Author Guidelines

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Scope of the Journal

Journal of Proteome Research (JPR) publishes content encompassing all aspects of global protein analysis and function, including the dynamic aspects of genomics, spatio-temporal proteomics, metabolomics/metabonomics, and clinical proteomics, as well as advances in methodology including bioinformatics. The theme and emphasis is on a multifaceted approach to studying the life sciences through the synergy among the different types of “omics.”

 

Research manuscripts can be submitted as Articles, Letters, Perspectives, Technical Notes, Tutorials, Rapid Communications, and Reviews. More details can be found here.

 

Correspondence to the Editor-in-Chief should be addressed to:

John R. Yates, III, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Proteome Research

Department of Chemical Physiology, The Scripps Research Institute 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037

Telephone: 858-784-8862; Fax: 858-784-8883

E-mail: eic@jpr.acs.org

Manuscript Types

Articles may focus on any phase of proteome research, including sample preparation, separation, characterization, and analysis of proteins (including informatics), as well as the development of new methodologies. Articles that focus on computational methods and data processing (e.g., informatics) will be judged by the usual criteria of originality, technical content, and value to the field. Detailed mathematical derivations, computation procedures, and programs should be presented as Supporting Information or accessible via a reliable third-part site (i.e. SourceForge, BitBucket, and GitHub). If the research involves the use of human or animal samples, the author(s) must have appropriate approval from their institutions and must conform to commonly practiced ethical standards. The Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Research includes information required from authors submitting manuscripts that involve human or animal samples.

 

Letters are opinion pieces related to the field of proteomics. Letters can be supported by brief descriptions of scientific data and references.

 

Perspectives present the author(s)’ view of a new direction in proteome research. They are not intended to be accounts or analyses of an individual’s personal research. Author(s) are encouraged to suggest experts in the field who can review their Perspectives manuscript. Because only a limited number of Perspectives will be published, the Editor-in-Chief recommends author(s) to send a presubmission inquiry to eic@jpr.acs.org.

 

Rapid Communications are concise accounts of work that are especially time-sensitive. To expedite the handling of these manuscripts, author(s) should contact the EIC office with a presubmission inquiry providing an explanation why their manuscript should be considered as a Rapid Communication.

 

Reviews are to be comprehensive, critical accounts of work in selected areas of the proteome research literature; they will be peer-reviewed. Reviews should increase the readers’ knowledge through discriminating comparisons and insightful organization of the material. A mere listing of literature citations with descriptive comments is inadequate. Criteria for acceptability include current importance of the field under review, thoroughness of the literature coverage, and clarity of text.

 

Reviews on proteomics or metabolomics studies of uncharacterized natural products will not be accepted. Author(s) should send a pre-submission inquiry to the EIC office.

 

Technical Notes are brief descriptions of novel instrumentation methodologies or software advances. The advantage(s) of the new instrumentation methodologies or software advancement over those already available must be clearly demonstrated.

 

Tutorials are articles that provide basic instructions on proteomics techniques, with the aim of teaching the reader how to accomplish a specific application. Tutorials are narrower in scope than Reviews but must still cover the relevant background of the topic. Tutorials cover timely topics but do not necessarily present new data. Although many Tutorials are invited, unsolicited submissions will be considered.

 

*For informatics manuscripts, please refer to a 2015 Perspective outlining proposed recommendations for organizing manuscripts to set appropriate expectations for readers and reviewers.

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.

 

A letter should contain the following elements: the name of the Corresponding Author and that person’s complete contact information (mailing address, phone, and e-mail); the name(s) of any other author(s); the full manuscript title; a statement of why the paper is appropriate for Journal of Proteome Research; and a description of any Supporting Information for Publication and/or for Review Only Material. Additionally, author(s) should note any length issues, whether the manuscript was discussed with an Editor before submission, and other issues important for the review process.

Manuscript Text Components

Title. Titles should clearly and concisely reflect the emphasis and content of the paper. Titles are of great importance for current awareness and information retrieval and should be carefully constructed for these purposes.

 

Authorship. Be consistent in author designation; supply first name, middle initial, and last name for complete identification. At least one author must be designated with an asterisk as the author to whom correspondence should be addressed; telephone number and e-mail must be listed for the Corresponding Author. Contact information must be included for all others listed on the manuscript during submission.

 

Abstract. All manuscripts must contain an Abstract (200 words maximum) that should briefly state the purpose of the research, principal results, and major conclusions.

 

Keywords. Please provide keywords to help categorize the manuscript. Author(s) should supply no more than 10 keywords per manuscript.

 

General Organization. All sections of the manuscript must be presented in a clear and concise manner. Indicate the breakdown among and within sections with appropriate headers. Results and Discussion follows the Experimental Section. Examples of formats for each manuscript type: Articles, Letters, Perspectives, Rapid Communications, Reviews, Technical Notes, and Tutorials.

