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Information for Contributors

Submission Information

Send manuscripts by e-mail (pdf or MS Word) to:

Anja Selnau
Journal of Laser Applications®
c/o Laser Institute of America
13501 Ingenuity Drive, Ste 128
Orlando, FL 32826
Tel: 407-380-1553
Fax: 407-380-5588
Email: aselnau@laserinstitute.org

A cover letter should specify authors, title, Journal, and any special requests. It is strongly preferred to correspond directly with the author rather than through the reports division or through executives of the author's laboratory. Manuscripts returned to authors for revision should be returned within three months. A manuscript returned later than this will generally be regarded as newly submitted and will receive a new receipt date.

Authors whose manuscripts have been accepted for publication will receive a notice informing them of the issue for which it is tentatively scheduled. Upon receipt of proof all subsequent correspondence about the paper should be addressed to:

Editorial Supervisor
Journal of Laser Applications®

American Institute of Physics
Suite 1NO1
2 Huntington Quadrangle
Melville, NY 11747-4502
Tel: 516-576-2443
Fax: 516-576-2638
Email: mmormile@aip.org

Please do not address correspondence about proof, reprints, return of artwork, publication charges, etc., to the Laser Institute of America. To do so simply delays the appropriate action and response.

General information regarding publication charges, copyrights, and similar material may be found at the beginning of each issue.

For general format and style, consult recent issues of the journal and the 1990 Fourth Edition of the AIP Style Manual, published by the American Institute of Physics. For ordering information, visit www.aip.org

Two types of manuscripts are acceptable: Full-Length and Communications. The latter are short contributions not exceeding in length three printed pages including allowances for illustrations, references, and tables. Abstracts are required for manuscripts of both types.

The Manuscript, including the abstract, references, and captions, should be neatly typed in English, double-spaced, on one side of good letter-size 21.6x28-cm (8-1/2x11-in.) white paper with ample margins. It should be carefully proofread by the author. The manuscript must be in good scientific American English; this is the authors' responsibility. Unclear or excessive handwritten insertions are not acceptable. Number all pages in single sequence beginning with the title and abstract page. Authors should submit clear copies or PDF/MS Word file of the manuscript including original illustrations.

 The Title should be concise but informative enough to facilitate information retrieval. The Abstract should be self-contained (contain no footnotes). It should be adequate as an index (giving all subjects, major and minor, about which new information is given), and as a summary (giving the conclusions and all results of general interest in the article). It should be about 5% of the length of the article, but less than 500 words for full-length articles and correspondingly shorter for Communications. It must appear on its own sheets separate from the text. Keywords must be provided.

"Part I," or simply "I," will not be included as part of the title of an article unless Part II has already been submitted for publication in this Journal. Part III, IV,..., etc., are likewise unacceptable unless the prior parts have already been accepted or have appeared in this Journal, and are properly identified in the references.
Author's names should preferably be written in a standard form for all publications to facilitate indexing and avoid ambiguities.

Equations

Equations should be punctuated and aligned to bring out their structure and numbered on the right. Mathematical operation signs indicating continuity of the expression should be placed at the left of the second and succeeding lines. Use x rather than a centered dot, except for scalar products of vectors. The solidus (/) should be used instead of built-up fractions in running text, and in display wherever clarity would not be jeopardized. Use "exp" for complicated exponents.

Notation

Notations must be legible, clear, compact, and consistent with standard usage. All unusual symbols whose identity may not be obvious must be identified the first time they appear, and at all subsequent times when confusion might arise. Superscripts are normally set directly over subscripts; authors should note where readability or the meaning requires a special order.

References and footnotes

References and footnotes are treated alike. They must be numbered consecutively in order of first appearance in the text and should be given in a separate double-spaced list at the end of the text material. Reference should be made to the full list of authors rather than to first author followed by an abbreviation such as et al. References within tables should be designated by lowercase Roman letter superscripts and given at the end of the table. For the proper form, see the AIP Style Manual and recent issues of this journal. The number of a grant or contract is meaningless to our readers and should be omitted unless its inclusion is required by the agency that supports the research.

