Information about this journal and other APS journals is available on the APS research-journals World Wide Web server at the URL http://publish.aps.org/. Much information is also available via ftp to aps.org in the subdirectories /jrnls, /pacs, revtex, etc., of the /pub directory. Most filenames include as an extension a suffix (beginning with a period), which indicates the nature of the file: .asc (plain ASCII), .pdf (portable document file, usable with Acrobat), .ps (PostScript), or .tex (TeX). Most files exist in two or three versions, distinguished by the suffix. Some specific files are cited where pertinent below.
Manuscripts may be submitted by a variety of electronic modes (including via e-print servers, direct Web upload, and email), or by conventional mail, but not by fax. Interactive submission forms, available on our Web server, are an integral part of the submission process for the e-print and Web modes, and are strongly recommended for email and conventional-mail submission. These forms aid authors in supplying all the information needed in a structured format which furthers efficient procesing; they also provide a location for additional ``free form'' information. [For authors without Web browsers which support forms, noninteractive versions of the submission forms are available via ftp to aps.org in the /pub/jrnls directory as the sub_prb files (include filename suffix .asc, .tex, or .ps), or by request to the Editorial Office.]
Please specify the author to whom correspondence should be addressed, and give all available communications information for this individual (postal and email addresses, phone and fax numbers), since in various circumstances they may all be useful. Please specify journal and section to which the paper is submitted, and give PACS (Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme) index categories if possible. (The scheme is available on our Web server, and also via ftp to aps.org as the file pacs_98.asc in the /pub/pacs directory.) If an important subject of your paper cannot be appropriately classified in the PACS scheme, please give an appropritate keyword or phrase, and indicate approximately where in the scheme this topic would be best placed.
A signed APS copyright-transfer form (available in plain text, PostScript, or TeX format here) should be included with the submission, and will be required before publication. While the transfer of copyright takes effect only upon acceptance of the paper for publication in an APS journal, supplying the form initially can prevent unnecessary delays. The form appears at the end of the 1 September 1997 issue of Physical Review Letters and is available from the Editorial Office, on the World Wide Web via the URL http://publish.aps.org/ or via ftp to aps.org in the /pub/jrnls directory as the copy_trnsfrfiles (include filenames suffix .asc, .ps, or .tex). Be sure to use the latest (3/94 or later) version of the form.
Manuscripts and figures are not routinely returned to authors. Authors should indicate (preferably on initial submittal) if they want the manuscript and/or figures returned when correspondence is sent during the editorial process, and/or after a final decision has been made.
Electronic submissions may be formatted in REVTeX (preferred), LaTeX, Harvmac, or Plain TeX. The file must be in ASCII containing no control codes, with line lengths of 80 characters or less. All textual material of the paper (including tables, captions, etc.) should be in electronic form, as a single file. The file should produce double-spaced output. Properly prepared electronic submissions are eligible for a publication-charge discount, whether or not they also qualify for the compuscript-conversion production program. See paragraph beginning with ``compuscripts'' (below).
For information about submission via e-print servers or direct Web upload, see our Web server at http://publish.aps.org/ESUB/.
Electronic-mail submissions (and inquiries about them) should be sent to the Internet address prbtex@aps.org. For the initial submission, use as the subject ``submit'' followed by the three-letter abbreviation for the name of the journal (prb) and the last name of the first author; for example, ``submit prb jones'' or ``submit PRB Jones.'' Include the filled-out submission form (or the equivalent information, including journal, section, postal address, etc.) in the first part of the electronic-mail message. Receipt of an electronic-mail submission will be acknowledged within 24 hours. Copies of the manuscript should not be sent by regular mail (only original figures) unless the electronic transmission has not been successful.
