Author Resources

Express Journals Online Style Guide: Optics Express, Biomedical Optics Express, Optical Materials Express

Additional information and templates for MS Word and LaTeX are also available. The online style guide below also provides details on manuscript preparation. Download OSA's "Publishing Your Manuscript" brochure or presentation to receive tips for preparing a manuscript and an overview of the peer review process.

New. The Express journals now have new MS Word and LaTeX templates that incorporate the redesigned page layout. See detailed changes below.

Attention OSA Express Journal Authors

OSA Publishing's Express Journals create archival-quality XML along with the PDF output. XML is the industry standard for producing and archiving scientific journal articles and is used in producing all other OSA journals. Having full-text XML will allow the express journals to be indexed more accurately and completely in MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other databases; it will also allow the journal to meet its archival obligations and to prepare for new services, such as full-text semantic search and repurposing of content.

In order to prevent delays in production, we ask that authors carefully adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Word and LaTeX. OSA accepts Word and LaTeX submissions. OSA will not publish the same Word file that authors submit for their final revisions, so it is imperative that authors carefully check the final version of their paper before paying the publication fee. OSA uses a Word plug-in called eXtyles to normalize, format, tag, and parse the file into full-text XML. eXtyles automatically reformats, checks, and updates the references against the Crossref and PubMed databases. For LaTeX manuscripts, full-text XML is created in the production stages; there is no reference cross-checking for LaTeX manuscripts, so OSA requests that LaTeX authors ensure that the reference section is as accurate as possible.
  • Author listing. All authors must be grouped together using superscripts to callout each affiliation. Hard returns (Enter key) must be used to separate each individual affiliation.
  • Main text. Authors must identify equations and figures in the text by inserting Fig. or Eq. before the number. Display equation numbers should appear in parenthesis [Eq. (1)]. All references, figures, and tables must be called out in the text in the order they appear.
  • Figures. Authors must use one image file per figure. Figures need to be inserted as objects that are fixed and move with the text, not as floating objects. Figures should never be placed in a table environment.
  • Tables. Authors must use Word's Table editor to insert tables. Authors must not import tables from Excel. All content for each table should be in a single Word table (do not split content for a single table across multiple Word tables).
  • Equations. The Express journals not accept equations built using the Word 2007 or 2010 Equation Builder. All equations should be created in MathType (or the Microsoft Equation editor from Design Science). We strongly encourage authors to use MathType 6.7. Note that LaTeX users can type LaTeX code directly into MathType for rendering in Word.

Adherence to the above guidelines will significantly expedite the production of your paper.

1. Layout and title page elements

Page layout for MS Word should be as follows for estimating final length: Body text: 10-pt Times New Roman. Paper size, U.S. letter. Margings should be set for a 3.3-cm (1.3 in.) top and bottom and 4.11-cm (1.625 in.) left and right. The LaTeX style file will provide proper layout for TeX files.

The title, author listing, and all section headers should be in Arial font. The rest of the text and body of the article should Times New Roman.

The title should be concise but informative. Avoid beginning with an article, a preposition, or the words "first," "new," or "novel." Titles may be edited by the publisher to facilitate computer search. Use initial cap for first word in the title or for proper nourns. Use lowercase following colon. The title should be left aligned and in 16-pt. bold Arial font. Kerning should be set to 16-pt. and spacing expanded by 0.5 inch.

Author names should be given in full and consistent form to facilitate indexing. Every effort should be made to keep author names consistent from one paper to the next as they appear within OSA publications. Left align author names in 12-pt. bold Arial font using small caps. Each express journal has its own color for the author names.

Affiliations and postal addresses for all authors should appear on the title page. All authors must be grouped together using superscripts to callout each affiliation. Hard returns (Enter key) must be used to separate each individual affiliation. If all authors share one affiliation, superscript numbers are not needed. The corresponding author will have an asterisk indicating footnote. Abbreviations should not be used. E-mail address for the corresponding author should be given.

Author-listing

The abstract should be limited to approximately 100 words. It should be an explicit summary of the paper that states the problem, the methods used, and the major results and conclusions. If another publication is referenced in the abstract, abbreviated information (e.g., authors, journal, volume number, first page, year) must be given in the abstract itself without a reference number. The first reference cited in the main text will be [1]. Note that the combination of abstract and title must be an adequate indicator of the content of the paper, since it will stand alone in electronic bibliographic databases.

