Acceptable file formats

Please use Microsoft Word® or LaTeX.

Microsoft Word®

Use of the following brief guidelines will help you to ensure prompt error-free publications that precisely reflect your intent.

  • Equations need to be editable so we recommend that you create them with the built-in Microsoft® Equation Editor included with your version of Word. If you wish to use Mathtype, check for compatibility at http://tinyurl.com/lzny753.
  • Users of the Windows version of Word: Please embed all fonts.
  • Users of Macintosh Word: Please save all files in DOCX format, as the use of DOC is not supported. Additionally, because font embedding is not possible, Mac Word users should limit their font selection to those available from the basic installation.
  • Tables should be created with Word’s Insert Table function and placed within your paper. If the table has already been made, please be sure it has been made with Word’s Table features. Tables created with spaces or tabs will create problems and may be improperly typeset. To ensure your table is published as you wish, you must use Word’s Table function.

LaTeX

AIP Publishing has made a formatted template available in Overleaf. For best results and full support, we recommend that you use the AIP Publishing template in Overleaf. Authors may download either the PDF template (best for initial submissions) or a .zip file containing the template which can then be uploaded into the AIP Publishing submission system.

Support

Support with using the AIP Publishing template is provided by Overleaf. If you are having LaTeX issues and did not use the provided template, please upload your project files into the AIP Publishing template in Overleaf. If you choose not to use this template, you can seek outside support from community-based help forums, such as tex.stackexchange.com or http://latex.org/forum/.

Submission Guidelines

For initial Submissions,

  • Submit a single compiled main manuscript PDF.
  • Include Supporting information (SI) at the end of the main manuscript PDF or as a separate SI Appendix PDF, if part of your article.

English-language editing

AIP Publishing recommends that authors use AIP Author Services to improve the quality of your written English so editors and reviewers can fully understand your research. Note that this is not a requirement or a guarantee of acceptance for review or publication.

Manuscript Guidelines

These are the general guidelines for the AIP Publishing journals. However, in addition to these guidelines, if you are preparing a manuscript for AIP ADV: MMM, APB, APL, APM, APP, APR, AQS, BMF, BPR, CHA, CPR, JCP, JCPRD, PoF, PoP, RSI, or SDY there are specific requirements which only apply to each particular journal. Therefore, it is important to also carefully read the specific journal guidelines after reading these general guidelines.

  • The manuscript, including the abstract, references, and captions should be set up on a 21.6 X 28 cm (8 X 11 in. or A4) grid with ample margins. It is essential that the motivation for the research presented, central results, and conclusion be stated in nontechnical language that is intelligible to a broad audience. The manuscript must be in good scientific American English. All pages need to be numbered consecutively.
  • The manuscript should be arranged in the following order: title, author(s), affiliation(s), abstract, text, acknowledgments, appendixes, and references. Figures, with figure captions, must be embedded within the manuscript to assist the reviewers. In addition, please submit separate figure source files.
  • Series publications should be submitted in sequential order (Part I or I, Part II or II, etc.) and properly identified in the references. For series publication of closely related papers, the descriptor “Part I,” or simply “I” will not be included in the title of an article unless Part II has been submitted for publication in the journal.
  • The abstract should serve as an index (including all subjects, major and minor, about which new information is given) and as a summary (presenting the conclusions and all results of general interest in the article). It should be one paragraph with approximately 250 words. The abstract should not contain displayed mathematical equations, footnotes, references, graphics, or tabular material.
  • Authors’ names should be presented consistently across all publications to facilitate indexing and avoid ambiguity.

You may choose to have your Chinese, Japanese, or Korean names published in your own language alongside the English versions in the author list. For Chinese, you may use either Simplified or Traditional characters. Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters must appear within the author list of the manuscript when you are submitting and resubmitting the article. For further information, please read the Guidelines for Chinese, Japanese, or Korean names below.

Equations should be punctuated and aligned to bring out their structure and should be numbered on the right. Mathematical operation signs indicating continuity of the expression should be placed at the left of the second and succeeding lines. Use “x” rather than a center dot, except for scalar products of vectors. The solidus (/) should be used instead of built-up fractions in running text and in display wherever clarity would not be jeopardized. Use “exp” for complicated exponents.

Notation must be legible, clear, compact, and consistent with standard usage.

Footnotes to the title should be set as a “Note” above the byline footnotes. For footnotes to the bylines, use a), b), c), etc. Footnotes within tables should be designated by lowercase roman letter superscripts and given at the end of the table. NB: Footnotes in text are not permitted. Authors can either insert information within the text or add the information to the reference list.

