The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics

General

Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details on the requirements for submitting your paper to The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics. The guidelines described in this document, as well as those listed in the JCT Style Notes, should be carefully adhered to ensure high-quality and rapid publication of your manuscript.

Aims and Scope

The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics exists primarily for dissemination of significant new measurements in experimental thermodynamics and thermophysics including bio-thermodynamics, calorimetry, phase equilibria, equilibrium thermodynamic properties and transport properties.

The Journal publishes work relating to gases, liquids, solids, mixtures, solutions, interfaces, including polymers and biological materials, provided that the systems studied are characterised and reproducible.

The defining attributes of The Journal are the quality and relevance of the papers published. Authors are expected to describe their methods and present their results in sufficient detail to allow critical assessment of the accuracy claimed.

Further, The Journal welcomes theoretical papers reporting on thermodynamics using molecular theory or modeling, provided the relationship with experiment is clearly described. Review articles will also be considered but prospective authors should first consult one of the Editors concerning the suitability of the proposed review.

Experimental measurements of a routine nature or those conducted on uncharacterised materials are not accepted.

The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, along with other journals in the field, cooperates with the Thermodynamics Research Center (TRC) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for the purpose of ensuring the quality of published experimental data. This collaboration relates to articles that report experimental measurements falling within the scope of the NIST ThermoML Archive ( http://www.trc.nist.gov/ThermoML.html) and has two elements. First, upon submission of an article, NIST will provide a literature report to the authors and reviewers containing relevant references from the NIST Data Archive. Second, NIST will provide a data evaluation at the end of the review process immediately prior to acceptance of the article. This data evaluation will compare the reported experimental data with that existing in the NIST Data Archive and highlight any unexpectedly large discrepancies such as those arising from typographical errors. In order to facilitate the necessary electronic data capture, the experimental results and their uncertainties must be tabulated as described in this Guide (see also http://trc.nist.gov/JCT-Support.html).
For more information, please read the Editorial



Ethics in publishing

For information on Ethics in publishing and Ethical guidelines for journal publication see http://www.elsevier.com/publishingethics and http://www.elsevier.com/ethicalguidelines.

Conflict of interest

All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work. See also http://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest.

Submission declaration

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 tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere including electronically in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright-holder.

Changes to authorship

This policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts:
Before the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names, must be sent to the Journal Manager from the corresponding author of the accepted manuscript and must include: (a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, fax, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will be forwarded by the Journal Manager to the corresponding author, who must follow the procedure as described above. Note that: (1) Journal Managers will inform the Journal Editors of any such requests and (2) publication of the accepted manuscript in an online issue is suspended until authorship has been agreed.
After the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Any requests to add, delete, or rearrange author names in an article published in an online issue will follow the same policies as noted above and result in a corrigendum.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (for more information on this and copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright). Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.
Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations (please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions). 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 preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases: please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions.

Retained author rights

As an author you (or your employer or institution) retain certain rights; for details you are referred to: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights.

Role of the funding source

You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated. Please see http://www.elsevier.com/funding.

Funding body agreements and policies

Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors whose articles appear in journals published by Elsevier, to comply with potential manuscript archiving requirements as specified as conditions of their grant awards. To learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies.

Open access

This journal offers you the option of making your article freely available to all via the ScienceDirect platform. To prevent any conflict of interest, you can only make this choice after receiving notification that your article has been accepted for publication. The fee of $3,000 excludes taxes and other potential author fees such as color charges. In some cases, institutions and funding bodies have entered into agreement with Elsevier to meet these fees on behalf of their authors. Details of these agreements are available at http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies. Authors of accepted articles, who wish to take advantage of this option, should complete and submit the order form (available at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/openaccessform.pdf). Whatever access option you choose, you retain many rights as an author, including the right to post a revised personal version of your article on your own website. More information can be found here: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights.

Language and language services

Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission please visit http://webshop.elsevier.com/languageservices or our customer support site at http://support.elsevier.com for more information.

