Guide for Authors

Contents

• Overview
• Article length and supplementary data
• Target audience
• Timeline
• Formatting
• Referencing style
• Tables and figures
• Submission of completed manuscript
• Comments and invited replies

Overview

The success of Geochemical Perspectives lies in the publication of top quality manuscripts in a timely manner. Manuscripts should be written so that they tell a story and are interesting to a broad audience, i.e. to all geochemists, not only specialists in the author’s field. Each article should provide an overview and synthesis. It should not be a review. It should tell the history of the development of a field, tell how new research directions came about and offer opinions about the direction new research should or could go in the future. We also encourage a large number of figures and photos, to make the text accessible and interesting.

Co-authorship should be discussed at an early stage with the Editor. Any addition or change of co-author is not permitted without prior agreement of the entire Editorial Board.

Article length and supplementary data

Each article consists of 40,000 to 60,000 words including figures, tables, references and index. An article should be 100-150 pages in A5 format. More cannot be published.

If necessary, we accept electronic supplementary material. Supplementary files will be published online alongside the electronic version, on the Geochemical Perspectives website.

Target audience

Geochemical Perspectives articles are written at a level that is accessible for teaching at third year bachelor or first year graduate school level but are sufficiently broad and cutting edge to be of interest to junior or senior scientists. They ought to contain state of the art science, put into the perspective of the development of that branch of geochemistry.

Timeline

The following schedule is necessary to achieve timely publication. T is the target publication date:

• Month T – 6: Submission of manuscript with a list of 3-6 suggested reviewers that could help improve scientific content.
• Month T – 6 to T – 4: Review of manuscript for scientific content.
• Month T – 4 to T – 3: Revisions by author(s).
• Month T – 3 to T – 2.5: Copy-editing for improving clarity, correcting typos etc.
• Month T – 2.5 to T – 2: Submission to typesetter.
• Month T – 2 to T – 1:  Verification/corrections of proofs from typesetter.
• Month T – 1: Submission to printer.

Manuscripts will be reviewed rapidly for content and readability by at least three Geochemical Perspectives editors and/or external experts.

Formatting

Articles should be written using MS Word.
Manuscripts (including text, references, acknowledgments and figure captions) should be typed double-spaced, using 12 pt Times New Roman. More information about tables and figures is provided below. Please use British English spelling, grammar and style; we recommend setting the language as English UK in the text editor.

Geochemical Perspectives uses three levels of heading:

– BOLD CAPITALS size 16 pt (which will be formatted in colour by the typesetter)
– Bold normal size 14 pt (which will be formatted in colour by the typesetter)
– Bold normal size 12 pt (which will be formatted in colour by the typesetter)

In the text:

• Leave one empty line above and below each heading.
• Number headings as 1. then subheadings as 1.1 then sub-subheadings as 1.1.1
• Do not indent paragraphs (all paragraphs will be formatted appropriately by the typesetter). Leave one empty line between paragraphs.
• Use standard SI units. Use units without punctuation and with appropriate spacing (leaving one space between the unit and the quantity), thus: 7 kJ mol-1, 25 °C.
• Define terms in mathematical equations. Use symbols compatible with journals commonly used by geochemists (American Mineralogist, Canadian Mineralogist, Chemical Geology, Earth and Planetary Science, Mineralogical Magazine, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta or Clays and Clay Minerals).

We follow the recommendations of the International Mineralogical Association regarding mineral nomenclature. See recommendations.

Referencing style

Citations
Citations may be made directly or parenthetically. Groups of references should be listed first chronologically, then alphabetically.

• Single author: the author’s name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication. Example: Smith, 2000. Example for parenthetical citation: (Smith, 2000) or « Smith (2000) suggested that… »
• Two authors: both authors’ names and the year of publication. Example: Smith and Jones, 2005. Example for parenthetical citation: (Smith and Jones, 2005) or « Smith and Jones (2005) suggested that… »
• Three or more authors: first author’s name followed by “et al.” and the year of publication. Example: Smith et al., 2000. Example for parenthetical citation: (Smith et al., 2000) or « Smith et al. (2000) suggested that… »
• Several references following each other should be separated by a semicolon: Bargar et al., 1999; Fitts et al., 1999; Ostergren et al., 2000a,b.