Figures for an electronic submission must be received in at least review-quality form before editorial processing can begin. Web upload or electronic-mail transmission (one figure per file) of PostScript- formatted figures will normally meet this need. For color or continuous-tone PostScript figures, hard-copy originals are also required. The originals are needed to ensure that the reproductions created from the electronic figure files are satisfactory. (For email transmission, use a subject line similar to that for the text file with the addition of the figure number, e.g., ``submit prb jones fig1''.) Alternatively, you could send scanner-reproducible journal-quality ``originals'' immediately by overnight mail. A third possibility is to send review-quality figures by fax (516-591-4141), while the ``originals'' are sent by conventional or overnight mail as soon as possible; please mark the fax transmission as being part of an electronic-mail submission. On resubmission, it is only necessary to resend your figures if the originals in our file are no longer valid.
Manuscripts sent by conventional mail should be submit ted in triplicate to the Editors, Physical Review, 1 Research Road, Box 9000, Ridge, NY 11961-9000. The manuscript, including the abstract, references, and captions, should be neatly printed in English, on good letter-size (e.g., in. or A4) white paper with ample margins. (The first copy, used for production purposes if the paper is accepted for publication, must be printed on one side of the paper only; additional copies, used for review purposes, may be printed on both sides of the paper.) The type size and line spacing should be sufficient to accommodate editorial markings and should be legible to our keyboarders (no more than three lines per inch and no more than 88 characters per 6 inches). It should be carefully proofread by the author. Poor reproductions are unacceptable, as are unclear or excessive handwritten insertions.
Compuscripts are author-supplied computer files that can be used for production essentially as supplied. (Some minor style modifications may be made if needed.) If the paper is accepted for publication, the file is converted to production format and coding (eventually SGML), from which base the journal pages are composed. Appropriate REVTeX files are eligible (the other electronic-submission formats are only useful for the editorial-review process. Questions about file eligibility should be directed to prbtex@aps.org. Papers intended for the compuscript production program should be submitted and resubmitted only electronically. PostScript figures may be used directly (electronically) in the production composition process.
REVTeX is APS's LaTeX macro package used to produce compuscript files with the standard structure and coding needed for our journals. The REVTeX software (macros, examples, and documentation) are available via ftp to aps.org in the /pub/revtex directory. For further information on REVTeX, inquire by electronic mail to mis@aps.org (Internet).
An information and instruction booklet regarding electronic submissions and compuscripts is available via ftp to aps.org in the /pub/jrnls/ directory as the compu_inform_pr files (include filename suffix .asc, .ps, or .tex).
For resubmissions, the interactive
resubmission forms available on our Web server may be used
for email, web-based-upload, and hard-copy transmission of
modified manuscripts. These forms should also be used when
a manuscript previously submitted to one APS journal is being
submitted in modified form to another one (typically a former
Physical Review Letters submission being submitted to
Physical Review). Resubmissions from e-print archives
are not yet supported. If you do not use the forms, please
include a summary of changes made and a brief response to all
recommendations and criticisms; state whether or not the figures
have been modified, and supply new PostScript or scanner-reproducible
figures if there have been such changes; and update any other
information (e.g., address and communication information) that
has changed since initial submission.
If the manuscript was originally submitted electronically, please
avoid resubmission by conventional means (paper, postal mail);
continue to use one of the electronic modes. When resubmitting
electronically, please send the complete file for the text if
there have been any changes. Send email resubmissions to prbtex@aps.org,
and use as the subject of the message ``resub'' followed by the manuscript
code number and the last name of the first author; for example,
``resub BC1234 Smith'' or ``resub bc1234 smith.'' Include the filled-out
resubmission form (or equivalent information as described above) as the
first part of the message. For resubmission by conventional mail,
please send three copies of a complete modified manuscript, and
include the form or equivalent information.
For general format and style consult
recent issues of this journal and the Physical Review Style
and Notation Guide, available via ftp
to publish.aps.org in the /pub/jrnls
directory as the style_guidefiles (include filename suffix .pdf,
.ps, or .tex). Additional style guidelines can be found in the
Fourth Edition of the AIP Style Manual, which may be obtained
for $10.00 (prepaid) from the American Institute of Physics,
c/o AIDC, 64 Depot Road, Colchester, VT 05546, telephone: 800-488-2665.
