GENERAL INFORMATION FOR CONTRIBUTORS
(Revised January 1998)
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 processing; 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_pre 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 appropriate 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_trnsfr files (include filename 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 out Web server at http://publish.aps.org/ESUB/.
Electronic-mail submissions (and inquiries about them) should be sent
to the Internet address pretex@aps.org
For the initial submission, use as the subject ``submit'' followed by the
three-letter abbreviation for the name of the journal
(pre) and the last name of the first author; for example, ``submit
pre jones'' or ``submit PRE 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 pre 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 submitted in
quadruplicate 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., 8 ½ × 11 in. or A4) white paper wi
th
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 pretex@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)
is available via ftp to aps.org in the /pub/revtex directory. For
further information on REVTeX, inquire by electronic mail to mis@aps.org.
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 elecctronic modes. When resubmitting electronically,
please send the complete file for the text if there have been any
changes. Send email resubmissions to pretex@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 EF1234 Smith'' or
``resub ef1234 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 four
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 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.
Readability of the journal is an important consideration. Authors
are urged to take special care in assuring that their manuscripts
are well-organized and clearly written in good scientific English.
Accessability of papers is a matter of significant concern,
and at least the abstract and introduction of each article
should be written so as to be understandable by a broad spectrum
of readers.
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 than 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 any 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. They should be designated and cited in text by
on-line Arabic numerals in square brackets. As an option, footnotes
may appear separately from references and be placed at
the bottom of the page on which they are cited. They should be
designated by superscript numbers and numbered consecutively
throughout the paper. Footnotes within tables should be
designated by lower-case letter superscripts and given at the
end of the table.
For the proper form for references, 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, unless the number of authors is greater than
three; in this case, the first author's name followed by et al.
is allowed. When reference is made to internal reports or other
items not available in the open literature, it is the responsibility of
the author to provide sufficient information to enable the reader
to obtain a copy of the referenced material. 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.
All
information concerning research support should appear in the
acknowledgments.