ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY paper; taking into account the comments of reviewers; communicating ultimate acceptance or rejection to the corresponding authors; monitoring the progress of the review process; and carrying out a final check of accepted manuscripts for appropriate format and style. Reviewers are picked by the technical editors. At least two reviewers are carefully selected for each paper; selection is based on the subject matter of the paper, the experts available in a given area, and the editorial staff member's knowledge of the habits of proposed reviewers. Thus, known slow reviewers are avoided when possible. Potential reviewers for each paper are identified through various means, one of which may be a computer search of subjects that reviewers have indicated are their areas of expertise. Reviewers are normally asked to respond within four weeks, and if they are late, reminders are sent. Late review notifications are generated and dispatched as fax messages on a weekly basis. Reviews are sent directly to the technical editor to whom the paper has been assigned. Reviews may be returned by fax, electronic mail, and regular mail. If the reviewers do not agree on the disposition of the paper, or if the technical and scientific strengths or shortcomings of the work have not been adequately addressed, additional reviewers may be selected. The reviews (usually at least two) are used by the technical editor in making the final decision about the disposition of the manuscript. Letters communicating the decision proceed directly from the office of the technical editor to the corresponding author. Tips for authors • Prepare your paper with the audience of the publication in mind. Papers prepared for other journals are likely to need some revision to make them suitable for ES&T. • Clearly state in the introduction the purpose of the work and put the work into perspective with earlier work in the area. This may appear obvious, but authors often fail to clearly state the purpose and significance of their work. • Write concisely. The majority of articles are expected to be fewer than five published pages (less than 25 word processor produced pages, double-spaced with 12point type, including tables and figures). Long manuscripts are looked at much more closely and critically by both reviewers and editors and may be summarily rejected. Do not repeat information, figures, or tables that have appeared elsewhere. Use illustrative data rather than complete data where appropriate. • Suggest names and addresses of possible reviewers for your paper. You may
also suggest the names of persons whom you do not want to review the paper. The editors try to use at least one reviewer who has been suggested by authors. This cannot be assured, however, since specific reviewers may not be available or may already be overloaded. • Follow the Current Research Author's Guide. • If your manuscript is rejected or requires revision: Read the reviews carefully. If the reviewers have missed the point, as authors often claim, consider how the presentation can be clarified and improved to make the point clear. If reviewers have not understood, it is unlikely that readers will understand. Is the manuscript, after all, more suitable for another journal? Is the work sufficiently complete, or do you need to do more work before seeking publication? If you feel strongly that the paper has not been judged fairly, then carefully revise the manuscript, taking into account the reviewers' criticisms, and send the manuscript to the office of the technical editor with a rebuttal letter asking that the manuscript be reconsidered. Provide an itemized list of changes made in the manuscript in response to reviewer comments, as well as objective rebuttals to all other criticisms.
