Journals Submission Instructions

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Author Instructions

 

 
Important notes:
  • Do not begin a new or revised manuscript submission unless you are prepared to complete the process. Acquire required approvals before starting the submission process. 
  • There are four submission sites; one each for JES, JSS, ECS Sensors Plus, and ECS Advances. As they share a user database, if you have an account in one, you have an account in the other. Once logged in, you can toggle back and forth easily between the four journal sites. 
  • Submissions to regular and focus issues are made through the same sites. You can specify focus issue submission during the submission process. 

Table of Contents

Authorship

By authoring a manuscript and submitting the manuscript for publication consideration, manuscript authors uphold the standard that the author team is responsible and accountable for the work.

Given this, to be considered an author of a manuscript, the following criteria set by the International Council of Medical Journal Editors (ICJE) must be met:

  • Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  • Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  • Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  • Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Responsibility of the corresponding author

The corresponding author is responsible for:

  • Representing the author’s team in communications with the publication;
  • Ensuring that all named authors have consented to submitting to the journal, approving the submitted version of the article, and all further revisions;
  • Ensuring that the paper is not under consideration by any other journal at the time of submission;
  • Ensuring that all of the co-authors’ contact details are correctly entered into the submission system and are correct at the time of submission.

All authors included in a given manuscript should be able to identify the contributions of all listed authors and carry confidence and integrity in their co-authors.

Prior to submission, there must be an established agreement among all manuscript authors of the order in which authors’ names will be listed.

Note that acquisition of funding, collection of data, and general supervision are not factors that constitute authorship.

AI Chatbots or Large Language Models (LLMs) do not meet the minimum authorship criteria and should not be listed as authors. Authors using LLMs to assist in generating ideas and/or aiding in drafting the paper should declare this fact and provide full transparency of the LLM used (name, version, model, source) within the paper they are submitting. Use of an LLM should be properly documented in the manuscript’s Methods and/or Acknowledgment sections. Authors using these tools to create any part of their work are expected to check for accuracy and are reminded that they, as named authors on the work, take full responsibility for the full content of the work.

Others who have contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged, provided the contributor has provided consent. Examples of non-author contributors are translators or supporting experts.

Learn more about author management and responsibilities and roles.


Journal policies

Information about all ECS journal articles

  • All submitted manuscripts are considered for publication with the understanding that they have not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. 
  • All manuscripts undergo the Society’s rigorous peer-review process. 
  • All manuscripts must fall within at least one Society journal’s Topical Interest Areas (TIAs). 
  • Communication, perspective, review, and CRES3T articles are published within their relevant TIA with the type of article clearly identified. 
  • Content presented at ECS meetings and manuscripts published in ECS Transactions may be submitted to journals after being modified to meet the requirements of the specific article type and ensure appropriate quality for archival publication. Although there is no strict deadline for submitting these papers, six months from the date of the symposium is considered sufficient time to revise a paper to meet the stricter standards of ECS journals. 
  • Content submitted to a preprint service—such as ECSarXiv—may be submitted to ECS journals provided it has not been published or posted elsewhere, and after being modified to meet the specific article type requirements and ensuring the quality is appropriate for archival publication. 
  • For papers accepted for publication in JES or JSS, authors choose whether to publish their articles as open access.
  • All articles accepted for publication in ECS Advances or ECS Sensors Plus are published open access. 
  • On occasion, ECS selects an accepted article as an Editors’ Choice article. To ensure their broad dissemination to the community, Editors’ Choice articles must be published open access. 
  • All submitted articles may be considered for transfer to an alternate ECS journal. 

Paper preparation

General text requirements

  • Improperly formatted manuscript files are returned to the author(s) for correction before being sent for review. 
  • Do not include the cover letter in your article file. Cover letters can be uploaded as separate documents or entered into the appropriate field during the submission process. 
  • Prepare all manuscripts in single-column format. 
  • Place Lists of Symbols, Appendices, and References after the body of the paper.
  • If your manuscript has been prepared in LaTex, please generate a PDF file on your computer and upload that for review purposes and when showing revisions made in response to reviewer comments.
  • Do not enter equations or tables as image files. Use a MathType feature, equations tool, or plain text for equations and enter tables as plain text.
  • The source file for the article file MUST be saved in either Word or LaTex/RevTex format. 
  • For new manuscript submissions ONLY: Submit a single PDF file of your manuscript in which the figures and tables appear where referenced in the text, for use during the initial peer-review process. Source files for the manuscript and any figures can be submitted prior to formal publication acceptance.

