Author Guidelines

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Scope of the Journal

ACS Macro Letters welcomes submissions in all areas of contemporary soft matter science in which macromolecules play a key role, including nanotechnology, self-assembly, supramolecular chemistry, biomaterials and biomedical materials, membranes and separations, energy generation and storage, and renewable/sustainable materials. The scope of the journal will include high-impact research of broad interest in all areas of polymer science and engineering. Submissions to ACS Macro Letters should justify clearly the rapid disclosure of the key elements of the study in both the cover letter and the manuscript. For more details, visit the journal website.

Manuscript Types

ACS Macro Letters is an online publication and predominantly publishes research Letters. The journal also publishes Viewpoints that highlight recent developments in the field of polymer science and engineering. Manuscripts are typically submitted to at least two experts for comments; authors are required to recommend four preferred reviewers. Editors may reject manuscripts without seeking external review if they are outside the central scope of ACS Macro Letters or if they are judged unlikely to survive the reviewing process.

 

The Editors welcome the submission of manuscripts in the following categories:

 

Letters. Brief reports that are of unusual urgency, significance, and interest to the broad polymer science field. Letters should be approximately 2500 words or less, excluding abstract, tables, graphics/artwork and figure/scheme legends, acknowledgments, funding statements, and references. Letters can contain a maximum of 6 display items (figures/tables/schemes). Graphics must be numbered consecutively and placed within the text near the point of first mention. Each graphic must have a brief (one phrase or sentence) title that describes the contents.

 

Viewpoints. Viewpoints are typically invited by the Editors and treat a topic of particular current interest in the field. To suggest a topic for a future Viewpoint, please send proposals to macro@macrolett.acs.org.

ACS Publishing Center

While this document will provide basic information on how to prepare and submit the manuscript as well as other critical information about publishing, we also encourage authors to visit the ACS Publishing Center for additional information on everything that is needed to prepare (and review) manuscripts for ACS journals and partner journals, such as

  • Mastering the Art of Scientific Publication, which shares editor tips about a variety of topics including making your paper scientifically effective, preparing excellent graphics, and writing cover letters.
  • Resources on how to prepare and submit a manuscript to ACS Paragon Plus, ACS Publications’ manuscript submission and peer review environment, including details on selecting the applicable Journal Publishing Agreement.
  • Sharing your research with the public through the ACS Publications open access program.
  • ACS Reviewer Lab, a free online course covering best practices for peer review and related ethical considerations. 
  • ACS Author Lab, a free online course that empowers authors to prepare and submit strong manuscripts, avoiding errors that could lead to delays in the publication process.
  • ACS Inclusivity Style Guide, a guide that helps researchers communicate in ways that recognize and respect diversity in all its forms.

Manuscript Preparation

Submit with Fast Format

All ACS journals and partner journals have simplified their formatting requirements in favor of a streamlined and standardized format for an initial manuscript submission. Read more about the requirements and the benefits these serves authors and reviewers here.

 

Manuscripts submitted for initial consideration must adhere to these standards:

  • Submissions must be complete with clearly identified standard sections used to report original research, free of annotations or highlights, and include all numbered and labeled components.
  • Figures, charts, tables, schemes, and equations should be embedded in the text at the point of relevance. Separate graphics can be supplied later at revision, if necessary.
  • When required by a journal's structure or length limitations, manuscript templates should be used.
  • References can be provided in any style, but they must be complete, including titles. For information about the required components of different reference types, please refer to the ACS Style Quick Guide.
  • Supporting Information must be submitted as a separate file(s).

Document Templates and Format

The templates facilitate the peer review process by allowing authors to place artwork and tables close to the point where they are discussed within the text. Learn more about document templates here. Authors who submit Letters may use the word-processing templates available from the submission Web site at this link. Use of the template will allow authors and Editors to more accurately estimate the length of Letters at submission and will reduce delays caused by modification to meet the page guidelines at the review stage.

 

If the provided template is not used, authors should ensure that the entire manuscript (including abstract, references, tables, and figure legends) is double-spaced. All pages should be numbered consecutively. Sequences of figures, tables, charts, and schemes should also be numbered with Arabic numerals.

 

General information on the preparation of manuscripts may also be found in the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication.

Acceptable Software, File Designations, and TeX/LaTeX

See the list of Acceptable Software and appropriate File Designations to be sure your file types are compatible with ACS Paragon Plus. Information for manuscripts generated from TeX/LaTeX is also available.

