Guidelines for Authors
on Elements and Style for Articles

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At startup in 1998 we were are working with a new and rapidly-changing medium of information exchange.
The editors have been open to discussing and accepting changes and exceptions to our guidelines.
As the speed of transmission and Web programming capabilities improved we have added
larger graphics, video, and interactive calculations, which are more attractive for educational presentations.
We dropped our original plan of printing the ERPT tutorials for archiving in major international reserach centers,
so that the tutorials would be refereed print publications, which carry more weight in evaluations

What sorts of files can be sent for review? The author may provide the article as standard word-processor files. It will be easiest for the ERPT editorial staff if the file is a Microsoft Word file. We have been able to convert Wordperfect files that were smaller than 250 K, but larger ones may to case trouble. You could break up a large file into several smaller ones. You may attach the file(s) to an Email. If we have questions about the appearance of the file we may ask you to mail or FAX a paper copy so that we can check the symbols in equations and verify that the electronic file was OK. In 2003 March we shifted from posting files in HTML to posting them as PDF files. The base file will be an MS Word file, and the conversion to PDF will be done by the ERPT editorial staff. PDF files may contain embedded graphics, but authors should check their graphic legends and subscripts to see that they can be read when displayed on a comouter screen. NOTE: We need to revise the guidelines to separate comments specific to HTML or PDF format. Conversion from a DOC file to an HTML file Authors who plan to submit Web-ready articles using HTML code should read the graphics and HTML page for additional details. The ERPT editorial staff does not use an automatic conversion to HTML, since this usually produces complex and redundant HTML code. The manual conversion process consists of the following: The text is converted to several HTML files, each 5-10 screens in length Greek symbols in the text are replaced by small graphic files Drawings, plots, and other graphics are converted to GIF or JPG format.. NOTE: Do not use tiny letters and fine detail in your graphics. Screen graphics have only 1/3 the resolution of print graphics, so fine details will be lost.

What does ERPT expect for the elements of an article? See the sample article for an illustration of the elements and format generally expected in articles for ERPT. The material should be written in English. Title - This should be short and descriptive of the contents. If it is over 50 characters long, include a note suggesting a short form that could be used as a header on Web page sections. Capitalize the main title and section titles following the American convention of capitalizing most words (all but articles, prepositions, and some short, special words). Authors and Institutions - These should follow the title. All authors listed should have made a substantial contribution to the work underlying or the preparation of the article. The institution at which the work was done should be clearly identified. Communications will be with the first-named author unless another is indicated by a footnote ("to whom all correspondence should be addressed".) For every author an entire current mailing address is required. If this is a temporary address, indicate the permanent address in a footnote ("visiting scholar, permanent address is ...."). Abstract - Include an abstract of up to 400 words following the author information. Sections - See the example article for the preferred series of sections. You may use a different set or order of sections, but try to cover all the concerns noted in those section headings. Number the sections according to the order in which they would normally be read. The article will be presented as a series of Web pages, each of which will usually (but not necessarily) contain a single section. We will list each section separately on the article's home page and provide a jump to the middle of a Web page if needed to provide a link to the start of a section. Photo and Bio - Please include a picture of the author(s) and a brief biographic shetch or some interesting item about each author for the first page of the article. This personalizes the authorship of the article somewhat. The graphics file should be 200 (+/-50) pixels in size (both dimensions) and in JPG or BMP format, but we can handle other sizes and file types. The biographic sketch should be 100 (+/-25) words in length. Subsections - The Web format relies on visual contrast and cues to maintain the reader's attention and focus. It is important to supply boldface subsection headings or boldface introductory words to paragraphs or some graphics every several inches of screen presentation to keep the reader from getting lost in a sea of text. Bored readers quit. Be sure to provide visual clues to draw them onward to complete the tutorial. Writing style, grammar, and spelling - Please consult an English-language style guide, grammar text, and dictionary (or have the article reviewed by somone who knows English well) so that your article is easy to read and does not get delayed for a long time in the editorial process. Figures - Number these sequentially with arabic numerals. Abbreviate to "Fig." with the title under the figure. Refer to them in the text as "See Fig. 4 for ...." Because the Web has limited resolution, be sure that the graphics can are clear when displayed on a 640 by 480 pixel screen. In general try to use as small a size as possible consistent with legiblity. See the graphics and HTML page for additional details This para. is specific to tutorials converted to HTML: Equations - See our special page on symbols and equations. Numbering Equations -Number equations sequentially using arabic numerals inside square brackets at the left margin. Refer to them in the text as "Eq. 4 shows ...". Tables - Number these sequentially with arabic numerals. If they are longer than twenty lines, you should submit them as a separate HTML or text or PDF file (not embedded in the HTML file) suitable for viewing with a browser. Units of Measure - Use the SI system of units. If other units are in common use in your technical area, write the value with SI units, followed by parentheses enclosing the value in other units -- for example 0.35 m (1.15 ft). Do not use the term "billion", because it will be interpreted as 109 in the United States and as 1012 elsewhere. Symbols - Follow IUPAC recommendations. Do not use "M" as an (latin) abbreviation for a thousand, because it will be mistaken for the SI unit M, representing a million. Abbreviations - Clearly define an acronym the first time it is used -- for example, American Chemical Society (ACS) -- and include each acronym in the symbols and abbreviations listing. Note: You need not define or list the acronyms for SI and common technical units of measure. In the Symbols and Abbreviations section (just prior to the References) use following order: lower-case Roman, upper-case Roman, lower-case Greek, upper-case Greek, other, separating the sections with a blank line. List the symbol, meaning, and SI units in the format:      h - height [m] Footnotes should be avoided if possible. If they are used, place the citation inside square brackets, numbered sequentially as they are encountered in the text [see note 1]. Place the text in a Notes section just prior to the References. Unpublished Data, Private Communications Do not cite these as references, make them footnotes (Note 1: private communication from XXX, Univ. of YYY, date). Include with the manuscript written confirmation that the source author(s) of such data or commmunications approve use in the submitted article. References: Cite these in the text by putting the lead author's surname (family name) and the date of publication in parentheses in the text in square brackets [Ugelstad 1979]. Add a letter to the date if that author wrote several papers in one year. All citations should be in the reference list and vice versa. List the references in alphabetic order using the first author's surname (family name, last name). You may use either the full first name of the author or just the initials. Use Chemical Abstracts as a guide to journal abbreviations. Italicize journal abbreviations and use boldface for the journal volume. Use boldface for book titles and place the publisher, city, and year of publication in parentheses after the book title. For Web citations put the URL inside angle brackets without the http://, and put inside parentheses the author's institutional affiliation, if possible, and the date the page was last edited or, if that is not available, the date you read the page).

Questions? Contact the Managing Editor at erptmged@aol.com
Explanations and Disclaimers