Current research author's guide This manuscript preparation guide is published to aid authors in writing, and editors and reviewers in expediting the review and publication of, research manuscripts in Environmental Science & Technology, including full research articles and communications. For a detailed discussion with examples of the major aspects of manuscript preparation, please refer to The ACS Style Guide (1986). Submission of manuscript The following procedure applies to the submission of manuscripts for consideration as research articles, Research Communications, Critical Reviews, Policy Analysis articles, and Correspondence. Five copies of the manuscript and a cover letter should be sent to the Editor, Environmental Science & Technology, Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering, School of Public Health, 131 Rosenau Hall, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400. Include e-mail and fax addresses for the corresponding author, if possible. Title Use specific and informative titles. They should be as brief as possible, consistent
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with the need for defining the subject of the paper. If trade names are used, give generic names in parentheses. Key words in titles assist in effective literature retrieval. Authorship List the first name, middle initial, and last name of each author. Omit professional and official titles. Give the complete mailing address where work was performed. When present address of an author is different, include the new information in a footnote. In each paper with more than one author, the name of the author to whom inquiries should be addressed carries an asterisk. The explanation appears on the contents page. Include an e-mail address, telephone and fax number for the corresponding author, if possible. Abstract An abstract, which will appear at the beginning of each paper, must accompany each manuscript. Authors' abstracts frequently are used directly for Chemical Abstracts. Use between 150-200 words to give purpose, methods or procedures, significant new results, and conclusions. Write for literature searchers as well as journal readers, but do not include background material in the Abstract. Abstracts submitted to ACS journals as part of an accepted manuscript will be published in Advance ACS Abstracts up to eight weeks before the journal is published. Authors should take this into account when planning their intellectual and patent activities related to the paper. The actual date of the abstract publication is recorded in a footnote in the published paper. Notice: Authors have the option of designating a figure or table from their paper to be published along with their abstract in the new publication, ES&T News and Research Notes. The selected figure should convey significant details of the research; maps, photographs, and other types of background information are not recommended. Designation of the selected figure or table should be indicated right after the abstract of the manuscript. If no figure or table is designated, it will be assumed that the author has chosen not to select one. Publication of the abstract is contingent upon acceptance of the full paper. A separate abstract should not be prepared specifically for this new product. Key words Authors are asked to suggest up to six key words that may be used by Chemical Abstracts and other electronic search systems at ACS for identifying and cataloging the manuscript after publication.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Text Consult a current issue for general style. Note requirements for brevity! Assume your readers to be professionals not necessarily expert in your particular field; therefore, spell out all acronyms on first use. Historical summaries are seldom warranted. However, documentation and summary material should be sufficient to establish an adequate background. Divide the article into sections, each with an appropriate heading, but do not over sectionalize. The text should have only enough divisions to make organization effective and comprehensible without destroying the continuity of the text. Keep all information pertinent to a particular section within that section. Avoid repetition. Do not use footnotes; include the information in the text. Please remember to number all pages of the manuscript. Introduction. Discuss the relationship of your work to previously published work, but do not repeat. If a recent article has summarized work on the subject, cite the summarizing article without repeating its individual citations. Experimental section. Describe pertinent and critical factors involved in all experimental work so that the method can be reproduced, but avoid excessive description. Apparatus: List devices only if of specialized nature. Reagents: List and describe preparation of special reagents only. Procedure: Omit details of procedures that are common knowledge to those in the field. Brief mention of published procedures may be included, but details must be left to literature cited. Results and discussion. This section provides the authors with the opportunity to discuss their findings, postulate explanations for data, elucidate models, and compare their results with those of other works. Be complete but concise. Avoid nonpertinent comparisons or contrasts, speculations that are unwarranted by the new information presented in the paper, and verbose discussion. Conclusions. In the past, ES&T has allowed authors to include a section summarizing conclusions of the work. Given the intense competition for space in the journal, we have discontinued this practice. Do not include a conclusions section in ES&T research articles. Include major conclusions in the abstract and in the results and discussion section. Manuscript requirements Manuscripts should be prepared with strict attention to brevity. The majority of articles are expected to be fewer than five published pages (fewer than 25 pages of double-spaced text including references, graphs, and tables). Processing time will