Cover Letter

A cover letter must accompany every manuscript submission. During the submission process, you may type it or paste it into the submission system, or you may attach it as a file.

 

All manuscripts must be accompanied by a cover letter that contains clear and precise information about the submission and a paragraph explaining why the manuscript is appropriate for ACS Macro Letters, including a short summary highlighting the significance of the work, justifying the rapid Letter format, and its interest for a broad audience. Your cover letter must contain the following elements. Please provide these elements in order to help expedite your manuscript through the submission process.

  • A paragraph explaining why your manuscript is appropriate for ACS Macro Letters. This paragraph should clearly indicate what application is described in the work and the significance and urgency for publication.
  • If the manuscript was previously rejected by ACS Macro Letters or any other ACS journal, provide the name of the journal, the manuscript number, an explanation of the basis for the rejection, the decision letter, and reviews. Also indicate if the newly submitted manuscript has been revised based on the previous reviews. If so, provide a detailed, point-by-point response to each reviewer’s comments. Please be sure to include the reviewer comments in your response letter.
  • A statement confirming the manuscript, or its contents in some other form, has not been published previously by any of the authors and/or is not under consideration for publication in another journal at the time of submission.

Manuscript Text Components

Authors should write in clear, concise English and should consult The ACS Style Guide for guidance on style, word-usage conventions, nomenclature, physical quantity symbols and units, abbreviations, use of italics, and punctuation.

 

Title. Titles should clearly and concisely reflect the emphasis and content of the manuscript. Titles are of great importance for current awareness and information retrieval and should be carefully constructed for these purposes. Please note that the use of serial numerals in the title (e.g., “broad topic. 3. specific subject”) is not permitted. Authors should refrain from using words such as “First”, “Novel”, “Facile”, etc. in the title or abstract.

Author List. Bylines should include all those who have made substantial contributions to the work. All coauthors need to be included during the submission process. To facilitate indexing and retrieval and for unique identification of an author, use first names, initials, and surnames (e.g., John R. Smith) or first initials, second names, and surnames (e.g., J. Robert Smith). At least one author must be designated with an asterisk as the person to whom correspondence should be addressed. The full author list, including the corresponding author’s e-mail contact information, must be provided on the title page of the manuscript.

 

Abstract. An Abstract must be provided for all Letters and Viewpoints. Abstracts should be between 100 and 150 words in complete, concise sentences to indicate what is new, different, and significant. The abstract should be presented in a findings-oriented format; that is, one in which the first sentence is a succinct, informative summation of the most important results and conclusions. The remainder should highlight pertinent supporting details, related findings, types or classes of compounds investigated, and methods used. The abstract should not contain any citations.

 

Introduction. The Introduction should clearly state the purpose and significance of the research and place the current work in the context of earlier work in the area. Historical summaries are seldom warranted. If a recent article has summarized work on the subject, that article should be cited without repeating its individual citations. An Introduction section heading is not used.

 

Results/Discussion. The Results and Discussion should be continuous with the Introduction and does not receive a heading. Tables and figures should be used only if they contribute significantly to the comprehension of the data. The same data should not be presented in more than one figure or in both a figure and a table. The purpose of the discussion is to interpret the results and to relate them to existing knowledge in the field.

 

Experimental Section. The Experimental Section follows the main body of the text (but before Acknowledgments and References) and includes a section heading. The Experimental Methods should provide a concise, unambiguous description of materials, methods, and equipment in sufficient detail to permit repetition of the work elsewhere. Only key experimental details should be included in this section. Other information can be included in the Supporting Information. Repetitive descriptions of a general procedure should be avoided. Safety. Authors must emphasize any unexpected, new, and/or significant hazards or risks associated with the reported work. This information should be included in the Experimental Section of the full article or communication.

 

Papers reporting data from experiments on live animals must include a statement identifying the approving committee and certifying that such experiments were performed in accordance with all national or local guidelines and regulations. Results from experiments involving humans or tissue samples must additionally include a statement that informed consent was obtained from the subject or from the next of kin.

 

Acknowledgments. Financial support, technical assistance, advice from colleagues, and other necessary acknowledgments should be included.

 

Funding Sources. Authors are required to report ALL funding sources and grant/award numbers relevant to this manuscript. Enter all sources of funding for ALL authors relevant to this manuscript in BOTH the Open Funder Registry tool in ACS Paragon Plus and in the manuscript to meet this requirement. See http://pubs.acs.org/page/4authors/funder_options.html for complete instructions.