 

Introduction. The Introduction should state the purpose of the investigation and should include appropriate citations of relevant, precedent work but should not include an extensive review of marginally related literature. If the manuscript describes a new or improved method, a clear comparison with existing methods must be provided (including appropriate literature citations).

 

Experimental Section. Use complete sentences (i.e., do not use outline or bullet-point format). Be consistent in voice and tense. For instrumentation, list only devices of a specialized nature. List and describe preparation of special materials only. Do not list materials normally found in the laboratory or preparations described in standard handbooks and texts. A subsection may be added listing the sources for specialized chemicals/reagents. Because methods are intended as instructions to permit work to be repeated by others, give adequate details of critical steps. Very detailed procedures should be presented in a Supporting Information section and author(s) should consider the guidelines for mass spectrometric data.

 

Results and Discussion. The results may be presented in tables or figures; however, many simple findings can be described directly in the text with no need for tables or figures. The discussion should be concise and present an interpretation of the results. In most cases, combining results and discussion in a single section will give a clearer, more compact presentation.

 

Conclusions. Use the Conclusions section only for interpretation and not to summarize information already presented in the text.

 

References. References in the final published article to notes/comments and to the permanent literature should be numbered in one consecutive series at the end of the manuscript by order of mention in the text; use superscript numbers without parentheses. Use Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index abbreviations for journal names and use The ACS Style Guide, 3rd ed. (ACS: Washington, DC, 2006) for the appropriate style to use in citations of journal papers, books, and other publications. For literature references, authors should include full titles of journal articles and book chapters. In the Web edition of the paper, references will be linked to various electronic sources (the corresponding abstract from Chemical Abstracts Service, full text from other ACS journals, etc.); therefore, the accuracy of the references is critical. Author(s) are responsible for the accuracy of the references.

 

List submitted articles as “in press” only if formally accepted for publication and give the volume number and year, if known. Otherwise, use “unpublished work” with the name of the institution where the work was completed and the date. Include name, affiliation, and date for “personal communications.” For work published online (e.g., ASAP, in press), the DOI should be furnished in addition to the standard bibliographic information.

 

Examples of the reference format:

 

For journals:

(1) Maher, A. D.; Hayes, B.; Cocks, B.; Marett, L.; Wales, W. J.; Rochfort, S. J. Latent biochemical relationships in the blood-milk metabolic axis of dairy cows revealed by statistical integration of 1H NMR spectroscopic data. J. Proteome Res. 2013, 12, 1428–1435.

 

For books:

(2) Morris, R. The Last Sorcerers: The Path from Alchemy to the Periodic Table; Joseph Henry Press: Washington, DC, 2003; pp 145–158.

 

For book chapters:

(3) Fierke, C. A.; Hammes, G. G. Transient Kinetic Approaches to Enzyme Mechanisms. In Contemporary Enzyme Kinetics and Mechanism, 2nd ed.; Purich, D., Ed.; Academic Press: New York, 1996; pp 1–35.

 

For journal articles published online ahead of issue placement, the DOI should be used:

(4) Mata, M. M.; da Silva, W. P.; Wilson, R.; Lowe, E. K.; Bowman, J. P. Attached and planktonic Listeria monocytogenes global proteomic responses and associated influence of strain genetics and temperature. J. Proteome Res. 2015, DOI: 10.1021/pr501114e.

 

Acknowledgments. Author(s) may acknowledge technical assistance, gifts, the source of special materials, financial support, meeting presentation information, and the auspices under which work was done, including permission to publish. During manuscript submission, the submitting author is asked to select funding sources from the list of agencies included in the FundRef Registry.

 

If the article is dedicated to another scholar, a brief statement, such as “This article is dedicated to [name]” can be included.

 

Statements about author contributions to the work or equal contributions of work should be included as a separate statement.

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

For a manuscript to be considered for review, the author(s) must report on biologically significant research findings or document novelty in methodology or software in the analysis of complex biological samples. In addition to full content review, manuscripts are subjected to screening for the inclusion of sufficient information about the procedures used for mass spectrometry and data analysis. Author(s) and reviewer(s) are encouraged to consider the guidelines governing the submission of mass spectrometric data including the analysis and documentation of peptide and protein identifications.

 

Author(s) are REQUIRED to deposit raw files and associated metadata in repositories such as ProteomeXchange (preferred) or other public repositories and to provide access to the information in the manuscript, including both the link as well as any necessary passwords (example shown below). Access to the information will be kept confidential while the manuscript is under review but will be open to the public upon publication. Please note: Providing this information on a link managed by the author(s) is not acceptable.

 

Example: The mass spectrometry proteomics data have been deposited to the PRIDE Archive (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/pride/archive/) via the PRIDE partner repository with the data set identifier PXDxxxx and 10.6019/PXDxxxx.

