ISSN 1852-4249
online version

Instructions to authors

• Scope and policy
• Form and preparation of manuscripts
• Sending of manuscripts

Articles are strictly reviewed by specialists prior to publication with no exception. Articles submitted to Papers in Physics are expected to contain substantial new results and ideas that advance the state of physics in a non-trivial way.

Papers in Physics offers two distinct editorial treatments from which authors can choose.

• Traditional Review: Editors decide on publication assisted by the advice of anonymous reviewers.

• Open Review: Editors send the manuscripts to specilalists. If the paper is original and technically sound, the article, the reviewer's comments and criticism and the author's replies are published (each contribution with its corresponding DOI) along with the names of all involved. This promotes the open discussion and gives public credit to our reviewers and editors.

Authors are expected to contribute with a low publication charge to cover the costs of producing Papers in Physics. See APC for details.

Long term preservation: LOCKSS and SciELO

Impact Factor and other FAQ

Ethical Guidelines

Papers in Physics requires that all participants of the publishing process (authors, reviewers and editors) adhere to high ethical standards. Whenever the guidelines given below are presumed to be breached, the managing editors of Papers in Physics will follow the actions recommended by the Committee On Publication Ethics (COPE http://publicationethics.org/).

Authors

• Authors must ensure that a manuscript submitted to Papers in Physics must not be previously published, nor be under consideration in any other journal, nor be submitted to any other journal while it is under consideration in Papers in Physics. Notice that preprints made available online are not considered a publication.

• All worker who has contributed significantly to the research reported in a manuscript should be given the opportunity be listed as a co-author. Individuals that have made no contribution to the work reported should not be listed as authors. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors had the opportunity to revise the manuscript, had agreed to its submission to Papers in Physics and had accepted responsibility for the work reported. The corresponding author has to state the contribution made by each co-author in her/his submission letter. Any change in authorship after initial submission must be approved by all initial authors. 

• Following publication, the original data of the research should be preserved by the authors for a reasonable time in case of colleagues require them (with exception of sensible data that may lead to patents or may compromise privacy). Fabrication or manipulation of data with the intention of misleading is unacceptable.  Plagiarism (copying from others without due attribution), text recycling (significant self copying from the author's previous publications) and the stealing of data constitute misconduct. 

• Authors must not breach any copyright. When reproducing figures, significant portions of text and/or schemes from previous publications, it is the authors' responsibility to seek appropriate permission from the relevant publishers. If copyleft policies apply to the copied material, the due recognition has to be given by citing the previous work (irrespective if the work is from the same authors or not). Re-publication of a paper previously published in another language is not acceptable in Papers in Physics.

• Authors must declare all sources of funding for the work in the manuscript, and also to declare any conflict of interest.

• Any unusual hazards inherent in the use of chemicals, procedures or equipment in the investigation has to be stated in the manuscript. If the work involves animals or humans, the manuscript has to include a statement indicating that all experiments were done in compliance with the local laws and by-laws.

• Authors must include a set of references to put the work in context, to indicate the sources consulted and to credit previous workers. This is crucial for the readers to connect the work with related pieces of research.

Reviewers

• Reviewers must treat the assigned manuscript as confidential. In the case that a reviewer wishes to seek opinion from a colleague, approval from the editor in charge of the manuscript has to be obtained in advance and the name of the person to be consulted informed.

• After invitation, a reviewer has to inform with no delay if she/he is unable to do the review timely or unqualified and respect the confidentiality of the invitation and the manuscript itself.

• The reviewer must inform the editor in charge if any conflict of interest exist or can be foreseen. Reviewers must not accept to review manuscripts of close collaborators or persons with who close personal or professional relations may bias her/his opinions.

• Reviewers must not take advantage of the data reported in a manuscript while it is under review or if the manuscript is not published.

• Reviewers are expected to give an objective justified report written in a respectful style in a timely manner. Foreseen delays have to be informed to the editor in charge of the manuscript.

• A reviewer has to inform the editor in charge of the manuscript if: (i) there is a suspicion of plagiarism, (ii) there are indications of fabricated or manipulated data, (iii) there seem to exist an unusual text recycling (copy from the author's previous work).

