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THEORETICAL COMPUTER SCIENCE
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Guide for Authors
General
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been
published previously (except in the form of an internal report or abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), that
it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by
the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form,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.
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be
asked to transfer copyright. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. A form facilitating transfer
of copyright will be provided.
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Peer Review Policy
on Theoretical Computer Science
The practice of peer review is to ensure that good science is published. It is an objective process
at the heart of good scholarly publishing and is carried out by all reputable scientific journals. Our referees therefore play a vital
role in maintaining the high standards of Theoretical Computer Science and all manuscripts are peer reviewed following the procedure
outlined below.
Initial manuscript evaluation
The Editor-in-Chief first screens all manuscripts. It is possible but almost
unprecedented for an exceptional manuscript to be accepted at this stage. Those rejected at this stage are insufficiently original, have
serious scientific flaws, have poor grammar or English language, or are outside the aims and scope of the journal.
Those that meet
the minimum criteria are passed on to a Handling Editor who is a member of the Editorial Board with expertise in the subject area of
the submission, where the screening process repeats. Those that pass this stage are passed on to at least two experts for review.
Authors of manuscripts rejected without refereeing may be informed within a few weeks of receipt.
In rare cases it may be impossible
to find qualified experts who are prepared to review a submission. An unsuccessful search may take weeks or months. Such a manuscript
will be rejected and the author informed of the situation. In cases where the problem is solely with the presentation - for example,
where the manuscript would be very time-consuming to review because of extreme length - the author may wish to submit a revised version.
Special issues
In the case of Special Issues, the Guest Editor(s) acts as Handling Editor. For manuscripts having the Guest
Editor(s) as author, the Editor-in-Chief acts as Handling Editor. The timing of reviewing for Special Issues is subject to the overall
planning of the Special Issue itself.
Type of peer review
This journal employs single blind review, where the referee
remains anonymous throughout the process.
How the referee is selected
Referees are matched to the paper according to
their expertise. We welcome suggestions for referees from the author though these recommendations may or may not be used.
Referee
reports
Referees are asked to evaluate whether the manuscript :
- Is original and of sufficient weight and interest
- Is sound and valid
- Fits the scope of Theoretical Computer Science
- Is clearly presented, including linguistic quality
- Correctly references previous relevant work
Referees will often provide suggestion for improvement, but they are not
expected to proofread or copyedit manuscripts. Authors are expected to carefully check manuscripts for errors before submission.
How long does the review process take?
Manuscripts are typically reviewed within 4-5 months. Unusually long or difficult
manuscripts may take longer. The time required will also be greater in cases where it is difficult to find suitably qualified referees.
Should a report be unreasonably delayed, a further expert opinion may be sought. If the referees' reports contradict one another, the
Handling Editor may obtain additional reviews if this is required to make a decision. Revised manuscripts are usually reviewed by the
referees of the original submission, but the Handling Editor may seek input from additional reviewers.
More than one revision of
a manuscript may be required. A revised manuscript may be rejected on the grounds that the revision process is converging too slowly.
A manuscript may be rejected for a Special Issue on the grounds that the publication schedule does not allow time for revision; in that
case, the manuscript will normally be re-considered for publication in an ordinary issue.
Feedback to authors
A decision
to accept or reject the manuscript, or to request a revision, will be sent to the author along with any recommendations made by the referees,
and may include verbatim comments by the referees.
Editors' decision is final
The referees advise the Handling Editor, who is
responsible for the decision to accept or reject the submission. This decision is subject to confirmation by the Editor-in-Chief.
Refereeing for Theoretical Computer Science
If you are not currently a referee for Theoretical Computer Science
but would like to be added to our list of potential referees, please contact the editorial office at tcs@elsevier.com.
The benefits of refereeing for Theoretical Computer Science include the opportunity to see and evaluate the latest work in your
research area at an early stage. You may also be able to cite your work as a referee for Theoretical Computer Science as part
of your professional development requirements for various Professional Societies and Organisations.
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Submission to the journal
Authors are requested to submit their papers electronically
by using online manuscript submission at  http://ees.elsevier.com/tcs. Please go to the website and upload the manuscript
and its associated artwork. An electronic (PDF) proof is generated and the reviewing process is carried out using that PDF. The PDF file
may be edited after acceptance to follow journal standards. Authors and editors send and receive all correspondence by email via the
website and no paper correspondence is performed. Papers submitted to Theoretical Computer Science are classified as Regular Papers unless
their length is less than 35000 characters (about 10 pages), in which case they are classified as Notes and may be published more quickly
than regular papers.
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Sending accepted articles to
Elsevier in electronic format
Wordprocessor documents
It is important that the file be saved in the native format
of the wordprocessor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting
codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the wordprocessor's options to justify text or
to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. Do not embed 'graphically designed' equations or
tables, but prepare these using the wordprocessor's facility. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid
for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text
should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also Guide for electronic submission: http://www.elsevier.com/authors.
Do not import the figures into the text file but, instead, indicate their approximate locations directly in the electronic text and on
the manuscript. See also the section on Preparation of electronic illustrations.
To
avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spellchecker' function of your wordprocessor.
LaTeX documents
If the LaTeX file is suitable, proofs will be produced without rekeying the text. The article should preferably be written using Elsevier's
document class 'elsart', or alternatively the standard document class 'article'.
The Elsevier LaTeX package (including detailed
instructions for LaTeX preparation) can be obtained from Elsevier's web site: http://www.elsevier.com/latex, or from the
Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN): see below.