 

Institution Identification. Many funders and institutions require that institutional affiliations are identified for all authors listed in the work being submitted. ACS facilitates this requirement by collecting institution information during manuscript submission under Step 2: Authors and Affiliations in ACS Paragon Plus.

 

References. It is the responsibility of authors to ensure the accuracy of references. During the publication process, many of them will have links added to other Web resources, such as the corresponding abstracts in Chemical Abstracts and the full text on publisher Web sites. Because of this electronic linking and because the references are not checked in detail by Editors or reviewers, it is crucial that authors verify their accuracy. Article titles are to be included within the references. References should be typed in the format of ACS Macro Letters (see below) and cited in the text by superscript numbers without parentheses or spaces. Authors should consult the journal Web site available via http://pubs.acs.org as a guide to proper format (NOTE: references upon submission must follow Review-Ready Submission requirements, graphics included in separate section). Information on a standard list of abbreviations for ACS journals may be found in The ACS Style Guide (3rd ed., 2006), available from Oxford University Press, Order Department, 201 Evans Road, Cary, NC 27513. The following format for journals (1) and books (2) must be used:

  1. Sveinbjörnsson, B. R.; Miyake, G. M.; El-Batta, A.; Grubbs, R. H. Stereocomplex Formation of Densely Grafted Brush Polymers. ACS Macro Lett. 2014, 3, 26−29.
  2. Wignall, G. D. In Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering, 2nd ed.; Mark, H. F., Bikales, N. M., Overberger, C. C., Menges, G., Eds.; WileyInterscience: New York, 1999; Vol. 10, p 112.

Supporting Information

This information is provided to the reviewers during the peer-review process (for Review Only) and is available to readers of the published work (for Publication). Supporting Information must be submitted at the same time as the manuscript. See the list of Acceptable Software by File Designation and confirm that your Supporting Information is viewable.

 

If the manuscript is accompanied by any supporting information files for publication, these files will be made available free of charge to readers. A brief, nonsentence description of the actual contents of each file, including the file type extension, is required. This description should be labeled Supporting Information and should appear before the Acknowledgement and Reference sections.  Examples of sufficient and insufficient descriptions are as follows:

 

Examples of sufficient descriptions: “Supporting Information: 1H NMR spectra for all compounds (PDF)” or “Additional experimental details, materials, and methods, including photographs of experimental setup (DOC)”.

 

Examples of insufficient descriptions: “Supporting Information: Figures S1-S3” or “Additional figures as mentioned in the text”.

 

When including supporting information for review only, include copies of references that are unpublished or in-press. These files are available only to editors and reviewers.

Research Data Policy

All ACS journals strongly encourage authors to make the research data underlying their articles publicly available at the time of publication.

Research data is defined as materials and information used in the experiments that enable the validation of the conclusions drawn in the article, including primary data produced by the authors for the study being reported, secondary data reused or analyzed by the authors for the study, and any other materials necessary to reproduce or replicate the results.

The ACS Research Data Policy provides additional information on Data Availability Statements, Data Citation, and Data Repositories.

Data Requirements

Authors including math, display or in-text, in their manuscripts are encouraged to consult the ACS Guidelines for Presenting Mathematical Information (ACS Math Style Sheet). This style sheet provides brief discussion of formatting related to the presentation of mathematical formulas, complete with examples of ACS style and layout. This document was developed to help authors anticipate how mathematical expressions will be formatted in the published version of the paper.

NMR Spectral Data. If you are reporting NMR data, please refer to ACS's guidelines on submitting NMR data: NMR Guidelines.

 

Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT)

 

CRediT is a high-level taxonomy used to identify and acknowledge the roles played by contributors to scientific scholarly output. During original submission and/or revision, there are 14 standard roles from which the submitting author can select to describe the specific contributions of each author. At this time, CRediT is optional for authors. Please note that author CRediT information will not transfer if the manuscript is transferred to a non-pilot journal. Click here to learn more about the ACS CRediT pilot.

Language and Editing Services

A well-written paper helps share your results most clearly. ACS Publications’ English Editing Service is designed to help scientists communicate their research effectively. Our subject-matter expert editors will edit your manuscript for grammar, spelling, and other language errors so your ideas are presented at their best.

