Applied Spectroscopy Practica

Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Applied Spectroscopy Practica

This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.

This Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/practica to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned. Remember you can log in to the submission site at any time to check on the progress of your paper through the peer review process.

Sage Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions from a diverse range of authors from across all countries and backgrounds.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Applied Spectroscopy Practica will be reviewed.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that

Applied Spectroscopy Practica will consider submissions of papers that have been posted on preprint servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the Journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the Journal's author archiving policy.

If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.

If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal.

1. Open Access
2. Article processing charge (APC)
3. What do we publish?
   3.1 Aims & Scope
   3.2 Article types
   3.3 Writing your paper
4. Editorial policies
   4.1 Peer review policy
   4.2 Authorship
   4.3 Acknowledgements
   4.4 Funding
   4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
   4.6 Research ethics and patient consent
   4.7 Research data
5. Publishing policies
   5.1 Publication ethics
   5.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
6. Preparing your manuscript
   6.1 Formatting
   6.2 Graphical abstracts
   6.3 Title
   6.4 Abstract
   6.5 Spectroscopic Nomenclature
   6.6 Mathematical Expressions
   6.7 Artwork, figures and other graphics
   6.8 Supplemental material
   6.9 Reference style
   6.10 English language editing services
7. Submitting your manuscript
   7.1 ORCID
   7.2 Information required for completing your submission
   7.3 Permissions
8. On acceptance and publication
   8.1 Sage Production
   8.2 Online First publication
   8.3 Promoting your article
9. Further information
   9.1 Appealing the publication decision

 

1. Open Access

Applied Spectroscopy Practica is an open access, peer-reviewed journal. Each article accepted by peer review is made freely available online immediately upon publication, is published under a Creative Commons license and will be hosted online in perpetuity. Publication costs of the journal are covered by the collection of article processing charges which are paid by the funder, institution or author of each manuscript upon acceptance. There is no charge for submitting a paper to the journal.

For general information on open access at Sage please visit the Open Access page or view our Open Access FAQs. 

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2. Article processing charge (APC)

If, after peer review, your manuscript is accepted for publication, a one-time article processing charge (APC) is payable. This APC covers the cost of publication and ensures that your article will be freely available online in perpetuity under a Creative Commons license.

The article processing charge (APC) is $900. From 2024, the journal will have an APC of 1800 USD, with a 50% introductory discount rate of 900 USD. Once the introductory discount has been removed, members of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy will receive a discount of 50% off the full rate.

 

The article processing charge (APC) is payable only if your article is accepted after peer review, before it is published. The APC is subject to taxes where applicable. Tax-exempt status can be indicated by providing appropriate registration numbers when payment is requested. Please see further details here.

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3. What do we publish?

3.1 Aims & Scope

Applied Spectroscopy Practica, published by the Society for Applied Spectroscopy, is an Open Access (OA) international peer-reviewed journal, for the dissemination of practical advances in both spectroscopic techniques and applications. Topics include modifications and improvement of instrumentation and methodologies, refinements in data processing, automation and process measurements, and reviews related to applications of existing and new analytical approaches. Manuscripts describing applications where the hardware or software of instruments has been modified for a particular application or a well-known spectroscopic technique has been used in an innovative way are particularly encouraged. These encompass, but are not limited to, applications of photonics methods, ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) absorption, fluorescence and phosphorescence, mid-infrared, Raman, near-infrared, terahertz, microwave, atomic absorption and emission, laser-induced breakdown (LIBS), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), thermal lensing, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, and portable measurements, as well as hyperspectral imaging and hyphenated and interdisciplinary techniques. Articles on the application of spectral processing methodologies such as 2D correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS), detection and elimination of artifacts, baseline correction, deconvolution, curve fitting, algorithms for qualitative and quantitative analysis, and chemometric methods applied to spectra are also encouraged. Each issue will contain a section in which hints and tips on the use of spectrometers or accessories are reported. Occasionally tutorial articles on mature techniques such as spectral searching, attenuated total reflection (ATR) and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS) will be published.

Papers from all fields of scientific endeavor in which spectroscopy is utilized will be considered for publication from venues including universities, institutes, government and industrial laboratories, and analytical instrument manufacturers.

