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Manuscript Submission Requirements Checklist

When submitting your manuscript, please do the following:

  • List all coauthors along with their correct, valid e-mail addresses.
  • Provide names and correct e-mail addresses of at least five preferred reviewers along with a short description of their relevance to the peer review of the manuscript.
  • In your cover letter, provide a brief explanation of the manuscript’s significance, including its originality, new physical insights, urgency, and contribution of new knowledge to the field.
  • Adhere to the formatting requirements of JPC Letters, which differ from those of JPC A/B/C.
  • Disclose any possible conflict of interest.

Title

  • Avoid uncommon acronyms and words like “First,” “Novel,” “Facile,” or “One-Pot.”

  • Type the title in Title Case, with the first letter of each word (except conjunctions, articles, and prepositions) capitalized. The same holds for the title in the Supporting Information.

Abstract

  • Limit your abstract to 150 words or fewer.
  • Avoid reference citations in the abstract.
  • Define any abbreviations and acronyms upon first usage.
  • Label the abstract.

Table of Contents Graphic

  • Provide a 2 in. x 2 in (5 cm x 5 cm) “Table of Contents” (TOC) graphic after the abstract under the header “TOC Graphic.” Use an illustration that best describes your overall work rather than reusing a figure from the manuscript.

Main Text

  • Do not use section headings.

References

  • Number references individually, with only one citation per reference.
  • Include title in each reference.

Graphics and Tables

  • Caption all figures and tables. Describe figure insets, if any, in the caption.
  • Label all axes and clearly identify the variable and unit.
  • Include titles for tables and schemes. Tables and schemes may contain footnotes.
  • Provide figures and tables at final published size.
  • Make sure that lettering and scale bar dimensions are legible.

Supporting Information

  • Upload any Supporting Information (SI) for Publication and SI for Review Only files as separate files.
  • Include a Supporting Information paragraph immediately after the Acknowledgments using the following format:
    • Supporting Information Available:

Math style

Authors including math, display or in-text, in their manuscripts are encouraged to consult the ACS Guidelines for Presenting Mathematical Information. This style sheet provides brief guidelines for the presentation of mathematical formulas complete with examples of ACS style and layout to indicate how math will appear when published.

Scope of the Journal

The Journal of Physical Chemistry (JPC) Letters is devoted to reporting new and original experimental and theoretical basic research of interest to physical chemists, biophysical chemists, chemical physicists, physicists, material scientists, and engineers. Manuscripts that are essentially reporting data, applications of data, performance evaluations of devices, or reviews of the literature are, in general, not suitable for publication in JPC Letters. An important criterion for acceptance is that the paper reports a significant scientific advance and/or physical insight such that rapid publication is essential.

 

JPC Letters publishes work across all areas while maintaining the highest quality. The journal editors strive to publish high-impact work that meets a strict standard of urgency.

 

Subject Categories

  1. Physical Insights into Quantum Phenomena and Function
  2. Physical Insights into Materials and Molecular Properties
  3. Physical Insights into Light Interacting with Matter
  4. Physical Insights into the Biosphere, Atmosphere, and Space
  5. Physical Insights into Chemistry, Catalysis, and Interfaces
  6. Physical Insights into Energy Science

Guidelines for Theory Papers

To be appropriate for publication in JPC Letters, theory papers must satisfy at least one of the following criteria:

  1. provide significant new physical insight into an experimentally relevant system or process
  2. present a new theoretical or computational methodology of general interest 

Manuscript Types

Letters

 

Letters are short articles that report results whose immediate availability to the scientific community is deemed important. The preferred maximum length for each Letter is between 1500 and 4000 words, and 3–5 figures, schemes, and illustrations in total. A brief abstract of no more than 150 words should be included; instructions for preparing an appropriate abstract may be found below. Special effort will be made to expedite the reviewing and the publication of JPC Letters submissions. Thus, authors should ensure that manuscripts are in final, error-free form when submitted. Letters must contain a Table of Contents (TOC)/Abstract graphic as part of the manuscript.

 

Perspectives

 

Perspectives (by invitation only) are brief, peer-reviewed reports (~20 - 30 typed double spaced pages) highlighting a specific topic of interest to physical chemists and chemical physicists. Perspectives must be submitted using the link placed in the invited author’s ACS Paragon Plus dashboard. These reports are not intended to be a comprehensive look at the field but rather to place a particular research finding into broader context. Perspectives should include a brief abstract (150 words max), approximately 50 references, and a TOC graphic. Quotes will be selected to highlight key topics in the Perspective. Authors can submit possible quotes, but these must be unique to the current work being reported and not from previously cited work. The authors of Perspectives are encouraged to also submit a video (3–5 min) highlighting the theme of the Perspective. See Appendix 3 for Perspective Video instructions.

 

Viewpoints

 

Viewpoints (by invitation only) are short editorial matter that comment on a previously published article in the journal or a specific research topic, provide educational insight into a research problem, or express views on a current or popular topic. Viewpoints are peer-reviewed. If Viewpoints are concerned with the work of other authors, the Editors will generally permit those authors to reply. It is essential that the discussion focus on scientific issues in both the Viewpoint and any Reply to the Viewpoint. Authors interested in submitting a Viewpoint should contact the Editor-in-Chief.

 

Commentaries

 

Commentaries (by invitation only) are editorial content that present discussions of immediate interest to the broad readership. The commentary is written by an expert to provide an overview a particular subject. Commentaries are not peer-reviewed but are subject to approval by the Editor. Authors interested in submitting a Commentary should contact the Editor-in-Chief.