The title should be concise but informative enough to facilitate
information retrieval. The abstract should be self-contained
(contain no footnotes). It should be adequate as an index
(giving all subjects, major and minor, about which new
information is given) and as a summary (giving the conclusions and
all results of general interest in the article). It should be about
5%of the length of the article, but less than 500 words.
Notation should be clear, compact, and consistent with standard
usage. Each symbol must be individually legible. Equations
should be neatly typed or written in ink, punctuated and
aligned to bring out their structure, and numbered on the right.
(a) Diacritical marks (tildes, etc.) can be put over any symbol,
including indices, but not over groups of symbols. (b) Three-vectors
will be set in roman boldface type and should be
marked in the manuscript with either a black wiggly underline
or an arrow over the character. More general vectors, matrices,
etc., are usually set in lightface italic type, although boldface
may alternatively be used.
(c) Any numerical fraction can be put on one line,
e.g., ½a. Use that form rather thana
a/2, and never use 1/2a, unless you
mean 1/(2a). The solidus should be used instead of
@
built-up fractions in running text.
Marking of mathematical material: All unusual and handwritten
symbols whose identity is not obvious should be identified
in the margin the first time they appear, and thereafter
only if an ambiguity is still possible. For example, when
necessary, identify Greek letters (not including sum and
product signs)
and script letters; underline italic in black; underline in black
three times for capital. Identify nonalphabetic symbols by their
number in the AIP Style Manual. Superscripts are normally set
directly over subscripts; authors should note where readability
or the meaning requires a special order by specifically marking
such cases (enclose superscripts in a black-penciled inverted
caret; subscripts, in a black-penciled caret). Excessive marking
should be avoided.
References and footnotes to text material must
be combined in a single list, numbered consecutively in their order
of first appearance in the paper, and placed in a double-spaced
list at the end of the text material. References within tables
should be designated by lower-case letter superscripts and
given at the end of the table.
For the proper form, see the Physical Review Style
and Notation Guide and recent issues of this journal. The names
of all authors of works cited should be given in the references.
The use of ``et al.'' is discouraged, and should never
be used if the number of authors is less than four. When reference
is made to material not available in the published literture, it is
denoted as ``unpublished.''
References to
classified reports or other documents with restricted circulation
should be avoided.
It is important to confirm the accuracy of bibliographic information
in references. This has become more important now that the journal
is online. Hyperlinks will be programmed to enable readers to
``click'' on references and jump directly to the material cited.
If your reference citations are incorrect or incomplete (e.g.,
missing author name, or an incorrect volume number or page),
the associated hyperlinks may fail, and the usefulness of your
paper in the online environment may be diminished.
Since at the present time such links work only from the reference
section, work cited anywhere in the paper, including in figure
and table captions and in ``Note(s) added,'' should be included
in the reference section.
Footnotes to an author's name or address
should be limited to those useful for location of, or communication
with, an author. Footnotes giving electronic addresses (e.g., email,
fax, or Web) of a corresponding author are encouraged.
All information concerning research support should
appear in the acknowledgments.
Separate tables (numbered in the order of their first appearance)
should be used for all but the simplest tabular material;
they must have captions, which should make the tables intelligible
without reference to the text. The structure should be
clear, with simple column headings giving all units.
The decision on whether results should be published in long
tables depends on the precision of the data, i.e., whether they
can be read accurately enough from a figure, and on how many
readers are likely to use the numbers relative to the sapce
needed in the journal. If additional numerical data can be
obtained from a data center, from the author, or from another
source either as tables or on tape, indicate how and in what
format they can be obtained.
Figures should be planned for the column width of the Physical
Review (approximately 8.6 cm, or in.). In some cases where
the figures contain a great deal of detail, or 2 columns may
be used. Wasted space at the top and bottom should be avoided.