References should be set as a double-spaced list at the end of the text. The names, including initials, of all authors in each reference should be given (in the text, the use of et al. is permitted). All references to books and journal articles, listed at the end of the paper, are to appear in only one of these three formats:

  • By number, in order of first appearance, presenting the names of the authors, the journal name, volume, first page number only, and year, as in:

19L. M. Pecora, T. L. Carroll, G. A. Johnson, D. J. Mar, and J. F. Heagy, Chaos 7, 520 (1997).

This paper will be listed as the 19th in the list of references and cited as 19 or Ref. 19.

  • In alphabetical order according to the first author’s last name, also including the title of the paper cited, journal name, volume, first and last page, and year, as in:

Pecora, L. M., Carroll, T. L., Johnson, G. A., Mar, D. J., and Heagy, J. F., “Fundamentals of synchronization in chaotic systems, concepts, and applications,” Chaos 7, 520–543 (1997).

This paper will be cited as “Pecora et al. (1997).” If there are several papers by the same author(s) and the same year, they should be distinguished by letters, as in (1997a).

  • Alphabetically listed references (with full titles and page ranges) may be numbered according to their alphabetical order and cited by their number.

Tables must be placed within the text of your paper and numbered with roman numerals in the order of appearance. They should be used for all but the simplest tabular material and contain captions that make the tables intelligible without reference to the text. The structure should be clear, with simple column headings denoting all units. Unaltered computer output and notation are generally unacceptable.

Author Declarations

Authors are required to include a Conflict of Interest statement and, if required, an Ethics Approval statement. Effective August 2021, Conflict of Interest disclosure statements are required for every manuscript, while ethics approval statements are required for research article submissions that include experiments using animals and/or human subjects.

Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest is any personal interest or relationship that may be affected by publication of the submitted manuscript. A conflict of interest may exist from owning a patent or stock; being a member of a board of directors, advisory board, or committee for a company; receiving speaker or consultancy honoraria; etc. All potential conflicts directly related to the submitted work should be disclosed and any conflict arising from three years before the start of the work should be disclosed.

If there are no conflicts to report, the authors must state that they have no conflicts to disclose.

Examples of conflict of interest disclosure statements, including financial and non-financial interests and intellectual property, are given below:

Financial interests

  • {Author’s initials or name} reports grant(s) from {name of organization} and speaking honoraria for {insert name of organization} during the conduct of the study.
  • {Author’s initials or name} reports personal fees from {name of organization} outside the submitted work.
  • {Author’s initials or name} is a paid consultant for {name of organization} and owns stock in {name of company}.

Non-financial interests

  • {Author’s initials or name} is an unpaid member of {name of organization}.
  • {Author’s initials or name} is on the advisory board of {name of organization}.

Intellectual property

  • {Author’s initials or name} has Patent {patent number} {pending/issued/licensed}.

No conflicts of interest

  • The authors have no conflicts to disclose.

For more information on conflicts of interest, please see AIP Publishing’s policy and the conflict of interest disclosure form provided by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)

Ethics Approval

Any research article containing experiments using animals and/or human subjects must include a statement that the authors obtained ethics approval. Ethics approval statements must include the institutional and/or licensing committee(s) approving the experiments.

For research using human participants, the statement must indicate that informed consent was obtained from all participants or why this was not necessary. Additional supporting documents can also be uploaded at the time you submit your manuscript. Failure to meet the above requirements or to otherwise adhere to ethical standards in the use of animal test subjects may be grounds for manuscript rejection. Authors who would like more guidance on the accepted standards for human and animal subjects in research may consult the following documents:

Author Contributions

  • A list of authors and their specific contributions, known as a CRediT (Contribution Role Taxonomy) Statement, is now required for all submissions in accordance with the NISO standard.
  • Please see the CRediT portion of our Ethics and Policy page for more information and how to develop this statement.
  • The Corresponding author is responsible for providing accurate contribution descriptions for each author listed on the manuscript. Also, they must ensure that all authors have reviewed, discussed, and agreed to the complete statement.
  • CrediT statements will be published as part of the article, appearing in the Author Contribution section in the full text view and pdf/version of record.