 

Transparent Peer Review  

 

The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters offers authors of new Letters manuscripts submitted after November 3, 2021 an opportunity to participate in transparent peer review. Transparent peer review allows the reader to see the exchange between authors and reviewers.  If the author chooses to participate in transparent peer review, the anonymous reviews and the author’s response to the reviewers’ comments will be published as supporting information, freely available alongside the article at the time of publication. Reviewers will remain anonymous unless they choose to sign their reviewer report and the editor agrees to disclose this information. More information about transparent peer review can be found here or at a recently published editorial

ACS Publishing Center

While this document will provide basic information on how to prepare and submit the manuscript as well as other critical information about publishing, we also encourage authors to visit the ACS Publishing Center for additional information on everything that is needed to prepare (and review) manuscripts for ACS journals and partner journals, such as

  • Mastering the Art of Scientific Publication, which shares editor tips about a variety of topics including making your paper scientifically effective, preparing excellent graphics, and writing cover letters.
  • Resources on how to prepare and submit a manuscript to ACS Paragon Plus, ACS Publications’ manuscript submission and peer review environment, including details on selecting the applicable Journal Publishing Agreement.
  • Sharing your research with the public through the ACS Publications open access program.
  • ACS Reviewer Lab, a free online course covering best practices for peer review and related ethical considerations. 
  • ACS Author Lab, a free online course that empowers authors to prepare and submit strong manuscripts, avoiding errors that could lead to delays in the publication process.
  • ACS Inclusivity Style Guide, a guide that helps researchers communicate in ways that recognize and respect diversity in all its forms.

Manuscript Preparation

Submit with Fast Format

All ACS journals and partner journals have simplified their formatting requirements in favor of a streamlined and standardized format for an initial manuscript submission. Read more about the requirements and the benefits these serves authors and reviewers here.

 

Manuscripts submitted for initial consideration must adhere to these standards:

  • Submissions must be complete with clearly identified standard sections used to report original research, free of annotations or highlights, and include all numbered and labeled components.
  • Figures, charts, tables, schemes, and equations should be embedded in the text at the point of relevance. Separate graphics can be supplied later at revision, if necessary.
  • When required by a journal's structure or length limitations, manuscript templates should be used.
  • References can be provided in any style, but they must be complete, including titles. For information about the required components of different reference types, please refer to the ACS Style Quick Guide.
  • Supporting Information must be submitted as a separate file(s).

Document Templates and Format

The templates facilitate the peer review process by allowing authors to place artwork and tables close to the point where they are discussed within the text. Learn more about document templates here

 

General information on the preparation of manuscripts may also be found in the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication.

Acceptable Software, File Designations, and TeX/LaTeX

See the list of Acceptable Software and appropriate File Designations to be sure your file types are compatible with ACS Paragon Plus. Information for manuscripts generated from TeX/LaTeX is also available.

Cover Letter

A cover letter must accompany every manuscript submission. During the submission process, you may type it or paste it into the submission system, or you may attach it as a file.

 

All manuscripts must be accompanied by a cover letter that contains clear and precise information about the submission and highlights the significance of the work. Please use official letterhead of the author’s affiliation that lists the mailing address and e-mail address. The cover letter must include all of the following points:

  • Manuscript title.
  • For all authors, provide name (full name preferred), address, telephone number, and current institution e-mail address. All authors must have accounts in ACS Paragon Plus. The corresponding author is preferably a senior author (Professor, Research Associate, or similar), rather than a student.
  • Designation of the journal’s subject category that best fits the manuscript (see the list under Scope of the Journal in these instructions). Note that the editors reserve the right to reassign manuscripts to different journal categories. The journal’s subject category designated in the cover letter must match the entry given in ACS Paragon Plus.
  • Explanation of the manuscript’s significance, including its originality and its contribution to new knowledge in the field.
  • List at least five recommended reviewers for the manuscript, and provide a short description of their relevance to the peer review of the submitted manuscript. Include the institution and professional e-mail address for each suggested reviewer. The editor may also use reviewers of their own choice.
  • Submission history, if previously submitted to another ACS journal. Provide the previous manuscript number and editor's name. To help expedite the processing of your manuscript, also indicate whether the manuscript was sent for peer review. If the manuscript has already been reviewed by another ACS journal, include your response to the reviewers’ comments.
  • Statement that the manuscript is not being considered by any other journal.

 

When submitting manuscripts in ACS Paragon Plus, authors should follow these steps:

  • List all authors on the manuscript correctly with current and accurate e-mail addresses for each. It is important to provide the correct e-mail addresses for all coauthors because ACS Paragon Plus will notify these authors that the manuscript has been submitted. Author ACS Paragon Plus account information should be current. Entering inaccurate or fictitious e-mail addresses may result in the rejection of the manuscript without review.
  • Make sure that all coauthors are aware of the submission.
  • Upload copies of unpublished work as Supporting Information for Review Only. [Not citing prior work in press by the same authors can constitute an ethical violation.]
  • If the manuscript is written in Microsoft Word, please remove all “tracked changes” and comments from the manuscript and turn off the “Track Changes” feature before uploading into ACS Paragon Plus.
  • Check that the subject category matches that which was given in the cover letter.
  • Select funding sources from the list of agencies included in the FundRef Registry.
  • Remember to check the pdf proof of your manuscript after its upload in ACS Paragon Plus to make sure that no errors are present.

Manuscript Text Components

The various sections of the manuscript should be assembled in the order listed below without section headers, with the exception of a header for the Experimental Section and/or Computational Methods, which should be included at the end of the main text of the manuscript.

 

An Editorial with useful advice on constructing an effective scientific paper can be found at DOI 10.1021/jz4006916.

Section Order

  • Title, Author Names, Affiliations, and Corresponding Author's e-mail address Second Page: Abstract and Table of Contents image (in this order)
  • Introduction
  • Results and Discussion, including Figures, Figure Captions, and Tables
  • Experimental Methods
  • Acknowledgments
  • Supporting Information paragraph (if applicable)
  • References

Title

The title should be specific, informative and concise and should accurately reflect the scientific content. Avoid using common phrases such as “investigation,” “study,” “demonstration,” or “performance evaluation,” uncommon acronyms, and words such as “first,” “novel,” “facile,” and “one- pot” in the title and abstract. The title, author list, and institutional affiliations should be included on the first page. A well-crafted title will specify the advance reported in the paper.

