Letters in Organic Chemistry

ISSN: 1570-1786 - Volume 6, 8 Issues, 2009

Instructions for Authors

All manuscripts from all regions must be submitted openly to the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman (International Center for Chemical Sciences, H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan) at loc@bentham.org

Letters Length: The published Letter, written in English, can be 2,4,6,8 or 10 pages of the journal's format which can be reviewed at the website www.bentham.org/loc with a word count per page of ca.900 words.

Manuscript Organization: The manuscript should be divided as: Title page, abstract and the main text. The text may be subdivided further according to the areas to be discussed. The Acknowledgements (if any) and Reference sections must then follow. The first page should contain the title, the authors’ names (initials and surname only), with an asterisk in front of the name of the principle author.

Conflict of Interest: Financial contributions to the work being reported should be clearly acknowledged, as should any potential conflict of interest.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Please acknowledge anyone (individual/company/institution) who has contributed to the study by making substantial contributions to conception, design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, or who was involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content. Please list the source(s) of funding for the study, for each author, and for the manuscript preparation in the acknowledgements section.

This journal complies with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals www.icmje.org <http://www.icmje.org> and the FDA's Good Reprint Practices for the Distribution of Medical Journal Articles and Medical or Scientific Reference Publications on Unapproved New Uses of Approved Drugs and Approved or Cleared Medical Devices http://www.fda.gov/oc/op/goodreprint.html

Abstract: The abstract should not exceed 50 words and it should condense the essential features of the letter article, with the focus on major advances in the field.

Key Words: Authors must supply up to six key words along with their manuscript.

Text: The main text should begin on a separate page and it may be subdivided into separate sections. The reference numbers should be given in square brackets in the text. Acknowledgements should be kept to a minimum.

Tables:

• Data Tables should be submitted in Microsoft Excel or in Microsoft Word table format.
• Each table should include a title/caption explaining what the table shows. Detailed legends may then follow.
• Tables should be given on separate pages with indications on the left hand margin to the text, as to the appropriate placement of the tables.
• Tables should not contain vertical rules.
• Columns and rows of data should be made visibly distinct by ensuring the borders of each cell display as black lines.
• Tables should be numbered consecutively in order of their citation in the body of the text, with Arabic numerals.
• If a reference is cited in both the table and text, insert a lettered footnote in the table to refer to the numbered reference in the text.
• Tabular data provided as additional files can be submitted as an Excel spreadsheet.

Figures / Illustrations:

All authors must strictly follow the guidelines below for preparing illustrations for publication in Letters in Organic Chemistry. If the figures are found to be sub-standard, then the manuscripts will be rejected/ and the authors offered the option of figure improvement professionally by Bentham Publishing Services. The costs for such improvement will be charged to the authors.

Editorial Requirements:

The quality of the illustrations printed in the journal largely depends on the quality of the figures/illustration provided by the author. The acceptance of a manuscript for publication is subject to the figures being up to the highest standards in terms of clarity and resolution. In case the figures supplied are not up to the standards required, then the manuscripts will be rejected, and the authors given the option to either return the manuscripts within one week with appropriate drawings/figures or they may opt to have these professionally prepared through the paid professional service available from Bentham Publishing Services.

• Submit the original artwork or a photographic print of the original for publication.
• Do not submit photocopies. (Hardcopy submission requirement).
• Illustrations should be provided as separate files, not embedded in the text. (Hardcopy submission requirement).
• Remove all color from graphics except for those illustrations (Greyscale), which are to be printed in color.
• Good quality of hardcopy originals is a requirement.
• Figures should be referred to as “Fig. (1)”, “Fig. (2)” etc. in the text with figure numbers in bold within round bracket.
• Revised manuscripts should contain a complete set of artwork and photographs.

Technical Details:

• Figures should be provided on high quality, white, smooth opaque paper. (Hardcopy requirement).