Preparing Graphics

Guidelines

  • At the time of initial submission, figures must be embedded in place in your article-text file for the reviewer’s reference. At the revision stage, you will be asked to upload individual figure files.
  • Number figures in the order in which they appear in text.
  • Identify all figure parts with (a), (b), etc. Avoid any large size differences of the lettering and labels used within one illustration.
  • Submit illustrations in the size and resolution you wish them to appear in print.
    • For JMP (one-column journal)
      The maximum published width of figures is 6.69 inches (17 cm). The maximum depth of figures should be 8 ¼ in. (21.1 cm). Legends or labels within figures should be a minimum of 8-point type size (2.8 mm high; 1/8 in. high). A minimum of 0.5 point width for lines.
    • For all other journals: The maximum published width for a one-column figure is 3.37 inches (8.5 cm). The maximum width for a two-column figure is 6.69 inches (17 cm). The maximum depth of figures should be 8 ¼ in. (21.1 cm). Legends or labels within figures should be a minimum of 8-point type size (2.8 mm high; 1/8 in. high). A minimum of 0.5 point width for lines.
    • Each illustration should be prepared for 100% reproduction to avoid problems arising from large reductions in size.
    • Ensure that lettering and lines are dark enough and thick enough to reproduce clearly, especially if reduction is necessary. Remember that fine lines tend to disappear upon reduction.
    • IMPORTANT: All fonts must be embedded in your figure files.
    • For figure creation or figure redrawing services, see how we can help at
      https://authorservices.aip.org/services_pricing

Electronic graphic formats

  • Use only these file formats: EPS (preferred format), PS, TIFF (.tif), PDF, JPEG (.jpg), and PNG (.png). Application files (e.g., Corel Draw, Microsoft Word) are not acceptable.
  • Scalable vector formats (i.e., SVG, EPS, and PS) are greatly preferred. AIP Publishing suggests the use of Adobe Illustrator (Paid, OS X, Windows) or Inkscape (Freeware, OS X, Windows, Linux) for the creation of acceptable illustrations and Adobe Photoshop (Paid, OS X, Windows) or GIMP (Freeware, OS X, Windows Linux) for the editing of acceptable photographs.
  • Submit a single file for each figure with figure parts; label each part (a), (b), etc.
  • When submitting your manuscript, include all illustrations and line art for your paper.
  • Set the correct orientation for each graphics file.
  • Set the graphic for:
    • Line art: 600 dpi resolution and black/white bitmap, not grayscale.
    • Halftones: 264 dpi and grayscale, not black/white bitmap.
    • Combinations (line art and halftone): 600 dpi for and grayscale, not black/white bitmap.
    • Color online: 300 dpi TIFF, PS, or EPS format. If selecting a file mode, use RGB (red, green, blue).

Production-ready PDF graphics

For accepted manuscripts, PDF as the source file for illustrations is not preferred. However, properly prepared PDF illustration files may be used in the production process of your accepted manuscript if you follow these guidelines:

  • PDF should only be used as the source file for illustrations when the preferred formats (PS, EPS, or TIFF) cannot be generated.
  • In the PDF illustration, the resolution of any shaded or photographic images must be 600 pixels per inch (PPI).
  • Within the PDF illustration, resolution of line art with no shading should be 1200 pixels per inch (PPI).
  • All fonts must be embedded in the PDF.
  • When creating a PDF through your application's print command, select "High Quality Print."

Color Printing Charges

As a service to our authors, effective 2 January 2018, illustrations will appear in color in the online journal free of charge and will be reproduced in black and white in the printed journals.
To take advantage of this free service, you must:

  • supply color graphics files (.eps, .ps, .tif, or .pdf only),
  • submit graphics files in time for utilization during the production process,
  • submit only one version of each graphics file,
  • ensure that colors chosen will reproduce well when printed in black & white, and
  • ensure that descriptions of figures in text will be sufficiently clear for both print and online versions.

Supporting Data

AIP Publishing Data Sharing Policy

AIP Publishing believes that all datasets underlying the conclusions of the paper should be available to readers. We encourage authors to deposit their datasets in publicly available repositories (where available and appropriate) or present them in the main manuscript. All research articles must include a data availability statement informing where the data can be found. By data we mean the minimal dataset that would be necessary to interpret, replicate and build upon the findings reported in the article.

Placement in the manuscript

Templates for data availability statements for Author use

Below is a list of standard templates for the text that will appear in the "Data Availability Statement" portion of your article. When multiple data sets are being described, please provide information regarding the data type for the benefit of the reader.

Availability of data

Template for data availability statement

Data available on request from the authors

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Data available in article or supplementary material

The data that supports the findings of this study are available within the article [and its supplementary material].