Preparing Graphics

The quality of illustrations in ACS journals and partner journals depends on the quality of the original files provided by the authors. Figures are not modified or enhanced by journal production staff. All graphics must be prepared and submitted in digital format.

 

Graphics should be inserted into the main body whenever possible. Please see Appendix 2 for additional information.

 

Any graphic (figure chart, scheme, or equation) that has appeared in an earlier publication should include a credit line citing the original source. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to re-use this material.

Figure and Illustration Services

The impact of your research is not limited to what you can express with words. Tables and figures such as graphs, photographs, illustrations, diagrams, and other visuals can play a significant role in effectively communicating your findings. Our Artwork Editing and Graphical Abstract services generate publication-ready figures and Table of Contents (TOC) graphics that conform to your chosen journal’s specifications. For figures, this includes changes to file type, resolution, color space, font, scale, line weights, and layout (to improve readability and professional appearance). For TOC graphics, our illustrators can work with a rough sketch or concept or help extract the key findings of your manuscript directly for use as a visual summary of your paper.

Preparing for Submission

Manuscripts, graphics, supporting information, and required forms, as well as manuscript revisions, must all be submitted in digital format through ACS Paragon Plus, which requires an ACS ID to log in. Registering for an ACS ID is fast, free, and does not require an ACS membership. Please refer to Appendix 1 for additional information on preparing your submission

Prior Publication Policy

ACS Macro Letters considers for publication only original work that has not been previously published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. When submitting a manuscript an author should inform the editor of any prior dissemination of the content in print or electronic format. This includes electronic posting of conference presentations, posters, and preprints on institutional repositories and other Web sites. Authors of ACS Macro Letters are allowed to deposit an initial draft of their manuscript in a preprint service, such as ChemRxiv, bioRxiv, arXiv, or the applicable repository for their discipline, prior to submission. Please note any use of a preprint server in the cover letter and include a link to the preprint and, as appropriate, state how the manuscript has been adjusted/updated between deposition and submission. All other prior/redundant publications are forbidden. Upon publication in ACS Macro Letters, authors are advised to add a link from the preprint to the published paper via the Digital Object Identifier (DOI). ChemRxiv and bioRxiv add this link for authors automatically after publication. For further details, contact the Editorial Office.

 

The ACS Publications policy on theses and dissertations can be found here.

Editorial Policies

Length of Manuscript. Authors are encouraged to keep their text as concise and brief as possible, as prescribed by the Letters format. Letters should be approximately 2500 words or less, excluding abstract, tables, graphics/artwork and figure/scheme legends, acknowledgments, funding statements, and references. Also, Letters may contain a maximum of 6 figures/tables/schemes. Care should be taken not to use an overly long introduction, and only references that pertain to the information in the article should be used. Authors should not repeat information found in their previous publications.

 

Table of Contents Graphic for Submission. A Table of Contents (TOC) graphic is required for all manuscripts when first submitted to ACS Macro Letters. This graphic will also be used for the graphical abstract. The TOC graphic should capture the reader’s attention and, in conjunction with the manuscript title, give the reader a quick visual impression of the essence of the manuscript. The TOC graphic should be in the form of a structure, graph, drawing, image or micrograph, or reaction scheme. Tables or spectra are not acceptable. Color is encouraged and is free of charge. The author should submit a graphic in the actual size to be used for the TOC that will fit in an area that is 4 cm high and 8 cm wide. Larger images will be reduced to fit within those dimensions. Type size of labels, formulas, or numbers within the graphic must be legible. The figure should be labeled “for Table of Contents use only” and contain the title and authors of the manuscript. If the manuscript submission template is not used, this item should be placed near the abstract at the beginning of the manuscript.

 

Peer-review policy. The Editor requests the scientific advice of reviewers who are active in the area of research and development covered by the manuscript. The reviewers act only in an advisory capacity, and the final decision concerning a manuscript is the responsibility of the Editor. The reviewers are asked to comment not only on the scientific content but also on the manuscript’s suitability for ACS Macro Letters. With respect to Letters, the reviewers are asked to comment specifically on the urgency of publication. Authors must suggest, when submitting a manuscript, names and e-mail addresses of at least four scientists who could give a competent and objective evaluation of the work. Preferred reviewers from the same institutions as the authors are prohibited. Also, please try to provide institution-affiliated e-mails whenever possible. All reviews are anonymous, and the reviewing process is most effective if reviewers do not reveal their identities to the authors. An exception arises in connection with a manuscript submitted for publication in the form of a comment on the work of another author. Under such circumstances, the first author will, in general, be allowed to review the communication and to write a rebuttal. The rebuttal and the original communication may be published together in the same issue of the journal.

