I. SUBMISSION OF ARTICLES

Please find a submission checklist at the end of the Guide for Authors.

Submission for all types of manuscripts to the International Journal of Mineral Processing proceeds totally online which can be accessed, via the Elsevier Editorial System (EES) Website for this journal at:

http://ees.elsevier.com/minpro

You will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. When submitting a manuscript to Elsevier Editorial System, authors need to provide an electronic version of their manuscript. For this purpose only original source files are allowed, so no PDF files. Authors should select a category designation for their manuscripts (research paper, review article, technical note, letter to the editor). Once the uploading is done, the system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for reviewing. All correspondence, including the editor's decision and request for revisions, will be by e-mail.

If online submission is not possible, manuscripts may be submitted by sending the source files on disk together with a matching hard copy (both text and figures and tables) by registered mail to one of the Editors (Please note that this is not the preferred way of submission and could cause a considerable delay in publication of the article.):

K. Heiskanen
Helsinki University of Technology
P.O. Box 6200
FIN-02015 HUT
Finland
E-mail: kheiskan@cc.hut.fi
FAX: +358 9 451 2795

D.R. Nagaraj
Cytec Industries Inc.
1937 West Main St.
Stamford, CT 06904
USA
E-mail: d.r.nagaraj@cytec.com
FAX: +1 203 321 2974

Submission of a paper implies that it has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and that if accepted it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the publisher.

II. MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Manuscripts should be written in English with double-spacing and wide margins (at least 1" on all sides). Please use line numbering throughout the document. Authors should consult a recent issue of the journal for style if possible. The Editors reserve the right to adjust style to certain standards of uniformity. Authors should retain a copy of their manuscript since we cannot accept responsibility for damage or loss of papers. Original manuscripts are discarded one month after publication.

Provide the following data on the title page (in the order given):

1. Title.
Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.

2. Author name and affiliations.
Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name, and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.

3. Corresponding author.
Clearly indicate who is willing to handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address.

4. Present and permanent addresses.
If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

5. Abstract.
A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separate from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. References should therefore be avoided, but if essential, they must be cited in full, without reference to the reference list. Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

6. Keywords.
Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

N.B. Acknowledgements. Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise.

Manuscript Organization

Subdivision of the article. Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ?), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text.' Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.

7. Introduction.
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

8. Area description/Materials and methods.
Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.

9. Results.
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them.

10. Discussion and Conclusions.
A short Conclusion section is to be presented.

11. Acknowledgements.
Place acknowledgements, including information on grants received, before the references, in a separate section, and not as a footnote on the title page.

12. Appendices.
If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: (Eq. A.1), (Eq. A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, (Eq. B.1) and so forth.

13. References.
See separate section, below.

14. Figure legends, tables, figures, schemes.
Present these, in this order, at the end of the article. They are described in more detail below. High-resolution graphics files must always be provided separate from the main text file.

Further information on:

A. Text graphics.
Present incidental graphics not suitable for mention as figures, plates or schemes at the end of the article and number them 'Graphic 1', etc. Their precise position in the text can then be defined similarly (both on the manuscript and in the file). See further under the section, Preparation of illustrations. Ensure that high-resolution graphics files are provided, even if the graphic appears as part of your normal wordprocessed text file.

B. Mathematical formulae.
Present simple formulae in the line of normal text where possible. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line.
Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separate from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

C. Footnotes.
Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article, using superscript Arabic numbers. Many wordprocessors build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Should this not be the case, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes themselves on a separate sheet at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.
Table footnotes. Indicate each footnote in a table with a superscript lowercase letter.

D. Tables.
Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Avoid vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.

E. Nomenclature and units.
Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other quantities are mentioned, give their equivalent in SI.

F. Preparation of supplementary data.
Elsevier now accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data is provided in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit http://www.elsevier.com.

G.Language Editing.
Information on author-paid and pre-accept language editing services available to authors can be found at http://www.elsevier.com, by clicking on "Guide to Publishing with Elsevier."

III. REFERENCES

Citations in the text: Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications should not be in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Citing and listing of web references: As a minimum, the full URL should be given. Any further information, if known (author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

Text: All citations in the text should refer to:
1. Single author: the author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication;
2. Two authors: both authors' names and the year of publication;
3. Three or more authors: first author's name followed by 'et al.' and the year of publication. Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically). Groups of references should be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically.