OCIS codes should be provided to help with indexing. OCIS codes can be selected during upload and are also available at https://opg.optica.org/submit/ocis/.

Section headings are not necessary for Letters or Memoranda. The styles for the three levels of headings are

  • 1. SECTION
  • A. Subsection
  • 1. Subsection 2

Sections should generally follow the conventional order: Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. Do not include Methods in a separate section at the end.

2. Mathematical and scientific notation

2.1 Math

All equations should be created in MathType (Microsoft Equation Editor 3.0 users are encouraged to use MathType now that Microsoft no longer supports the Equation Editor). The express journals do not accept equations built using the Word 2007 or 2010 Equation Builder. All display equations should be created in MathType (or the Microsoft Equation editor from Design Science). Inline equations can be created with these tools or by using keyboard and Unicode characters where needed for the best quality line spacing. We strongly encourage authors to use MathType 6.7. Note that LaTeX users can type LaTeX code directly into MathType for rendering in Word. Numbered display equations can be labeled manually or with MathType's numbering feature. For TeX, use of standard LaTeX or AMSTeX commands will greatly facilitate production. Please keep all notation and formatting as simple as possible.

2.2 In-line math

Simple fractions in in-line math should use parentheses when necessary to avoid ambiguity, for example, to distinguish between 1/(n - 1) and 1/n - 1. In-text fractions should be set on line, not built up. Exceptions to this are proper fractions such as ½, which are better left in this form. Summations and integrals that appear within text such as ½ (n2 - 2n)-1 should have limits placed to the right of the symbol to reduce white space and should not use oversized symbols.

2.3 General guidelines on notation

Notation must be legible, clear, compact, and consistent with standard usage. In general, acronyms should be defined at first use. Adherence to the following guidelines will greatly assist the production process:

Radical Signs. When possible, avoid oversized radical signs by using the notation of a superscript 1/2. For example, change Radical to [(a + b)(a - c)]1/2.

Exponentials. Avoid tiny superscripts of exponential e (e.g., ejkl) by using the alternative exp notation, exp(jkl).

Variables and Vectors. Set single-letter variables in italics (k). Set three-vectors in boldface (k). Functions, derivative "d," abbreviations, and multiletter identifiers should be set in roman (plain) type .

Multiplication. In general, close up multiplied terms (pypx); use × if multiplication sign is essential (1 × 10 2) or for continuation in displayed equations [see Eq. (2) above]. Use raised dot only for scalar product (k · k).

Fences. For simple bracketing the usual order of parentheses and brackets is { [ ( { [ ( · ) ] } ) ] } .

Bit and Byte. The standard abbreviations for bit and byte are b and B, respectively. To avoid confusion, these units should be spelled out in most cases (1 bit, 20 GByte).

Metric System. The metric system is used in OSA journals. If nonmetric units are essential (e.g., for parts specifications), conversion should be given at first mention:  ". . . a ¼-in. bolt (1 in. = 2.54 cm)."

3. References and notes

References and Notes should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first referenced in the body of the paper. Two references [2,3] should be included together, separated by a comma, and three or more consecutive references should be indicated by the bounding numbers and an en dash [1–4].

Each source must have its own reference number.

When on-line reference numbers are essential (e.g., see [1]), it is not necessary to use the words "Reference(s)" or "Ref(s)." except when needed for clarity. Footnotes (notes at the bottom of text pages) are not used in OSA journals. Footnotes should be incorporated into the text or set with references as an endnote.

When reference authors are mentioned in the text, use surnames only (unless further clarity is needed), and use "et al." and first author name when three or more authors are given.

Here are some examples of how to set the most common reference types:

Journal paper

For journal articles, authors are listed first, followed by the article's full title in quotes, the journal's title abbreviation, the volume number in bold, the issue number in Roman and parenthesis, inclusive page numbers, and the year in parentheses. Journal titles are required. Do not include web addresses in published journal citations—these will be added post-publication.

  1. C. van Trigt, "Visual system-response functions and estimating reflectance," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 14(4), 741-755 (1997).
  2. S. Yerolatsitis, I. Gris-Sánches, and T. A. Birks, "Adiabatically-tapered fiber mode multiplexers," Opt. Express 22(1), 608-617 (2014).
Journal paper identified by paper number

Do not provide the number of pages; the paper number is sufficient.