Format & Resolution:

• The following file formats can be accepted. (Preference in order of appearance): PDF, TIFF, JPEG, GIF.
• Illustrations must fit a single or double column format on the journal page, according to the following guideline below:

	HEIGHT	WIDTH
SINGLE COLUMN	24 cm (max)	8.5 cm (max)
DOUBLE COLUMN	24 cm (max)	18 cm (max)

• Whenever possible, submit graphics that do not have to be reduced to fit the standard figure size.
• Use the best resolution available (hardcopy submission requirement). For online submission the maximum resolution is 300 dpi.
• Avoid textures and shadings giving a three-dimensional effect to the illustration.
• Symbols and lettering in the illustration should be of similar size.
• Smaller lettering is used.
• Font: Times New Roman or Helvetica is preferable. Font size: 10pt (maximum).
• Line drawings should have clear and sharp lines and should be of uniform density. Moreover, lines should be continuous without any breaks.
• Do not use lines thinner than 1 point.

Color Figures / Illustrations:

• The cost for the first published page of color figures is USD 850; the second additional page will be for USD 621, and each subsequent page for USD 420.
• Color figures should be supplied in CMYK not RGB colors.
• Required resolution for online submission is 300 dpi. In case of hardcopy submission, please use the maximum resolution available. In case the figure(s) are of an inferior quality they will need to be improved either by the author or by the publisher on a charged basis.

Photographs:

Submit high-contrast prints that are of single- or double-column width so that they will not have to be reduced when printed. Negatives are not acceptable. However, in case of hardcopy submission, color illustrations and plates can be published from 35 mm color slides.

Chemical Structures: Chemical structures MUST be prepared according to the guidelines below.

Structures should be prepared using a suitable drawing program e.g. ChemDraw and provided as separate file, submitted both on disk and in printed formats.

Numbers in bold should identify all chemical structure. If a name is also used to describe the compound, the associated number if required should be in bold and parenthesis, e.g. “compound (1)”.

Structure Drawing Preferences:

[As according to the ACS style sheet]

Drawing Settings:

Chain angle       120°

Bond spacing    18% of width

Fixed length       14.4 pt (0.500cm, 0.2in)

Bold width          2.0 pt (0.071cm, 0.0278in)

Line width           0.6 pt (0.021cm, 0.0084in)

Margin width       1.6 pt (0.096cm)

Harsh spacing    2.5 pt (0.088cm, 0.0347in)

Text settings:

Font                    Times New Roman / Helvetica

Size                     8pt

Under the Preference Choose:

Units                    points

Tolerances          3 pixels

Under Page Setup Use:

Paper                  US letter

Scale                  100%

References: For the format of references, see the ACS Style Guide, pp 106-114,

Examples:

Journal Reference:

Barton, D.H.R.; Brewster, A.G.; Ley, S.V.; Rosenfield, M.N. J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun., 1977, 147, 2356.

Book Reference:

Rahman, A.-U.; Shah, Z. Stereoselective Synthesis in Organic Chemistry, Springer-Verlag: New York, 1993.

Book Chapter Reference:

Wheeler, D.M.S.; Wheeler, M.M. In Studies in Natural Products Chemistry; Atta-ur-Rahman, Ed.; Elsevier Science B. V: Amsterdam, 1994; Vol. 14, pp. 3-46.

Abstracts, unpublished data and personal communications (which can be only included if permission has been obtained) should not be given in the references section but they may be mentioned in the text and details provided as footnotes. All authors of referenced papers must be cited and there must be no use of the short hand version of et al. when citing authors. Abbreviations should be defined the first time that they are used in the manuscript and a list of abbreviations should be provided.

SUPPORTIVE/SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: We do encourage to append supportive material, for example a PowerPoint file containing a talk about the study, a PowerPoint file containing additional screenshots, a Word, RTF, or PDF document showing the original instrument(s) used, a video, or the original data (SAS/SPSS files, Excel files, Access Db files etc.) provided it is inevitable or endorsed by the journal's Editor.

Published/reproduced material should not be included unless you have obtained written permission from the copyright holder, which must be forwarded to the Editorial Office in case of acceptance of your article for publication.