be shortened if the editors do not have to return manuscripts to be condensed. Five complete legible copies of the manuscript are required. They should be typed double or triple spaced on one side of 22 x 28 cm paper, with text, tables, and illustrations of a size that can be mailed to reviewers under one cover. Duplicated copies will be accepted only if very clear. If pertinent references are unpublished, furnish copies of the work or sufficient information to enable reviewers to evaluate the manuscript. When tables are submitted, they should be furnished with appropriate titles and should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numbers in order of reference in the text. Double space with wide margins, and prepare tables in a consistent form, each on a separate 22 x 28 cm sheet. Figures should be carefully designed and prepared. Use high-quality white paper; avoid the use of thin, transparent, or textured paper. All figures should be prepared by use of a high-quality graphics plotter or printer (typing does not reproduce well); lettering should be of a size that can be read after reduction. Label the axes outside the graph proper. Number all illustrations consecutively. Supply typed captions and legends on a separate page. Original drawings (or sharp prints) of graphs and diagrams and glossy prints of photographs should be provided when the manuscript is submitted. Color reproduction of figures is possible provided the author pays all incremental charges. An estimate of these charges will be given upon request. A letter acknowledging the author s willingness to defray die cost of color reproductions should accompany the revised manuscript. Nomenclature The nomenclature should conform with current American usage. Insofar as possible, authors should use systematic names similar to those used by Chemical Abstracts Service or IUPAC. Chemical Abstracts nomenclature rules are contained in Appendix IV of the current Chemical Abstracts Index Guide. A list of ring systems, including names and numbering systems, is found in the Ring Systems Handbook, American Chemical Society, Columbus, OH, 1988. Use consistent units of measure (preferably SI). If nomenclature is specialized, include a Nomenclature section at the end of the paper, giving definitions and dimensions for all terms. Write out names of Greek letters and special symbols in margin of manuscript at point of first use. If subscripts and superscripts are necessary, place them accurately. Avoid trivial names. Trade names should
be defined at point of first use (registered trade names should begin with a capital letter). Identify typed letters and numbers that could be misinterpreted, for example, one and the letter 1, zero and the letter 0. Formulas and equations Chemical formulas should correspond to the style of ACS publications. Chemical equations should be balanced and numbered consecutively along with mathematical equations. The mathematical portions of the paper should be as brief as possible, particularly where standard derivations and techniques are commonly available in standard works. Safety Authors are requested to call special attention—both in their manuscripts and in their correspondence with the editors—to safety considerations such as explosive tendencies, precautionary handling procedures, and toxicity. Acknowledgment Include essential credits in an Acknowledgment section at the end of the text. Meeting presentation data or other information regarding the work reported (for example, financial support) is included here. References Literature references should be numbered and listed in order of reference in text. Attach copies if available. Give complete information, using abbreviations for titles of periodicals as in the Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index, 1907-89. For periodical references to be considered complete, they must contain authors surnames with initials, journal source, year of issue, volume number, and the first and last page numbers of the article. Consult The ACS Style Guide for reference style. The accuracy of the references is the responsibility of the authors. They should be listed by author, patentee, or equivalent. In the text, just the number should be used, or the name should be followed by the number. Anonymous is not acceptable for authorship. If the author is unknown, list the reference by company, agency, or journal source. Do not list references as in press unless they have been formally accepted for publication. Supplementary material Extensive tables, graphs, spectra, calculations, or other material auxiliary to the printed article will be included in the microfilm edition of the journal. Identify supplementary material as to content, manuscript title, and authors. Three copies of the supplementary material, one in
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ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY a form suitable for photo reproduction, should accompany the manuscript for consideration by the editor and reviewers. The material should be typed on white paper with black typewriter ribbon or printed on a high-quality (300 dpi) laser printer. If individual characters for any of the material, computer or otherwise, are broken or disconnected, the material is definitely unacceptable. Figures and illustrative material should preferably be original high- contrast drawings or good prints of originals. Optimum size is 22 x 28 cm. Minimum acceptable character size is 1.5 mm. The caption for each figure should appear on the same piece of copy with the figure. Be sure to refer to supplementary material in text where appropriate. Supplementary material may be obtained in photocopy or microfiche form at nominal cost. Material of more than 20 pages is available in microfiche only. Photocopy or microfiche must be stated clearly in the order. Prepayment is required. See instructions at the end of individual papers. The supplementary material is abstracted and indexed by Chemical Abstracts Service. Subscribers to microfilm editions receive, free, the supplementary material in microfiche form from individual papers in any particular issue. For information, contact Microforms Program at the ACS in Washington, DC, or call (202) 872-4554.