Submission

Submission to this journal proceeds totally online and you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of your files. The system automatically converts source files to a single PDF file of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Please note that even though manuscript source files are converted to PDF files at submission for the review process, these source files are needed for further processing after acceptance. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail removing the need for a paper trail.

Referees

Please submit, with the manuscript, the names and addresses of four potential referees, of which at least two are outside the author's geographical region. 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.



LaTeX

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 'elsarticle', or alternatively any of the other recognized classes and formats supported in Elsevier's electronic submissions system, for further information see http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorsview.authors/latex-ees-supported.
The Elsevier 'elsarticle' LaTeX style file package (including detailed instructions for LaTeX preparation) can be obtained from the Quickguide: http://www.elsevier.com/latex. It consists of the file: elsarticle.cls, complete user documentation for the class file, bibliographic style files in various styles, and template files for a quick start.

Article structure

Subdivision - numbered sections
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.

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

Experimental
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.

Results
Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

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 on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.

Style Requirements
Symbols, Units and Equations
1. Symbols and terminology must follow the recommendations of IUPAC (see: Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry, third ed.; RSC Publishing, Cambridge 2007, ISBN 0 85404 433 7).
2. SI units should be used throughout.
3. The algebra of quantities must be followed. Accordingly, the symbol for a physical quantity represents a pure number multiplied by a unit or combination of units.
4. Each physical quantity must be represented by a single symbol which may be decorated with subscript or superscript characters.
5. The symbol for a physical quantity must appear in italic or sloping type, even when the symbol appears in a subscript or a superscript. Conversely, symbols not designating a physical quantity should appear in Roman or upright type: e.g. represents the perfect-gas molar heat capacity (italic 'p' for pressure, Roman 'm' for molar).
6. Symbols should be defined in the text when they are first used, and also in figure and table legends.
7. Equations must always be dimensionally consistent. Equations used to correlate experimental data may be best in a dimensionless form.
Example


8. The arguments of logarithmic, exponential and trigonometric functions must be dimensionless: e.g. ln(p/MPa) or ln(p/p ₀) but not ln(p).
9. Equations, when displayed, should be centred and numbered, flush right, in parenthesis eg

(1)

10. Always puncture after an equation to place it correctly within the sentence that contains it (see example above).
11. Wherever possible set equation and expressions on a single line: e.g.: dp/dT not

Reporting of Uncertainties
12. When reporting experimental results, the uncertainty of each measured quantity should be reported and combined in quadrature to obtain the uncertainty of any derived quantities (see http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/).
13. Uncertainties may be specified either as standard uncertainties u or as expanded uncertainties U having a specified confidence interval.

Figures
14. Number figures consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text.
15. Plot each figure in a full rectangular (or triangular) frame.
16. Tick marks should be shown on the lower abscissa and the left ordinate and must project into the plotting area.
17. All lettering to be in 12-point Times Roman or similar typeface.
18. Lettering should be used to specify the scale and axis labels only. All legend material should be provided in a separate figure caption and not shown on the figure itself. Exceptionally, multi-part figures may be labelled (a), (b) etc.
19. Only dimensionless quantities should be plotted. Axis labels must therefore be dimensionless expressions presented in correctly-formatted symbols: e.g. T/K; not T (K) or Temperature/K. All symbols must be defined in the accompanying caption.
20. Fractional deviations and similar quantities should be plotted as, e.g., 10²(X-X _C)/X_C; do not use 'ppm', 'per cent', '%' or similar abbreviations.
21. Plotting symbols only should be used to represent experimental data or discretely computed quantities. Smooth lines or curves only should be used to represent values computed from formulae or other continuous data (e.g. g.l.c. trace).


22. Avoid the use of colour in graphs; data sets should be distinguished by symbol or line styles only. Exceptionally, essential colour illustrations may be included.
23. Similar figures should be plotted in identically-sized frames.
24. Triangular diagrams must be equilateral and must have correctly ticked, scaled and labelled axes on all three sides.
25. Include error bars where appropriate but only when they exceed the size of the plotting symbols.