Authorship

Be consistent in authorship designation on the manuscript and on all correspondence. Authors’ names should be given as completely as possible: first names, middle initials, and surnames. Give the complete mailing addresses of the institutions where the work was conducted and identify the affiliation of each author. If the current address of an author is different, include it in a footnote on the title page. The corresponding author(s) to whom inquiries about the paper should be addressed must be marked with an asterisk; provide the complete mailing address and e-mail address of this correspondent(s). Note: More than one author may be designated as a co- corresponding author in the published paper; however, only one author may be designated as the corresponding author while the manuscript is under review and revision in ACS Paragon Plus.

Institution Identification

Many funders and institutions require that institutional affiliations are identified for all authors listed in the work submitted. ACS facilitates this requirement by collecting institution information during manuscript submission under Step 2: Authors and Affiliations in ACS Paragon Plus.

Abstract

The abstract should be a clear, concise, one-paragraph summary (100–150 words) that appeals to the general readership of physical chemistry/chemical physics. The abstract should be informative rather than descriptive, giving scope, purpose, and significant results/conclusions. Reference citations should be avoided.

 

Abbreviations and acronyms should be defined upon first usage. Authors’ abstracts are used directly for Chemical Abstracts.

Main Text (without section headers)

Limit the introductory section to one to two paragraphs (without headings). Discuss relationships of the study to previously published work, but do not reiterate or attempt to provide a complete literature survey. The purpose or reason for the research being reported and its significance, originality, or contribution to new knowledge in the field should be clearly and concisely stated. Highlight the physical chemistry aspects of the work by citing appropriate work that would appeal to the Journal’s general readership. Do not include or summarize current findings in this section.

 

The author should discuss the significance of observations, measurements, or computations and should also point out how they contribute to the scientific objectives indicated in the introductory portion of the paper.

 

Complicated chemical equations, schemes, and structures should be supplied as graphic images, ready for publication. Figures, schemes, and charts, along with their captions, should be placed in the text where they are first mentioned and numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. Mathematical expressions and chemical formulas with uncommon symbols and letters should be clearly identified. Capital, lowercase, and Greek letters should be easily discernible or identified if ambiguity might result. Complicated superscripts and subscripts should be avoided.

Conclusions

Concluding remarks, principle findings, and future scope of the work should be summarized in the last paragraph of the results and discussion.

Experimental Methods

General Information. Provide a brief description of the experimental methodology in the manuscript. Detailed procedures can be provided in the Supporting Information, as needed.

 

Hazards. Authors must emphasize any unexpected, new, and/or significant hazards or risks associated with the reported work. This information should be in the experimental details section of the article.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments of financial assistance for the conduct of research, citations of theses, or indications of presentation at a research meeting should be brief and placed in this section.

 

Additional data and peripheral discussion should be placed in the Supporting Information (SI) rather than in references. Supplementary references may be placed in SI; however, any reference that is used in the SI only should not be cited in the paper. Submitted papers should not depend on unpublished material, and excessive reference to material in press or reports not readily found in research libraries is discouraged. If pertinent references are in press or unpublished for any reason, authors should upload copies of the references as Supporting Information for Review Only to enable reviewers to evaluate the manuscript. Papers accepted for publication are cited as “in press”; the journal abbreviation should be provided, and the DOI should be given if the paper is published online.

References

References can be provided in any style, but they must be complete, including titles. Unnecessarily long lists of references, including excessive self-citation, are to be avoided; however, authors must provide references to all relevant publications in which portions of the present work have appeared. Citation of recent papers published in physical chemistry and chemical physics journals that highlight the significance of the work to the general readership is encouraged. URLs are not preferred references because website content can be modified and, consequently, the reference information may lack permanence. For additional recommendations, see DOI 10.1021/jz500430j.

 

Additional data and peripheral discussion should be placed in the Supporting Information (SI) rather than in references. Supplementary references may be placed in SI; however, any reference that is used in the SI only should not be cited in the paper. Submitted papers should not depend on unpublished material, and excessive reference to material in press or reports not readily found in research libraries is discouraged. If pertinent references are in press or unpublished for any reason, authors should upload copies of the references as Supporting Information for Review Only to enable reviewers to evaluate the manuscript. Papers accepted for publication are cited as “in press”; the journal abbreviation should be provided, and the DOI should be given if the paper is published online.

 

Unpublished references should not be included in the final reference list. Place “(unpublished results)” in the manuscript text immediately after the information. (This is required because readers will not have access to unpublished references.)

Multimedia

Multimedia is a creative way of further disseminating your work, gaining international exposure, and communicating with the physical chemistry community at large.

Perspective Videos

Perspectives provide authors the opportunity to communicate their involvement in a particular research theme and discuss issues related to an emerging topic. Perspective videos provide increased visibility for the Perspective and can be used as educational tools and for outreach activities (e.g., NSF grants).Perspective authors are invited to submit a short, 3–5 minute video highlighting the theme of their Perspective. (See Appendix 3 for instructions.) These videos can be viewed on the JPC Letters website, on Facebook, and on the ACS channel of YouTube.

Supporting Information

This information is provided to the reviewers during the peer-review process (for Review Only) and is available to readers of the published work (for Publication). Supporting Information must be submitted at the same time as the manuscript. See the list of Acceptable Software by File Designation and confirm that your Supporting Information is viewable.

 

If the manuscript is accompanied by any supporting information files for publication, these files will be made available free of charge to readers. A brief, nonsentence description of the actual contents of each file, including the file type extension, is required. This description should be labeled Supporting Information and should appear before the Acknowledgement and Reference sections.  Examples of sufficient and insufficient descriptions are as follows:

 

Examples of sufficient descriptions: “Supporting Information: 1H NMR spectra for all compounds (PDF)” or “Additional experimental details, materials, and methods, including photographs of experimental setup (DOC)”.

 

Examples of insufficient descriptions: “Supporting Information: Figures S1-S3” or “Additional figures as mentioned in the text”.

 

When including supporting information for review only, include copies of references that are unpublished or in-press. These files are available only to editors and reviewers.

Research Data Policy

All ACS journals strongly encourage authors to make the research data underlying their articles publicly available at the time of publication.