Supportive/Supplementary material intended for publication must be numbered and referred to in the manuscript but should not be a part of the submitted paper. In-text citations as well as a section with the heading "Supportive/Supplementary Material" before the "References" section should be provided. Here, list all Supportive/Supplementary Material and include a brief caption line for each file describing its contents.

Any additional files will be linked into the final published article in the form supplied by the author, but will not be displayed within the paper. They will be made available in exactly the same form as originally provided only on our Web site. Please also make sure that each additional file is a single table, figure or movie (please do not upload linked worksheets or PDF files larger than one sheet). Supportive/ Supplementary material must be provided in a single zipped file not larger than 4 MB.

Authors must clearly indicate if these files are not for publication but meant for the reviewers'/editors' perusal only.

Manuscript Submission: For faster publication, authors are encouraged and requested to submit their entire manuscript via Bentham’s online submission service (see below). Authors must provide their full address, telephone and fax number with E-mail address with all submissions.

Online Manuscript Submission:

To facilitate speedy and cost-effective submission of manuscripts, an online submission service via Internet is being offered. We would prefer that you submit your full manuscript online via our online submission service available at www.bentham-ftp.org/loc

For online submission, please provide your complete manuscript in the form of a single zipped folder containing all the material (main text, figures/ illustrations, scanned photographs, tables, chemical structures drawn in ChemDraw) as separate files and a PDF version of the entire manuscript with all the figures/ illustrations / tables / chemical structures etc., embedded in the text exactly in the manner as they should appear in printing.

Authors are required to proofread the PDF version of their manuscript before submission. The article will be published exactly as received and the Publishers will not be responsible for any error occurring in the manuscript in this regard.

You may, however, still submit your abstracts and manuscripts through conventional surface mail.

A successful electronic submission of a manuscript will be followed by a system-generated acknowledgement to the principal/corresponding author within 72 hours of the dispatch of the manuscript. Any queries therein should be addressed to mahmood@bentham.org and copied to Jalil@bentham.org

Page Charges: No page charges will be levied to authors.

Language Editing: Manuscripts submitted containing many English typographical errors will not be published. Authors from non-English language countries are advised to use the services of our professional language editing department prior to submitting their manuscript to the Journal. Please contact Bentham Publishing Services www.benthampublishingservices.com for a language editing quote at e-mail: info@benthampublishingservices.com stating the total number of words of the article to be edited.

Proofs: Authors are sent page proofs. To avoid delays in publication, proofs should be checked immediately for typographical errors and returned within 48 hours. Authors will be charged for excessive changes made at the page proof stage.

Reprints: Each first-named (corresponding) author will receive electronically a certain number of free reprints. Reprints may be ordered from the Publisher prior to publication of the article. First named authors may also order a personal print and online subscription of the journal at 50% off the normal subscription rate by contacting the subscription department at e-mail: subscriptions@bentham.org

Open Access Plus: Accepted articles can be published online for free open access for all to view. Open access publishing provides the maximum dissemination of the article to the largest audience. Authors must pay for this service. All corresponding authors will be asked to indicate whether or not they wish to pay to have their paper made freely available on publication. If authors do not select the Open Access option, then their article will be published with standard subscription-based access at no charge.

Bentham Science offers authors the choice of open access publication of their articles at a fee of USD 2,800 per published article which allows indefinite free-to-view online publication with Bentham Science.

For more information please contact us at e-mail: openaccess@bentham.org

Reviewing and Promptness of Publication: All papers submitted for publication will be immediately subjected to editorial scrutiny, usually in consultation with members of the Editorial Advisory Board. Every effort will be made to assess the papers quickly. The papers will be typeset and the proofs dispatched to the authors normally within 4 weeks of their acceptance.

Copyright: It is a condition of publication that manuscripts submitted to this journal have not been published and will not be simultaneously submitted or published elsewhere. Plagiarism is strictly forbidden, and by submitting the article for publication the authors agree that the publishers have the legal right to take appropriate action against the authors, if plagiarism is discovered. By submitting a manuscript the authors agree that the copyright of their article is transferred to the publishers if and when the article is accepted for publication.