• Under Open Review, if the manuscript is technically sound, it is the author's decision to publish or not the manuscript. If the reviewer has strong criticisms regarding the importance of the paper, her/his report should be an honest preview of how her/his eventual published Commentary would be if the manuscript is published.

• If an Open Review scheme is used for the paper, the reviewer may be invited by the editor to publish a Commentary if the manuscript is published. Reviewers must address all issues unresolved during the exchange with the authors and no new issues shall be raised in the Commentary. If new important points come across at this stage, the reviewer has to inform the editor in charge.

Editors

• The managing editors must oversee all aspects of the publication process of the journal and compliance with the ethical guidelines.

• The editor in charge of a manuscript must ensure the confidential, efficient, fair and timely review of the manuscripts assigned the her/him.

• The editor in charge of a manuscript is responsible for making the final decision on acceptance or rejection. Under Traditional Review this implies an objective judgment of the importance, originality and scientifically soundness of the paper. If the Open Review scheme is followed, the editor in charge must leave the decision to publish or not to the authors only if the paper is believed to be original and scientifically sound.

• The editor in charge of a manuscript has to avoid any conflict of interest. This may imply separating reviewers. Editors are expected to submit their own manuscript under Open Review and these shall be edited by another member of the Editorial Board.  

• Editors must not take advantage of the data and/or concepts reported in a manuscript while it is under review or if the manuscript is not published.

• Editors must honor any request by an author that a particular colleague should not be consulted as a reviewer.

• Editors must preserve the identities of reviewers in Traditional Review. In Open Review, if a paper is declined due to serious flaw detected by the reviewer, the identity of the reviewer must be also preserved.

• Editors must act on suspicion of misconduct and consult the authors to resolve any issue prior to publication.

• If evidences suggest a published manuscript is erroneous, the editors must act in consultation with the author to amend the scientific record. This may require a formal retraction or erratum.

• Editors must treat fairly any author's request for reconsideration of a rejected manuscript.

Article Publication Charges (APC)

Papers in Physics is a non-profit journal. However, it has both fixed costs and article processing costs (such as web hosting and maintenance, annual subscriptions to indexing services, English copy-editing, etc.).

To cover for this we ask all authors to pay an article publication charge of USD 200 after acceptance and prior to publication. Very long papers (over 20 pages) may incur additional  charges.

We provide a LaTeX class and template to prepare your manuscript. If you choose to provide your manuscript in other digital format (Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, etc.), it will result in an additional charge of  USD 15 per page for typesetting and formatting.

In exceptionally justified cases, an APC waiver may be requested (after acceptance of the manuscript). The Managing Editors will make a decision on a case by case basis.

Publishing replies

If your manuscript has been accepted for publication in Papers in Physics under Open Review, and a reviewer has accepted to publish a Commentary, you may be invited by the Editors to provide a Reply in a form that can be published in the journal. Please consider these guidelines when writing your Reply.

1. Use the provided LaTeX class file and template (see Author guidelines).

2. Provide the normalized title: Reply to "Title of the commentary" by Reviewer Name

3. Introduce a brief abstract indicating the main points raised. For example: The reviewer of our article entitled "Title of the manuscript" argues that ... In this Reply we point out to some issues that should be considered under the experimental conditions necessary for our study.

4. Use a very short introduction to state the main criticisms you will defend from.

5. Use a section for each main point to discuss.

6. Summarize in a section entitled "Final remarks"

7. Introduce references as in regular articles. Cite your article and the reviewer's Commentary.

Author Benefits

• In Open Review you know who the reviewer is and therefore you can engage in a more symmetrical and fruitful discussion.

• In Open Review the publication of the paper becomes ultimately your own decision, in the knowledge that the reviewer's criticisms can be published as a Commentary. The Editor will only intervene if the paper is not original or if it does not satisfy basic standards of quality.

• After publication, you are invited to submit a list of colleagues that Papers in Physics will contact to make your paper widely known.

• Colour figures and supplementary material come at no extra cost.

• Very low publication charges give free public access to your paper which increases the availability of your work. Additionally, you are free to post the final version of the manuscript in any public repository or personal and institutional web site.