To obtain the package from CTAN, use direct access via FTP at Germany,
United Kingdom , or USA,
or search for Elsevier with one of the CTAN search engines http://ctan.tug.org/CTANfind.html, http://www.tex.ac.uk/CTANfind.html,
or http://www.dante.de/cgi-bin/ctan-index.
Figures may be inserted in the usual way using an \includegraphics command,
at the position in the article where they are cited.
Your LaTeX file will be most useful as input for the printed article if you
obey the following rules of thumb:
1. Be consistent. If you use a macro for a phrase, use it throughout.
2. Use standard LaTeX
mark-up. Do not hardcode your own layout for e.g. section headings, but use the usual LaTeX macro for this purpose.
3. Keep it simple.
Do not define macros that accomplish complicated layout. They will also make the input process complicated.
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Preparation of text
Presentation of manuscript
General
Provide the following data on the first page (in the order given).
Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used
in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
Author names 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. If the work was carried out at more than one address, indicate the affiliation(s) of each
author with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address (provided for
each affiliation, including the first one). Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name, and, if
available, the e-mail address of each author.
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 are provided in addition to
the e-mail address and the complete postal address.
Present/permanent address. 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.
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.
Keywords. Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of five keywords, using American
spelling and 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.
Arrangement of the article
Subdivision of the article. After the
abstract, 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. It is not necessary to underline or italicize such a heading, but it should
appear on its own separate line.
Introduction. State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding
a detailed literature survey.
References. See References, below.
Figure
legends, tables, figures, schemes. Present these, in this order, at the end of the article. They are described in more detail below.
If you are working with LaTeX and have such features embedded in the text, these can be left, but such embedding should not be done specifically
for publishing purposes. Further, high-resolution graphics files must be provided separately (see Preparation
of electronic illustrations).
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
electronic illustrations. Ensure that high-resolution graphics files are provided, even if the graphic appears as part of
your normal wordprocessed text file.
Specific remarks
Mathematical formulae. Present simple formulae
in the line of normal text where possible. In principle variables are to be presented in italics. For fractions use:
Xp/Ym
rather than:
Xp
Ym
Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp.
Number
consecutively any equations which have to be displayed separate from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).
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.
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 unnecessarily duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.
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References
Responsibility
for the accuracy of bibliographic citations lies entirely with the authors.
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: Indicate references by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text.
The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.
Example: "..... as demonstrated [3,6].
Barnaby and Jones [8] obtained a different result ...."
List: The list of references is arranged alphabetically and
then numbered (numbers in square brackets).
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
[1] J. van der Geer, J.A.J. Hanraads,
R.A. Lupton, The art of writing a scientific article, J. Sci. Commun. 163 (2000) 51-59.
Reference to a book:
[2] W. Strunk Jr.,
E.B. White, The Elements of Style, third ed., Macmillan, New York, 1979.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
[3] G.R. Mettam,
L.B. Adams, How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: B.S. Jones, R.Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic
Age, E-Publishing Inc., New York, 1999, pp. 281-304.
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Preparation of illustrations
General
Number illustrations consecutively in the order in which they are
referred to in the text. They should accompany the manuscript, but should not be included within the text.
See also the section
on Preparation of electronic illustrations below.
Mark the appropriate position
of a figure in the article.
Captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions on a separate
sheet, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration.
Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.
Preparation
of Electronic Illustrations
Submitting your artwork in an electronic format helps us to produce your work to the
best possible standards, ensuring accuracy, clarity and a high level of detail.
General points
• Always supply
high-quality printouts of your artwork, in case conversion of the electronic artwork is problematic.
• Make sure you use uniform
lettering and sizing of your original artwork, where possible.
• Save text in illustrations as "graphics" or enclose the font.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork
files, and supply a separate listing of the files and the software used.
• Provide all illustrations as separate files and as
hardcopy printouts on separate sheets.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Produce images near to the
desired size of the printed version.
A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website:
http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats
Suggested
drawing/image applications for your graphics are Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw and Freehand. (Note the resolution requirements
for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations as given below.) If you are using other applications, please convert the
drawing or graphic images to one of the following formats:
EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font.
TIFF: Colour or greyscale photographs
(halftones): always use 300 dpi. For colour images always use CMYK.
TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use 1000 dpi.
TIFF: Combinations
bitmapped line/half-tone: a minimum of 500 dpi is required.
Scan your colour illustrations at 300 dpi (500 dpi for colour line/halftone
combinations). With CMYK electronic files include a 4-colour machine or cromalin proof and check that all the separations (if provided)
are colour-coded. Produce computer-generated graphics in greyscale if they are to be published in black and white.
Please do not:
• Supply embedded graphics in your wordprocessor (spreadsheet, presentation) document;
• Supply files that are optimised
for screen use (like GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
•
Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
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Proofs
When the Publisher receives your manuscript, 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 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 three weeks of receipt of the proofs. Should there be no corrections, please confirm this.
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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
* Electronic file in good order
• file name(s)
• media format (e.g., PC, Mac)
• file format (e.g., Word, LaTeX)
* All text pages
* Keywords
* Original artwork (high-quality prints) (not required for original submission)
* All figure captions
* All tables (including title, description, footnotes)
Further considerations (for final submission)
* Manuscript
has been "spellchecked"
* References are in the correct format for this journal
* All references mentioned in the Reference
list are quoted in the text, and vice versa
* Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources
(including the Web)
Colour figures clearly marked as being intended for colour reproduction or to be reproduced in black-and-white.
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Sponsored Articles:
Theoretical Computer
Science offers authors or their institutions the option to sponsor non-subscriber access to their articles on Elsevier's electronic publishing
platforms. For more information please click here.
Author Benefits:
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.
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