 

Revised Manuscripts. A manuscript sent to an author for revision should be returned to the Editor as soon as possible. If a revision is not received within the allotted time frame, it will be considered withdrawn. Revised manuscripts are sometimes sent back to the original reviewers, who are asked to comment on the revisions. If only minor revisions are involved, the Editor will examine the revised manuscript in light of the recommendations of the reviewers without seeking further opinions. A pointby-point response letter from the author must accompany the revised manuscript and provide a detailed account of how the author has responded to the reviewer’s comments, as well as a separate, marked-up or highlighted manuscript file, showing the changes made and designated as Other Files for Editors Only. Individual reviewer comments must be included in the response letter, followed by each individual response. All comments by the reviewer must be included in the response letter. The dates of receipt of the original and revised manuscripts will both appear in publication.

Providing Potential Reviewer Names

Manuscripts are typically submitted to at least two experts for comments; authors are required to recommend four preferred reviewers. Authors are encouraged to avoid suggesting reviewers from the authors’ institutions. Do not suggest reviewers who may have a real or perceived conflict of interest. Whenever possible, suggest academic email addresses rather than personal email addresses.

Manuscript Transfer

If your submission is declined for publication by this journal, the editors might deem your work to be better suited for another ACS Publications journal or partner journal and suggest that the authors consider transferring the submission. Manuscript Transfer simplifies and shortens the process of submitting to another ACS journal or partner journal, as all the coauthors, suggested reviewers, manuscript files, and responses to submission questions are copied by ACS Paragon Plus to the new draft submission. Authors are free to accept or decline the transfer offer.

 

Note that each journal is editorially independent. Transferring a manuscript is not a guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted, as the final publication decision will belong to the editor of the next journal.

PRODUCTION AND PUBLICATION

Proofs via ACS Direct Correct

Correction of the galley proofs is the responsibility of the Corresponding Author. The Corresponding Author of an accepted manuscript will receive e-mail notification and complete instructions when page proofs are available for review via ACS Direct Correct. Extensive or important changes on page proofs, including changes to the title or list of authors, are subject to review by the editor.

 

It is the responsibility of the Corresponding Author to ensure that all authors listed on the manuscript agree with the changes made on the proofs. Galley proofs should be returned within 48 hours in order to ensure timely publication of the manuscript.

Publication Date and Patent Dates

Accepted manuscripts will be published on the ACS Publications Web site as soon as page proofs are corrected and all author concerns are resolved. The first date on which the document is published on the Web is considered the publication date.

 

Publication of manuscripts on the Web may occur weeks in advance of the cover date of the issue of publication. Authors should take this into account when planning their patent and intellectual property activities related to a document and should ensure that all patent information is available at the time of first publication, whether ASAP or issue publication.

 

All articles published ahead of print receive a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, which is used to cite the manuscript before and after the paper appears in an issue. Additionally, any supplemental information submitted along with the manuscript will automatically be assigned a DOI and hosted on Figshare to promote open data discoverability and use of your research outputs.

ASAP Publication

Manuscripts will be published on the “ASAP Articles” page on the web as soon as page proofs are corrected and all author concerns are resolved. ASAP publication usually occurs within a few working days of receipt of page proof corrections, which can be several weeks in advance of the cover date of the issue.

Post-Publication Policies

The American Chemical Society follows guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when considering any ethical concerns regarding a published article, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern.

Additions and Corrections

Additions and Corrections may be requested by the author(s) or initiated by the Editor to address important issues or correct errors and omissions of consequence that arise after publication of an article. All Additions and Corrections are subject to approval by the Editor, and should bring new and directly relevant information and corrections that fix scientific facts. Minor corrections and additions will not be published. Readers who detect errors of consequence in the work of others should contact the corresponding author of that work.

 

Additions and Corrections must be submitted as new manuscripts via ACS Paragon Plus by the Corresponding Author for publication in the “Addition/Correction” section of the Journal. The corresponding author should obtain approval from all coauthors prior to submitting or provide evidence that such approval has been solicited. The manuscript should include the original article title and author list, citation including DOI, and details of the correction.