  1. L. Rippe, B. Julsgaard, A. Walther, Y. Ying, and S. Kröll, "Experimental quantum-state tomography of a solid-state qubit," Phys. Rev. A 77, 022307 (2008).
Book

For citation of a book as a whole or book chapter, authors or editors are listed first, followed by title in italics, and publisher and year in parenthesis. Chapter number may be added if applicable.

  1. T. Masters, Practical Neural Network Recipes in C++ (Academic, 1993).
  2. F. Ladouceur and J. D. Love, Silica-Based Buried Channel Waveguides and Devices (Chapman & Hall, 1995), Chap. 8.
Article in a Book

For monographs in books, authors are listed first, followed by article's full title in quotes, the word "in," followed by the book title in italics, the editors of the book, and the publisher and publication year in parenthesis.

  1. D. F. Edwards, "Silicon (Si)," in Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids, E. D. Palik, ed. (Academic, 1985).
Paper in published conference proceedings
  1. R. E. Kalman, "Algebraic aspects of the generalized inverse of a rectangular matrix," in Proceedings of Advanced Seminar on Generalized Inverse and Applications, M. Z. Nashed, ed. (Academic, 1976), pp. 111–124.
Paper published in OSA conference proceedings
  1. R. Craig and B. Gignac, "High-power 980-nm pump lasers," in Optical Fiber Communication Conference, Vol. 2 of 1996 OSA Technical Digest Series (Optical Society of America, 1996), paper ThG1.
Paper in an unpublished conference proceedings
  1. D. Steup and J. Weinzierl, "Resonant THz-meshes," presented at the Fourth International Workshop on THz Electronics, Erlangen-Tennenlohe, Germany, 5–6 Sept. 1996.
SPIE proceedings

For later SPIE proceedings with a paper number, cite just the paper number and not any page information.

  1. S. K. Griebel, M. Richardson, K. E. Devenport, and H. S. Hinton, "Experimental performance of an ATM-based buffered hyperplane CMOS-SEED smart pixel array," Proc. SPIE 3005, 254–256 (1997).
  2. S. Gu, F. Shao, G. Jiang, F. Li, and M. Yu, "An objective visibility threshold measurement method for asymmetric stereoscopic images," Proc. SPIE 8205, 820505 (2011).
IEEE proceedings
  1. T. Darrel and K. Wohn, "Pyramid based depth from focus," in Proceedings of IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (IEEE, 1988), pp. 504–509.
Paper accepted for publication
  1. D. Piao, "Cancelation of coherent artifacts in optical coherence tomography imaging," Appl. Opt. (to be published).
  2. D. W. Diehl and T. D. Visser, "Phase singularities of the longitudinal field components in the focal region of a high-aperture optical system," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A, doc. ID 56789 (posted 11 November 2005, in press).
Manuscript in preparation
  1. J. Q. Smith, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, 250 East River Road, Rochester, N.Y. 14623, and K. Marshall are preparing a manuscript to be called "Optical effects in liquid crystals."
Personal communication
  1. T. Miller, Publications Department, Optical Society of America, 2010 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20036 (personal communication, 2010).
Electronic citations

Internet links may be included as references. Internet links should list the author, title (substitute file name, if needed), and the full URL (universal resource locator). Include the date of access, if relevant.

  1. Extreme Networks white paper, "Virtual metropolitan area networks" (Extreme Networks, 2001). http://www.extremenetworks.com/technology/whitepapers/vMAN.asp

  2. A. G. Ramm, "Invisible obstacles," https://arxiv.org/abs/math-ph/0608034.

4. Funding

Funding information should be listed in a separate block preceding any acknowledgments. The section title should read "Funding" in 10-pt. bold Arial font. The section title should not follow the numbering scheme of the body of the paper. List just the funding agencies and any associated grants or project numbers, as shown in the example below:

National Science Foundation (NSF) (1253236, 0868895, 1222301); Program 973 (2014AA014402); Natural National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (123456).

OSA participates in Crossref's Funding Data, a service that provides a standard way to report funding sources for published scholarly research. To ensure consistency, please enter any funding agencies and contract numbers from the Funding section into Prism during submission. Update any changes to your funding information in Prism during any revision stages.

5. Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments should be included at the end of the document. The section title should read "Acknowledgments" in 10-pt. bold Arial font. The section title should not follow the numbering scheme of the body of the paper. The body of the section should follow the font and layout of the body of the paper. Please do not include any funding sources in the Acknowledgment section.

