| The following instructions for submitting to
Acta Crystallographica Section A
are organized in question-and-answer format. You can read through
the questions in order, or click on any of the questions to jump
directly to the answer. When you are ready to continue, go back to the submissions
home page.
Context sensitive help is available throughout the submission procedure by holding your mouse over underlined text in the submission forms or by clicking on the help icons ![[info]](http://www.iucr.org/iucr-top/logos/info.gif){kind=small}
Please note: These instructions should be read together with the Notes for Authors, which give overall guidelines on submitting an article. Getting started
Getting started How do I begin submitting an article? When you are ready to submit an article and have all the necessary items ready, you should go to the submissions home page to start the process. To submit your article, you will be asked to provide information on your submission, to upload your article and graphics files, and to select a Co-editor. The process is reasonably self-explanatory, and detailed help is provided along the way. Back to contents What should I have ready before starting a new submission? Before you begin submitting, you should have the following items ready:
Note that if you wish to submit a covering letter, it may be pasted into the form at Stage 4 of the submission, or uploaded using the contact co-editor tab at Stage 6 of the submission. Back to contents What does the overall submission and review procedure involve? The overall procedure involves six stages:
Back to contents Submission and review What kinds of file may I submit? For submission and refereeing we require the word processing and other source files for your article to be submitted. The files should be prepared according to the Notes for Authors. You may submit either (a) WORD or OpenOffice files, or (b) LaTeX files. WORD or OpenOffice submissions: At Stage 1, we require a WORD or OpenOffice file of the text, tables and figure captions of your article to be uploaded. Note that figures should not be included in this file. At Stage 3, we request you to provide the following source files:
Once you have uploaded all your files, you should CONTINUE to the next stage. All files, including graphics files, will be automatically converted into a PDF review document by the submission system. If for any reason the submission system is unable to convert your source files to PDF, you may be asked to upload a PDF at the end of Stage 3. LaTeX submissions: At Stage 1, we require a LaTeX file of the text, tables and figure captions of your article to be uploaded. Note that if you have a BibTeX file this should be uploaded at Stage 3. At Stage 3, we request you to provide source files as follows:
Once you have uploaded all your files, you should CONTINUE to the next stage. All files, including graphics files, will be automatically converted into a PDF review document by the submission system. If for any reason the submission system is unable to convert your source files to PDF, you may be asked to upload a PDF at the end of Stage 3. Back to contents Should I use a template to prepare my article? Templates are available for the preparation of your article in WORD or LaTeX format. For refereeing purposes, please ensure that the file you prepare is in preprint format (single column, double spaced); graphics should not be included in WORD files as they will be appended by the submission system. Back to contents How should I prepare my figures? A set of guidelines for preparing figures is available. Figures should be prepared using one of the file formats listed above. When uploading figures for LaTeX submissions, please upload the figure files that you used to create a valid LaTeX document on your own computer. The submission system will automatically detect their type and rename them if necessary for processing. In most cases, if you have prepared your LaTeX document for printing as PostScript, your figures will be in .ps or .eps format. If you have prepared your document for printing as PDF, the figures will usually be in .png or .pdf format. Back to contents How do I prepare an enhanced figure? A toolkit is available
which allows you to create one or more enhanced figures and their
corresponding static figures. This application uses the CIF for
your structure to produce a figure which you can manipulate as
required. When you have completed your figure it can be saved and
you will be supplied with a presubmission URL for viewing
the enhanced figure and a high-resolution graphics file of
the static figure. During submission, the presubmission URL of the
enhanced figure should be pasted into the appropriate form on
the upload enhanced figure tab. Alternatively, you may create
an enhanced figure during submission by uploading a CIF.
Back to contents Should I submit supplementary data? If your article describes a crystal structure study, a CIF (Crystallographic Information File) containing the crystallographic data for all the reported structures will be required for the review process. You will be asked to upload your CIF during the submission procedure. You should ensure that at least a basic structural check is run on the final version of your CIF prior to submission. Also, a separate structure factor or Rietveld data file in CIF format should be submitted for each structure reported. Other supplementary materials (e.g. videos) may be submitted; for a full list of allowed file types, click here. Supplementary material which is for "review only" can be uploaded in the same way as regular supplementary material but it should be made clear on the first page of the material that it is for review only and not for publication. Back to contents What do I need to do about copyright? When your article has been successfuly uploaded, a Co-editor reference code assigned and a PDF review document created, you will be sent an e-mail to confirm that your article has entered the review stage. You will also be sent a Transfer of Copyright agreement. You should complete and sign this agreement and return it to the Editorial Office by e-mail (copyrighta@iucr.org). The e-mail should include the Co-editor reference code in the Subject line. Please note that if you wish your article to be open access, you will be given the opportunity to do this at the proof stage. Authors of open-acess articles retain copyright in their article. If you have any questions about copyright, please contact support@iucr.org. Back to contents Where should I put my response to a review of my article? You should generally respond to review comments by e-mailing the Co-editor handling your article using the contact co-editor tab on the article review page; if your article has been revised it should also be re-uploaded at this stage, see below. Short responses to review comments may be pasted or typed into the space provided at the foot of the upload revision tab. Back to contents How do I submit a revised article? To upload a revised version of your article following review comments, you should use the web address supplied to you during the initial submission procedure. The Co-editor will instruct you as to which files they require to be revised. In some circumstances the Co-editor may elect to revise your article and ask you to review the revised article at the web address for your article. Revised graphics files and supplementary materials may also be requested at this stage. If figures need to be renumbered as a result of the revisions, use the change ordering of figures button to renumber the figures. Please note: revisions should be submitted only at the specific request of the Co-editor handling your article. Back to contents Getting help What are some common pitfalls I should avoid?
What tools are available to help prepare my article? A number of tools are available to help with the preparation of structural articles:
What if the Co-editor I wish to submit to is unavailable? If you have a preference for a particular Co-editor, and that Co-editor is not available when you submit your article, you should, before selecting a Co-editor, contact support@iucr.org to see when the Co-editor will next be available. Likewise, if you wish to submit a series of related papers to the same Co-editor, please contact support@iucr.org before starting your submissions. Back to contents What is an IUCr ID? Your IUCr ID is your user name for all IUCr online services. The International Union of Crystallography has brought several of its online services for users, including the World Directory of Crystallographers and e-mail alerting for IUCr journals (Crystallography Journals Online), under a single registration system. With this system, each user needs to register information such as their name and e-mail address only once, and can simply and easily keep their own information up to date. Registration is simple, with only a small amount of information required, although users who wish to be included in the World Directory of Crystallographers should provide contact and biographical information that is as complete as possible. Once registered, each user may use their IUCr ID and password at any time, for instance to log in to update their details for the World Directory of Crystallographers, to change e-mail addresses and the e-mail alerts received at each address. If you are already registered (e.g. if you are already in the World Directory of Crystallographers), click here to search for your IUCr ID. Back to contentsWhat should I do if I do not have the e-mail address of a co-author? During submission you will be asked to provide e-mail addresses for all authors. These addresses will be used to inform your co-authors that the article has been submitted. In some cases, e.g. where a co-author is a student who is no longer at your institution, it may be difficult to provide an e-mail address. If you are unable to find an address for a coauthor, you may substitute your e-mail address when filling out the form at Stage 2 of the submission. Back to contents What should I do if I get stuck? You will find detailed help links throughout
the submission pages, and you can use any of these links without
stopping the submission. If you are having more serious problems,
you should contact support@iucr.org.
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