Contributor Information | LIA - The Laser Institute

We are excited that you're interested in contributing to our journal, which is at the forefront of laser technology and applications. Below, you'll find key details on how to prepare your manuscript, illustrations, and our author guidelines to ensure a smooth submission process.

Preparing Illustrations

Number figures in the order in which they appear in text.
Label all figure parts with (a), (b), etc. Avoid any large disparity in size of lettering and labels used within one illustration.
Prepare illustrations in the final published size, not oversized. The maximum published width for a one-column illustration is 3-3/8 inch (8.5 cm). The maximum width for a two-column figure is 6.69 inch (17 cm). Each illustration should be prepared for 100% reproduction in order to avoid problems arising from large reductions in size.
In cases where reduction is required, avoid small open symbols that tend to fill in and avoid small lettering; ensure that, in the final published illustration, there is a minimum of 8-point type size (2.8 mm high; 1/8 inch high) for lettering and 0.5-point width for lines.
Ensure that lettering and lines are dark enough, and thick enough, to reproduce clearly, especially if reduction is necessary. Remember that fine lines tend to disappear upon reduction.

Acceptable Formats

PostScript (.ps)
Encapsulated PostScript (.eps, using either Arial or Times Roman fonts)
Tagged Image File Format (.tif, lzw compressed)
Portable Document Format (.pdf)
Application files (e.g., Corel Draw, Microsoft Word) are not acceptable.

Other Requirements

When submitting your manuscript, submit ALL illustrations for your paper, including line art.
Make sure there is only ONE figure per file. Each figure file should contain all parts of the figure. For example, if Figure 1 contains three parts (a, b, c), then all parts should be combined in a single file for Figure 1.
Set the correct orientation for each graphics file.
Set the graphic for 600 dpi resolution for line art, 264 dpi for halftones, and 600 dpi for combinations (line art + halftone).
Save line art as black/white bitmap, not grayscale.
Save halftones and combinations as grayscale, not black/white bitmap.
Submit color files at 300 dpi TIFF, PS, or EPS format. If selecting a file mode, use CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) or RGB (red, green, blue).

For accepted manuscripts, PDF as the source file for illustrations is not preferred. However, properly prepared PDF illustration files may be used in the production process of your accepted manuscript if you adhere to the following guidelines:

PDF should only be used as the source file for illustrations when the preferred formats (PS, EPS, or TIF) cannot be generated.
In the PDF illustration, the resolution of any shaded or photographic images must be 600 pixels per inch (PPI).
Within the PDF illustration, resolution of line art with no shading should be 1200 pixels per inch (PPI).
All fonts must be embedded in the PDF.
When creating a PDF through your application's print command, select "High Quality Print".

Illustrations will appear in color in the online journal free of charge to authors. To take advantage of this free service, you must:

supply color graphics files in the appropriate format (.eps, .ps, .tif, or .pdf only),
submit graphics files in time for utilization during the production process,
submit only one version of each graphics file,
ensure that colors chosen will reproduce well when printed in black & white, and
ensure that descriptions of figures in text will be sufficiently clear for both print and online versions.

Other Requirements

If you want color figures in the printed journal, you must request this at the time of submission.
You or your institution must pay the required fee of $325 per color figure. Note that there is no charge for color figures in JCP. For multipart figures, a single charge will apply only if all parts are submitted as a single piece of artwork.
For color in the printed journal, you will be required to sign an acknowledgment of color charges prior to publication of the article. Otherwise, the figures will appear in color only online and in black & white in print.

Author Guidelines for Multimedia

Multimedia files can be included in the online version of published papers. These multimedia files can be viewed by simply clicking on a link in the paper, provided the reader has a video player, such as Windows Media Player^™, QuickTime Player^™, or RealOne Player^™ installed.

Please adhere to the following guidelines when preparing multimedia files for your submission:

When incorporating multimedia, note that the paper should be written so that the print version can be understood on its own.
Submit all multimedia files initially with the manuscript.
Treat all multimedia files as figures, numbered in sequence as they are referred to in text. (Multimedia files will not have a numbering scheme separate from the figures.)
All multimedia files must be cited in the text, referred to by their figure number.
For each multimedia file, provide a figure, which is a static representation of the multimedia file. Also provide an accompanying caption. At the end of the caption, include the phrase, "(enhanced online)."
Video and other enhanced files should be in a format that the majority of readers can view without too much difficulty. See the multimedia guidelines below for specific submission requirements.

Authors are strongly encouraged to adhere to the following additional guidelines:

The acceptable file formats outlined above are playable using standard media players, such as QuickTime and Windows Media Player. Media players should be used to check file properties and image/sound quality prior to submission. For video submissions, fonts, lines, and image details should be of sufficient size and weight to be visible when played at half size.
Attention should be paid to the file size to make download time reasonable since streaming formats are not acceptable for submission at this time. A recommended target size for each multimedia file is 3–5 MB.
Authors are encouraged to use one of the accepted compression codecs to minimize file sizes.
Animations must be formatted into a standard video file.

*Please note the below guidelines/considerations that apply to all multimedia submissions.

Acceptable file formats include PCM (.pcm), WAV (.wav), AIFF (.aif), and MP3 (.mp3) at 128 KB or greater.

all multimedia submissions.

Acceptable file formats include QuickTime nonstreaming video (.qt or .mov), MPEG (.mpg), and DV (.dv). The preferred formats are .mov, and .mpg. Details about each of these file formats are outlined below. Note that AVI files are no longer a recommended file format, because the wide variety of AVI codecs cannot be reliably archived.