Example figure and legend text



FIGURE 1. (a) Densities p of pentafluoroethane at temperatures T: , saturated liquid; •, saturated vapour; -------- , saturated vapour and liquid calculated from Eq. (4). (b) Deviations of experimental saturated liquid densities p1 from values p _calc calculates from Eq. (4).

Tables
26. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text.
27. Tables must be completely self contained with column headings defined fully in the accompanying table legend.
28. Tabulated quantities must be dimensionless. Row and column headings must therefore be dimensionless expressions presented in correctly-formatted symbols: e.g. T/K; not T(K) or Temperature/K. All symbols must be defined in the accompanying legend.
29. Footnotes may be cited using lower-case Roman superscripts (e.g. ^a,b). Define the footnotes at the base of the table.
30. The uncertainty of each tabulated quantity must be specified either in a footnote or, if variable, included in the table as an additional column (for further examples, see http://trc.nist.gov/JCT-Support.html).
31. Where experimental values of heat capacities are reported, tabulate the values as, e.g., C_p.m/R . In addition (but not as an alternative), a column of heat capacity values with units may be given: e.g., C _p/(J K. mol^-1).
32. Fractional deviations and similar quantities should be tabulated as, e.g., 10²(X-X)/X_c ; do not use 'ppm', 'per cent', '%' or similar abbreviations.
33. Missing entries in a table should be shown as blanks.

Example table and legend text


Miscellaneous
34. All chemical samples must be identified by IUPAC systematic name and the following details should be provided: sample source, initial purity, method of purification, final purity (as used) and analytical method used to determine the purity. Preferably, all of these details should be provided in a table (see http://trc.nist.gov/JCT-Support.html).
35. Purities should be given as mole fraction or mass fractions, e.g. mole fraction 0.99, not 99 mole per cent.
36. Use p ⁰ for the standard pressure and specify its value at first usage.
37. Always insert the name of a quantity or its symbol (but not both) before the value of a quantity: e.g. between the temperatures 298.15 K and 340 K; or between T = 298.15 K and T = 340 K.
38. Give lists of values as, e.g., T/K = (300, 400 and 500) or T = (300, 400 or 500) K but not T = 300, 400 and 500 K.
39. Chemical depictions of electrochemical cells should be displayed and numbered with upper case roman numerals.



Essential title page information

• 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. 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.
• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will 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. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
• 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 separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Graphical abstract

A Graphical abstract is optional and should summarize the contents of the article in a concise, pictorial form designed to capture the attention of a wide readership online. Authors must provide images that clearly represent the work described in the article. Graphical abstracts should be submitted as a separate file in the online submission system. Image size: Please provide an image with a minimum of 531 × 1328 pixels (h × w) or proportionally more. The image should be readable at a size of 5 × 13 cm using a regular screen resolution of 96 dpi. Preferred file types: TIFF, EPS, PDF or MS Office files. See http://www.elsevier.com/graphicalabstracts for examples.
Authors can make use of Elsevier's Illustration and Enhancement service to ensure the best presentation of their images also in accordance with all technical requirements: Illustration Service.

Highligths
Highlights are mandatory for this journal. They consist of a short collection of bullet points that convey the core findings of the article and should be submitted in a separate file in the online submission system. Please use 'Highlights' in the file name and include 3 to 5 bullet points (maximum 125 characters including spaces, or, maximum 20 words per bullet point). See http://www.elsevier.com/highlights for examples.

Keywords

Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, using British 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.

Abbreviations

Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field in a footnote to be placed on the first page of the article. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their first mention there, as well as in the footnote. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

Acknowledgements

Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).

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.

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 separately 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.

Artwork

Electronic artwork
General points
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Save text in illustrations as 'graphics' or enclose the font.
• Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times, Symbol.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.
• Submit each figure as a separate file.

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
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalised, please 'save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as 'graphics'.
TIFF: Color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required.
If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is'.
Please do not:
• Supply files that are optimised for screen use (e.g., 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.

