Editorial pubs.acs.org/JACS
Cite This: J. Am. Chem. Soc. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Simplified Submission Requirements for Authors of JACS Communications he Journal of the American Chemical Society has long been the preeminent venue for the dissemination of broad, general chemistry findings to the global chemical community. The Journal considers submissions of both Articles and Communications, the latter of which are restricted to reports of unusual urgency, timeliness, significance, and broad interest. As the field has evolved, so too has the manner in which work is reported. In particular, Communications began as highly focused letters to the Editor that were frequently shorter than one page in length. Over time, more complex research projects resulted in the progression to 2-page Communications, 3-page Communications in special cases,1 and most recently, 4-page Communications as the common format.2 This page-based formatting convention occasionally caused problems for authors in the Journal, increasingly so in the modern digital age. A word processing template intended to guide authors in the preparation of appropriate-length manuscripts more often caused frustration, as the conversion of fonts and formats to published Communications was more of an inexact art than a reliable science. The strict page limit commonly resulted in the need for authors to engage in substantial cuts at the galley proof stage, a time-consuming and exasperating exercise to edit content that had served as the basis of the editorial peer-review underlying the manuscript’s acceptance for publication. Seeking to mitigate this frustration as much as possible, the Journal has in 2018 switched to word count as the defining limit for a JACS Communication rather than a page limit. As described in the Notice to Authors, “A Communication must convey the scientific findings concisely in abstract, main text, and graphical elements as determined by a word count not exceeding 2,200 words, including titles/footnotes/captions of approximately five graphics...” 3 and excluding references. With this change, authors understand from the early stages of manuscript preparation exactly how many words can be used to report their results and conclusions in a Communication. The word limit has been set to reflect the format of Communications today, and the vast majority of published Communications will continue to be ∼4 pages long; however, the focus for authors, editors, reviewers, and readers alike returns to the primary purpose of any scientific publication: the scientific findings being reported. This change for the Journal dovetails with the introduction earlier this year of Review-Ready Submission across the American Chemical Society’s journal portfolio.4 The key features of this effort are a set of standard and simplified formatting requirementsjournal-specific scientif ic requirements still applyand a single reference style for original submissions to any journal. Aspects of this new process are likely to benefit authors in numerous ways. Authors will save considerable time because they can prepare their manuscripts using a single formatting standard acceptable for any ACS journal. Many authors submit their work at different times to different ACS journals; no longer will they need to modify
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© XXXX American Chemical Society
formatting depending on the target journal. This change will also help streamline the manuscript transfer process by eliminating the need to completely reformat manuscripts for the destination journal. The Journal editors hope that these simplified submission requirements are a positive step in support of authors as they seek to broadly disseminate their groundbreaking findings to the worldwide chemistry community.
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Peter J. Stang, Editor Sonja Krane, Senior Managing Editor AUTHOR INFORMATION
ORCID
Peter J. Stang: 0000-0002-2307-0576 Sonja Krane: 0000-0002-6525-8067 Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
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RELATED READINGS
(1) Bard, A. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 6341−6341. Bard, A. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 9353−9353. (2) Stang, P. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 8051−8051. (3) https://pubs.acs.org/paragonplus/submission/jacsat/jacsat_ authguide.pdf, page 11; accessed February 26, 2018. (4) http://axial.acs.org/2018/02/01/review-ready-submission/; accessed February 26, 2018.
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DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b02664 J. Am. Chem. Soc. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