Instructions for reviewers

Papers in Physics publishes original research in all areas of Physics and its interface with other subjects. Articles published in Papers in Physics contain new results and ideas that advance the state of Physics in a non-trivial way. All articles are reviewed by specialists prior to publication.

Papers in Physics greatly appreciates the help given by reviewers. Their critical appraisal and constructive comments help authors to improve their manuscript and research. Papers in Physics requests reviewers to give their opinion on contributions submitted by authors. The final decision on the acceptance of manuscripts for publication rests on the Board Editor in charge of the manuscript. Technical comments and subjective appreciations on the advance and perspectives opened by the author's contributions are expected from the reviewer.

Reviewers must comply with the journal ethical guidelines.

There are two different types of revision: traditional and open review.

Traditional Review

If you have been asked from one of our editors to do a traditional review, your identity will remain anonymous.

Report: It is useful if you start with a description of the main contribution done by the authors and your criticisms if any. Use two numbered lists: one for major criticisms and one for minor corrections suggested. This report will be forwarded to the authors for their consideration. You can upload files for the author and/or the editor to consult.

Select a recommendation: Accept submission / Revisions required (no new review round needed) / Resubmit for review (new review round needed) / Decline submission.

Open Review

If you have been asked from one of our Editors to do an open review and you find the paper is not technically correct or lacks originality, the Editor will decline the submission and you can ask her/him not to disclose your identity. However, if the paper seems original and technically sound, your identity will be made known to the author, and eventually to the community if the author requires publication. If publication proceeds, you may be invited to write a final report that will be published (with own page number and DOI) alongside the manuscript and the author's reply if appropriate. You will have the opportunity to proofread your report before publication.

Report: It is useful if you start with a description of the main contribution done by the authors and your criticisms if any. Use two numbered lists: one for major criticisms and one for minor corrections suggested. This report will be forwarded to the authors for their consideration. Please, consider this report may help you write later on your final Commentary for publication. You can upload files for the author and/or the editor to consult.

Select a recommendation: Accept submission / Revisions required (no new review round needed) / Resubmit for review (new review round needed) / Decline submission.

Publishing reports

If you have reviewed a manuscript for Papers in Physics under Open Review, and the manuscript has been accepted for publication, you may be invited by the Editors to write your report as a Commentary in a format that can be published in the journal. Please consider these guidelines while writing your Commentary.

1. Use the LaTeX class file and template provided (see Author guidelines)

2. Use an original title or either the standard Commentary on "Title of the manuscript reviewed" by Author Name

3. Provide a very short abstract indicating the main points that will be discussed. For example: The paper entitle "..." by ... suggest that ... In this Commentary I make a remark on the ... of the claims of these authors and suggest a different approach to the problem.

4. Provide an introduction to briefly describe the article commented.

5. Write a section for each main point you want to make.

6. Do not miss out any major point that has not being agreed upon with the author or that he author did not address properly in the article..

7. You should not bring forward major points that have been clarified/corrected by the authors in the manuscript during the revision process.

8. Avoid referring to minor points such as use of English, stylistic preferences, etc.

9. Complete the Commentary with a "Final remarks" section to summarize.

10. Use references as in regular manuscripts. Cite the article commented.

Reviewer Benefits

When you review for Papers in Physics and meet the agreed deadlines, a USD 50 credit is granted to you. This credit is accumulative and can be used to cover (partially or totally) article publication charges of your own papers submitted to Papers in Physiscs.

In Open Review you further get public recognition for your work as a referee:

• You are named as the reviewer in the header of the published manuscript.

• You can write a Commentary, published alongside the paper. A Commentary is a citable report with its own DOI, with all the possibilities of a full-fleshed article (figures, references, etc.).

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

• The submission has not been previously published nor it is being considered for publication on a different journal

• The submission file is a PDF document, containing the full text, author(s) name(s) and affiliation(s), and references.

• The authors comply with the journal's Ethical Guidelines.

• The manuscript adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.

• LaTeX (.tex) source files and figures (eventually, other source files like Word .docx) are also included.

Author Guidelines

Manuscripts submitted to Papers in Physics must contain substantial new results and ideas that advance in a non-trivial way our knowledge of physics.

Authors must decide at submission time the editorial treatment that Papers in Physics should give to the manuscript: traditional review or open review. Authors must ensure that any submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration.