Color artwork
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. 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 or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. For color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. Please indicate your preference for color: in print or on the Web only. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
Please note: Because of technical complications which can arise by converting color figures to 'gray scale' (for the printed version should you not opt for color in print) please submit in addition usable black and white versions of all the color illustrations.

Text graphics
Text graphics may be embedded in the text at the appropriate position. If you are working with LaTeX and have such features embedded in the text, these can be left. Further, high-resolution graphics files must be provided separately whether or not the graphics are embedded. See further under Electronic artwork.

References

Citation in 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 are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Web references
As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, 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.

References in a special issue
Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any references in the list (and any citations in the text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.

Reference management software
This journal has standard templates available in key reference management packages EndNote ( http://www.endnote.com/support/enstyles.asp) and Reference Manager ( http://refman.com/support/rmstyles.asp). Using plug-ins to wordprocessing packages, authors only need to select the appropriate journal template when preparing their article and the list of references and citations to these will be formatted according to the journal style which is described below.

Reference style
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: 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] J. van der Geer, J.A.J. Hanraads, R.A. Lupton, J. Sci. Commun. 163 (2010) 51–59.
Reference to a book:
[2] W. Strunk Jr., E.B. White, The Elements of Style, fourth ed., Longman, New York, 2000.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
[3] G.R. Mettam, L.B. Adams, in: B.S. Jones, R.Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age, E-Publishing, Inc. New York, 2009, pp. 281–304.

Journal abbreviations source
Journal names should be abbreviated according to
Index Medicus journal abbreviations: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html;
List of title word abbreviations: http://www.issn.org/2-22661-LTWA-online.php;
CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service): http://www.cas.org/sent.html.

Video data

Elsevier accepts video material and animation sequences to support and enhance your scientific research. Authors who have video or animation files that they wish to submit with their article are strongly encouraged to include these within the body of the article. This can be done in the same way as a figure or table by referring to the video or animation content and noting in the body text where it should be placed. All submitted files should be properly labeled so that they directly relate to the video file's content. In order to ensure that your video or animation material is directly usable, please provide the files in one of our recommended file formats with a preferred maximum size of 50 MB. Video and animation files supplied will be published online in the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com. Please supply 'stills' with your files: you can choose any frame from the video or animation or make a separate image. These will be used instead of standard icons and will personalize the link to your video data. For more detailed instructions please visit our video instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. Note: since video and animation cannot be embedded in the print version of the journal, please provide text for both the electronic and the print version for the portions of the article that refer to this content.

Supplementary data

Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, 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 provide the data 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 our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Submission checklist

The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.
Ensure that the following items are present:
One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
• E-mail address
• Full postal address
• Telephone and fax numbers
All necessary files have been uploaded, and contain:
• Keywords
• All figure captions
• All tables (including title, description, footnotes)
Further considerations
• Manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'
• 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)
• Color figures are clearly marked as being intended for color reproduction on the Web (free of charge) and in print, or to be reproduced in color on the Web (free of charge) and in black-and-white in print
• If only color on the Web is required, black-and-white versions of the figures are also supplied for printing purposes
For any further information please visit our customer support site at http://support.elsevier.com.



Use of the Digital Object Identifier

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.2010.09.059
When you use the DOI to create URL hyperlinks to documents on the web, the DOIs are guaranteed never to change.

Proofs

One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author (if we do not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post) or, a link will be provided in the e-mail so that authors can download the files themselves. Elsevier now provides authors with PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 (or higher) available free from http://get.adobe.com/reader. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs (also given online). The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/tech-specs.html.
If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return them to Elsevier in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by fax, or scan the pages and e-mail, or by post. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately – please let us have all your corrections within 48 hours. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.

Offprints

The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication. 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.



For inquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission) please visit this journal's homepage. Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, will be provided by the publisher. You can track accepted articles at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle. You can also check our Author FAQs (http://www.elsevier.com/authorFAQ) and/or contact Customer Support via http://support.elsevier.com.

Author Information Pack