European Journal of Mass Spectrometry (EJMS) is devoted to the rapid publication of original research papers concerned with mass spectrometry. The scope of the journal encompasses: molecular ionisation and fragmentation, gas-phase ion chemistry, ionmolecule reactions and collisions, spectroscopy of gaseous ions, instrumentation, computers in mass spectrometry and original applications in the life sciences, environmental science and industry.
Topics of interest include experimental and theoretical studies of structures, energetics and reactions of gaseous ions, ion formation from biological solids, determination of structure of biomolecules, mechanisms of ionic reactions, ionisation phenomena, electrospray ionisation (ESI), matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation (MALDI), mass spectrometry of polymers, reactions of metal ions, reactions of ions at surfaces, multi-photon ionisation and dissociation, time-of-flight (TOF), tandem mass spectrometry, Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) and theories of ion formation, structures and reactions.
Original research papers should report the results of the author(s)s work, in sufficient detail to allow experiments or calculations to be reproduced. This work should have been brought to a stage at which it can be considered to be complete. An abstract not normally exceeding 350 words should be given. The abstract should describe the scope of the article and should highlight any significant areas. Up to 10 keywords should be provided.
Letters should report particularly significant new findings. The work may be at a preliminary stage. Letters are normally refereed by an appropriate Editor, and proofs are normally checked in the Editorial Office that they are submitted to. Letters should have a summary of no more than 100 words. Up to 10 keywords should be provided.
Accounts provide concise reviews of active areas of research. They are normally written by scientists who have strong current interests in the areas. They should be succinct and lucid, they can be polemical and they ought to predict future developments. Accounts are normally less than 10,000 words in length, not including figures. Accounts should contain a summary of normally not more than 500 words. Accounts are accompanied by a biography and photograph of the author.
Comments contain comment on published papers, opinion germane to mass spectrometry, proposals as to nomenclature or practical advice on experimental technique.
All articles should be written in English, and either American or English spelling is acceptable. The article must not have been published elsewhere and should not be offered for publication elsewhere (unless it has been declined for publication by EJMS).
We encourage authors to submit their manuscripts as far as possible electronically. This not only speeds up the publication of the article, but reduces the possibility for errors and reduces the proof-reading burden for author and publisher alike. Basic instructions on submitting your article on disk are given below and authors can obtain detailed instructions by e-mailing the Publisher on . It is, however, important to realise that electronic submission is not always the best method, and some of the potential problems are discussed below. Traditional manuscripts are also perfectly acceptable.
A typed manuscript should be submitted along with two copies. The original illustrations, and two copies of these, should be included. The type-written manuscript should be double-line spaced with generous margins and typed on one side of the sheet only.
If you are unable to provide the manuscript on disk, please provide a clean (without any marks) top copy and mark any corrections, symbols or annotations on one of the copies.
This is an area where care should be exercised. Please ensure that all symbols are identified in the margin the first time they appear.
Please use the following conventions: all symbols which are variables should be italicised, all constants should be normal (Roman) text and vectors should be bold. Whilst most word processors can italicise and embolden, please mark each case by hand by underlining it with a straight line in the case of italics and by a wavy line in the case of bold.
Please take care that the difference between 1 (the number one). l (the letter "ell") and I (capital "eye") and between 0 (zero) and O (the letter "oh"), are clear. Please identify them in the margin if they are not clear.
It is acceptable to hand-write complex formulae if necessary, but take care that the symbols used are clear and that it is easy to see what levels of sub- and superscript apply.
Use SI Units wherever possible. Units of measurement should be separated from the number by a space. Please avoid the use of the solidus (/) or "per" and use a superscript 1, i.e. 5 mg dm3, not 5 mg/dm3. kJ must be used rather than kcal.
References should be cited in the text by a superscript Arabic number, i.e. spectroscopy,1 and listed at the end of the article. Abbreviate journal titles according to the system used in Chemical Abstracts. Please give full bibliographical information as in the examples below:
For edited books:
For journals:
For authored books:
A.N. Author, Authored Book Title. Publisher, London and New York (1984).
Original illustrations should be provided. Photocopies (unless of exceptional quality) are not acceptable, and neither are spectra drawn on a dot matrix printer. Labels on the axes should be of sufficient size that they will be legible when reduced to fit on the printed page.
Illustrations should be numbered in the text with Arabic numerals as Figure 1, Figure 2 etc.; they should be in a separate sequence from that of any tables. Captions should be provided for all figures and these should appear at the end of the manuscript.
Each illustration should be provided on a separate sheet and should not be folded. Please label each sheet with the Figure number, author(s) and title of the paper.
Photographs can be published but they must be of good photographic quality and must be supplied as black-and-white glossy prints. Colour illustrations can only be included if an author meets the extra cost of their production, although it can be possible to incorporate a colour version of an illustration in the electronic edition of the journal.
It is the responsibility of the author to ensure that permission is obtained from the copyright holder to reproduce copyright material. The copyright holder is almost always the publisher of the work. Permission Forms for this purpose are available from the Editorial Offices and from IM Publications. Copies of any signed Permission Forms should accompany the manuscript, and the necessary wording of acknowledgement requested by the copyright holder should be included in the caption. Please ensure that permission is obtained for both print and electronic publication.
Tables should be numbered in a separate sequence from the illustrations as Table 1, Table 2 etc. Please consider the size of the page when compiling your Table. Tables should not be split width-wise across pages, although if they exceed a page in length they can be continued on subsequent pages.
Tables should be provided on separate sheets and not included in the text. Each Table should have a caption. As with illustrations, please number each sheet and include the author(s) and title of the paper.
Authors are required to assign the copyright of their article to the Publisher. A completed and signed Copyright Form must be lodged with the Publisher before the article can be published.
Your article should be sent to one of the Editorial Offices whose addresses are shown below. Authors may choose the editorial office to which they submit their paper, on the basis of convenience or on the basis of the Editors expertise in the subject area. Receipt of the articles will be acknowledged, and the article will be subjected to peer review. Should any amendments be necessary, you will be asked to make these before the article is accepted for publication. The author to whom proofs are to be sent should preferably be identified. If authors wish correspondence from readers to be directed to one particular author of a multi-author paper, a superior asterisk should be placed after that authors name. Twenty-five reprints of each paper published will be supplied to authors free of charge.
Just-Published Papers (JPPs) offer an opportunity for you to have your paper published as quickly as possible. Unless you withhold your agreement (see Publishing Agreement form), we will publish your paper on the EJMS web site before it is copy edited and typeset. This version will be replaced with the final version once we receive your corrected proofs. The date the JPP appears will be the web publication date for that paper. If you would prefer not to have your paper treated as a JPP, just indicate this on the Publishing Agreement.
After acceptance, your article will be copy-edited, typeset and the proof communicated to the first-named author unless otherwise requested. The proof should be checked carefully for typographical errors and to answer any questions raised by the Copy Editor. Proofs will normally be sent by fax, so please make sure that you supply us with your fax number on your manuscript. Along with your e-mail address and telephone number in case we need to make contact with you quickly.
Faxed proofs provide a quality equivalent to a 200 dpi printer, which is adequate for checking text and most illustrations.
If the author prefers the proof can be sent by e-mail in the Portable Document Format (PDF) of the Adobe Acrobat program. See https://impub.co.uk/acrobat.html for further information. Please indicate on your manuscript that you would like to receive proofs in this way.
The proof stage is not an opportunity for the author to make changes to the article. Any significant changes from the original accepted manuscript may only be accepted on payment of the correction costs.
Once the proof corrections have been received by us, your paper will be published on our web site for access by subscribers only. A web publication will be added to the manuscript to indicate the date of publication.
We ask authors of articles in European Journal of Mass Spectrometry to vest the world-wide copyright of their articles in IM Publications for the full term of copyright; we would be grateful if you would confirm your acceptance of these terms by signing and returning this agreement. We will not withhold permission for any reasonable request from you to publish any part of this article in connection with any other work by you, provided the usual acknowledgements are given regarding copyright notice and reference to the original publication.
If it is appropriate, the author's employer may sign this agreement, and in any event the employer may reserve the right to use the article internally, by so indicating on this agreement. It is understood that proprietary rights other than copyright (including patent rights) are reserved.
If the author is a US Government employee and this work was done in that capacity the assignment applies only to the extent allowable by US law. If at least one co-author is not a government employee, that author should sign the agreement.
If the author is an employee of the British Government then HMSO will grant a non-exclusive licence to publish this article in European Journal of Mass Spectrometry in any form or media provided British crown copyright and user rights (including patent rights) are reserved.
The author warrants that the manuscript is the author's original work, and has not been published before. (If excerpts from copyrighted work are included, the author will obtain written permission from the copyright owners and show credit to the sources in the manuscript.) The author also warrants that the article contains no libellous or unlawful statements, and does not infringe on the rights of others.
If the work was prepared jointly the author agrees to inform co-authors of the terms of the agreement, and to sign on their behalf.
With the qualifications listed above I assign to IM Publications the copyright of my article entitled:
___________________________________________________________________________
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for publication in European Journal of Mass Spectrometry.
Signed:________________________________Date:_____________________
[ ] I do NOT want my paper published as a Just-Published Paper before copy editing and typesetting.
If the article is rejected this assignment is null and void.