3.2 Article types

Original Research Papers should be detailed reports of the authors’ work in a particular research area. The work, or a substantial and identifiable portion of the work, should be complete.

Spectroscopic Tutorials should address a specific and useful technique as applied to an area of spectroscopy.

Correspondence should address an author’s questions or concerns regarding a specific paper and may be answered by the authors of that paper in the same or a subsequent issue of Applied Spectroscopy Practica.

3.3 Writing your paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

1.3.1 Make your article discoverable

For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

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4. Editorial policies

4.1 Peer review policy

Applied Spectroscopy Practica operates a conventional single-anonymize reviewing policy in which the reviewer's name is always concealed from the submitting author. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two referees and all manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible.

Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication.

Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a paper if:

• The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors.
• The reviewer is based at the funding body of the paper.
• The author has recommended the reviewer.
• The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g. Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution).

The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the Journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

4.2 Authorship

Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.

The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

1. Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,
2. Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
3. Approved the version to be published,
4. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

4.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.

Per ICMJE recommendations, it is best practice to obtain consent from non-author contributors who you are acknowledging in your paper.

4.3.1 Third party submissions

Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

4.3.2 Writing assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

4.4 Funding

Applied Spectroscopy Practica requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

It is the policy of Applied Spectroscopy Practica to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’. For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations here.

4.6 Research ethics and patient consent

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant ethics committee or institutional review board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.

For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative. Please do not submit the patient’s actual written informed consent with your article, as this in itself breaches the patient’s confidentiality. The Journal requests that you confirm to us, in writing, that you have obtained written informed consent but the written consent itself should be held by the authors/investigators themselves, for example in a patient’s hospital record. The confirmatory letter may be uploaded with your submission as a separate file.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.

4.7 Research data

The journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.

Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:

• Share your research data in a relevant public data repository
• Include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, use the statement to confirm why it cannot be shared.
• Cite this data in your research

Peer reviewers may be asked to peer review the research data prior to publication.

• Peer reviewers may be asked to assess compliance with the research data policy
• Peer reviewers may be asked to assess research data files

If you need to anonymize your research data for peer review, please refer to our Research Data Sharing FAQs for guidance.

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5. Publishing policies

5.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

5.1.1 Plagiarism

Applied Spectroscopy Practica and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the Journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

5.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

5.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement

Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information, please visit the Sage Author Gateway.

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6. Preparing your manuscript

6.1 Formatting

Manuscripts must be submitted as editable word-processing files. MS Word files (.doc, .docx, .rtf) are preferred. Files will be accepted in LaTeX (.tex); however, because of the difficulty and expense of translating files in this format to the Sage Publishing typesetting system, it is discouraged. All LaTeX submissions must be accompanied by a PDF of the submission in which all symbols and equations appear correctly.

To be acceptable for submission to Applied Spectroscopy Practica, a manuscript must adhere to certain formatting standards. These standards assist our reviewers in their reading of your material:

(1) Please use Times or Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced throughout. This requirement holds for abstracts, body of the text, references, footnotes, tables, and all captions.

(2) All tables and figures must be numbered consecutively, tables with Roman numerals and Figures with Arabic numerals. Tables and figures may be integrated into the first draft of the text, which simplifies the review process, but figures should also be uploaded as individual files.

(3) Refrain from using section numbering.

(4) References should be collected in a list at the end of the document, following the conventions described later in these instructions. References should never appear as footnotes and footnotes should never appear in the reference list.

6.2 Graphical abstracts

Graphical abstracts (GAs) are a recent initiative by the journal as part of our marketing and promotion objectives. The use of graphical abstracts as part of the final publication and social media strategy of accepted papers is in keeping with that implemented by many other academic science journals. GAs are a requirement for the submission process and follow the same rules for labelling and resolution as figures in Applied Spectroscopy Practica. GAs should succinctly and clearly provide a visual overview of the work you are submitting. Please see the Figures section below for detailed preparation guidelines.

For recommendations regarding the graphical abstract preparation process, please consult https://www.seyens.com/create-effective-graphical-abstract-guide/.

6.3 Title

A manuscript should have a straightforward title that adequately describes the primary area of research and the technique or methodology utilized. We follow the ACS Style Guide, 3rd ed., with regard to titles:

"The title serves two main purposes: to attract the potential audience and to aid retrieval and indexing" (for more information on this retrieval and indexing, see https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/help-readers-find-your-article#Title).