Papers in Physics has no page limits. However, very long manuscripts are susceptible of higher publishing costs (see APC).  Authors are encouraged to publish supplementary material at no extra cost.

Papers in Physics has a copyleft policy. Authors must agree to let the article in the public domain (CC BY 4.0 license). Authors must comply with the journal ethical guidelines.

EDITORIAL TREATMENTS

Traditional review

In traditional review, manuscripts are submitted to anonymous reviewers seeking constructive criticism and editors make a decision as to whether publication is appropriate.

Open review

In open review, manuscripts are sent to reviewers who agree to unveil their identity. If the paper is considered suitable for publication, the names of all involved will be published in the article information.  The the reviewer's comments and the author's replies may be also published together with the main article when considered valuable for the readers according to the editor in charge of the manuscript. In this way, Papers in Physics promotes open discussions of controversies among specialists that are of help to the reader and to the transparency of the editorial process. Moreover, reviewers receive their due recognition by publishing a recorded citable report.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Please, use the LaTeX class and template provided to prepare your manuscript.
Microsoft Word, OpenOffice and other formats may be processed. However, note that in this case extra cost associated with formatting will be charged to the author prior to  publication (see APC).

Language: Manuscripts must be written in English following American spelling.

Title: It must be informative and brief.

Authors: Use full given names or capital initials followed by periods. Family name must be written in full. Separate authors' names by commas only.

Address: Provide postal address for each author. Use Arabic superscripts to link authors to addresses.

Abstract: Aim at less than 500 words. Clearly indicate the system under consideration, the properties studied, the methods used and the main conclusions drawn in the paper.

Text: Separate the text in sections beginning by "Introduction" and ending with "Conclusions".

Figures: Use PostScript, PDF or EPS format for images. The use of color is encouraged. Introduce appropriate captions for each figure.

Tables: Avoid introducing large tables; these can be submitted as Supplementary Material.

Equations: Equations must be numbered sequentially.

Acknowledgements: Acknowledgements to individuals and institutions must be given just before the first Appendix or the References.

Appendices: Introduce as appendix any detailed material that may divert attention to the main subject in the text.

References: Citations must appear numbered sequentially and in squared brackets, e.g. [2] in the text. The list of references should be placed at the end of the manuscript and contain complete information about the cited items.

Supplementary material

Papers in Physics encourages authors to submit supplementary material for the benefit of reviewers and readers. These may include images, videos, lengthy tables, source codes, lengthy details of experiments, calculations or protocols, etc. Supplementary material is subjected to the same licensing as the manuscript if published.

POST EDITION

After acceptance, manuscripts are reviewed by our Copyeditors for English and style correctness. A correction marked ("redline") copyedited manuscript is sent to the corresponding author for approval. Later on, proof are processed and authors are invited to reply withing 48 hours (only typo corrections are accepted upon proofs).

ONLINE SUBMISSION

• Prepare a PDF version of your article to submit for reviewing. This file must contain the full text, references, figures, tables, and any other material intended to be part of the final published article.

• Prepare the LaTeX sorces and figures (packed in a single .zip or .tar.gz file) and any other supplementary material, to be uploaded as "supplementary files". Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, and other formats may be processed, but notice that the costs of format conversion will be charged to the authors.

• Detail in your cover letter the contribution made by each author of the manuscript. This is important to help the Editors in overseeing compliance with the journal ethical guidelines.

• Include in your cover letter a list of colleagues that you believe are suitable as reviewers of your manuscript. Please, include as many as possible and provide: full names, affiliations and email addresses.

• When entering title and abstract in the submission process use LaTeX commands for special symbols and formulas, e.g.,  √22.

Sample of cover letter (in the submission process this can be entered in the Comments to the Editor box)

Dear Editor,

Please, consider the following when handling this submission.

Contributions:
Authors A and B designed and performed the experiment, Author C developed the theoretical calculations, Author D performed the statistical analysis, all authors contributted equaly to the preparation of the manuscript.

Suitable reviewers:
Dr. Andrew Smith, University of Physics (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), aasmith@uop.edu.nl
Prof. Bry Chan, Physics Institute (Colorado, USA), bbchan@picol.edu