Throughout the submission and review process your manuscript may have several separate identifiers. The final identifier is given at publication, when it becomes citable. Each of these identifiers has some logical justification. For reference, the identifiers currently in use are:
If you need to make corrections to the files you submitted and it is still listed in your account as “With Submissions Staff”, click on the temporary ID number (which is highlighted in red) and make any corrections needed. Note: when you do this the submitted date will update to reflect the most recent change.
If you want to make a resubmission on a manuscript that already has an APS manuscript code number, log into your account and look for the code number highlighted in red. Click on the number and it will take you to your submission page that will show several options, one of them being resubmit.
For your initial submission, and any subsequent resubmission before acceptance, we prefer a PDF of your manuscript.
Once source files are required/requested at acceptance, files formatted in REVTeX is preferred. Text files should be formatted in REVTeX or LaTeX. The file must be in ASCII containing no control codes, with line lengths of 80 characters or less. Word files are also acceptable.
We accept manuscripts prepared using Word 2007 or later in .docx format. APS does not provide Word technical support to authors, nor do we provide a template for preparing a paper; however, we do have some hints regarding fonts, figures, equations, and table formatting.
Use standard Windows fonts in any Word document (Times New Roman). If you use an unusual font, we will probably not have it and, therefore, be unable to convert your Word document to PDF for viewing. Include figures in your Word document as pictures. Include equations by using Design Science's Math Type, and tables by using the Table Editor. Do not embed any of these items as objects, since this will cause a problem with our conversion of your file to PDF. We prefer that separate PostScript or encapsulated PostScript figure files be provided for each figure in addition to the figures already included in your Word document.
Yes. The e-print archive recommends single-spacing. In other areas the issues are not so much differences as stricter requirements on our side. For example, figure placement: if called in to the manuscript via one of the LaTeX graphic packages, figures should be placed along with their captions in a figure section after the end of the text, rather than distributed through the middle of the file. Tables similarly should appear with captions after the reference section. Feynman diagrams and the like drawn with the LaTeX picture environment should generally be treated as figures rather than equations, and should have accompanying electronic figure files. See the REVTeX tips for more details. Our purpose is to gather your content in such a way that we can re-use it internally in several modes and again in our final production process; we do not want a "camera-ready" version of your paper.
An APS journal account is required to access the web submissions server. If you have not created one, please go to http://journals.aps.org/signup. For more information on journal accounts, please see http://journals.aps.org/help/accounts. Once you have a journal account, you can log in by going to http://journals.aps.org/login/. If you have forgotten your password, click "Forgot your username/password". Follow the instructions there and a message will be sent from no-reply@aps.org, which contains a link you need to click and then reset your password. Please be sure you set your password with at least eight characters using both numbers and letters. If you encounter any problem in creating an account, please send a message to help@aps.org.
A correctly formatted LaTex manuscript file should result in any figure files being numbered correctly automatically. If a change is needed, click on the “Select/change descriptions” button and make the necessary changes.
Please note: The PDF preview is a courtesy feature provided during submission. It is not a required step in the process. While various issues may cause the preview to fail to generate a proper PDF, this should not prevent authors from submitting their files. You should proceed with the submission as long as the files you provide to us are complete and correctly formatted.
.bbl file by either pasting its content directly into your manuscript's reference section or using \input to read it in.
APS uses the email addresses to contact contributing authors once your submission is received. This supports research integrity and the inclusion of ORCIDs in the final version of the article.
Accurate institutional affiliations support the editorial process and ensure that your research is more discoverable and associated with your institution(s) upon publication.
Accurate affiliations also assist us in identifying papers that may be eligible for institutional open access agreements.
Our databases are confidential, and if this were enabled it would cause a breach of confidentiality.
You can; we expect this information to be entered directly as part of the comments for the editors.
This sounds as if it could be an incompatible browser problem. The APS journal web sites, like many other web sites, no longer support outdated browsers. Our journal web sites adhere to the latest web standards and should render and work properly with any modern, standards-compliant browser. If you are still experiencing a problem, try updating to one of the following current browsers: Firefox 27.X, Google Chrome version 33.X, IE 9 and 10, and Safari 5, 6, and 7. After upgrading, you will need to clear your browser's cache. See http://journals.aps.org/unsupported-browser for details on browser support on our websites.
Authors of these papers have requested this option. In order to do this for your manuscript, please include a note in the cover letter to indicate that it contains Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters in author names. Then when you get to the Title/Abstract/Other Info page you will see a check box. Check this box if your text file includes author names shown with Chinese, Japanese or Korean (CJK) characters.
APS provides comprehensive support for authors from many lower-income countries, covering the full cost of APCs on behalf of eligible authors across the full range of Physical Review journals. Find out more about author eligibility as well as our Research4Life partnership on our dedicated support page. Our institutional open access agreements enable authors at many institutions around the world to publish open access at no cost to themselves. APS is also a key member of the SCOAP3 initiative supporting open access publishing in high-energy physics without APC payments. More information on each of these can be found here. The open access journal Physical Review Accelerators and Beams does not have any APCs, with APS covering the full fees through a diamond open access model. There is no required fee to publish in hybrid journals on a standard basis, with all APS subscribers able to access your research. Open access APCs for all of our journals are set at a rate to support sustainable, high-quality publishing with full information on pricing available here.
When you first login on the upper left side of the page your name, email, and affiliation is listed. Click Update to make any changes. Or, whenever you create a new submission you will also be given the opportunity to update your contact information. After updating, be sure you click on the “Save” button. When you want to go back to submit, click on “Submit a Manuscript” on the left side of the page.
After logging into your account, go to the “Under Review” heading and click on the manuscript code (highlighted in red). It will bring you to an information page for that manuscript where you can click on the “Download Manuscript PDF” option. This is the current PDF sent to the referee(s).
To find the status of any of your (re)submitted manuscripts, log into your account and click on the “Status” link, to the far right of where the code number appears. From there you can see the details of your (re)submission or contact the editors regarding the (re)submission as well, if you should have any concerns.
While going through the submission process, you will notice a “Report a technical problem” link at the bottom of almost all the pages. Click on the link and you will receive a pop up that will allow you to provide a description of the problem you are experiencing. Enter your description and click on the submit button. A message will be sent to the Help Desk Staff. If the link is not available on a page you are on, send your message directly to help@aps.org and be sure to include either the temporary ID number or the APS manuscript code of the manuscript you are submitting along with a description of the problem you are experiencing.
Very few file descriptions are given or needed. If one of your files does not fit a description exactly, simply use "Other".
Any title changes must be approved editorially before being updated. If you want to make a title change, you should enter it as part of your response to the editor(s) and/or referee(s) when resubmitting.