1.  Content.

Articles.
This journal publishes two types of articles: original research reports submitted by authors comprising a complete, detailed, self-contained description of a research effort and Critical Review papers solicited by Editor that provide an updating of an area of science or technology pertinent to the scope of this journal. All articles must contain an abstract (see item 2).

Brief Reports and Comments.
These are short submissions that either report a brief item of research or technology that does not require extensive descriptive writing or that comment on an item previously published in the journal. Brief Reports and Comments do not require the format structure of regular journal articles and do not require an abstract.

Rapid Communications/JVST Letters.
These are short submissions that contain important new results and are intended for accelerated publication. Rapid Communications/Letters are given priority in handling and do not require an abstract.

Shop Notes.
These are "how to do it" papers. They should be written and illustrated so that the reader may easily follow whatever instruction or advice is being given. An abstract is not required for a Shop Note.

2. Abstracts.
An abstract must accompany each article. It should be adequate as an index and as a summary, giving all major and minor subjects concerning the new information presented. It should also give the conclusions of the article and numerical results of general interest. An abstract is usually reused verbatim in abstracting and indexing services. Therefore, great care should be used in writing it.

3. Manuscript submissions.
Manuscripts are accepted with the understanding that they have not been copyrighted, published, or accepted for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts must be in English, double-spaced and conform to the style consistent with papers published in JVSTA and JVSTB.  Authors should adopt a particular way of writing their names in the byline and use the same name for all publications. This practice makes indexes more useful and less confusing.

4. Style.
Authors are expected to follow the conventional writing, notation, and illustration style prescribed in the American Institute of Physics Style Manual, which is available from the AIP by visiting http://www.aip.org/pubservs/style.html. Authors should also study the form and style of published material in this journal. The SI units should be used.

5. Electronic text files.
Sending a pdf file of your paper and a cover letter to jvst@jvst.org is recommended for the initial  submission/review process.  If you prefer to send hard-copy, please send this to the AVS Publications Office (100 Park Drive, Suite 105, Caller Box 13994, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709.)  

Once a paper is accepted, it is helpful to send directly to the American Institute of Physics (AIP) who prepares the proofs, an MSWord or TeX file of the text, any tables and a list of the figure captions.  Follow procedures from the JVST Editor as to format and file naming.  The figures will need to each be in separate files for AIP (not embedded in the text) and in one of the following formats: PostScript, EPS, TIFF or production-ready PDF (Creating a Production-Ready PDF image) files.  Once a paper is accepted the author should have these file formats ready to send to AIP.  The following instructions regarding sending the electronic files to AIP upon paper acceptance are sent to authors by email from the AVS Publications Office when a paper is received for submission/review so that authors can be ready with the files when needed. 

While manuscripts can be typeset from hardcopy, AIP prefers processing REVTeX/LaTeX or Word files to compose your manuscript. AIP can process these files to produce author proofs.  Do not send the separate text and figure files until instructed as all that is needed is a PDF file for submission and review purposes. Wait for further instructions from the AVS Publications Office on when to send these. Do not send the file directly to AIP Production unless otherwise requested. AIP converts REVTeX, LaTeX, and Word into XML and ultimately into Xyvision to produce galley proofs. A REVTeX toolbox to help prepare your manuscript is available via anonymous FTP from ftp.aip.org in the directory /pub/revtex. The REVTeX toolbox, as well as general information regarding the electronic text preparation and transmission, are accessible via the AIP Author Information website(www.aip.org/epub/compuscripts.info.html).

6. Illustrations.
Illustrations published in the journal are usually native author graphics files, which get processed by AIP; scanning hardcopy figures is also still practiced. To receive optimal quality, we strongly encourage the author to send electronic graphics files rather than laser output or hardcopy. (Note: If you are submitting electronic graphics files, adherence to the electronic submission instructions described below is crucial. If your electronic files are received after processing of the printed copy  illustrations has occurred, the electronic files will not be used.)

Sizing Illustrations (Electronic Graphics Files and Hardcopy)

Prepare illustrations in the final published size, not oversized or undersized.
Size your illustrations according to your journal's specifications. Submit each illustration at the final size you wish it to appear in the journal. The standard is 8.5-cm maximum width (3-3/8” or 20.5 picas) for one column. This is especially important for screened or shaded illustrations; reduction of screened/shaded originals often introduces an unacceptable moiré pattern.

Ensure a minimum of 8-point type size (2.8 mm high; 1/8” high) and 1-point line width within illustrations.
Ensure that line weights will be 0.5 points or greater in the final published size as anything below 0.5 points will reproduce poorly. Avoid inconsistencies in lettering within individual figures, and from one figure to the next. Lettering and symbols cannot be handwritten. Avoid small open symbols that tend to fill in if any reduction is necessary.

