Editorial pubs.acs.org/ac
Don’t Grow Your Article Too Long: We Do Have Length Guidelines should be brief − two or three pages are ideal − and so please strive for the shorter length. If a Letter is over four pages, it is too long, and so why not make the Letter a full Article? Similarly, Technical Notes are limited to three to five pages. Again, these are not “average” lengths but the maximum allowable printed lengths. Authors should really try to be under these maxima, keeping in mind that during the revision process reviewers will often request additional information, thereby extending length. Details on how to calculate the final manuscript length are found in the guidelines and are not repeated here. Lastly, please take advantage of the option to include online Supporting Information (SI). The SI is well suited for longer mathematical derivations, detailed experimental protocols, long tables, and an extra example that does not need to be presented in the main article. In essence, this allows you, the author, to focus the essential details in the main article, while providing you the opportunity to include additional information in the SI; the net result is an article that is shorter, easier to review, and more likely to be read. However, as stated in the guidelines, please do not place the entire Experimental Section into the SI; after all, in the field of analytical chemistry, these details are central to our science. Happy writing!
A
s scientists we have learned to write precisely but perhaps not concisely. Interestingly, our wordiness is increasing, or at least our manuscript lengths are growing. Perhaps because of this trend, a number of journals have relaxed their page limits, although many of the higher impact journals have not. Given the number of emails to the Editor regarding this issue, I have been forced to consider whether Analytical Chemistry should relax its length restrictions. While I fully acknowledge that the demise of print does remove one barrier for length, longer articles can impact the timeliness of the review process and challenge the attention span of readers. How has Analytical Chemistry fared historically with regard to article length trends? According to Royce Murray’s 2009 Editorial (DOI 10.1021/ac901221n), in 1983, 1989, 1994, 2000, 2006, and 2008, the average length of papers published in our research section was 3.8, 6.4, 6.7, 7.1, 7.0, and 8.0 pages, respectivelymore than a two-fold increase in 25 years! Several years ago, we instituted a stricter policy of limiting papers to seven pages, and our average manuscript length dropped to 7.1 pages in 2011. Over the years, hundreds of articles that have significantly exceeded our length guidelines have been returned to the authors to shorten before further consideration. Don’t let this happen to you. As one might expect, opinions about the length are subjective and depend on the perspective of the person being asked. As a case in point: when I was applying for academic positions, I asked my postdoctoral advisor how long an academic research proposal should be; he replied that three pages was more than long enough. I learned later that he had just finished a faculty search and had gotten tired of reading more than 100 research applications; his justifiable point of view was that shorter is better. Of course, when I asked how long the research proposals were from the successful candidates, his answer was differenteight pages. This was an interesting lesson that I have seen played out many times in the realm of scientific publishing. I surveyed the Associate Editors for their thoughts on how long research articles should be; most preferred shorter lengths. After all, these editors need to read and secure reviewers for thousands of research articles every year. On the other hand, when I asked our authors and the Editorial Advisory Board of Analytical Chemistry, many thought that longer articles are at times justifiable. And so, a compromise: while our goal is to enforce the length restrictions, we strive to be flexible when warranted. If you have a compelling reason for submitting a longer research article, justify this in your cover letter, and we will consider your reasons. Otherwise, expect to be asked to shorten the manuscript. Accordingly, I refer you to our recently updated author guidelines, where you can view the new slightly longer page limits for each type of manuscript (eight pages now for an Article, a slight increase over the previous limit of seven). Let me point out that we have a short research article type: Letters to Analytical Chemistry. While most Letters are several pages long, a few much longer Letters have been published, and this needs to change. Although the guidelines state a maximum of four pages, Letters are considered on an accelerated basis and © 2012 American Chemical Society
Jonathan V. Sweedler
Published: June 13, 2012 5449
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ac301570g | Anal. Chem. 2012, 84, 5449−5449