Figure requirements

Submitting separate figure files is not required for the initial peer-review process. Follow these guidelines when submitting individual figure files during the revision stage or prior to formal acceptance:

  • Submit one file per COMPLETE figure. A multi-part/composite figure MUST be submitted as a complete/combined single file with each part labeled appropriately. Submitting individual sections of a composite figure is NOT accepted. 
  • EPS or TIFF formats are preferred. 
  • Size at one-column width (3.25 inches) wherever possible. 
  • 300 dpi resolution is required. (Higher resolution files do not improve figure quality and take longer to load.) 
  • DO NOT present Bode and Nyquist plots of the same data as this wastes journal space. Choose and use only one format. (For a complete description of ECS Journals’ Style for EIS Plots, click here.) 
  • DO NOT submit tables as figure files. Include all tables in the article file as text. DO NOT use color in tables. 
  • Author(s) are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce all previously published results/data/figures from the copyright holder. Author(s) should be prepared to show proof of permission upon request. Such permission should be noted in the figure caption or as a footnote and attested to during the submission process. 
  • Author(s) may submit ONLY ONE set of figure files. Submissions multiple versions of a given figure are returned to the author(s) for correction prior to peer review. 

Research articles

A research article is a primary source reporting the methods and results of an original study performed by the author(s), where the author(s) collected and analyzed the data and drawn conclusions from the results of that analysis. Research articles use a standard format in which the author(s) present the research in an orderly, logical manner. 

Download the Word template (.doc) | Download the Word template (.docx)


Communication articles

Communication papers are brief articles or reports describing impactful research where dissemination prior to a full and complete study/paper substantially benefits the electrochemical or solid state community. When submitting the manuscript, author(s) should concisely describe the research’s high impact and why early dissemination is desirable for the field. To ensure that communication papers are publishable upon acceptance, limit manuscript length to no more than 2500 words (excluding references), and one to four single-column-width figure parts. Papers which exceed these limits are returned for editing prior to initiating peer review. Additional formatting and presentation requirements apply.

Download the communication article template (.doc) | Download the communication article template (.docx)


Perspective article special instructions

A perspective article is a brief insightful assessment of—and directions for—new, developing, or established fields. A perspective article should suggest alternative interpretations of results or describe new directions for topical areas of interest to ECS journal readers. Perspectives are intended to stimulate discussion that substantially benefits the field. Although data may or may not be included, these articles are not intended to announce new results (submit such information in communication articles). Perspective articles present thought-provoking perspectives and novel assimilation of scientific information indicating potential trends or innovative applications in current or emerging fields.  

Download the perspective article template (.doc) | Download the perspective article template (.docx)

  • Papers submitted as perspective articles should be brief (4000 total words or less, excluding a limited list of references).
  • If figures or tables are included, a maximum of three are permitted. These count for 250 words each. (For example, a perspective submission with one figure and one table should not exceed 3500 words, excluding references.) Papers exceeding these limits are returned to the author(s) for editing prior to initiating peer review. Additional formatting and presentation requirements apply.
  • Author(s) must use the perspective article template.
  • Supplementary material is not accepted for perspective articles.
Methods

Methods articles focus on the intricacies of experimental measurements and/or theories. They discuss the methods and limitations of analysis as a way to encourage in-depth discussion of how experiments should be carried out to ensure reproducibility at a high standard; and how results should be analyzed to provide consistency and comprehension in the literature over time. 

General formatting requirements are the same as those for research papers. The research article template can be used. Heading and section requirements do not apply so that author(s) can tailor their presentation to the given subject. 


Other article types

Comments, replies, errata

Submit comments on previously published papers, replies to such comments, and all errata to the ECS journal in which the paper commented upon or corrected was published. Comments, replies, and errata article types can be selected in the first stage of the submission process. 

