An International Journal and Program Library for Computational Physics and Physical Chemistry

COMPUTER PHYSICS COMMUNICATIONS

Computer Physics Communications (CPC) publishes research papers and computer program descriptions in computational physics and physical chemistry.

Guide for Authors

Useful Links
The journal's home page is located at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/cpc. The CPC Program Library is located at http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk. The Elsevier Editorial System (EES) is located at http://ees.elsevier.com/cpc.

Scope
Articles cover: computational models and programs in physics and physical chemistry; computational models and programs associated with the design, control and analysis of experiments; numerical methods and algorithms; algebraic computation; the impact of advanced computer architecture and special purpose computers on computing in the physical sciences; and software topics related to the physical sciences.

Types of contribution
Computer Physics Communications publishes the following types of papers. Special issues and conference proceedings are published on an occasional basis; enquiries should be directed to a member of the Editorial Board.
Computational Physics Papers (CP). These are research papers in any area of computational physics or computational physical chemistry.
Computer Programs in Physics Papers (CPiP). These are full papers describing new or revised programs to be placed in the CPC Program Library. A description of the CPC Program Library is available at http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk.
Features articles. These articles, which are normally arranged by invitation from an editor, are used to highlight a topical subject or to provide a review of an important body of research work that is of interest to the readership.
New Version Announcements (NVA). These are short descriptions of revisions to programs in the CPC Program Library. They are intended to facilitate the rapid publication of program revisions that do not merit a full paper description.

Computer Programs in Physics Papers
General. A submitted program is expected to satisfy the following criteria: it must be of benefit to other physicists or physical chemists, or be an exemplar of good programming practice, or illustrate new or novel programming techniques which are of importance to some branch of computational physics or physical chemistry; it should be implemented in a language and executable on hardware that is widely available and well documented; it should be reliable, well engineered, and meet accepted standards for scientific programming; it should be adequately documented with comment lines and where appropriate, a separate User Manual, which together with the manuscript should make clear the structure, functionality, installation, and operation of the program. All CPiP manuscripts must contain a Program Summary section.Further details, including a LaTeX template and Program Summary templates are available from the FAQ link at http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk.
Program submission. Manuscripts that describe computer programs and NVAs must be accompanied by: the program source code; job control scripts, where applicable; a README file giving the names and a brief description of all the files that make up the package and clear instructions on the installation and execution of the program; sample input and output data for at least one comprehensive test run; and, where appropriate, a user manual. At present it is not possible to submit these online through EES so they must be sent, via email as a compressed archive file, to the CPC Program Librarian at cpc@qub.ac.uk Editors and reviewers can obtain a copy of the code on request from the CPC Library. The Librarian will check the quality of the code and documentation and test the program using the data provided. Should any problems be encountered the librarian will contact the author directly and work with the author to resolve the problem.
Standard conforming Fortran programs. In collaboration with NAG the CPC Program Library is pleased to provide free access to the NAGWare f95 compiler's syntax checker available at http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk. Before submission of a Fortran program, the author is encouraged to use the syntax checker to ensure that the program is error free and conforms to the appropriate Fortran standard. This will help speed up the review process and ensure that the program will port successfully to any Fortran installation.