Authors must insert a representative “still” image, taken from the video, in the manuscript as a figure. This still image is not intended to convey meaning about the content of the video; rather it will be used as a static representation of the video file, which will be linked online after acceptance. Care should be taken to extract an image from the video which has reasonable clarity of fine lines and details. Acceptable file formats for still images are JPEG (.jpg) and GIF (.gif).

*Please note the below guidelines/considerations that apply to all multimedia submissions.

Authors will be asked to provide some information about their multimedia files. A caption or description of the content of the media file is required (similar to a typical figure caption). Additional metadata as outlined below will also be requested. This information is optional.

Metadata Elements

Caption/ description: Textual caption/description of the content of media object. Required.
Type: The nature or genre of the content of the media, such as video or audio. Optional.
Format: This should describe the media filetype, such as QuickTime, DV, MPEG, PCM, or WAV. Optional.
Duration: This is the duration of the media object playing time, in units of seconds. It is applicable to video or audio media. Optional.
Frame size: For video only (not still images), the size of the video image, as height × width in pixels. Optional.
Producer: Information about the software used to create the media object. It should include the name and version of the software (e.g., Adobe Premiere Elements v. 2.0). Optional.

Multimedia Detailed Specifications

Acceptable Video File Formats

QuickTime nonstreaming (.qt or .mov)

24 bit (millions) color
Video Compressor/Codec
- Uncompressed/None
- Animation
- Motion JPEG (MJPEG)
- DV—NTSC
- DV—PAL
Audio
- 48,000 samples per second
- 16 bit
- Uncompressed/PCM
- Stereo or Mono

MPEG

DV (.dv)

DV NTSC
DV PAL

NTSC Video Parameters

Image size (H:V) 720:480 pixels
Frame rate 29.97 frames per second

PAL Video Parameters

Image size (H:V) 720:576 pixels
Frame rate 25 frames per second

Acceptable Audio File Formats

PCM, WAV, AIFF, MP3 (at 128 KB or greater)
- Audio Parameters
  - 44,100 or 48,000 samples per second
  - 16 bit
  - Stereo or Mono

Supplemental Material

Supplemental files may be of two types:

Files to aid the reviewer and not for publication.
Supplementary information for publication alongside the manuscript.

Appropriate items for publication as supplemental material include; multimedia (e.g., movie files, audio files, 3D rendering files), data tables, and text (e.g., appendices) that are too lengthy or of too limited interest for inclusion in the article. Links (URLs) in the online (printed) journal article allow users to navigate directly to the associated files.

All supplemental material must be approved by the Journal Editor as part of a manuscript's normal review cycle, and must be listed in the reference section as follows: "See supplementary material at [URL will be inserted by AIP] for [give brief description of material]."

For additional information about depositing or retrieving Supplemental Material for Publication files, see the Supplemental Material homepage.

Submission Mode

Manuscript materials should be submitted to the journal only in the following manner. Alternatives cannot be routinely accommodated. At least a cover-letter file must be uploaded; no more than one manuscript or article-text file should be uploaded. Via Peer X-Press, upload separate, individual files for the cover letter, article text (including title, byline, abstract, main text, appendices, references, tables, and list of figure captions), and each figure.

A cover letter should specify authors, title, Journal, the corresponding author's e-mail address, and any special requests. Unless otherwise stated, submission of a manuscript will be understood to mean that the paper has been neither copyrighted, classified, published, nor is being considered for publication elsewhere.

A duly signed transfer of copyright agreement form is required for publication in this journal. No claim is made to original U.S. Government works. Upload a signed JLA Transfer of Copyright Agreement Form when submitting your original or revised manuscript to the journal's online submission site (https://jla.peerx-press.org/). See: Editorial Office Contact Information

We welcome suggestions of possible reviewers. To help protect the reviewer's anonymity, we ask for at least four names, with full information on postal and e-mail addresses, telephone number, and fax number. The referee selected by the Editor may, of course, not necessarily be from the list.

The Editor strongly prefers to correspond directly with the author, rather than through the reports division or through executives of the author's laboratory. Manuscripts sent to authors for revision should be returned to the Editor within two months. A manuscript returned later than this will generally be regarded as newly submitted and will receive a new receipt date.

To support the cost of wide dissemination of research results through publication of journal pages and production of a database of articles, the author's institution is requested to pay a page charge and an article charge. For additional information, follow this link to Publication Charges.

Accepted Manuscripts

Authors whose manuscripts have been accepted for publication will receive correspondence informing them of the issue for which it is tentatively scheduled. Date of publication may be before the cover date of the issue. Authors may access publication data for their manuscripts online through AIP's AMSIS service.

Proofs and all subsequent correspondence pertaining to papers in the production process should be addressed to:

Editorial Supervisor
Journal of Laser Applications®
American Institute of Physics
Suite 1NO1
2 Huntington Quadrangle
Melville, NY 11747-4502, USA

Telephone: 516-576-2443
Fax: 516-576-2638
E-mail: mmormile@aip.org

Reference must be made to the AIP identification number (e.g., 001001JLA), title, author, and scheduled issue date. A limited number of alterations in proof are unavoidable, but the cost of making extensive alterations after the article has been typeset may be charged to the author. Please do not address correspondence about proofs, reprints, artwork, publication charges, color printing charges, etc., to the Editor. To do so simply delays the appropriate action and response.

Through AIP's Accepted Manuscript Status Inquiry System (AMSIS), authors may access information about significant milestones for their accepted manuscript during the production process at AIP. AMSIS can be used only by authors of accepted manuscripts; authors will use Peer X-Press to monitor their submitted manuscripts during peer review.

General information regarding publication and color charges, copyrights, and similar material may be found on the Journal Masthead of each printed issue.