Acceptable formats:
Graphics must be submitted as PostScript, EPS (using either Arial or Times Roman fonts), TIFF (lzw compressed,) or production-ready PDFs.  MS application, Corel, and JPG formats are still discouraged. Do not send application files, e.g., Corel Draw, etc.  A PDF image should only be used for graphic format when a preferred format, i.e., TIF, DEPS or PS cannot be output by the source creator of the image file.  (Creating a Production-Ready PDF image)

Settings:
Set the graphic for 600 dpi resolution for line art, halftones (non compressed), and combinations (line art + halftone). Save the files to grayscale (B/W) for online and print reproduction in black and white.  Save as RGB for online reproduction in color, and print reproduction in black and white (no fee).  Finally, save as CMYK for color reproduction in both the online and printed journals (there is a fee for this; please contact the AVS Publications office).

Make sure there is only ONE figure per file. Each figure file should include all parts of the figure. For example, if Figure 1 contains three parts (a, b, c), then all of the parts should be combined into a single file for Figure 1.

Do not transmit the graphics files to the AVS Publications Office or AIP unless otherwise instructed to do so. Full instructions will be sent to you twice by email: Once after initial submission of your article, and once after your article has been accepted for publication.

Detailed instructions for transmitting electronic graphics to AIP and a glossary of terms may be found on the AIP Physics Information website at www.aip.org/epub/submitgraph.html

Preparation of Hardcopy Illustrations for Scanning

Number figures in the order in which they appear in text.
Label illustrations with their number, the name of the first author, and the journal, on the front of the figure well outside the image area.

Place only one figure per page (including all parts).
Place all parts of the same figure on one page, spaced 1/4 in. apart. Label all figure parts with (a), (b), etc.

Make sure that lettering and line weight will reproduce clearly.
Authors' laser-generated graphics are acceptable only if the lettering and lines are sufficiently dark and thick to reproduce clearly, especially if reduction is required. Choose maximum black-white contrast is necessary and the highest dot-per-inch (dpi) available (i.e., the highest resolution possible). Remember that fine lines in laser-generated graphics tend to disappear upon reduction, even if the oversized original looks acceptable.  Again, sending the electronic files to AIP upon paper acceptance is preferred.

Submit continuous-tone photographs in final published size on white glossy or matte paper.
Avoid glossy paper stock that is off-white, ivory, or colored because contrast within the illustration will be lost in reproduction. Print the photograph with more contrast than is desired in the final printed journal page. Avoid dull, textured paper stock that will cause illustrations to lose contrast and detail when reproduced.

7. Math text.
Mathematical expressions should be typeset as completely as possible, using Unicode characters for all symbols, variables, and operators.  Avoid handwritten letters and symbols. Choose fonts that clearly distinguish capital and lowercase letters where there could be confusion. Use fractional exponents to avoid root signs. Extra symbols should be introduced to avoid complicated exponents or where it is necessary to repeat a complicated expression a number of times. Use the solidus (/) wherever possible for fractions. Do not repeat mathematical derivations that are easily found elsewhere in the literature; merely cite the references.

8. Author email addresses and footnotes.
Authors may include their email addresses along with all other footnotes in the following format: Electronic mail: smith@foo.bar.com

9. References.
References should be collected at the end of the manuscript, numbered consecutively and arranged thus:

--- A. B. Smith, Phys. Rev. 41, 852 (1932).

--- H. Lamb, Hydrodynamics, 6th ed. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1940), pp. 573, 645.

A list of the abbreviations for the names of journals appears in the AIP Style Manual.

10. Tables.
All but the simplest tabular material should be organized into separate tables. Tables should be numbered with Roman numerals. Each table must have a caption set at the top of the table, which makes the data in the table intelligible without reference to the text. Avoid complicated column headings. If necessary, use symbols that are explained in the caption. Set a double horizontal line below the caption, a single line below the headings, and another double line at the end of the table. Very long tables, if possible, should be submitted in a form ready for reproduction. Photo reproducible tables (including captions) are not encouraged, but, when necessary, should be set single-spaced, and have to fit in one journal column (85 mm or 3in.) or across two columns (180 mm, or 7 in.).

11.  Manuscript template available.

Please see JVST Template for MSWord for preparing an electronic submission using a template for Microsoft Word.

Template Instructions

Template

12. Publication charges.
Page charges comprise the major source of income for this journal. Consequently, author's institutions or companies are asked and urged to pay a publication charge of $95 per printed page, which entitles them to 100 reprints without covers.  AVS members receive the benefit of having page charges waived.  Please download, fill in, and return the following form:

Publication Charge Form (PDF Format)

13. Correspondence and alterations.
Send manuscripts to the AVS Publications Office.  Please send a PDF file and cover letter to jvst@jvst.org.  If you prefer, you may send hard-copy to AVS Publications Office, Caller Box 13994, 100 Park Drive, Suite 105, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, ph: 919 361-2787, fax: 919 361-1378.