Review articles

Review articles sum up the current state of understanding on a particular topic, as opposed to research articles which report on original research. Author(s) search for everything relevant to the topic and organize the results into a coherent view. Review articles cover main researchers in the field; recent advances and discoveries; current debates; significant research gaps; and provide indications of likely future directions for the field. No specific template is required for review article manuscripts. Author(s) may use the research article template provided above.

CRES3T articles

CRES3T (Critical Reviews in Electrochemistry and Solid State Science and Technology) articles go beyond review articles to provide authoritative status reports on areas experiencing rapid development in electrochemistry and solid state science and technology. CRES3T articles analyze opportunities and challenges to advancing knowledge in the area; thoroughly survey the most relevant literature in the field; and clearly identify each of the experimental and theoretical areas regarded as key to the scientific understanding and technological demands in the field. CRES3T articles project future work and approaches that might be needed to resolve conflicts and fill missing gaps in knowledge. Author(s) are experts in the field with broad experience. CRES3T articles differ from other article types because reviewers’ names and email addresses may be published, provided the reviewers give consent. 

Editors’ Choice

An Editors’ Choice article is a special designation that the Journals’ Editorial Board may apply to any article type. Editors’ Choice articles are transformative as they must represent a substantial advance or discovery—either experimental or theoretical—and show not merely preliminary data, but a new direction, concept, way of doing something, interpretation, or field. These articles display credible research results and yet are transformative within the electrochemical or solid state community. A limited number of Editors’ Choice articles are published. Only articles with the highest quality, impact, significance, and scientific/technological interest are selected. All Editors’ Choice articles are published open access. 


Tex/LaTex files

Submitted Tex/LaTex files must convert to PDF properly in the ScholarOne conversion engines before passing quality control. Authors preparing manuscripts using Tex/LaTex are strongly encouraged to download the Clarivate ScholarOne Author Guide for instructions and tips on preparing such files to properly convert to PDF. 

Additional information and a Latex class file are found here


General presentation
  • Organization and clarity are essential elements of successful publications. Identify the subject matter in the title with words useful for indexing. State the purpose of the work early in the text. Present the work and the arguments in an order that leads naturally to clearly specified conclusions. Provide enough information for the work to be reproduced and the logic understood. Identify and justify any assumptions made. Define unusual technical terms and all abbreviations or acronyms at their first use. Once an acronym has been defined, use it in place of the full-length term. Where symbols are used extensively, list them with their definitions at the end of the paper. Edit and proofread the manuscript carefully before submission. 
  • Do not number sections within the manuscript or refer to section titles within the text. When referring to material presented elsewhere in the paper, use “as shown above” or “as shown below”, as appropriate. 
  • Mention all research funding sources in the acknowledgments section at the end of the paper. 
  • SI units should be used whenever possible. The ACS Style Guide (3rd edition) can be used as a reference on grammar, units, and formatting. 
  • Mathematical equations should be written on a single line if possible, using parentheses, brackets, negative exponents, and the like. 
  • Ordinarily, reduce drawings and graphs to column width (3 1/4 in. or 8.2 cm). Use lettering of letter-grade quality, at least 1/16 inch (1.6 mm) high. When several curves are shown, letter and identify each one in the caption. When a figure contains a number of parts (i.e., several micrographs or graphs), use a lowercase letter (“a”, “b”, etc.) in the body of each part. Then use the letter in the figure caption to identify each corresponding part. 

Author keyword selection

During the submission process, users are required to select keywords related to the submitted article.* Using strong keywords supports the discovery of published articles by search engines and research tools. 

Two ways to find keywords:

  • Select from the list of keywords populated in the submission system. 
  • Select keywords not included in the submission system but that the author(s) believe are more relevant to the submitted article. It is strongly recommended that author(s) choosing this option use a keyword selection tool or copy keywords from other related work.

*Keywords are ideas and topics that define the article’s content. These are the words that searchers enter into search engines to find the content best suited to their purposes. 