Research data is defined as materials and information used in the experiments that enable the validation of the conclusions drawn in the article, including primary data produced by the authors for the study being reported, secondary data reused or analyzed by the authors for the study, and any other materials necessary to reproduce or replicate the results.

The ACS Research Data Policy provides additional information on Data Availability Statements, Data Citation, and Data Repositories.

Data Requirements

Reproducibility of Results

It is essential that papers provide enough information so that calculations and experiments can be reproduced by others. We encourage authors to use Supporting Information for this purpose, which is publicly available free of charge on the internet upon publication, regardless of whether or not the accompanying article is made open access.

Guidelines for Computational Results

Below are the general guidelines from Pure Appl. Chem. 1998, 70, No. 10, 2047–2049 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/pac199870102047) for manuscripts reporting the results of electronic structure calculations, force field parameters, and other potential energy surface information. Further details are listed in the guidelines authored by J. E. Boggs (Pure Appl. Chem. 1998, 70, No. 4, 1015–1018 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/pac199870041015). Both sets of guidelines can be viewed online at http://iupac.org/publications/pac/reports/year/1998/. While these papers refer to electronic structure and molecular dynamics calculations, the concepts stated below apply to all calculations.

  • If a paper mentions any calculations that are integral to the study (i.e., the precise quantitative results are central to the conclusions drawn) computational details must be described.
  • Reproducibility of computations should be a defining goal in reporting computational results. Sufficient technical details should be provided to allow a reader to reproduce the results of any calculations. Of course, strict reproducibility of computations may be precluded by differences among computers (e.g., differences in operating systems, host-based algorithms, machine precision, etc.), software (e.g., installation procedures and programming modifications), and applications (e.g., for probabilistic methods such as Monte Carlo calculations).
  • A description of the results of any published calculation must be available for scientific scrutiny by other investigators. Ordinarily this will best be achieved if the authors place full details of the calculation (e.g., structures, energies, frequencies, dynamical quantities, etc.) in a repository (such as Supporting Information to the paper) that is accessible via the Internet. Otherwise, it is the responsibility of the investigator to make such information available upon request. Depending on the specific circumstances, the appropriate data to be deposited might be final output structure(s) or the input structure(s) that would allow another investigator to replicate the computational experiment.
  • Electronically deposited structures should be written in a format that is machine readable by readily available modelling or translating programs.
  • An adequate specification of the computer program used to carry out the calculations is essential. If the calculations were carried out with commercially available software, the investigator must list the source, version number, and force field employed. Any program modifications and any differences from the published version (including changes in parameters) must be fully described or available to other investigators upon request. Changes in parameters, program options (e.g., dielectric constant, nonbonded cutoffs, etc.) affecting reproducibility of the calculation, and program constraints must be fully described in the article. If the program is not available, commercially or otherwise, the authors must specify sufficient detail that the calculation could be reproduced.
  • The issue of convergence must be adequately addressed. An iterative calculation is considered to have converged when further iterations will not significantly alter the results. Convergence criteria should be reported (e.g., energy change per iteration or energy gradient for geometry optimization of a single structure).

Guidelines for Experiments

Authors are expected to provide sufficient detail to enable a trained professional to reproduce routine measurements and synthetic procedures. Authors are required to provide crystallographic or surface structure data as Supporting Information in crystallographic information file (CIF) format. For quantitative optical measurements, the specifics and usable range of the photodetector should be reported.

 

Teams of ACS editors have identified best practices in certain fields to guide authors in the reporting of experimental results. Please refer to them, as needed:

Language and Editing Services

A well-written paper helps share your results most clearly. ACS Publications’ English Editing Service is designed to help scientists communicate their research effectively. Our subject-matter expert editors will edit your manuscript for grammar, spelling, and other language errors so your ideas are presented at their best.

Preparing Graphics

The quality of illustrations in ACS journals and partner journals depends on the quality of the original files provided by the authors. Figures are not modified or enhanced by journal production staff. All graphics must be prepared and submitted in digital format.

 

Graphics should be inserted into the main body whenever possible. Please see Appendix 2 for additional information.

 

Any graphic (figure chart, scheme, or equation) that has appeared in an earlier publication should include a credit line citing the original source. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to re-use this material.

Figure and Illustration Services

The impact of your research is not limited to what you can express with words. Tables and figures such as graphs, photographs, illustrations, diagrams, and other visuals can play a significant role in effectively communicating your findings. Our Artwork Editing and Graphical Abstract services generate publication-ready figures and Table of Contents (TOC) graphics that conform to your chosen journal’s specifications. For figures, this includes changes to file type, resolution, color space, font, scale, line weights, and layout (to improve readability and professional appearance). For TOC graphics, our illustrators can work with a rough sketch or concept or help extract the key findings of your manuscript directly for use as a visual summary of your paper.

Preparing for Submission

Manuscripts, graphics, supporting information, and required forms, as well as manuscript revisions, must all be submitted in digital format through ACS Paragon Plus, which requires an ACS ID to log in. Registering for an ACS ID is fast, free, and does not require an ACS membership. Please refer to Appendix 1 for additional information on preparing your submission

Prior Publication Policy

JPC Letters authors are allowed to deposit an initial draft of their manuscript in a preprint service such as ChemRxiv, arXiv, bioRxiv, or the applicable repository for their discipline prior to submission. Please note any use of a preprint server in the Cover Letter and, as appropriate, state how the manuscript has been adjusted/updated between deposition and submission. The use of a preprint service will not bias reviewing/acceptance of the paper in JPC Letters. Upon publication, authors are advised to add a link from the preprint to the published paper via the Digital Object Identifier (DOI). Redundant publication, such as the use of a repository for published versions of papers, is subject to the Journal Publication Agreement and generally requires copyright permission.

Editorial Policies

Review Process

There are basically three steps in the review process. For more information on the review process, please read “Overcoming the Myths of the Review Process and Getting Your Paper Ready for Publication" (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/ipdf/10.1021/jz500162r).

Step 1 – Administrative Review

The manuscript submission is checked for completeness, e.g., complete author information provided, all files are present, no missing graphics, correct format. (For additional information, refer to the Editorial “Getting Your Submission Right and Avoiding Rejection” at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/jz3014562.)