Manuscript preparation: Text and figures Manuscript submission on disk General information. The final accepted version of the manuscript should be submitted on disk. Manuscripts prepared with the software packages listed below will be used for production, providing the following guidelines are adhered to. Documents prepared with other word-processing packages will be handled on an experimental basis with the understanding that the use of these files in production cannot be guaranteed. Failure to adhere to the following instructions may prevent all or part of the material supplied on disk from being used in production.
A hardcopy version of the manuscript is required for review. The disk should accompany the final accepted version of the manuscript. The version on the disk MUST exactly match the final version accepted in hardcopy. When preparing a manuscript, use the document mode or its equivalent in the word-processing program; i.e., do not save files in "Text Only" (ASCII) mode. Do not include any page-layout instructions such as placement information for graphics in the file. The text should be left-justified, and automatic end-of-line hyphenation should be turned off. Use carriage returns only to end headings and paragraphs, not to break lines of text. Do not insert spaces before punctuation. References must conform to the format printed in the journal. Ensure that all characters are correctly represented throughout the manuscript: for example, 1 (one) and 1 (ell), 0 (zero) and O (oh), x (ex) and x (times sign). Check the final copy carefully for consistent notation and correct spelling. The Editorial Office conversion program will faithfully translate any errors to the typeset copy. Check the disk with a virus detection program. Disks containing viruses will not be processed. Label the disk with the manuscript number and the corresponding author name. Provide the platform, version of software used, and filenames on the Diskette Description form. All text (including the title page, abstract, all sections of the body of the paper, figure captions, scheme or chart titles and footnotes, and references) and tabular material should be in one file, with the complete text first followed by the tabular material. It is best to use the fonts "Times" and "Symbol." Other fonts, particularly those that do not come bundled with the system software, may not translate properly. Ensure that all special characters (e.g., Greek characters, math symbols, etc.) are present in the body of the text as characters and not as graphic representations. Consult the documentation for the specific software package being used on how to detect the presence of graphics in the files, and replace them with the appropriate text characters. Tables may be created using a word processor's text mode or table format feature. The table format feature is preferred. Ensure each data entry is in its own table cell. If the text mode is used, separate columns with a single tab and use a line feed (return) at the end of each row.
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Graphics (e.g., figures, schemes, etc.) should be in a separate file. Most packages for creating them will allow the user to choose a format in which to save a file. TIFF (tagged image file format), PostScript, or Encapsulated PostScript is preferred. The filename for the graphic should be descriptive of the graphic; e.g., Figurel, Figure2, or Schemel would contain the artwork for the graphic in Figure 1, Figure 2, or Scheme 1, respectively. The programs to enable the use of graphics and equations are currently under development, and all files received will help our development effort. As additional features become available, these instructions will be updated on the ACS fileserver. Users with World Wide Web browser can obtain up-to-date information on the submission of softcopy manuscripts at "http://pubs. acs.org/instruct/mssondsk.txt." Gopher users should use the address "acsinfo. acs.org." Information on submission of softcopy manuscripts is in the document "Manuscript Submission on Disk" located in the directory "ACS Publications." Currently acceptable word processing packages Macintosh: WordPerfect 3.0, Microsoft Word up to version 6.0, MacWrite II, MacWrite 5.0 (usually), Microsoft Works 2.0, WriteNow 2.0, and FrameMaker 5.0. IBM and Compatibles: WordPerfect up to version 6.1, Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0a, Microsoft Word for DOS up to version 5.5, and FrameMaker 5.0. Special instructions for specific word processors. Microsoft Word. Greek letters and special symbols (to the extent that it is possible) should be created by applying Symbol font to ASCII characters typed into the file. If characters are selected from the symbol pallet and pasted in, they may be lost when the file is converted. The "ALLCAPS" option in the character format box should not be used. The SEO field should not be used. WordPerfect. Use the normal SUP and SUB codes, not AdvUP and AdvDn, to create superscript and subscript characters. For further information. American Chemical Society, Journals Publishing Operations, 2540 Olentangy River Road, P.O. Box 3330, Columbus, OH 43210. Phone: (614) 447-3665, fax: (614) 447-3745, e-mail:
[email protected].