Highlights
  • Highlights are obligatory for ECS Sensors Plus; but optional for ECS Advances, JES, and JSS.
  • Include three to five bulleted highlights; five maximum.
  • Must be provided as a separate document matching the format of the main manuscript file. For clarification:
    • Manuscript file is submitted in Word: Highlights must be provided as a separate Word document named “Highlights.docx”. Be sure to select “source file” from the drop-down list when uploading files.
    • Manuscript file is submitted in TeX: Highlights must be provided as a separate TeX document named “Highlights.tex”. Be sure to select “source file” from the drop-down list when uploading files.
  • DO NOT include highlights within the manuscript.
  • Each highlight sentence must be a maximum of 85 characters in length; including spaces.
  • Include only the article’s core results and/or specific novelty in highlights.
  • Avoid jargon, acronyms, or abbreviations; aim for a general audience and use keywords.
  • Consider the reader—highlights are the first thing they’ll see.

Graphical Abstracts

A graphical abstract is a single image intended to assist readers with a quick summary of a scholarly article. These images assist in online searches and aid researchers in discerning the article’s connection to their interests. The image appears on the landing page of a published article as a visual aid. It is not a replacement for the required text abstract.

Graphical abstracts are mandatory for submissions to ECS Sensors Plus, and optional for JES, JSS, and ECS Advances.

All graphical abstract files must be included with the submission in a JPEG, JPG, PNG or TIF format, with the text “GA” as the prefix of the filename, e.g., “GA[filename].jpg”

All graphical abstract files must be uploaded separately as Source Files. Graphical abstracts should not be embedded in manuscript source files, nor uploaded as supplementary files or information.


References

List references at the end of the paper in the order they are cited in the text. Use each author’s first and middle initials and last name. Cite one text or source per reference number. The full titles of referenced journal articles need not be included. Use CAS abbreviations for journal names. If possible, avoid citing anything other than generally available literature. Do not format references as hot links to internet sources. For example:

Journals/Magazines

  • E. P. Able and A. T. Baker, Electrochem. Solid-State Lett.4, A101 (2001).

Books by the Author(s) Referenced

  • E. P. Able and A. T. Baker, Diamond Films, p. 37, John Wiley& Sons, New York (1991).

Author(s) Referenced in an Edited Volume

  • E. P. Able and A. T. Baker, in Electrosynthesis, 2nd ed., J. Carter, Editor, p. 40, Wiley Interscience, New York (1991).

Author(s) Referenced from an ECS Transaction Volume

  • E. Gaura and R. M. Newman, ECS Trans.4(1), 3 (2006).

Author(s) Referenced from an ECS Proceedings Volume

  • E. P. Able and A. T. Baker, in Plasma Processing, G.S. Mathad and D.W. Hess, Editors, PV 94-20, p. 123, The Electrochemical Society Proceedings Series, Pennington, NJ (1994).

Author(s) Referenced from an ECSarXiv Publication

  • W. Hollerman, R. S. Fontenot, P. Darby, N. Pugh, and J. Miller, “Using Exotic Materials Like EuD4TEA and MgD4TEA to Monitor Damage and Radiation Exposure in Extreme Environments,” ECSarXiv (2018), doi:10.1149/osf.io/94ujn

Authors using EndNotes software can download a zipped ECS Reference Style by clicking here

As the article abstract is self-contained and published as a stand-alone text, references cannot be cited by number. All references mentioned in the abstract must be cited in line with the text and styled as follows: “…with published data [J. S. Yi and T. V. Nguyen, Electrochem. Solid-State Lett., 146, 38 (1999)], but an error has been detected…” 


Entering author information

When entering co-author/contributing author information, PLEASE use the Search feature under “Add Author” to first see if co-authors have existing accounts in the system. If so, use the existing account to avoid difficulties when co-authors login to access the manuscript record. 

Authorship is one of the most important aspects of scholarly research publishing. At submission, all authors involved with a given paper must be listed on the paper to ensure proper credit and citation of the work. Once a paper is accepted for publication, no changes are permitted to the authors list. Carefully review your paper’s authors list to ensure that it is complete and final prior to submission.  


ORCID iDs

Corresponding authors must have an ORCID iD registered to their ScholarOne account. ORCID iDs are published on all accepted papers and included in the article metadata to improve content discoverability and citation. 