Data openly available in a public repository that issues datasets with DOIs

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in [repository name] at http://doi.org/[doi], reference number [reference number].

Data openly available in a public repository that does not issue DOIs

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in [repository name], reference number [reference number].

Data sharing not applicable – no new data generated

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Data generated at a central, large scale facility

Raw data were generated at the [facility name] large scale facility. Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Embargo on data due to commercial restrictions

The data that support the findings will be available in [repository name] at [DOI link] following an embargo from the date of publication to allow for commercialization of research findings.

Data available on request due to privacy/ethical restrictions

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due [state restrictions such as privacy or ethical restrictions].

Data subject to third party restrictions

The data that support the findings of this study are available from [third party]. Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for this study. Data are available from the authors upon reasonable request and with the permission of [third party].

When data is available and linked, authors will need to provide a citation of the data in their reference list.
Citing a dataset on the reference list:
Required elements: Creator(s), Publication Year, Title, Publisher, and Identifier
Optional elements: Version and Resource Type

How to Cite Datasets in References:

We recommend the following dataset citation format: Creator(s) (Publication Year). "Title," Publisher. Identifier Please note:

  • Creator(s): The Author names that you have listed
  • Publication year: The year when the data was made publicly available
  • Title: This should match the upload.
  • Publisher: The name of the entity that holds and archives the dataset,
  • Identifier: DOIs should be displayed as linkable, permanent URLs, including the http://dx.doi.org prefix.

Example:
Dataset: J. Smith and M. Ross (2015). "Chemical and mineral compositions of sediments from ODP Site,"
Name of repository. http://dx.doi.org/12.3456/nameofrepository.78901

Information about Version and ResourceType can also be included in the reference, but is not required: Creator(s) (Publication Year). "Title," Version, Publisher, ResourceType. Identifier

Example:
J. Smith and M. Ross (2015). "Chemical and mineral compositions of sediments from ODP Site," Name of repository, V. 2.1, Dataset. http://dx.doi.org/12.3456/nameofrepository.78901

Supplementary Material

  • Supplementary Material are files either to aid the reviewer or for publication alongside the manuscript. Appropriate items for publication as supplementary material include data tables and text (e.g., appendixes) that are too lengthy or of too limited interest for inclusion in the article. A URL link will be included in the published article to allow users to navigate directly to the associated files. Note that subdirectories (folders) are not acceptable. Name files appropriately so that all files can reside at the root directory, allowing successful linking between the published paper and its associated supplementary material.
  • All supplementary material for publication must be approved by the Journal Editor as part of a manuscript's normal review cycle and must be presented in the paper in a section before the Acknowledgments, as shown in the example below.
  • All supplementary material is posted online exactly as provided by the author. AIP Publishing makes no changes to the supplemental material files, including text editing or file conversion.

Multimedia

Multimedia files may be included in the online version of published papers. Multimedia consists of video, audio, and 3D rendering files. Readers can view these multimedia files by simply clicking on a link in the paper, provided the reader has a video player. In addition to the multimedia file, please upload a static figure to represent the multimedia file in the article. The static file and the multimedia file should be numbered the same. Please add “(Multimedia view)” after the figure citation in text and in the figure caption. There will be a link placed in the caption to bring the reader directly to the multimedia file.

  • Video: Acceptable file formats for still images are mp4, .m4v, .mov, .avi, .wmv, with MP4 files preferred. For optimal playability on pubs.aip.org, use the following settings:
    • Video codec: H.264
    • Chroma subsampling: YUV 4:2:0
    • If the video includes audio, use audio codec AAC
  • Please insert a representative “still” image, taken from the video, in the manuscript as a figure. Care should be taken to extract an image that has reasonable clarity of fine lines and details. Acceptable file formats for still images are JPEG, EPS, and TIFF.
  • Audio: Acceptable file formats include PCM (.pcm), WAV (.wav), AIFF (.aif), and MP3 (.mp3) at 128 KB or greater.