Step 2 – Editorial Review

The editors may exercise their prerogative to reject a manuscript after editorial review if that paper is judged to be outside the scope of the journal, poorly written or formatted, fragmentary and marginally incremental, or lacking in significant advance or urgency.

 

All manuscripts are reviewed and handled by one of the editors. The editor and editorial assistant are then responsible for the assigned manuscripts, including acknowledging receipt, evaluating the content of the paper, screening authors’ previous submissions/publications, and ultimately selecting reviewers, monitoring the progress of the review process, evaluating the comments of reviewers and forwarding them to the authors for their response, communicating ultimate acceptance or rejection to the corresponding author, carrying out a check of accepted manuscripts for appropriate format and style, and forwarding manuscripts to the publications office.

Step 3 – Peer Review

Papers that clear both the administrative review and editorial review are sent for peer review. The editors request the scientific advice of reviewers who are active in the area of research covered by the manuscript. The reviewers act only in an advisory capacity, and the final decision concerning a manuscript is the responsibility of the editors. The reviewers are asked to comment not only on the scientific content but also on the manuscript’s suitability for JPC Letters and urgency of publication. The reviewers are asked to evaluate the following: (1) originality and new scientific advance of the work, (2) broad appeal to physical chemists/chemical physicists, (3) how well the conclusions are supported by the data, (4) clarity of the paper, and (5) how well the paper provides new physical insights. All reviews are anonymous to the authors, and the reviewing process is most effective if reviewers do not reveal their identities to the authors.

 

A manuscript sent to an author for revision should be returned to the editor without delay. Authors should contact the editor if a delay is anticipated. The editors reserve the right to inactivate a manuscript not returned within 2 weeks of the request. When a manuscript is inactivated, it will no longer be available on your ACS Paragon Plus home page. When this occurs, you may contact the editorial office to request an extension; otherwise, the revised manuscript must be resubmitted as a new submission. The cover letter should indicate the previous manuscript number as well as respond to the comments of the reviewers. The manuscript will be processed as a revision with a new manuscript number and date of submission.

 

Manuscripts undergoing major revisions may be sent back to the original reviewers, who are asked to comment on the revisions. If only minor revisions are involved, the editor may choose to examine the revised manuscript in light of the recommendations of the reviewers without seeking further opinions. The author should provide a cover letter with the revised manuscript to detail how the author responded to the reviewers’ comments. The date of receipt of the original manuscript will appear on the published paper.

ACS Paragon Plus Tips

  • The manuscript Word document and PDF should contain everything, including figures, except for the Supporting Information. Supporting Information for Publication or for Review must be uploaded as separate files.
  • Authors should contact the editor if a delay is anticipated in submitting their revision. The editors reserve the right to deactivate a manuscript if a revision is not returned within 2 weeks from the date of request. Once inactivated, it will no longer appear on your ACS Paragon Plus home page, and the revision must be uploaded as a new manuscript.
  • Do not use inaccurate or fictitious e-mail addresses because it may delay the review process for the manuscript.
  • Contact ACS Customer Services and Information (support@services.acs.org) for problems or questions concerning Paragon Plus or its use. The team is available 24x5, Monday through Friday (excluding holidays). Phone: 1-800-277-9919 or 202-872-4357.

Revisions/Resubmissions For revisions:

  • Return the revision within 2 weeks of request date, or the manuscript may be inactivated.
  • Clearly identify the manuscript as a revision; refer to the manuscript number in the cover letter.
  • Include an itemized list of changes, with a response to each comment made by the editor and by each reviewer.
  • Upload an additional, annotated copy of the original manuscript to show the revisions and track changes for the benefit of the editor and reviewers. The annotated version should be uploaded with the file designation Supporting Information for Review Only.
  • Be aware that the manuscript may be sent for additional review.

For transfers to JPC A/B/C:

Manuscripts that are submitted to the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters may be deemed unsuitable for the journal but scientifically sound such that they may merit consideration in JPC A/B/C. In these cases, the editor of JPC Letters may directly transfer the manuscript in ACS Paragon Plus with all author-submitted information and reviews (if the manuscript is transferred after review) to JPC A/B/C with the permission of the authors.

 

The editors of JPC A/B/C have the discretion of requesting a new round of peer review prior to making a decision. Note that transfer of the manuscript does not guarantee acceptance.

 

All formatting requirements for JPC A/B/C must be met, including the change from Letter to Article format and a revised cover letter, prior to any action by the editors of JPC A/B/C.

  • If the JPC Letters editor recommends resubmission to JPC A/B/C as a full article, respond to the recommendation by clicking on either the Approve or Decline transfer link in the decision letter within 1 week of receipt.
  • Clicking the “Approve” link transfers your manuscript record and associated content back to your Paragon homepage.
  • Use the “Continue this submission” link to complete the resubmission to JPC A/B/C.
  • Upload revised cover letter and manuscript file(s) after removing the old files.
  • Include an itemized list of changes, with a detailed response to each comment made by the editor and by each reviewer.
  • Upload an additional, annotated copy of the original manuscript to show the revisions and track changes for the benefit of the editor and reviewers. The annotated version should be uploaded with the file designation Supporting Information for Review Only.
  • The date of receipt of your resubmission will appear on the published paper.

Providing Potential Reviewer Names

Please suggest at least five reviewers. Authors are encouraged to avoid suggesting reviewers from the authors’ institutions. Do not suggest reviewers who may have a real or perceived conflict of interest. Whenever possible, suggest academic email addresses rather than personal email addresses.

Manuscript Transfer

If your submission is declined for publication by this journal, the editors might deem your work to be better suited for another ACS Publications journal or partner journal and suggest that the authors consider transferring the submission. Manuscript Transfer simplifies and shortens the process of submitting to another ACS journal or partner journal, as all the coauthors, suggested reviewers, manuscript files, and responses to submission questions are copied by ACS Paragon Plus to the new draft submission. Authors are free to accept or decline the transfer offer.