Username: reviewerxxxx@ebi.ac.uk Password: xxxxxx

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

Journal of Proteome Research authors are allowed to deposit an initial draft of their manuscript in a preprint service such as or including these specific preprint servers, ChemRxiv, bioRxiv, arXiv, or the applicable repository for their discipline prior to submission. Please note any use of a preprint server in the cover letter and include a link to the preprint, and as appropriate, state how the manuscript has been adjusted/updated between deposition and submission. Electronic posting of conference presentations or posters secured by subscription or institutional logins are not considered prior publication works. All other prior/redundant publication is forbidden.

 

Upon publication in Journal of Proteome Research, authors are advised to add a link from the preprint to the published paper via the Digital Object Identifier (DOI). ChemRxiv, bioRxiv adds this link for authors automatically after publication. For further details, contact the Editorial Office.

 

View the ACS Publications policy on theses and dissertations.

Editorial Policies

Author(s) must submit the following material as separate files: Manuscript File (as a single file with figures, tables, and captions); cover letter; Supporting Information for Publication, if applicable; and additional materials for review, if needed (submit as Supporting Information for Review Only). A manuscript PDF file is required. Authors may upload their own PDF version of the manuscript, or the submission system will generate one. This file will be used during the peer review process. Author(s) must view and approve the PDF version of their manuscript prior to formal submission to the Editor. Author(s) should review the journal’s instructions for preparing manuscripts before submission. Close attention to all of the required details will expedite the review process and reduce the time to publication.

 

Request for Change after Submission. If an author wants to change a manuscript or add materials after submission, the author should inform the Editor via e-mail.

 

Peer Review. Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts, and only those judged to fall within the scope of the journal and to be of potential interest to Journal of Proteome Research readers are sent for external evaluation. Authors are urged to suggest one or more editors whose expertise is related to the submitted work. Suggested editors may not be at the same institution as any of the manuscript authors. Submitted manuscripts should not be published or under consideration elsewhere and may be examined using software to detect duplication of already published material.

 

Reject after Editorial Review. The Editors identify submissions that in their expert opinions would not suitable for publication in the journal; these manuscripts are rejected without additional external reviewers. Oftentimes, more than one Editor will be consulted during this initial screening. Examples of manuscripts that would not be peer reviewed include that the paper is: lacking adequate data, of poor language usage, or an inappropriate topic for Journal of Proteome Research.

 

Editorial Decision. Reviewers evaluate the manuscript on the basis of originality, technical quality, clarity of presentation, and importance to the field. The Editors evaluate the reviewers’ arguments in the context of the scope and aims of the journal and make the final decision on each manuscript. The possible decisions include: accept; revise to address the concerns of the reviewers before the Editor makes a final decision; reject but consider a resubmission if significant additional work is completed; or reject on the grounds of major technical or interpretational flaws, insufficient advance, or lack of novelty and interest.

 

In cases when reviewers make different or conflicting recommendations, the Editors may request additional information from the reviewers, consult other experts, and/or ask the authors to clarify sections in question. Some manuscripts that are rejected may be considered upon resubmission if significant additional work is completed, but authors are required to let the Editor know that the work is being resubmitted for reconsideration. Reviewers may be asked to review subsequent versions of the manuscript, especially if new data have been added to the paper, to evaluate whether the authors have addressed the scientific concerns. In such cases, blind copies of all reviewers’ comments are normally sent to the reviewers. The Editors will expedite any additional rounds of reviews to ensure timely consideration of the manuscript. The Editor, who accepts full responsibility for decisions about manuscripts, may not always follow the recommendations of reviewers.

 

Any appeals should be addressed to the Editor who handled the manuscript and should include a concise statement of the specific reason(s) for appeal.

 

The Editors strongly disapprove of any attempts by authors to determine the identity of reviewers or to confront potential reviewers. The editorial policy of this journal is neither to confirm nor to deny any speculation about the identities of our reviewers. The names of reviewers will not be given to author(s) without the written consent of the reviewers.

 

Authors whose manuscripts are published in Journal of Proteome Research are expected to review manuscripts submitted by other researchers from time to time. Information for Reviewers is published separately.

 

Revised Manuscripts. Revised manuscripts require an “Authors' response to Reviewers” document to be submitted along with the revised manuscript. Author(s) should upload one file per reviewer addressing the individual reviewer’s comments (i.e., Author response to Reviewer #1, Author response to Reviewer #2). This applies to revisions and resubmissions after previous rejections.

Providing Potential Reviewer Names

Please suggest 5-8 potential reviewers, including e-mail addresses, in the cover letter and in ACS Paragon Plus during submission. 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

Journal of Proteome Research 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. Images chosen for the front cover will be published at no cost to the author. 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.

 

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 × 10 in. (or 20.80 cm × 25.40 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.

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.

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