Short Overview

Manuscript Preparation:
General
Structure
Text Layout
Corresponding Author
Abstract
Keywords
Symbols
Units
Maths
References
Illustrations
Colour Costs and Queries
Free Online Colour
Tables
Electronic Annexes
Supplying the Final Accepted Print Version with Disk

Other:
Notification
Copyright
PDF Proofs
Author Benefits
Online Paper Tracking
Enquiries
Useful Links



Submission of papers:

By Mail: Manuscripts (1 original and 1 copy) accompanied by a covering letter should be sent to the submission address. Only after final acceptance a disk/CD ROM needs to be sent with the hardcopy.

Submission address:
Prof. Lawrence L. Kazmerski, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401-3393, USA
or submit to a member of the Editorial Board.

Submission language: English (Link to the Oxford English Dictionary http://dictionary.oed.com/entrance.dtl)

English language help service: Upon request Elsevier will direct authors to an agent who can check and improve the English of their paper (before submission). Please contact authorsupport@elsevier.com for further information.

Types of contributions: Specially commissioned review articles which bring current advances in this ever broadening field together under one cover.

Corresponding author: Clearly indicate who is responsible for correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, including 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. Full postal addresses must be given for all co-authors. Please consult a recent journal paper for style if possible.

Original material: Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an 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consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher.

Editor's requirements: No special requirements for this journal.

Detailed instructions on manuscript preparation and artwork instructions can be found below. The editor reserves the right to return manuscripts that do not conform to the instructions for manuscript preparation and artwork instruction, as well as paper that do not fit the scope of the journal, prior to refereeing.

Back to the contents list

Manuscript Preparation:

General:
Editors reserve the right to adjust style to certain standards of uniformity. Original manuscripts are discarded one month after publication unless the Publisher is asked to return original material after use. An electronic copy of the manuscript on disk should accompany the final accepted version. Please use Word, Word Perfect or LaTeX files for the text of your manuscript. (For further information about LaTeX submission, please go to http://www.elsevier.com/locate/latex.)
Back to contents list

Structure:
Follow this order when typing manuscripts: Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Main text, Acknowledgements, Appendix, References, Vitae, Figure Captions and then Tables. For submission in hardcopy, do not import figures into the text - see Illustrations. Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article and do not include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise.
Back to the contents list

Text Layout:
Use double spacing and wide (3 cm) margins. (Avoid full justification, i.e., do not use a constant right-hand margin.) Ensure that each new paragraph is clearly indicated. Present tables and figure legends on separate pages at the end of the manuscript. If possible, consult a recent issue of the journal to become familiar with layout and conventions. Number all pages consecutively, use 12 or 10 pt font size and standard fonts. If submitting in hardcopy, print the entire manuscript on one side of the paper only.
Back to the contents list

Corresponding author:
Clearly indicate who is responsible for correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, including 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. Full postal addresses must be given for all co-authors. Please consult a recent journal paper for style if possible.
Back to the contents list

Abstract:
A self-contained abstract outlining in a single paragraph the aims, scope and conclusions of the paper must be supplied.
Back to the contents list

Keywords:
Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of six keywords (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible.
Back to the contents list

Symbols:
Authors should make clear any symbols (e.g. Greek characters, vectors, etc) which may be confused with ordinary letters or characters. Duplicated use of symbols should be avoided where this may be misleading. Symbols should be defined as they arise in the text and a separate Notation List should also be supplied.

Units:
Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other quantities are mentioned, give their equivalent in SI.
Back to the contents list

Maths:
Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

References:
All publications cited in the text should be presented in a list of references following the text of the manuscript.

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.

