Applied Spectroscopy

This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/asp to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines will likely be returned.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Applied Spectroscopy® will be reviewed.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Color figures in print are free for corresponding authors that are Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS) members. The fees to print color figures as a non-SAS member are £300 for the first figure and £100 per figure thereafter. Membership details are available at the Society for Applied Spectroscopy website.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

1. What do we publish?
   1.1 Aims & Scope
   1.2 Article Types
   1.3 Writing Your Paper
2. Editorial Policies
   2.1 Peer Review Policy
   2.2 Authorship
   2.3 Acknlowedgements
   2.4 Funding
   2.5 Declaration of Conflicting Interests
   2.6 Research Ethics and Patient Consent
   2.7 Research Data
3. Publishing Polices
   3.1 Publication Ethics
   3.2 Contributor's Publishing Agreement
   3.3 Open Access and Author Archiving
4. Preparing Your Manuscript
   4.1 Formatting
   4.2 Artwork, Figures and Other Graphics
   4.3 Supplementary Material
   4.4 Spectroscopic Nomenclature
   4.5 Mathematical Expressions
   4.6 Reference Style
   4.7 English Language Editing Services
5. Submitting Your Manuscript
   5.1 ORCID
   5.2 Information Required for Completing Your Submission
   5.3 Permissions
6. On Acceptance and Publication
   6.1 Sage Production
   6.2 Applied Spectroscopy Express
   6.3 Online First Publciation
   6.4 Access to Your Published Article
   6.5 Promoting Your Article
7. Further Information

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1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope

Before submitting your manuscript to Applied Spectroscopy®, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

1.2 Article Types

Submitted Papers are works of original research that should be detailed reports of the authors’ work in a particular research area. The work, or a substantial and identifiable portion of the work, should be complete. Original research papers generally run from 5,000–10,000 words, must include an abstract, keywords, and references, and will undergo peer review. Tables should be limited to four (4) and manuscripts should not contain more than six (6) figures. Additional figures or materials should be included as Supplemental Material.

Focal Point Reviews are invited depth overviews of a particular topic or field of study. Reviews should have at least 100 citations and generally run from 15,000–20,000 words, must include an abstract, keywords, and references, and will undergo peer review.

Rapid Communications may report significant results originating from research that is not yet complete. Rapid Communications are brief overviews of typically 3,000 words, must include an abstract, keywords, and references, and will undergo peer review.

Spectroscopic Techniques should address a specific new, novel, and useful technique as applied to an area of spectroscopy. Spectroscopic Technique papers typically run from 5,000–12,000, must include an abstract, keywords, and references, and will undergo peer review.

Notes are brief communications, usually of no more than 2,000 words, describing a new instrument, a particularly interesting finding, or a novel application. Notes must include an abstract, keywords, and references, and will undergo peer review.

Correspondence should address an author’s questions or concerns regarding a specific paper and may be answered by the authors of that paper in the same or a subsequent issue of Applied Spectroscopy®.

1.3 Writing Your Paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

1.3.1 Make Your Article Discoverable

When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords, and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. 

Applied Spectroscopy® are now accepting graphical abstracts. 

For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

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2. Editorial Policies

2.1 Peer Review Policy

Applied Spectroscopy® operates a conventional single-anonymize reviewing policy in which the reviewer's name is always concealed from the submitting author. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two referees and all manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible.

As part of the submission process, you will be asked to provide the names of three peers who could be called upon to review your manuscript. Recommended reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Please be aware of any conflicts of interest when recommending reviewers. Examples of conflicts of interest include (but are not limited to) the below:

• • The reviewer should have no prior knowledge of your submission
  • The reviewer should not have recently collaborated with any of the authors
  • Reviewer nominees from the same institution as any of the authors are not permitted

Please note that the Editors are not obliged to invite/reject any recommended/opposed reviewers to assess your manuscript.

Applied Spectroscopy® is committed to delivering high quality, fast peer-review for your paper, and as such has partnered with Publons. Publons is a third party service that seeks to track, verify, and give credit for peer review. Reviewers for Applied Spectroscopy® can opt in to Publons in order to claim their reviews or have them automatically verified and added to their reviewer profile. Reviewers claiming credit for their review will be associated with the relevant journal, but the article name, reviewer’s decision and the content of their review is not published on the site. For more information visit the Publons website.

The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

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2.2 Authorship

Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.

The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

• • Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data,
  • Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
  • Approved the version to be published, 
  • Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

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2.3 Acknowledgments

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgments section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help or a department chair who provided only general support.

2.3.1 Third party submissions

Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

•    Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input 
•    Identify any entities that paid for this assistance 
•    Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.
 

2.3.2 Writing Assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g., from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgments section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance—including the individual’s name, company, and level of input— and identify the entity that paid for this assistance”).

It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes, and your References.