References should be listed at the end of each section. This is required for the GeoScienceWorld web access. Articles that are not published cannot be referenced.

Reference list

• Reference to a journal publication:
  Smith, J., Jones, A.J., Williams, R.A. (2003) The chemistry of Sulfur. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 43, 55–99.
• Reference to a book:
  Strunk Jr., W., White, E.B. (1979) The Elements of Style. Third Edition, Macmillan, New York, 100 pp.
• Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
  Jones, G.U., Smith, L.B. (1995) The chemistry of Hydrogen. In: James, B.S., Berlin, R.N. (Eds.) The Elements from A to Z. Smith-Publishing Inc., New York, 21–34.
• References should be ordered alphabetically by authors name and as follows for a same author:
  – Single author by chronological order
  – Two authors by chronological order
  – Three authors or more by chronological order
  Example:
  Raiswell, R. (1984)
  Raiswell, R. (2011)
  Raiswell, R., Berner, R.A. (1985)
  Raiswell, R., Anderson, T.F. (2005)
  Raiwell, R., Canfield, D.E., Berner, R.A. (1994)

Figure references

• In the text, as “Figure 1.1 describes…”. If the reference is parenthetical, it should be “(Fig. 1.1)”.
• In a caption, as “Figure section number.figure number” (example: “Figure 1.1″ followed by the caption).

Tables and figures

• Take advantage of the ability to publish figures and photographs in colour; use striking graphics.
• Although it is the author’s responsibility for producing figures, some help is provided in improving images, homogenising styles and obtaining permissions.
• For naming your figures and tables, please use the following convention: Figure section number.figure number e.g. Figure 1.1 or Table 1.1. When cited in brackets, please use “(Fig. 1.1)”.
• For printing, we need high resolution photographs (300 dpi at published size) or line drawings (preferably coloured) at 600 dpi.
• Pictures from a web site or a PowerPoint presentation are not likely to be adequate for printing. Files in tif, jpeg and eps format are acceptable.
• Use embedded fonts.
• Do not send figures embedded in other software. If you plan to use other software, please contact the Editorial Manager.

Submission of completed manuscript

Send your manuscript to the Geochemical Perspectives office as an MS-Word attachment to an e-mail or upload it in a Dropbox folder and share the folder with mahulshoff@eag.eu.com. The manuscript must include abstract, acknowledgements, references, figure captions and keywords, with the pages numbered. Upload original artwork, figures and tables, as separate files. Save colour in RGB or CYMK form.

Comments and invited replies

Comments

Comments should point out substantial inaccuracies, misrepresentations or major omissions in a Geochemical Perspectives article. Comments can only be submitted within one year of publication of a Geochemical Perspectives article. Comments should be written in a Word document and sent to office@geochemicalperspectives.org.

Comments are normally limited to 500 words (one figure and/or table can be included). Comments should not contain an abstract and Supplementary Information is not allowed. Comments will be assigned to two editors and will follow the process outlined below. Should the editors decide to proceed, the author(s) of the original article will be invited to reply.

Invited replies

The author(s) of the original article that is addressed in a Comment will be invited to reply to the comment. Replies should be written in a Word document and sent to office@geochemicalperspectives.org.

Replies to comments are normally limited to 500 words (one figure and/or table can be included). Replies should not contain an abstract and Supplementary Information is not allowed.

Process for comments and invited replies

1. When a comment is received, two editors will decide whether to pursue or not.
2. If the decision is to pursue, the comment is sent to the original author(s), who is invited to submit a reply.
3. When the reply is received, the editors make a decision (accept / ask for revision / reject or send out for review or seek further advice).

If accepted for publication, both the (possibly revised) comment and (possibly revised) reply will be published at the same time. They will only be published online (no print), with a link available from the page of the original article.
Editors will ensure that the process is completed in a timely manner, but authors should be aware that all the steps may take some time.