Separate Tables

Separate Tables (with Roman numerals in the order of their appearance) should be used for all but the simplest tabular material; they should have captions that make the tables intelligible without references to the text. The structure should be clear, with simple column headings giving all units. Unaltered computer output and notation are generally unacceptable. Long tables should, if possible, be submitted in a form ready for direct photo-reproduction.

Free Color Online

If authors supply usable color graphics files in time for the production process, color will appear in the online journal free of charge. A usable color graphics file must be in one of the following formats: Encapsulated PostScript (.eps), PostScript (.ps), and Tagged Image File Format (.tif). No other type of color illustration is acceptable, and only one version of each graphics file will be accepted.
In order to maintain online color as a free service to authors, the journal cannot accept multiple versions of the same graphics file. Authors may not submit two versions of the same illustration (e.g., one for color and one for black & white). When preparing illustrations that will appear in color in the online journal and in black & white in the printed journal, authors must ensure that: (i) colors chosen will reproduce well when printed in black & white and (ii) descriptions of figures in text and captions will be sufficiently clear for both print and online versions. This is the author’s responsibility.

If usable color graphics files are received in time for the production process, authors will see color versions of those illustrations when viewing their author proofs. (The Corresponding Author will receive e-mail notification from AIP when the proof, as a PDF file, is available for downloading.) At the proof stage, authors must insert the phrase, "(Color online)," into the captions of figures that will appear in color in the online journal and in black & white in the printed journal. This is the author’s responsibility. An example of an amended figure caption appears below:

FIG. 10. (Color online) Experimental (dotted curve) and simulated (solid curve) x-ray diffraction spectra.

How to Prepare Your Illustrations

Please adhere to the following guidelines when preparing your illustrations for submission:

General Guidelines for Preparing Illustrations

• Number figures in the order in which they appear in text.
• Label all figure parts with (a), (b), etc. Avoid any large disparity in size of lettering and labels used within one illustration.
• Prepare illustrations in the final published size, not oversized. The maximum published width for a one-column illustration is 3-3/8 inch (8.5 cm). Each illustration should be prepared for 100% reproduction in order to avoid problems arising from large reductions in size.
• In cases where reduction is required, avoid small open symbols that tend to fill in and avoid small lettering; ensure that, in the final published illustration, there is a minimum of 8-point type size (2.8 mm high; 1/8 inch high) for lettering and 0.5-point width for lines.
• Ensure that lettering and lines are dark enough, and thick enough, to reproduce clearly, especially if reduction is necessary. Remember that fine lines tend to disappear upon reduction.

Additional Guidelines for Preparation of Electronic Graphics Files

• Acceptable formats: PostScript (.ps), Encapsulated PostScript (.eps, using either Arial or Times Roman fonts), or Tagged Image File Format (.tif, lzw compressed). Application files (e.g., Corel Draw, Microsoft Word) are not acceptable.
• When submitting your manuscript, submit ALL illustrations for your paper, including line art.
• Make sure there is only ONE figure per file. Each figure file should contain all parts of the figure. For example, if Figure 1 contains three parts (a, b, c), then all parts should be combined in a single file for Figure 1.
• Set the correct orientation for each graphics file.
• Settings: Set the graphic for 600 dpi resolution for line art, 264 dpi for halftones, and 600 dpi for combinations (line art + halftone).
• Save line art as black/white bitmap, not grayscale.
• Save halftones and combinations as grayscale, not black/white bitmap.
• Submit color files at 300 dpi TIFF, PS, or EPS format. If selecting a file mode, use CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) or RGB (red, green, blue).

Use this checklist to avoid the most common mechanical errors in submitted manuscripts.

1. The manuscript must be double-spaced throughout.
2. Number all pages in sequence.
3. Type title and abstract on a separate first page.
4. Type list of references (including footnotes), list of figure captions, and tables on pages separate from each other and from the main text.
5. Type references in the style used by AIP journals.
6. Provide marginal notes to clarify symbols and expressions for the compositor.