Retractions

Articles may be retracted for scientific or ethical reasons and may be requested by the article author(s) or by the journal Editor(s), but are ultimately published at the discretion of the Editor. Articles that contain seriously flawed or erroneous data such that their findings and conclusions cannot be relied upon may be retracted in order to correct the scientific record. When an article is retracted, a notice of Retraction will be published containing information about the reason for the Retraction. The originally published article will remain online except in extraordinary circumstances (e.g. where deemed legally necessary, or if the availability of the published content poses public health risks).

Expressions of Concern

Expressions of Concern may be issued at the discretion of the Editor if:

  • there is inconclusive evidence of research or publication misconduct by the authors;
  • there is evidence that the findings are unreliable but the authors’ institution will not investigate the case;
  • an investigation into alleged misconduct related to the publication either has not been, or would not be, fair and impartial or conclusive;
  • an investigation is underway but a judgment will not be available for a considerable time.

 

Upon completion of any related investigation, and when a final determination is made about the outcome of the article, the Expression of Concern may be replaced with a Retraction notice or Correction.

Sharing Your Published Article

At ACS Publications, we know it is important for you to be able to share your peer reviewed, published work with colleagues in the global community of scientists. As sharing on sites known as scholarly collaboration networks (SCNs) is becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s scholarly research ecosystem, we would like to remind you of the many ways in which you, a valued ACS author, can share your published work.

 

Publishing open access makes it easy to share your work with friends, colleagues, and family members. In addition, ACS Publications makes it easy to share your newly published research with ACS Articles on Request (see below). Don’t forget to promote your research and related data on social media, at conferences, and through scholarly communication networks. Increase the impact of your research using the following resources: Altmetrics, Figshare, ACS Certified Deposit

E-Prints

When your article is published in an ACS journal or partner journal, corresponding authors are provided with a link that offers up to 50 free digital prints of the final published work. This link is valid for the first 12 months following online publication, and can be shared via email or an author’s website. After one year, the access restrictions to your article will be lifted, and you can share the Articles on Request URL on social media and other channels. To access all your Articles on Request links, log in to your ACS Publishing Center account and visit the “My Published Manuscripts” page.

Reprints

Article, journal, and commercial reprints are available to order.

Appendix 1: PREPARING FOR SUBMISSION

We’ve developed ACS’ publishing and editorial policies in consultation with the research communities that we serve, including authors and librarians. Browse our policies below to learn more.

Ethical Guidelines

ACS editors have provided Ethical Guidelines for persons engaged in the publication of chemical research—specifically, for editors, authors, and reviewers. Each journal also has a specific policy on prior publication.

OFAC Compliance

As a U.S.-based non-profit organization, the American Chemical Society (ACS) is required to comply with U.S. sanctions laws and regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). While these laws and regulations permit U.S.-based publishers like ACS to engage in publishing-related activities with authors located in sanctioned regions in many cases, ACS may be prohibited under U.S. law from engaging in publishing-related activities in some cases, including, but not limited to, instances where an author or the institution with which an author is affiliated is located in a particular sanctioned region or has been designated by OFAC as a Specially Designated National (SDN) pursuant to certain U.S. sanctions programs. ACS reserves the right to refrain from engaging in any publishing-related activities that ACS determines in its sole discretion may be in violation of U.S. law.

 

Safety Considerations

Authors must emphasize any unexpected, new, and/or significant hazards or risks associated with the reported work. This information should be in the Experimental Section of a full article and included in the main text of a letter. Statement examples can be found in the Safety Statement Style Sheet and additional information on communicating safety information from the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication is freely available here.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

A statement describing any financial conflicts of interest or lack thereof is published in each ACS journal and partner journal article.

 

During the submission process, the Corresponding Author must provide a statement on behalf of all authors of the manuscript, describing all potential sources of bias, including affiliations, funding sources, and financial or management relationships, that may constitute conflicts of interest. If the manuscript is accepted, the statement will be published in the final article.

 

If the manuscript is accepted and no conflict of interest has been declared, the following statement will be published in the final article: “The authors declare no competing financial interest.”

Plagiarism

In publishing only original research, ACS is committed to deterring plagiarism, including self-plagiarism. ACS Publications uses CrossCheck's iThenticate software to screen submitted manuscripts for similarity to published material. Note that your manuscript may be screened during the submission process.

 

Further information about plagiarism can be found in Part B of the Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Research. See also the press release regarding ACS' participation in the CrossCheck initiative.