Examples: "as demonstrated (Allan, 1996a, 1996b, 1999; Allan and Jones, 1995). Kramer et al. (2000) have recently shown ...."

List: References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters "a", "b", "c", etc., placed after the year of publication.

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication:

Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J.A.J., Lupton, R.A., 2000. The art of writing a scientific article. J. Sci. Commun. 163, 51-59.

Reference to a book:

Strunk Jr., W., White, E.B., 1979. The Elements of Style, third ed. Macmillan, New York.

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:

Mettam, G.R., Adams, L.B., 1999. How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: Jones, B.S., Smith , R.Z. (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age. E-Publishing Inc., New York, pp. 281-304.

Journal names should be abbreviated according to list of serial title word abbreviations: http://www.issn.org/lstwa.html.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

In addition to regular bibliographic information, the digital object identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisher upon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly 'Articles in press' because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information. The correct format for citing a DOI is shown as follows (example taken from a document in the journal Physics Letters B): doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2003.10.071

NB: Please give as much bibliographic information as possible with the DOI. Please give the name(s) of the author(s), title of the paper, journal name and if possible year of publication.

When you use the DOI to create URL hyperlinks to documents on the web, they are guaranteed never to change.

IV. PREPERATION OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Photographs, charts and diagrams are all to be referred to as "Figure(s)" and should be numbered consecutively in the order to which they are referred. They should accompany the manuscript, but should not be included within the text.

Please visit our Web site at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions for detailed instructions on preparing electronic artwork.

Color figures in the printed issue can be accepted only if the authors defray the full cost. However, if together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures, then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. Please be informed that color figure costs are EURO 350 for every first page. All subsequent pages cost EURO 175.

Tables should be numbered consecutively and given a suitable caption and each table typed on a separate sheet. Footnotes to tables should be typed below the table and should be referred to by superscript lowercase letters. No vertical rules should be used. Tables should not duplicate results presented elsewhere in the manuscript, (e.g. in graphs).

V. PROOFS

When your manuscript is received by the Publisher it is considered to be in its final form. Proofs are not to be regarded as 'drafts'.

One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author, to be checked for typesetting/editing. No changes in, or additions to, the accepted (and subsequently edited) manuscript will be allowed at this stage. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.

A form with queries from the copyeditor may accompany your proofs. Please answer all queries and make any corrections or additions required. The Publisher reserves the right to proceed with publication if corrections are not communicated. Return corrections within 2 days of receipt of the proofs. Should there be no corrections, please confirm this.

Elsevier will do everything possible to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. In order to do this we need your help. When you receive the (PDF) proof of your article for correction, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Subsequent corrections will not be possible, so please ensure your first sending is complete. Note that this does not mean you have any less time to make your corrections, just that only one set of corrections will be accepted.

VI. COPYRIGHT

All authors must sign the "Transfer of Copyright" agreement before the article can be published. This transfer agreement enables Elsevier Ltd to protect the copyrighted material for the authors, without the author relinquishing his/her proprietary rights. The copyright transfer covers the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the article, including reprints, photographic reproductions, microfilm or any other reproductions of a similar nature, and translations. It also includes the right to adapt the article for use in conjunction with computer systems and programs, including reproduction or publication in machine-readable form and incorporation in retrieval systems. Authors are responsible for obtaining from the copyright holder permission to reproduce any material for which copyright already exists.

VII. OFFPRINTS

The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail or, alternatively, 25 free paper offprints. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use.

VIII. SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

It is hoped that this list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal's editor for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item. Ensure that the following items are present:

•One author designated as corresponding author•E-mail address•Full postal address•Telephone and fax numbers•All text pages, including All figure captions All tables (including title, description, footnotes)•Keywords•Original artwork (high-quality prints)

Further considerations

•Manuscript has been "spellchecked"

•References are in the correct format for this journal

•All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa

•Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web)

•Colour figures are clearly marked as being intended for colour reproduction or to be reproduced in black-and-white

Author Services

For queries relating to the general submission of manuscripts (including electronic text and artwork) and the status of accepted manuscripts, please contact Author Services, Log-in Department, Elsevier, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, UK. E-mail: authors@elsevier.co.uk, Fax: +44 (0) 1865 843905, Tel: +44 (0) 1865 843900.
Authors can keep a track on the progress of their accepted article, and set up e-mail alerts informing them of changes to their manuscript's status, by using the "Track a Paper" feature at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle.