Color Figures
Consider whether you wish color figures in print or whether color online only and grayscale in print will be adequate. Be aware that color figures in print incur substantial charges for which authors and their institutions are responsible. Please see the Color-in-Print memo for our pricing and payment policy. If the article is accepted, these charges must be paid before it can be forwarded to our composition vendor for publication. Electronic figures submitted in color (PostScript or EPS preferred) will be published online in color at no extra charge to authors. Note, however, that grayscale images printed from color figures do not generally have monotonic gray scales.
Specify (Color) or (Color online) in captions, as appropriate, for color figures. For color online only, take care to ensure that captions and text references to the figures are appropriate for both the online color and print grayscale versions, and that the figure will be sufficiently clear in both versions. (The same figure file is used for both the print and the online versions.)
References
Check the accuracy of your references. (Avoid broken links in the online version of the journal.)
Include the complete source information for any references cited in the abstract. (Do not cite reference numbers in the abstract. Abstracts are reprinted in various abstract journals and databases where the numerical citation is not useful.)
Number references in text consecutively, starting with [1].
Language
If your native language is not English, please consider enlisting the help of an English-speaking colleague in preparing the text.
Use a spell checker. (Referees are not favorably impressed by careless mistakes.)
Submission
Submit electronic files that are acceptable for a publication charge discount (PRL) or waiver (Phys. Rev.) in your original submission. Do not wait until your manuscript is accepted. Acceptable formats for the discount or waiver include REVTeX (preferred), LaTeX, and MSWord. Portable Document Format (PDF) or PostScript files are not eligible for the charge discount or waiver and could result in unnecessary delay.
Figures should be submitted separately. We prefer PostScript or EPS files.
For more information, see the Information for Contributors and the Guidelines for Submission.
Referees
With your submission, include a list of possible referees who are experts on the subject matter and not your close colleagues. Please consider including younger individuals who, while possibly less well known, are sufficiently knowledgeable to be effective referees.
Please use standard Windows fonts in any Word document. 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.
If submitting from a large collaboration, please follow the Guidelines for Collaboration Submission to ensure proper coding of the author list in your REVTeX file.
Include figures in your Word document as pictures. Include equations by using the Microsoft Equation Editor and tables by using the Table Editor. Please do not embed any of these items as objects, since this will cause a problem with our conversion of your file to PDF.
Submit separate figure files (PostScript or EPS preferred) in addition to embedding the figures in the manuscript if you submit in MS Word or PDF format. Although we discourage the use of any unusual fonts, if it is necessary, please embed these type fonts in your PostScript or EPS files so that we are able to generate proper output.
For REVTeX and LaTeX files, please run BibTeX before submitting your paper, and include (read-in) the resulting .bbl file within the reference section of your paper.
Please read through the guidelines before attempting to submit a paper. They are located at http://authors.aps.org/esubs/guidelines.html.
Before attempting to submit a manuscript, please be sure that your registration is complete and/or that your contact information is up to date.
When your current contact information changes, do not create a new registration. You can just login and change your current contact information, keeping the same username and password. This will keep all of your submitted papers organized with one login and registration name.
Before login, confirm that your browser is set up to accept cookies, or the authentication process will not work properly.
If you have forgotten your password, please attempt to generate a new one, before sending a message requesting one. This can be done by completing the fields on the registration page located at http://authors.aps.org/esubs/gateway/esregistration and clicking the button that reads "send password". Please note that the user name and email address must match those previously registered. If you cannot remember your username or the registered email address, then send a message to esub-adm@aps.org.
Before sending a message for assistance, consult the FAQ located at http://authors.aps.org/esubs/faq.html. It is very likely that you will find the solution to your problem there.
Be sure to choose the appropriate file type from the drop down menu under the description column, i.e., text, figure, other.
Do not include a separate .bib file or .bbl file with your submission. You cannot generate a proper .pdf file with the function button provided for web submission unless you have included the .bbl file within the reference section of your manuscript. This PDF generator is provided as a convenience to our authors and is not sophisticated enough to run BibTeX; it only completes a simple latexing of the files uploaded.
Number your figures only under the number column, next to each respective figure file. Do not number the text files or other files. Do not include the word "fig" in the number field.
Be sure to choose whether your figure will be color in print or not.
If uploading very large files or an excessive number of files, please compress the files into one (or a few) self-extracting .tar or .zip files before uploading.
If any of the authors would like to have Chinese, Japanese, or Korean names shown in their native language, please read and follow the instructions at http://authors.aps.org/names.html.
If your attempted submission is not successful, please do not begin a new submission. Please continue with the same attempted submission, or send a message to esub-adm@aps.org for further assistance. Do not start numerous, unnecessary submissions.
When sending a message for assistance to esub-adm@aps.org, please be sure to include the full text of any error messages received. This will help us to determine quickly and resolve the source of any problems encountered.
Check the PDF file of your manuscript at http://authors.aps.org/ESUB/. Any problems with figures and text should be identifiable.
Obtain information about the current status of your paper via the Author Status Inquiry System at http://authors.aps.org/STATUS/.
In any resubmission letter, provide (1) a concise summary of your rebuttal to the major points of criticism raised by the referees, (2) a point by point, polite, professional response to the referee reports, and (3) a list of changes.
If your paper is accepted, please check the proofs carefully, even if you have submitted your paper as an electronic file. (The conversion, copy-editing, and formatting processes will inevitably introduce changes and some errors might result.)