Guidelines for preparing multimedia files

  • Keep the file size less than 10 MB so readers can download and view them.
  • When incorporating multimedia, write the paper so that the print version, which does not contain multimedia functionality, can be understood on its own.
  • Submit all multimedia source files initially with the manuscript.
  • Treat all multimedia files as figures, numbered in sequence as they are referred to in text. (Multimedia files should not have a numbering scheme separate from the figures.)
  • Please be sure to cite all multimedia files in the text, referred to by their figure number.
  • For each multimedia file, provide a figure that is a static representation of the multimedia file. Also provide an accompanying caption. At the end of the caption, include the phrase "(Multimedia view)." The multimedia file will be linked to the static image online.
  • Video and other enhanced files should be in a format that can be viewed without difficulty. See the acceptable formats above for specific submission requirements.
  • Use of copyrighted material is not permitted.
  • Use media players to check file properties and image/sound quality prior to submission. For video submissions, fonts, lines, and image details should be of sufficient size and weight to be visible when played at half size.
  • Please use one of the accepted compression codecs to minimize file sizes.
  • Animations must be in one of the standard video file formats, stated above. Do not submit animated GIFs (.gif format).

Multimedia metadata

Please include information about your multimedia files.

  • Caption/description: Textual caption/description of the content of the media object, similar to a figure caption, is required.
  • Type: The nature or genre of the content of the media, such as video or audio is desirable (optional).
  • Format: This should describe the media file type, such as QuickTime, DV, MPEG, PCM, or WAV (optional).

NB: The significant difference between providing videos as either Supplementary Material or Multimedia Files is outlined below.

  • If the video is associated with a figure in the article (or a still of the video clip), and you would like the video to be accessed directly via a link that would appear in the figure caption, please indicate that the videos are intended as integral multimedia files when you submit your article. In this way, the reader would click on the hyperlink to the videos appearing in the figure caption and the video will then immediately begin.
  • If the video is not specifically associated with any figure(s) in the article, and is purely supplemental information, which supports concepts discussed in your paper, please indicate that the videos are intended as supplementary material. Be sure to present the supplementary material video in a section before the Acknowledgments, as shown in the example above.

Guidelines for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean names

Authors may insert the respective characters so their names will also be displayed in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean by following the instructions below. Authors should proof the PDF of the manuscript, as produced by the Peer X-Press system on first submission, to ensure that the manuscript files have been processed correctly. In addition, it is essential that authors check carefully any production proofs received prior to the publication of the paper.

Preparing your manuscript

Microsoft Word

If you are submitting in Microsoft Word, simply add the characters in parentheses after the name of each author who would like their name shown in their own language. To avoid potential problems, please use the standard Microsoft fonts for the characters.

LaTeX

If you use TeX to prepare your manuscript, you will need to use the CJK language package for CJK characters:

https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Chinese
https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Japanese
https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Korean

Installing the CJK package can be quite difficult so it is best to use a TeX distribution (such as TeXLive) that has it pre-installed.

Once the CJK package is properly installed, you will need to use the package to select an encoding and a font to use. The CJK markup should be as follows:

  • Put \usepackage {CJK} after the \document class line
  • \begin {CJK*} {<Encoding>} {<fontfamily>} after the \begin{document} line
  • \end{CJK*} after the \maketitle line.

For example:

\document class line {revtex4}

\usepackage {CJK}

….

\begin{document}

\begin {CJK*} {GB} { } % Use default fonts from CJK (see below)

\title {Title of Paper}

\author {Your name (characters)}

\affiliation {Your affiliation}

….

\maketitle

\end{CJK*}

The following encodings from the CJK package are supported:

  • Chinese: GB, Big5, GBK, and UTF 8
  • Japanese: JIS, SJIS (Shift-JIS), and UTF 8
  • Korean: KS and UTF 8

Because the Big5 and Shift-JIS encodings use some reserved TeX characters, care must be taken to process files using these encodings (see the CJK package documentation). Files may be prepared using any fonts found in the CJK installation as well as the Cyberbit font for UTF 8 encodings. Please select one of the standard fonts from the distribution. Because CJK installations can vary by how the fonts are actually named and installed, it is safest to leave the font family argument empty and let the TeX installation use its default font for that encoding:

\begin {CJK*} {<Encoding>} { }

Please be sure to check the PDF produced by the submission software to ensure that the Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters were processed correctly.

Note that if you are using UTF 8, you may need to use the \CJKfamily macro when processing the file on your local machine. If using TeXLive and UTF 8 as the input coding, one of the following \CJKfamily macros should be inserted right before the CJK name:

  • for simplified Chinese: \CJK family {gbsn}
  • for traditional Chinese: \CJKfamily {bsmi}
  • for Japanese: \CJKfamily {min}
  • for Korean: \CJKfamily {mj}

It is possible to call\CJKfamily more than once in case this should be necessary (for example, to properly insert a Japanese name and then a Korean name). Before the final submission, all \CJKfamily macro calls should be commented out.

If you require further assistance, please contact Overleaf Support