To register an ORCID iD to an existing ScholarOne account: 

  • Login to ScholarOne; click on your name at the top of the screen; select “E-mail/Name.” 
  • At the top of the page, you have the option to create a new ORCID iD or connect to an existing ORCID iD. 
    • In both cases you are linked out to the ORCID website, either to login or create an account. 
  • After following these steps your ORCID iD is automatically linked to your ScholarOne account. 
  • After adding an ORCID iD, be sure to save the updates to your account. 

You can also register for, or link, an existing ORCID iD to a ScholarOne account during the account creation process. 

Contributing authors are also encouraged to register for ORCID iDs for publication on accepted papers. Contributing author IDs must be present in the author’s ScholarOne profile prior to acceptance to be included in the published paper. 

Submitting authors who are not the designated corresponding author for the peer-review process should ensure that those authors have an ORCID iD registered to their ScholarOne account PRIOR to beginning a manuscript submission. 

For information about ORCID iDs and how they help make your research discoverable across multiple search engines, click here. Information is available in multiple languages using the drop-down menu in the upper right corner. Click here to watch a video about the benefits of having your own ORCID iD. 


Supplementary material

ECS hosts supplementary material when the material is pertinent to, and supports, the work to which it relates, but is not essential for comprehension of the main body of the work. 

ECS permits the submission of two types of supplementary material: 

  • Supplementary material intended ONLY to help reviewers evaluate the manuscript. These files are not meant to undergo peer review and are not published. To assist reviewers, do not reference supplementary material in the manuscript. 
  • Supplementary material intended for publication in online editions. Label these files clearly, providing a descriptive caption for each file. The supplementary material must be cited within the manuscript text (e.g., see Fig. S2 or see supplementary material). Submit supplementary material as separate files, not as text within the article file. This includes descriptive paragraphs and figure/table/scheme captions. 

Supplementary material is published online exactly as submitted. Page proofs are not sent for review. Changes to supplementary material changes are done at the revision stage of the manuscript submission process. Revisions should not include highlighting or using the MS Word Track Changes option. 

In submitting supplementary material considered relevant to the work, the author(s) agree to the following: 

  • License to Publish. The author(s) give ECS a nonexclusive license to publish the supplementary material by hosting it online in the ECS Digital Library. 
  • Rights of ECS. ECS reserves the right to take down the supplementary material at any time if in its sole judgment it believes that the supplementary material is not suitable. 
  • Warranties. The author(s) warrant sole authorship of the supplementary material, or if not, the author(s) warrant the complete and unencumbered right to grant ECS the license stated above. The author(s) warrant that the supplementary material does not libel anyone, invade anyone’s copyright, or otherwise violate any statutory or common law right of anyone. 
  • Indemnification. The author(s) agree to indemnify ECS against any claim or action alleging facts which, if true, constitute breach of any of the foregoing warranties. 

Open access publication

ECS offers Author Choice Open Access publication of all papers published in our journals. For more information on this option, please click here.


Color figures

There is NO CHARGE for color figures in the ECS journals. All figures submitted in color are published in color in the online article and print-on-demand issue, at no cost to the author(s). DO NOT use color shading or text within tables, as these are typeset, not used as images, and color cannot be reproduced. 


Language and writing/editing services

ECS offers English editing services in partnership with Enago, a leading global academic editing service provider with editing expertise in the fields of science and technology. Enago editors are native English speakers with an average of 19.4 years of experience. ECS members submitting manuscripts have the option to polish their research papers using Enago’s efficient and high-quality English editing services at 15 percent discounted rates. Not a member? Join to use this benefit. To submit your manuscript for editing, visit http://enago.electrochem.org/ 

Author(s) may also choose other editing service providers. ECS has compiled this list of English language editing services: Bioscience Editing SolutionsEdanz EditingEditageJournal PrepOnline EnglishProWriting AidProof-Reading-Service.comSciTech Edit; and Sibia Proofreading

ECS is not affiliated with these services. Their use does not impact final decisions regarding publishing a given manuscript. 


Topical Interests Areas (TIAs)

The full listing of topical interest areas covered by ECS journals can be found here.