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2.4 Funding

Applied Spectroscopy® requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgments page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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2.5 Declaration of Conflicting Interests

It is the policy of Applied Spectroscopy® to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’. For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations.

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2.6 Research Ethics and Patient Consent

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.

For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.

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2.7 Research Data

The journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.

Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:

• share your research data in a relevant public data repository
• include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, we encourage you to consider using the statement to explain why it cannot be shared.
• cite this data in your research

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3. Publishing Policies

3.1 Publication Ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

3.1.1 Plagiarism

Applied Spectroscopy® and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior Publication

If material has been previously published, it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

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3.2 Contributor’s Publishing Agreement

Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement, which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case, copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway.

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3.3 Open Access and Author Archiving

Applied Spectroscopy® offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

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4. Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission

4.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

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4.2 Artwork, Figures and Other Graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines. 

Figures supplied in color will appear in color online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. For specifically requested color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.

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4.3 Graphical Abstract Guidelines

Applied Spectroscopy® is in the process of implementing graphical abstracts as part of its overall initiative to help its researchers to promote their research. A graphical abstract is meant to be a clear, quick and concise pictorial representation of the published research. Please refer to our guidelines on graphical abstracts.

4.4 Supplemental Material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images, etc.) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information, please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files.

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4.5 Spectroscopic Nomenclature

The spectroscopic nomenclature must comply with the conventions recommended by the International System of Units (SI) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). A brief summary of acceptable terms and their accurate use can be found here.

1. 1. Define acronyms and abbreviations on first use, followed by the acronym or abbreviation in parentheses.
   2. Please do not begin a paragraph with an acronym or abbreviation, and avoid their use in headings where possible and practical.
   3. Provide names of manufacturers in parentheses for instruments, equipment, and materials.
   4. Latin terms (i.e., et al., in vivo, in situ, ca., etc.) should not be italicized.

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4.6 Mathematical Expressions

Take great care with mathematical equations and expressions. Math that is not properly set may be re-keyed, increasing the possibility of error:

1. 1. “Display” equations should be set apart by line breaks and should be created using MathType or MS Word Equation Editor. They should have no ending punctuation, should be numbered consecutively in parentheses (i.e., (1), (2), (3), etc.), and should not be linked as fields within the manuscript.
   2. Display equations should be immediately followed by a description of the variables used.
   3. Shorter mathematical expressions should appear in the text (“in-line”). These should be created using standard keyboard characters and the “Insert Symbol” palette whenever possible. MathType or Equation Editor should only be used when absolutely necessary, i.e., for stacked subscripts and superscripts.
   4. Conventions for publishing mathematics should be followed. All Greek characters should appear in normal face (i.e., Roman, not italic). All variables represented by a Latin letter should be in italics. All constants and designators (i.e., λmax) should be in normal (Roman) face. Vectors should be lowercase bold and matrices should be UPPERCASE bold (both in normal, Roman, face).
   5. Refer to equations using ‘‘Eq. #’’ in the body of the text. Do not use the abbreviation “Eqn.”
   6. Do not repeat mathematical derivations that are easily found elsewhere in the literature; merely cite the references.

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4.7 Reference Style

All references cited in the text should be collected in a reference list at the end of the manuscript, but before figure captions and tables. Citation formats are given below.

 

1. 1. References should consist solely of citations to material that has been published elsewhere, i.e., in journals, books, technical reports, etc.
   2. Papers that have been submitted or accepted for publication may be cited using the authors, the full title of the article, and the journal title, followed by “paper submitted” or “paper in press,” and the year. If a DOI is available for papers that are in press but not yet published, it should be included after the year. “In preparation” and “To be submitted” citations are generally unacceptable.
   3. References to “unpublished data” or “private communications” are acceptable, but they should be cited as footnotes in the text and should identify the source of the information cited, such as name, institution, type of communication, and year.
   4. Electronic publications, such as web pages, databases, or on-line reports, may be cited by including the author or authoring organization, the name of the page or database if available, the date the page was created, if available, the full URL, and the date the material was accessed by the author.
   5. All references must be numbered consecutively in order of appearance in the text. Reference citations in the text should appear as Arabic numerals (without parentheses or brackets), placed as superscripts, outside punctuation marks. Ranges of references should be shown using a dash (2–5) rather than written out (2,3,4,5,)

      Example of reference citations in the text:
      The equipment used⁸—inexpensive and easily constructed in the laboratory—met the criteria established by Smith et al.^9,10 In later experiments, Jones and Percy,^11–13 who perfected the technique, found modifications unnecessary.
       

   6. Each reference number should refer to only one article, chapter, or book; multiple citations within one reference are not acceptable.
   7. Direct quotes from other sources must be cited, including the page number where the quoted material appears.

 

Formats and Samples for Citations

All references should be double-spaced and in 12-point font, collected in a list at the end of the manuscript. Journal titles should be abbreviated using the standard ACS/CASSI abbreviations (http://cassi.cas.org/search.jsp).