Manuscript preparation
General. Manuscripts should be prepared with a word processing program or LaTeX. Each page should be numbered. BibTeX users may use style files cpc.bst or phcpc.bst available from CTAN sites. General textfile and LaTeX file guidelines can be found in the "Guide to publishing with Elsevier" link available at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors. However, authors should consult a recent issue of the journal for style. The editors reserve the right to adjust style to maintain standards of uniformity. Authors should retain a back up copy of their manuscript/electronic file for reference and safety, since the Publisher cannot accept responsibility for damage or loss of papers/manuscripts. Original manuscripts (in case of non-electronic submission) are discarded one month after publication unless the Publisher is asked to return original material after use.
First Page. The first page should contain the article title, the author name(s), affiliation(s) and a short abstract. The corresponding author should be identified with an asterisk and a footnote containing the corresponding author's name, complete postal address, telephone and e-mail address.
Abstracts. All articles should be prefaced by a brief abstract. Authors should not include references in abstracts.
Text. Please follow this order of presentation. Figures and tables should be located appropriately within the main text. PACS codes are listed at http://publish.aps.org/PACS/ and a Program Summary template is available from the FAQ link at http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk.
CP papers - Title, Author(s), Affiliation(s), Abstract, one to four PACS codes and up to six Keywords, Main text, Acknowledgements (if any), Appendices (if any), References.
CPiP papers - Title, Author(s), Affiliation(s), Abstract one to four PACS codes and up to six Keywords, Program Summary, Main text, Acknowledgements (if any), Appendices (if any), References.
NVAs - Title, Author(s), Affiliation(s), Abstract, one to four PACS codes and up to six Keywords, Program Summary.
References. References to other work should be consecutively numbered in the text using square brackets. The full reference should be given in a numerical list at the end of the paper. References should be presented in the following form:
[1] J. Stamper, D. Tidman, Phy. Fluids 16 (1973) 2024
[2] F. Scheid, Theory and Problems of Numerical Analysis (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1968) p. 193
[3] G. Dolling, J.L.T. Waugh, in: Lattice Dynamics, ed. R.F. Wallis (Pergamon, London, 1965) p. 19
[4] W.L. Hase, D.L. Bunker, RRKM: Program 234 in Quantum Chemistry Program Exchange Catalog 16, Indiana Univ., Bloomington (1984), Section IX, p. 4.
[5] K.G. Dyall, Comput. Phys. Commun. 39 (1996) 141.
Artwork. Figures should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals in order of mention in the text. Each figure should have a descriptive legend that should be presented separately. Detailed guidelines on how to prepare artwork for electronic submission, including common problems, suggestions on how to ensure the best results, and guidelines for popular applications can found at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authors.authors/authorartworkinstructions.
Colour. If you submit usable colour figures Elsevier will ensure that they appear in colour on ScienceDirect at no additional cost. Information on the cost of colour reproduction in print will be sent to you by Elsevier on receipt of your accepted article.
Tables. Tables should be numbered consecutively and given a suitable caption. No vertical rules should be used, and horizontal rules should be used sparingly.
Language. Manuscripts should be written in good English. Information on language and copyediting services (provided by companies), to authors who need assistance before they submit their article for peer review or before it is accepted for publication, is available at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors.

Submission of papers
The publication process for Computer Physics Communications is handled electronically. The manuscript and figure sources should be submitted through the Elsevier Editorial System (EES) by using the online submission tool http://ees.elsevier.com/cpc. Please note that you must have an email address to use this tool. Detailed instructions on the use of EES are available at http://ees.elsevier.com/cpc. Please read the ''Tutorial for Authors'' before beginning the submission process. If you need any further help please contact the Author Support Department at authorsupport@elsevier.com.
Original Material. Submission of a paper implies that it has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and 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.
Refereeing. An editor will evaluate each submission. Those rejected at this stage are normally declined for reasons such as: being insufficiently original, having serious scientific flaws, having poor grammar or poor use of English, or being outside the aims and scope of the journal. In addition, due to space limitations, not all worthwhile papers can necessarily be accepted. Editors attempt to shape the content of the journal to provide an appropriate selection of high-quality and interesting papers for the readership. Papers that pass this initial screening are normally sent out for review to one or more anonymous referees. Suggestions for referees from the author are welcomed. However, these recommendations may or may not be used at the discretion of the editor.

After Acceptance
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". A pdf file of the proof will be sent by e-mail to the author (first named author if no corresponding author is identified on multi-authored papers) in order to check that no undetected errors have arisen in the typesetting or file conversion process. At the proof stage, ordinarily only printer's errors should be corrected. Other changes, if substantial, are subject to approval by the editor who accepted the paper. Stylistic changes should not be made in proof. In order to guarantee the fastest possible production times, the corrections should be sent, preferably by e-mail, within 3 days of receipt. If no reply is received from the author, the Publisher assumes that there are no further corrections to be made and will proceed with publication of the article.

Copyright Transfer
All authors must sign the Transfer of Copyright agreement before the article can be published. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has pre-printed forms for use by Authors in these cases: contact Elsevier's Rights Department, Oxford, UK: phone (+44) 1865 843830, fax (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail permissions@elsevier.com. Requests may also be completed on-line via the Elsevier homepage at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions.
As an author, you retain rights for a large number of author uses, including use by your employing institute or company. For further information please see http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/copyright for a full description of Elsevier's copyright policy.

Author Benefits
No page charges. Publishing in Computer Physics Communications is free.
E-offprints. The corresponding author will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. 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.
Fast online visibility of Accepted Manuscripts. On average, five days after acceptance, your article will reach your peers as an Accepted Manuscript through ScienceDirect ( http://www.sciencedirect.com), the world's leading provider of electronic scientific information. Accepted Manuscripts have yet to be edited by the typesetters but are linkable and citable using the article's unique and persistent Digital Object Identifier.
Discount. Contributors to Elsevier journals are entitled to a 30% discount on all Elsevier books.

Author Services
For enquiries relating to the submission of articles, specific enquires on the preparation of electronic artwork, author Frequently Asked Questions and any other enquiries relating to Elsevier, please consult http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors. Authors can also keep track of 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 on www.elsevier.com/trackarticle.

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