 

Note that each journal is editorially independent. Transferring a manuscript is not a guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted, as the final publication decision will belong to the editor of the next journal.

PRODUCTION AND PUBLICATION

Proofs via ACS Direct Correct

Correction of the galley proofs is the responsibility of the Corresponding Author. The Corresponding Author of an accepted manuscript will receive e-mail notification and complete instructions when page proofs are available for review via ACS Direct Correct. Extensive or important changes on page proofs, including changes to the title or list of authors, are subject to review by the editor.

 

It is the responsibility of the Corresponding Author to ensure that all authors listed on the manuscript agree with the changes made on the proofs. Galley proofs should be returned within 48 hours in order to ensure timely publication of the manuscript.

Publication Date and Patent Dates

Accepted manuscripts will be published on the ACS Publications Web site as soon as page proofs are corrected and all author concerns are resolved. The first date on which the document is published on the Web is considered the publication date.

 

Publication of manuscripts on the Web may occur weeks in advance of the cover date of the issue of publication. Authors should take this into account when planning their patent and intellectual property activities related to a document and should ensure that all patent information is available at the time of first publication, whether ASAP or issue publication.

 

All articles published ahead of print receive a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, which is used to cite the manuscript before and after the paper appears in an issue. Additionally, any supplemental information submitted along with the manuscript will automatically be assigned a DOI and hosted on Figshare to promote open data discoverability and use of your research outputs.

ASAP Publication

Manuscripts will be published on the “ASAP Articles” page on the web as soon as page proofs are corrected and all author concerns are resolved. ASAP publication usually occurs within a few working days of receipt of page proof corrections, which can be several weeks in advance of the cover date of the issue.

Post-Publication Policies

The American Chemical Society follows guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when considering any ethical concerns regarding a published article, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern.

Additions and Corrections

Additions and Corrections may be requested by the author(s) or initiated by the Editor to address important issues or correct errors and omissions of consequence that arise after publication of an article. All Additions and Corrections are subject to approval by the Editor, and should bring new and directly relevant information and corrections that fix scientific facts. Minor corrections and additions will not be published. Readers who detect errors of consequence in the work of others should contact the corresponding author of that work.

 

Additions and Corrections must be submitted as new manuscripts via ACS Paragon Plus by the Corresponding Author for publication in the “Addition/Correction” section of the Journal. The corresponding author should obtain approval from all coauthors prior to submitting or provide evidence that such approval has been solicited. The manuscript should include the original article title and author list, citation including DOI, and details of the correction.

Retractions

Articles may be retracted for scientific or ethical reasons and may be requested by the article author(s) or by the journal Editor(s), but are ultimately published at the discretion of the Editor. Articles that contain seriously flawed or erroneous data such that their findings and conclusions cannot be relied upon may be retracted in order to correct the scientific record. When an article is retracted, a notice of Retraction will be published containing information about the reason for the Retraction. The originally published article will remain online except in extraordinary circumstances (e.g. where deemed legally necessary, or if the availability of the published content poses public health risks).

Expressions of Concern

Expressions of Concern may be issued at the discretion of the Editor if:

  • there is inconclusive evidence of research or publication misconduct by the authors;
  • there is evidence that the findings are unreliable but the authors’ institution will not investigate the case;
  • an investigation into alleged misconduct related to the publication either has not been, or would not be, fair and impartial or conclusive;
  • an investigation is underway but a judgment will not be available for a considerable time.

 

Upon completion of any related investigation, and when a final determination is made about the outcome of the article, the Expression of Concern may be replaced with a Retraction notice or Correction.

Sharing Your Published Article

At ACS Publications, we know it is important for you to be able to share your peer reviewed, published work with colleagues in the global community of scientists. As sharing on sites known as scholarly collaboration networks (SCNs) is becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s scholarly research ecosystem, we would like to remind you of the many ways in which you, a valued ACS author, can share your published work.

 

Publishing open access makes it easy to share your work with friends, colleagues, and family members. In addition, ACS Publications makes it easy to share your newly published research with ACS Articles on Request (see below). Don’t forget to promote your research and related data on social media, at conferences, and through scholarly communication networks. Increase the impact of your research using the following resources: Altmetrics, Figshare, ACS Certified Deposit

E-Prints

When your article is published in an ACS journal or partner journal, corresponding authors are provided with a link that offers up to 50 free digital prints of the final published work. This link is valid for the first 12 months following online publication, and can be shared via email or an author’s website. After one year, the access restrictions to your article will be lifted, and you can share the Articles on Request URL on social media and other channels. To access all your Articles on Request links, log in to your ACS Publishing Center account and visit the “My Published Manuscripts” page.

Reprints

Article, journal, and commercial reprints are available to order.

Appendix 1: PREPARING FOR SUBMISSION

We’ve developed ACS’ publishing and editorial policies in consultation with the research communities that we serve, including authors and librarians. Browse our policies below to learn more.

Ethical Guidelines

ACS editors have provided Ethical Guidelines for persons engaged in the publication of chemical research—specifically, for editors, authors, and reviewers. Each journal also has a specific policy on prior publication.

OFAC Compliance

As a U.S.-based non-profit organization, the American Chemical Society (ACS) is required to comply with U.S. sanctions laws and regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). While these laws and regulations permit U.S.-based publishers like ACS to engage in publishing-related activities with authors located in sanctioned regions in many cases, ACS may be prohibited under U.S. law from engaging in publishing-related activities in some cases, including, but not limited to, instances where an author or the institution with which an author is affiliated is located in a particular sanctioned region or has been designated by OFAC as a Specially Designated National (SDN) pursuant to certain U.S. sanctions programs. ACS reserves the right to refrain from engaging in any publishing-related activities that ACS determines in its sole discretion may be in violation of U.S. law.

 

Safety Considerations

Authors must emphasize any unexpected, new, and/or significant hazards or risks associated with the reported work. This information should be in the Experimental Section of a full article and included in the main text of a letter. Statement examples can be found in the Safety Statement Style Sheet and additional information on communicating safety information from the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication is freely available here.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

A statement describing any financial conflicts of interest or lack thereof is published in each ACS journal and partner journal article.