Authorship, Author List, and Coauthor Notification

Authors are required to obtain the consent of all their coauthors prior to submitting a manuscript. The submitting author accepts the responsibility of notifying all coauthors that the manuscript is being submitted.

 

During manuscript submission, the submitting author must provide contact information (full name, email address, institutional affiliation, and mailing address) for all of the coauthors. Because all of the author names are automatically imported into the electronic Journal Publishing Agreement, the names must be entered into ACS Paragon Plus. (Note that coauthors are not required to register in ACS Paragon Plus.) Author affiliation should reflect where the work was completed, even if the author has since left that institution. Authors may include a note with a current address if their institution has changed since the work was completed.

 

To expedite the processing of your manuscript, please format your author and affiliation information according the guidelines in this link: https://pubsapp.acs.org/paragonplus/submission/author-address-information.pdf.

 

Criteria for authorship can be found in Part B of the Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Research. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools do not qualify for authorship. The use of AI tools for text or image generation should be disclosed in the manuscript within the Acknowledgment section with a description of when and how the tools were used. For more substantial use cases or descriptions of AI tool use, authors should provide full details within the Methods or other appropriate section of the manuscript.

 

If any change in authorship is necessary after a manuscript has been submitted, confirmation is required that all of the authors (including those being added or removed) have been notified and have agreed to the change. To provide this confirmation, authors are asked to complete and sign an authorship change form and provide the completed form to the appropriate editorial office.

 

Authors with a single name: If you, or any of your coauthors, have only one name, please follow these steps for proper submission to ACS Paragon Plus:

  1. First (Given) Name Field: Enter an asterisk (*) into the "First (Given) Name" field.
  2. Last (Family) Name Field: Enter your single name into the "Last (Family) Name" field.

If your paper is accepted, the asterisk (*) will be removed from the published version of the paper.

 

 

Patent Activities and Intellectual Property

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all patent activities and intellectual property issues are satisfactorily resolved prior to first publication (ASAP or in issue). Acceptance and publication will not be delayed for pending or unresolved issues of this nature.

Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)

Authors submitting manuscript revisions are required to provide their own personal, validated ORCID iD before completing the submission, if an ORCID iD is not already associated with their ACS Paragon Plus user profiles. This ID may be provided during original manuscript submission or when submitting the manuscript revision. All authors are strongly encouraged to register for an ORCID iD, a unique researcher identifier. The ORCID iD will be displayed in the published article for any author on a manuscript who has a validated ORCID iD associated with ACS when the manuscript is accepted.

 

ORCID iDs should not be typed into the manuscript. ACS publishes only those ORCID iDs that have been properly verified and linked before the manuscript is accepted. After your ORCID iD is linked, it will be displayed automatically in all subsequently accepted manuscripts for any/all ACS journals. We do not publish ORCID iDs provided during proof review or via other communications after a manuscript is accepted for publication.

 

With an ORCID iD, you can create a profile of your research activities to distinguish yourself from other researchers with similar names, and make it easier for your colleagues to find your publications. If you do not yet have an ORCID iD, or you wish to associate your existing ORCID iD with your ACS Paragon Plus account, you may do so by clicking on “Edit Your Profile” from your ACS Paragon Plus account homepage and following the ORCID-related links. Learn more at www.orcid.org.

To obtain forms and guidelines for completing the Journal Publishing Agreement or obtaining permissions from copyright owners, and to explore a Copyright Learning Module for chemists, click here.

Funder Reporting Requirement

Authors are required to report funding sources and grant/award numbers. Enter ALL sources of funding for ALL authors in BOTH the Funder Registry Tool in ACS Paragon Plus and in your manuscript to meet this requirement.

Open Access Compliance

ACS offers options by which authors can fulfill the requirements for open access and deposition into repositories for funded research. Visit our ACS Open Science site to see how to fulfill requirements for specific funders and to find out if you are eligible to publish under a Read + Publish agreement between ACS and your institution. You can also find out more about Open Access Compliance and ACS Open Science initiatives.

Diversity and Inclusion Statement

During manuscript submission, ACS journal authors have the option to submit a statement sharing information related to diversity and inclusion that is relevant for their paper. If supplying a diversity and inclusion statement, the corresponding author must provide this on behalf of all authors of the manuscript during the submission process. These statements include but are not limited to analysis of citation diversity and acknowledgment of indigenous land on which research was conducted. Statements expressing political beliefs are not permitted and may be removed by the journal office. All statements are subject to final review by the Editor.

