illustrations electronically to the Managing Editor. You should not wait until all the articles in your issue have been sent in their final form.

• The importance of sticking to deadlines and to the space assigned to the paper must be stressed, particularly with your authors and reviewers. Elements is not a normal scientific journal in which issues are filled as papers arrive and there is flexibility with regard to length. It is tightly focussed on a carefully planned production schedule. The review articles must arrive by the deadlines you have been given to ensure that each thematic issue can be produced by the planned date, and they must not exceed 96 double spaced typed pages in total length.

To Contact the Managing Editor

Pierrette Tremblay
INRS-ETE
490, rue de la Couronne
Québec (QC) G1K 9A9
Phone: (418) 654-2606 Fax: (418) 653-0777
e-mail: Pierrette_Tremblay@inrs-ete.uquebec.ca or
mac.amc1@sympatico.ca