 

During the submission process, the Corresponding Author must provide a statement on behalf of all authors of the manuscript, describing all potential sources of bias, including affiliations, funding sources, and financial or management relationships, that may constitute conflicts of interest. If the manuscript is accepted, the statement will be published in the final article.

 

If the manuscript is accepted and no conflict of interest has been declared, the following statement will be published in the final article: “The authors declare no competing financial interest.”

Plagiarism

In publishing only original research, ACS is committed to deterring plagiarism, including self-plagiarism. ACS Publications uses CrossCheck's iThenticate software to screen submitted manuscripts for similarity to published material. Note that your manuscript may be screened during the submission process.

 

Further information about plagiarism can be found in Part B of the Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Research. See also the press release regarding ACS' participation in the CrossCheck initiative.

Authorship, Author List, and Coauthor Notification

Authors are required to obtain the consent of all their coauthors prior to submitting a manuscript. The submitting author accepts the responsibility of notifying all coauthors that the manuscript is being submitted.

 

During manuscript submission, the submitting author must provide contact information (full name, email address, institutional affiliation, and mailing address) for all of the coauthors. Because all of the author names are automatically imported into the electronic Journal Publishing Agreement, the names must be entered into ACS Paragon Plus. (Note that coauthors are not required to register in ACS Paragon Plus.) Author affiliation should reflect where the work was completed, even if the author has since left that institution. Authors may include a note with a current address if their institution has changed since the work was completed.

 

To expedite the processing of your manuscript, please format your author and affiliation information according the guidelines in this link: https://pubsapp.acs.org/paragonplus/submission/author-address-information.pdf.

 

Criteria for authorship can be found in Part B of the Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Research. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools do not qualify for authorship. The use of AI tools for text or image generation should be disclosed in the manuscript within the Acknowledgment section with a description of when and how the tools were used. For more substantial use cases or descriptions of AI tool use, authors should provide full details within the Methods or other appropriate section of the manuscript.

 

If any change in authorship is necessary after a manuscript has been submitted, confirmation is required that all of the authors (including those being added or removed) have been notified and have agreed to the change. To provide this confirmation, authors are asked to complete and sign an authorship change form and provide the completed form to the appropriate editorial office.

 

Authors with a single name: If you, or any of your coauthors, have only one name, please follow these steps for proper submission to ACS Paragon Plus:

  1. First (Given) Name Field: Enter an asterisk (*) into the "First (Given) Name" field.
  2. Last (Family) Name Field: Enter your single name into the "Last (Family) Name" field.

If your paper is accepted, the asterisk (*) will be removed from the published version of the paper.

 

 

Patent Activities and Intellectual Property

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all patent activities and intellectual property issues are satisfactorily resolved prior to first publication (ASAP or in issue). Acceptance and publication will not be delayed for pending or unresolved issues of this nature.

Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)

Authors submitting manuscript revisions are required to provide their own personal, validated ORCID iD before completing the submission, if an ORCID iD is not already associated with their ACS Paragon Plus user profiles. This ID may be provided during original manuscript submission or when submitting the manuscript revision. All authors are strongly encouraged to register for an ORCID iD, a unique researcher identifier. The ORCID iD will be displayed in the published article for any author on a manuscript who has a validated ORCID iD associated with ACS when the manuscript is accepted.

 

ORCID iDs should not be typed into the manuscript. ACS publishes only those ORCID iDs that have been properly verified and linked before the manuscript is accepted. After your ORCID iD is linked, it will be displayed automatically in all subsequently accepted manuscripts for any/all ACS journals. We do not publish ORCID iDs provided during proof review or via other communications after a manuscript is accepted for publication.

 

With an ORCID iD, you can create a profile of your research activities to distinguish yourself from other researchers with similar names, and make it easier for your colleagues to find your publications. If you do not yet have an ORCID iD, or you wish to associate your existing ORCID iD with your ACS Paragon Plus account, you may do so by clicking on “Edit Your Profile” from your ACS Paragon Plus account homepage and following the ORCID-related links. Learn more at www.orcid.org.

To obtain forms and guidelines for completing the Journal Publishing Agreement or obtaining permissions from copyright owners, and to explore a Copyright Learning Module for chemists, click here.

Funder Reporting Requirement

Authors are required to report funding sources and grant/award numbers. Enter ALL sources of funding for ALL authors in BOTH the Funder Registry Tool in ACS Paragon Plus and in your manuscript to meet this requirement.

Open Access Compliance

ACS offers options by which authors can fulfill the requirements for open access and deposition into repositories for funded research. Visit our ACS Open Science site to see how to fulfill requirements for specific funders and to find out if you are eligible to publish under a Read + Publish agreement between ACS and your institution. You can also find out more about Open Access Compliance and ACS Open Science initiatives.

Diversity and Inclusion Statement

During manuscript submission, ACS journal authors have the option to submit a statement sharing information related to diversity and inclusion that is relevant for their paper. If supplying a diversity and inclusion statement, the corresponding author must provide this on behalf of all authors of the manuscript during the submission process. These statements include but are not limited to analysis of citation diversity and acknowledgment of indigenous land on which research was conducted. Statements expressing political beliefs are not permitted and may be removed by the journal office. All statements are subject to final review by the Editor.

  • Citation Diversity Statement:The citation diversity statement should appear in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript. ACS recommends including the following: (1) the importance of citation diversity, (2) the proportion of citations by gender and race/ethnicity for the first and last authors, (3) the method used to determine those proportions and its limitations, and (4) steps taken to by the authors to improve citation diversity in the article. We recognize that one limitation of the current methods is that it cannot account for intersex, non-binary, and transgender people, or Indigenous and mixed-race authors. (Adapted from BMES/Springer Guidelines)
  • Land acknowledgment:The land acknowledgment statement should appear in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript. The statement should link to the institutions’ formal land acknowledgments on which the research took place, if possible. Further guidance for creating these statements can be found here: https://nativegov.org/news/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment/.