(1) Choose terms that are as specific as the text permits, e.g., "a vanadium–iron alloy" rather than "a magnetic alloy". Avoid phrases such as "on the", "a study of", "research on", "regarding", and "by means of", "use of", etc. In most cases, omit "the" at the beginning of the title. Avoid nonquantitative, meaningless words such as "rapid" and "new".

(2) NOTE: Spell out all terms in the title, avoid jargon, symbols, formulas, and abbreviations. Whenever possible, use words rather than expressions containing superscripts, subscripts, or other special notations.

6.4 Abstract

An abstract must accompany each submitted article. The abstract should mention the subjects studied and new methods used, new observations, and conclusions. Brief numerical results and their accuracy are encouraged. Introductory material should not be placed in the abstract.

(1) Avoid using abbreviations or acronyms without prior definition.

(2) References are not allowed in the abstract; if other work must be cited, please give the entire citation in parentheses.

(3) Index headings should be included after the abstract. These should contain at least four and no more than ten key words that best describe the classification of the paper. Both written-out terms and abbreviations should be included (i.e., NIR spectroscopy; near-infrared spectroscopy). This facilitates the process of searching for articles on the Internet. Each term should be capitalized and separated by a semi-colon.

6.5 Spectroscopic Nomenclature

The spectroscopic nomenclature must comply with the conventions recommended by the International System of Units (SI) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). A brief summary of acceptable terms and their accurate use appears on the journal’s website at https://www.s-a-s.org/4DCGI/cms/review.html?Action=CMS_Document&DocID=107&MenuKey=Journal.

(1) Define acronyms and abbreviations on first use, followed by the acronym or abbreviation in parentheses.

(2) Please do not begin a paragraph with an acronym or abbreviation and avoid their use in headings where possible and practical.

(3) Provide names of manufacturers in parentheses for instruments, equipment, and materials.

(4) Latin terms (i.e., et al., in vivo, ca.) should not be italicized.

6.6 Mathematical Expressions

Take great care with mathematical equations and expressions. Math that is not properly set may be re-keyed, increasing the possibility of error:

(1) “Display” equations must be in an editable format using MS Word Equation Editor or MathType and should be set apart by line breaks and should be created. They should have no ending punctuation, should be numbered consecutively in parentheses (i.e., (1), (2), (3), etc.), and should not be linked as fields or images within the manuscript.

(2) Display equations should be immediately followed by a description of the variables used.

(3) Shorter mathematical expressions should appear in the text (“in-line”). These should be created using standard keyboard characters and the “Insert Symbol” palette whenever possible. Equation Editor or MathType should only be used when absolutely necessary, i.e., for stacked subscripts and superscripts, λ²_max.

(4) Conventions for publishing mathematics should be followed. All Greek characters should appear in normal face (i.e., Roman, not italic). All variables represented by a Latin letter should be in italics. All constants and designators (i.e., λ_max) should be in normal (Roman) face. Vectors should be lowercase bold, and matrices should be uppercase bold (both in normal, Roman, face).

(5) Refer to equations using ‘‘Eq. #’’ in the body of the text or ‘‘Equation #’’ when beginning a sentence. Do not use the abbreviation “Eqn.”

(6) Do not repeat mathematical derivations that are easily found elsewhere in the literature; merely cite the references.

6.7 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.

6.8 Supplemental material

Electronic publishing allows Applied Spectroscopy Practica to provide additional documents, videos, and other materials to its readers that would not normally be feasible in print. The Journal maintains an archive of supplemental material online through its host platform, Sage Publishing, with each file directly linked to the online version of the primary article. Supplemental material should support and enhance the existing article or supply further information that is of too limited interest to be included in the Journal. Examples of such material include tables of raw data, additional figures, including routine spectra, which are not essential to the primary manuscript, repetitive details of experimental procedures, and detailed mathematical derivations.