Carefully prepared figures, suitable for digital scanning, are
required (original India-ink
drawings or glossy prints; computer-generated figures, if of
sufficient quality, are acceptable). Figures must have a clear
background and unbroken lines with as much black-white contrast
as possible. Final-journal-size originals or prints are
preferable to oversized originals.
Avoid small open symbols which
tend to fill in upon reproduction, small dots and decimal points,
and shading or cross-hatching that is not coarse enough to
withstand reproduction.
The lettering and plotted points on the figures should
be large and clear enough that they will be legible on
the journal pages (final journal size of lettering should
be at least 2 mm).
Inconsistently large or too heavy lettering should be avoided.
Line weights should be consistent throughout a figure, with a
final line weight of at least 0.18 mm (0.5 point).
Figures reproduced directly from an automatic plotter
or computer printer must have lettering of
the correct size and style (e.g., MeV instead
of MEV, unslashed zeros) and curves that are smooth and
of sufficient line weight to allow suitable reproduction.
The resolution of the drawing software and the output device
should be set as high as possible (preferably 600 dpi or higher).
Very fine lines in laser-generated illustrations
will disappear under scanning.
Photographs of
apparatus are unacceptable and should be replaced by good
schematic diagrams.
Photographic (continuous tone) material is screened (``halftoned'')
within our production process. Avoid submitting prescreened prints
of photographic material; reproduction of such figures is then seldom
satisfactory. There is a risk of moiré patterns appearing in the
final product. Laser-printer renditions of continuous-tone data are
similarly problematic, since they are effectively prescreened. Please
submit figures electronically as PostScript files (one image per file).
There are greater possibilities for successful reproduction in the
journal when these data are processed directly rather than via
scanning of hard-copy renditions. Alternatively,
supply glossy or matte-finish photographs instead, if available.
Otherwise, choose the highest resolution possible and laser print the
figure at its final published size.
Figures should be numbered in the order in which they are
cited in the text. The original figures,
as well as the copies supplied for review purposes, should
be identified on the front (well outside the image
area) by the number, the name of the first author, and the
journal. An indication, e.g., ``TOP,'' of the intended
orientation of a figure is helpful, especially in
ambiguous cases. Be advised that the scanner reproduces
all flaws (e.g., correction fluid, tape, smudges, writing on
the back of the figure). Each figure must have its own
caption; list captions on a separate sheet. Groups of
figures that share a common (single) caption must be labeled
``(a), (b), (c),'' etc. It is preferable that all parts of
a figure be submitted as a single piece.
The figure should have properly labeled
axes with correctly abbreviated units.
Use the form
R (10³ Omega), not R × 10³ ohms. For
complete instructions see the Physical Review Style and
Notation Guide and the AIP Style Manual.
Some figures might be more effective in color. This option
is available; price schedules can be obtained from the
Editorial Office at Ridge. The cost of publishing illustrations in
color must be borne in full by the respective authors and their
institutions. Authors who wish to avail themselves of this
option should provide 35-mm slides or transparancies, or
high-quality glossy prints, which should be close to the final
size expected for publication. (Negatives are not acceptable.)
Polaroid color prints should be avoided. Artwork must be
flexible. If submitting slides, please note that they will be
removed from their jackets for the color separator. In some
cases, printing requirements will prevent figures from being
located in the most preferred position. To alert readers of
monochrome reproductions of the article that the archive figure is
in color, begin the caption with ``(Color).'' Be advised that
production of an editorially accepted paper that contains color
can begin only after a properly completed color-illustration
authorization form has been received from the author.
The detail in some figures (continuous-tone photographs or color
figures, for example) is lost on photocopying. Therefore,
duplicate sets of the originals of such figures must be attached to
each copy of the manuscript.
In order to reproduce figures, tables, etc., from another
journal, authors must show that they have complied with the
requirements of the publisher of the other journal, possibly
including written agreement of both publisher and author of the
originally published work. (If the original journal is published
by APS, only the written agreement of the original author is
required to reproduce a few figures or tables.)