List: Number the references (numbers in square brackets) in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
[1] Van der Geer J, Hanraads JAJ, Lupton RA. The art of writing a scientific article. J Sci Commun 2000;163:51-9.
Reference to a book:
[2] Strunk Jr W, White EB. The elements of style. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan; 1979.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
[3] Mettam GR, Adams LB. How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In: Jones BS, Smith RZ, editors. Introduction to the electronic age, New York: E-Publishing Inc; 1999, p. 281-304

Note shortened form for last page number. e.g., 51-9, and that for more than 6 authors the first 6 should be listed followed by 'et al.'
Back to the contents list

Colour Costs and Queries:
For colour illustrations, a colour printing fee is charged to the author per colour page. Further information concerning colour illustrations and costs is available from Author Support at authorsupport@elsevier.ie, and at http://authors.elsevier.com/locate/authorartwork.
Back to the contents list

FREE ONLINE COLOUR
If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour and black/white figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. ' Usable' means the formats comply with our instructions. See the information about Illustrations at http://authors.elsevier.com/locate/authorartwork. For colour illustrations in the print journal see Colour Costs above.
Back to the contents list

Tables:
Tables should be numbered consecutively and given suitable captions and each table should begin on a new page. No vertical rules should be used. Tables should not duplicate results presented elsewhere in the manuscript (for example, in graphs). Footnotes to tables should be typed below the table and should be referred to by superscript lowercase letters.
Back to the contents list

Electronic Annexes
We strongly encourage you to submit electronic annexes, such as short videos, computer-enhanced images, audio clips and large databases. Please refer to the Artwork Instructions (Multimedia files) at http://authors.elsevier.com/locate/authorartwork for details on file types to be used. If you are submitting on hardcopy, please supply 3 disks/CD ROMs containing the electronic annex to the editor for review. In the text of your article you may wish to refer to the annex. This is not mandatory, however, if you do wish to refer to the annex in the text then please do so using this example: "?see Electronic Annex 1 in the online version of this article." Production will insert the relevant URL at the typesetting stage after this statement.
Back to the contents list

Supplying Final Accepted Text on Disk:
Once the paper has been accepted by the editor, an electronic version of the text should be submitted together with the final hardcopy of the manuscript. The electronic version must match the hardcopy exactly. We accept most wordprocessing formats, but Word, WordPerfect or LaTeX (see also http://www.elsevier.com/locate/latex) is preferred. Always keep a backup copy of the electronic file for reference and safety. Label the disk with your name, the journal title and any software used. Save your files using the default extension of the program used. Electronic files can be stored on 3.5 inch diskette, ZIP-disk or CD (either MS-DOS or Macintosh).
Back to the contents list

Notification:

Authors will be notified of the acceptance of their paper by the editor. The Publisher will also send a notification of receipt of the paper in production.
Back to the contents list

Copyright:

All authors must sign the Transfer of Copyright agreement before the article can be published. This transfer agreement enables Elsevier to protect the copyrighted material for the authors, but does not relinquish the authors' 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 similar nature and translations. Authors are responsible for obtaining from the copyright holder permission to reproduce any figures for which copyright exists.
For more information please go to our copyright page http://authors.elsevier.com/copyright.
Back to the contents list

PDF Proofs:

One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author, to be checked for typesetting/editing. The corrections should be returned within 48 hours. No changes in, or additions to, the accepted (and subsequently edited) manuscript will be allowed at this stage. Proofreading is solely the author's responsibility. Any queries should be answered in full. Please correct factual errors only, or errors introduced by typesetting.
For more information on proofreading please go to our proofreading page http://authors.elsevier.com/quickguide. Please note that once your paper has been proofed we publish the identical paper online as in print.
Back to the contents list

Author Benefits:

No page charges: Publication in this journal is free of charge.

Offprints: The corresponding author, at no cost, 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. Additional paper offprints can be ordered by the authors. An order form with prices will be sent to the corresponding author.

Author discount: Contributors to Elsevier journals are entitled to a 30% discount on all Elsevier books. See http://www.elsevier.com/homepage/booksbutler for more information.

Back to the contents list

Online Paper Tracking:

Authors can track the status of their accepted paper online at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle using the reference supplied by the Publisher.

Back to the contents list

Author enquiries:

All author enquiries should be made to: authorsupport@elsevier.com

Useful links:

•A submissions checklist can be found at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/guidepublication
•Register for free to receive email updates from the article tracking service at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle
•If you are interested in submitting a book in this area go to http://www.elsevier.com/bookauthors