Please note that supplemental material will be peer reviewed. However, it will not normally be edited for content, style, or format by the editorial staff. Authors are solely responsible for the content of supplemental material. This also means that the data will be made available free of charge to any interested user. Text documents will normally be converted to PDFs, as these are easily downloadable and readable on most computing platforms. Figures should be embedded within text documents, either in the text or at the end. Tables provided in Excel format will also typically be converted to PDF. If you wish to provide a table of raw data in a form that can be easily used by other researchers, or some other native format, such as a .jpg from which color/intensity information can be extracted, please include a note with your cover letter stating that you wish that material to remain in its native format. Please note that files should not exceed 10 MB in size in order to facilitate downloading.

The existence of supplemental material should be noted briefly in the text, usually parenthetically or in a footnote. After the Acknowledgements, include a brief statement describing the nature of the material, using the following example as a guideline:

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

All supplemental material mentioned in the text is available in the online version of the journal.

6.9 Reference style

All references cited in the text should be collected in a reference list at the end of the manuscript, but before figure captions and tables. Citation formats are given below.

(1) References should consist solely of citations to material that has been published elsewhere, i.e., in journals, books, technical reports, etc.

(2) Papers that have been submitted or accepted for publication may be cited using the authors, the full title of the article, and the journal title, followed by “paper submitted” or “paper in press”, and the year. If a DOI is available for papers that are in press but not yet published, it should be included after the year. “In preparation” and “To be submitted” citations are generally unacceptable.

(3) References to “unpublished data” or “private communications” are acceptable, but they should be cited as footnotes in the text and should identify the source of the information cited, such as name, institution, type of communication, and year.

(4) Electronic publications, such as web pages, databases, or on-line reports, may be cited by including the author or authoring organization, the name of the page or database if available, the date the page was created, if available, the full URL, and the date the material was accessed by the author.

(5) All references must be numbered consecutively in order of appearance in the text. Reference citations in the text should appear as Arabic numerals (without parentheses or brackets), placed as superscripts, outside punctuation marks. Ranges of references should be shown using a dash (2–5) rather than written out (2,3,4,5,)

Example of reference citations in the text:

The equipment used⁸—inexpensive and easily constructed in the laboratory—met the criteria established by Smith et al.^9,10 In later experiments, Jones and Percy,^11–13 who perfected the technique, found modifications unnecessary.

(6) Each reference number should refer to only one article, chapter, or book; multiple citations within one reference are not acceptable.

(7) Direct quotes from other sources must be cited, including the page number where the quoted material appears.

Formats and Samples for Citations:

All references should be double-spaced and in 12-point font, collected in a list at the end of the manuscript. Journal titles should be abbreviated using the standard ACS/CASSI abbreviations (http://cassi.cas.org/search.jsp). A searchable database of titles and their abbreviations is also available at http://scieng.library.ubc.ca/coden/#TOP.

PERIODICALS—the ordering is as follows:

Authors. “Title of the Article”. Full journal name (abbreviated). Year. Volume number(issue number): page range.

1. E.C. Navarre, J.M. Goldberg. “Design and Characterization of a Theta-Pinch Imploding Thin Film Plasma Source for Atomic Emission Spectrochemical Analysis”. Appl. Spectrosc. 2010. 65(1): 26-35.

2. A. Vrij. “Possible Mechanism for the Spontaneous Rupture of Thin, Free Liquid Films”. Discuss. Faraday Soc. 1966. 42: 23-33.

3. C. Xu, B.A. Maxwell, J.A. Brown, L. Zhang, Z. Suo. “Global Conformational Dynamics of a Y-Family DNA Polymerase during Catalysis”. PLoS Biol. 2009. 7(10): e1000225. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000225.

BOOKS—the ordering is as follows:

Authors. “Title of chapter”. In: Editor Names, editor. Title of Book. Location of Publisher: Name of Publisher, Year. Vol. #, Chap. #, Pages cited.

1. P.R. Griffiths. “Introduction to the Theory and Instrumentation for Vibrational Spectroscopy”. In: E.C.Y. Li-Chan, J.M. Chalmers, P.R. Griffiths, editors. Applications of Vibrational Spectroscopy to Food Science. Chichester, UK: John Wiley and Sons, 2010.

2. Y. Ozaki. “Application in Chemistry”. In: H.W. Siesler, Y. Ozaki, S. Kawata, H.M. Heise, editors. Near-Infrared Spectroscopy: Principles, Instruments, Applications. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH, 2002. Pp. 179-211.

3. W.H. Press, S.A. Teukolsky, W.T. Vetterling, P.B. Flannery. Numerical Recipes in C: The Art of Scientific Computing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 2nd ed.