 

Appendix 2: Preparing Graphics

Resolution

Digital graphics pasted into manuscripts should have the following minimum resolutions:

  • Black and white line art, 1200 dpi
  • Grayscale art, 600 dpi
  • Color art, 300 dpi

Size

Graphics must fit a one- or two-column format. Single-column graphics can be sized up to 240 points wide (3.33 in.) and double-column graphics must be sized between 300 and 504 points (4.167 in. and 7 in.). The maximum depth for all graphics is 660 points (9.167 in.) including the caption (allow 12 pts. For each line of caption text). Lettering should be no smaller than 4.5 points in the final published format. The text should be legible when the graphic is viewed full-size. Helvetica or Arial fonts work well for lettering. Lines should be no thinner than 0.5 point.

Color

Color may be used to enhance the clarity of complex structures, figures, spectra, and schemes, etc., and color reproduction of graphics is provided at no additional cost to the author. Graphics intended to appear in black and white or grayscale should not be submitted in color.

Type of Graphics

Table of Contents (TOC)/Abstract Graphic

Consult the Guidelines for Table of Contents/Abstract Graphics for specifications.

Our team of subject-matter experts and graphical designers can also help generate a compelling TOC graphic to convey your key findings. Learn more about our Graphical Abstract service.

Figures

A caption giving the figure number and a brief description must be included below each figure. The caption should be understandable without reference to the text. It is preferable to place any key to symbols used in the artwork itself, not in the caption. Ensure that any symbols and abbreviations used in the text agree with those in the artwork.

Charts

Charts (groups of structures that do not show reactions) may have a brief caption describing their contents.

Tables

Each table must have a brief (one phrase or sentence) title that describes the contents. The title should be understandable without reference to the text. Details should be put in footnotes, not in the title. Tables should be used when the data cannot be presented clearly in the narrative, when many numbers must be presented, or when more meaningful inter-relationships can be conveyed by the tabular format. Tables should supplement, not duplicate, information presented in the text and figures. Tables should be simple and concise.

Schemes

Each scheme (sequences of reactions) may have a brief caption describing its contents.

Chemical Structures

Chemical structures should be produced with the use of a drawing program such as ChemDraw.

Cover Art

JPC Letters authors are encouraged to submit images to be considered for use on the journal’s front cover or Supplementary Covers at the time of the submission of their revised manuscript. If your article is accepted for publication, your suggestion may also be selected for use on one of the journal’s covers. If your art is selected for front cover, ACS will send you information about how to request one complimentary 18” by 24” printed poster featuring your work. Images chosen for the front cover will be published at no cost to the author. We publish selected artwork as soon as a slot becomes available, but the selection for a cover may cause a small delay in the online publication of your article.

 

Cover image submissions should be colorful and visually engaging, with minimal text. The cover image should not resemble a graphical abstract or data figure, but rather should be an artistic and scientifically accurate representation of the manuscript.

 

Image files should be submitted as TIF, JPG, PNG or EPS files with a resolution of at least 300 dpi for pixel-based images. Images should be 8.19 in × 9.74 in. (or 20.80 cm × 24.74 cm). Please note that the journal title will cover the top 2.5 in. (6.35 cm) of the image. Authors should submit the cover image, along with a short, clear legend (less than 50 words) explaining the image, as supplementary files to ACS Paragon Plus with their revised manuscript.

 

If you wish to be considered only for the front cover, and not a paid supplementary cover, please respond NO accordingly to the Journal Covers question in ACS Paragon Plus. For more information on the Supplementary Covers program, please see this webpage. All art submitted for consideration for a supplementary cover will also be considered for a front cover.

Appendix 3: Guidelines for JPC Letters Perspective Video Production

Web Enhanced Objects (WEO)

The Web editions of ACS journals allow readers to view multimedia attachments such as animations and movies that complement understanding of the research being reported.

 

WEOs should be uploaded in ACS Paragon Plus with ‘Web Enhanced Object’ selected as the file designation. Consult the list of compatible WEO formats.

Appendix 3: Guidelines for JPC Letters Perspective Video Production

Thanks for your interest in contributing a video on your JPC Letters Perspective. We recommend that the final, edited video be about 3– minutes in length. Some areas to cover in your discussion could include:

  1. Introduce yourself and give your position at your institution.
  2. What is the motivation behind this work?
  3. What are the major findings of your research (in layman’s terms)?
  4. What are the new techniques or approaches that you have implemented in your research?
  5. What are the major hurdles or challenges that need to be tackled?
  6. How is this work likely to impact other disciplines?
  7. What has been the impact of JPC Letters on your research and what will be the impact of JPC Letters for the research community?

 

For examples of how to create your video, please take a look at the JPC Letters Perspective videos on the website. We would like to keep the discussion at a level that can be understood by undergraduate chemistry students.

 

The interviews should be shot using high definition camera equipment and lavalier clip-on mics. It doesn’t have to be professional-level equipment; an inexpensive consumer-level HD camera is fine. For microphones, these lavalier mic models could work:

 

Here are some other suggestions:

  • Place the camera on a tripod.
  • If at all possible, don’t use the built-in microphone on the camera; use a clip-on lavalier mic (like the ones listed above).
  • Make sure there is plenty of light on the interviewee. A room with a lot of windows or plenty of overhead light should be fine, but make sure the subject’s face is not too dark.
  • Check the background around the interviewee because it will be part of your video.
  • Don’t leave too much space around the interviewee in the shot. Don’t clip the top of their head in the camera frame, but keep it closely cropped around the subject. Generally, you want the subject’s eyes one-third of the way down from the top of the frame.
  • Consider using more than one person in the video. A team of two can offer some change in pace and narration.
  • A sample or model in hand can make the video content livelier. Be creative in the way you introduce your video.

 

Important: If you shoot the interview in a lab, please wear eye protection! A lab coat is also recommended.

 

Also important: We prefer that you do not provide files in a Microsoft video format. The ACS video staff can work with virtually any other format.

 

If your video does not include captions identifying the speakers, please provide that information to ACS so that we can add those title graphics to your video.