PERIODICALS—the ordering is as follows:
Authors. “Title of the Article”. Full journal name (abbreviated). Year. Volume number(issue number): page range.

1. 1. 1. E.C. Navarre, J.M. Goldberg. “Design and Characterization of a Theta-Pinch Imploding Thin Film Plasma Source for Atomic Emission Spectrochemical Analysis”. Appl. Spectrosc. 2010. 65(1): 26-35.
      2. A. Vrij. “Possible Mechanism for the Spontaneous Rupture of Thin, Free Liquid Films”. Discuss. Faraday Soc. 1966. 42: 23-33.
      3. C. Xu, B.A. Maxwell, J.A. Brown, L. Zhang, Z. Suo. “Global Conformational Dynamics of a Y-Family DNA Polymerase during Catalysis”. PLoS Biol. 2009. 7(10): e1000225. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000225.

BOOKS—the ordering is as follows:
Authors. “Title of chapter”. In: Editor Names, editor. Title of Book. Location of Publisher: Name of Publisher, Year. Vol. #, Chap. #, Pages cited.

1. 1. 1. P.R. Griffiths. “Introduction to the Theory and Instrumentation for Vibrational Spectroscopy”. In: E.C.Y. Li-Chan, J.M. Chalmers, P.R. Griffiths, editors. Applications of Vibrational Spectroscopy to Food Science. Chichester, UK: John Wiley and Sons, 2010.
      2. Y. Ozaki. “Application in Chemistry”. In: H.W. Siesler, Y. Ozaki, S. Kawata, H.M. Heise, editors. Near-Infrared Spectroscopy: Principles, Instruments, Applications. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH, 2002. Pp. 179-211.
      3. W.H. Press, S.A. Teukolsky, W.T. Vetterling, P.B. Flannery. Numerical Recipes in C: The Art of Scientific Computing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 2nd ed.

THESES—the ordering is as follows:
Author. Title of Thesis. [M.S. or Ph.D. Thesis/Dissertation]. Location of institution: Name of institution, year.

1. 1. 1. A.-M. Saariaho. Resonance Raman Spectroscopy in the Analysis of Residual Lignin and Other Unsaturated Structures in Chemical Pulps. [Doctor of Science in Technology Dissertation]. Espoo, Finland: Helsinki University of Technology, 2005.

EXTRANEOUS MATERIAL

Patents:
Inventor name. Item description. Patent number. Filed Year. Issued Year.

1. 1. 1. M. Foquet, P. Peluso, S. Turner, D. B. Roitman, G. Otto. Zero Mode Waveguide Substrate. US Patent 7486865. Filed 2007. Issued 2009.

Papers, posters, or workshops presented at a meeting:

1. 1. 1. S. Student. “Title of My Paper”. Paper (poster) presented at: FACSS 2011. Reno, NV; Sept 30-Oct 5 2011.
      2. S.M. Clegg, J.E. Barefield, R.C. Wiens, C.R. Quick, S.K. Sharma, A.K. Misra, M.D. Dyar, M.C. McCanta, L. Elkins-Tanton. Workshop on Venus Geochemistry: Progress, Prospects, and New Missions. Workshop presented at: Venus Geochemistry: Progress, Prospects, and New Missions. Gilruth Center, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX; February 26–27, 2009.

Websites:
At a minimum, provide the URL and the date that the reference was last accessed. Any further information, particularly the author of a page, the host organization, copyright dates, or a DOI, should also be provided. A few examples follow:

1. 1. 1. Unicef. “Health: Malaria”. 2009. http://www.unicef.org/health/index_malaria.html [accessed Oct 15 2011].
      2. United States Department of Labor, OSHA. “Safety and Health Topics: Laser Hazards”. Page last reviewed Jan 10 2008. http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/laserhazards/ [accessed Jan 11 2011].

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4.8 English Language Editing Services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

5. Submitting Your Manuscript

Applied Spectroscopy® is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/asp to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help

5.1 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

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5.2 Information Required for Completing Your Submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

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5.3 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.

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6. On Acceptance and Publication

6.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.

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6.2 Applied Spectroscopy Express

Applied Spectroscopy® now makes articles that have been accepted following peer review available immediately on the Journal website, before they have gone through the production process at Sage. These accepted manuscripts are published within the Online First programme on Sage Journals Online upon peer review acceptance for publication and before copyediting, typesetting and other value added by the Editorial staff and Sage.

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6.3 Online First Publication

Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the SAGE Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

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6.4 Access to Your Published Article

Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

6.5 Promoting Your Article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

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7. Further Information
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Applied Spectroscopy® editorial office as follows:

Applied Spectroscopy®
Kristin S. MacDonald, M.Sc.
Managing Editor
University of British Columbia
Department of Chemistry
E211–2036 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
Canada

applied_spectroscopy@chem.ubc.ca
Tel.: (001) 301-694-8122

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