THESES—the ordering is as follows:

Author. Title of Thesis. [M.S. or Ph.D. Thesis/Dissertation]. Location of institution: Name of institution, year.

1. A.-M. Saariaho. Resonance Raman Spectroscopy in the Analysis of Residual Lignin and Other Unsaturated Structures in Chemical Pulps. [Doctor of Science in Technology Dissertation]. Espoo, Finland: Helsinki University of Technology, 2005.

EXTRANEOUS MATERIAL

Patents:

Inventor name. Item description. Patent number. Filed Year. Issued Year.

1. M. Foquet, P. Peluso, S. Turner, D. B. Roitman, G. Otto. Zero Mode Waveguide Substrate. US Patent 7486865. Filed 2007. Issued 2009.

Papers, posters, or workshops presented at a meeting:

1. S. Student. “Title of My Paper”. Paper (poster) presented at: FACSS 2011. Reno, NV; Sept 30-Oct 5 2011.

2. S.M. Clegg, J.E. Barefield, R.C. Wiens, C.R. Quick, S.K. Sharma, A.K. Misra, M.D. Dyar, M.C. McCanta, L. Elkins-Tanton. Workshop on Venus Geochemistry: Progress, Prospects, and New Missions. Workshop presented at: Venus Geochemistry: Progress, Prospects, and New Missions. Gilruth Center, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX; February 26–27, 2009.

Websites:

At a minimum, provide the URL and the date that the reference was last accessed. Any further information, particularly the author of a page, the host organization, copyright dates, or a DOI, should also be provided. A few examples follow:

1. Unicef. “Health: Malaria”. 2009. http://www.unicef.org/health/index_malaria.html [accessed Oct 15 2011].

2. United States Department of Labor, OSHA. “Safety and Health Topics: Laser Hazards”. Page last reviewed Jan 10 2008. http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/laserhazards/ [accessed Jan 11 2011].

STYLE MANUAL

The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors, 3rd ed., Janet S. Dodd, Ed. (American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 2006) contains much valuable information on the proper preparation of manuscripts, illustrations, and tables, as well as lists of acceptable abbreviations, spectroscopic nomenclature, etc.

6.10 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the Journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

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7. Submitting your manuscript

All manuscript submissions are handled electronically through the journal’s online ScholarOne submission system with Sage Publishing. Manuscripts can be submitted by visiting https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/practica and following the instructions. A link to our submission site can also be found on the Society for Applied Spectroscopy website at http://www.s-a-s.org, on the journal home page.

Submission and peer review questions should be addressed to:

Richard E. Crocombe, PhD

Spectroscopy Consulting

Winchester, Massachusetts USA

(508) 423-0602

racrocombe@gmail.com

Submitted manuscripts should contain original material that has not been previously published and must not be under simultaneous consideration for publication elsewhere. However, preprint papers will only be considered if the URL for the preprint is provided upon submission. Submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter outlining the findings of the paper and their significance in terms of practical importance. Every paper submitted to Applied Spectroscopy Practica that is judged by the Editors to be within the Aims and Scope and of suitable quality for Applied Spectroscopy Practica will be peer reviewed. Manuscripts that are deemed inappropriate in terms of subject matter, completeness, or quality of the written language may be declined.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the Journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

7.1 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this Journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

7.2 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

7.3 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.

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8. On acceptance and publication

8.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email.  The author must respond within 48 hours with approval of the manuscript or with corrections to the manuscript.

Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.

Take great care that revised manuscripts are accurate and complete. All editing for style and clarity should be included in the final submitted revision. Some alterations in the proof stage are unavoidable, but the cost of extensive alterations in proof will be charged to the author.

Authors are reminded to read the proof very carefully. Final proofreading responsibility resides with them. Papers will not be published without final approval of the proof by the author.

8.2 Online First publication

Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

8.3 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

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9. Further information

All correspondence should be addressed to: Dr. Richard Crocombe, Editor-in-Chief. Queries and comments can be sent by email to racrocombe@gmail.com or to applied_spectroscopy@chem.ubc.ca. Reference must be made to author(s), article title, and manuscript number.

9.1 Appealing the publication decision

Editors have broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.

If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com.

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