  • Citation Diversity Statement:The citation diversity statement should appear in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript. ACS recommends including the following: (1) the importance of citation diversity, (2) the proportion of citations by gender and race/ethnicity for the first and last authors, (3) the method used to determine those proportions and its limitations, and (4) steps taken to by the authors to improve citation diversity in the article. We recognize that one limitation of the current methods is that it cannot account for intersex, non-binary, and transgender people, or Indigenous and mixed-race authors. (Adapted from BMES/Springer Guidelines)
  • Land acknowledgment:The land acknowledgment statement should appear in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript. The statement should link to the institutions’ formal land acknowledgments on which the research took place, if possible. Further guidance for creating these statements can be found here: https://nativegov.org/news/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment/.

 

Appendix 2: Preparing Graphics

Resolution

Digital graphics pasted into manuscripts should have the following minimum resolutions:

  • Black and white line art, 1200 dpi
  • Grayscale art, 600 dpi
  • Color art, 300 dpi

Size

Graphics must fit a one- or two-column format. Single-column graphics can be sized up to 240 points wide (3.33 in.) and double-column graphics must be sized between 300 and 504 points (4.167 in. and 7 in.). The maximum depth for all graphics is 660 points (9.167 in.) including the caption (allow 12 pts. For each line of caption text). Lettering should be no smaller than 4.5 points in the final published format. The text should be legible when the graphic is viewed full-size. Helvetica or Arial fonts work well for lettering. Lines should be no thinner than 0.5 point.

Color

Color may be used to enhance the clarity of complex structures, figures, spectra, and schemes, etc., and color reproduction of graphics is provided at no additional cost to the author. Graphics intended to appear in black and white or grayscale should not be submitted in color.

Type of Graphics

Table of Contents (TOC)/Abstract Graphic

Consult the Guidelines for Table of Contents/Abstract Graphics for specifications.

Our team of subject-matter experts and graphical designers can also help generate a compelling TOC graphic to convey your key findings. Learn more about our Graphical Abstract service.

Figures

A caption giving the figure number and a brief description must be included below each figure. The caption should be understandable without reference to the text. It is preferable to place any key to symbols used in the artwork itself, not in the caption. Ensure that any symbols and abbreviations used in the text agree with those in the artwork.

Charts

Charts (groups of structures that do not show reactions) may have a brief caption describing their contents.

Tables

Each table must have a brief (one phrase or sentence) title that describes the contents. The title should be understandable without reference to the text. Details should be put in footnotes, not in the title. Tables should be used when the data cannot be presented clearly in the narrative, when many numbers must be presented, or when more meaningful inter-relationships can be conveyed by the tabular format. Tables should supplement, not duplicate, information presented in the text and figures. Tables should be simple and concise.

Schemes

Each scheme (sequences of reactions) may have a brief caption describing its contents.

Chemical Structures

Chemical structures should be produced with the use of a drawing program such as ChemDraw.

Cover Art

Authors of all manuscripts are encouraged to submit one or more illustrations for consideration for use on the front cover of the journal. These illustrations should be submitted in color and pertain to the subject matter of the manuscript. Suggested cover art may be uploaded with the manuscript submission and should be labeled clearly. In addition to the scientific content, considerations of design and visual appeal as a cover illustration will play an important role in the selection of illustrations. A brief, descriptive caption (about 25 words) that will appear below the Table of Contents is also needed. Once submitted by the author, the final version, if published, is at the discretion of the Editors. Once an illustration is selected for use on the cover, authors will be asked to provide a high-resolution digital version of the image. For additional information on preparing journal cover art, please visit the Digital Image Guidelines for Journal Cover Graphics at or contact the editorial office at macro@macrolett.acs.org or the Managing Editor by email. If your art is selected for front cover, ACS will send you information about how to request one complimentary 18” by 24” printed poster featuring your work.

 

ACS Macro Letters also offers authors a great way to promote their work through Supplementary Covers. Submit your cover idea, artwork, and caption when submitting your manuscript revision in ACS Paragon Plus. If your article is accepted for publication, your suggestion may be selected for use on one of the journal’s supplementary covers.

Web Enhanced Objects (WEO)

The Web editions of ACS journals allow readers to view multimedia attachments such as animations and movies that complement understanding of the research being reported.

 

WEOs should be uploaded in ACS Paragon Plus with ‘Web Enhanced Object’ selected as the file designation. Consult the list of compatible WEO formats.

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