6. Disclosures

For Biomedical Optics Express submissions only, disclosures should be listed in a separate section at the end of the manuscript. The section title should read "Disclosures" in 10-pt. bold Arial font. The section title should not follow the numbering scheme of the body of the paper. List the Disclosures codes identified on OSA's Conflict of Interest policy page, as shown in the examples below:

ABC: 123 Corporation (I,E,P), DEF: 456 Corporation (R,S). GHI: 789 Corporation (C).

If there are no disclosures, then list "The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to this article."

7. Figures, supplementary materials, and tables

7.1 Figures

Figures should be included directly in the document. All photographs must be in digital form and placed appropriately in the electronic document. All illustrations must be numbered consecutively (i.e., not by section) with Arabic numbers. The size of a figure should be commensurate with the amount and value of the information conveyed by the figure.

Authors must use one image file per figure. Figures must be inserted as objects that are fixed and move with the text, not as floating objects. Figures should never be placed in a table environment. All the figures should be centered, except for small figures no wider than 2.6 in. (6.6 cm), which may be placed side by side. Place figures as closely as possible to where they are mentioned in the text. No part of a figure should go beyond the typing area. The figure should not be embedded inside the text.

All figure captions should be centered beneath the figure. Longer figure captions should be centered beneath the figure and alignment double (left and right) justified, but are not to exceed the left and right edge of the figure by more than 0.5 in. The abbreviation "Fig." for figure should appear first followed by the figure number and a period. Captions should be in 8-pt. font. At least one line of space should be left before the figure and after the caption.

Figure Layout
Fig. 1. Sample figure.

Copyright and permissions

If any figures have been previously published, it is important that authors request permission from the publisher (not from the author) and add the required permission line to the caption exactly as specified by the publisher. Use of images under an open license often still requires attribution. Please check the source for applicable terms for reuse. Note that images of people or images owned or trademarked by other entities (including well-known logo's or cartoon characters for example) will also require official written permission for publication in OSA journals. Copies of all permission grants should be forwarded to the journal.

Use of the Lena image in OSA Journals

Authors are encouraged to avoid use of the Lena image. Authors who submit manuscripts to OSA journals that include the Lena image will be asked to justify the scientific necessity of using the image and why no reasonable substitute can be made. Authors are encouraged to use alternate test images. Other standard test images include, "Cameraman" or "Mandril" or "Peppers" or a large number of other images distributed with packages like MATLAB and available in the public domain.

7.2 Supplementary materials in OSA journals

Most OSA journals allow authors to include supplementary materials as integral parts of a manuscript. Such materials are subject to the same editorial standards and peer-review procedures as the rest of the manuscript. Authors who wish to submit supplementary materials must adhere to the following guidelines. Note that, with the exception of Optica, OSA journals require supplementary material consisting of additional text, figures, tables, equations, etc., to be included as an appendix to the manuscript and not as separate supplementary files.

To ensure consistent presentation, broad accessibility, and long-term archiving for multimedia files, please follow these guidelines on presentation.

Figure Layout
Fig. 2. Single-frame excerpts from video recordings of metallic objects concealed by opaque plastic tape. (a) Utility blade (Visualization 1). (b) Dentist's pick (Visualization 2). (c) Paper clip (Visualization 3). (d) Plastic/wire tie twisted into the shape of a loop (Visualization 4). [Sample figure adapted from Opt. Lett. 33, 440 (2008).]

Video files must use open compression standards for display on broadly available applications such as VLC or Windows Media Player. MOV, AVI, MPG, and MP4 video containers are accepted.

The following multimedia guidelines will help with the submission process:

  • 15 MB is the recommended maximum multimedia file size.
  • Minimize file size by using an acceptable codec such as x264 or XviD. HandBrake is an open source tool for converting video to common codecs.
  • 720 x 480 pixels (width by height) is the recommended screen size.
  • If appropriate, insert a representative frame from the video in the manuscript as a figure.
  • Videos must be playable on all platforms using VLC.
  • Animations must be formatted into a standard video file.

Please refer to the online style guide for more detailed instructions on acceptable multimedia formats for audio, data files, code, and large datasets.

7.3 Tables

Tables should be centered and numbered consecutively. Authors must use Word's Table editor to insert tables. Authors must not import tables from Excel. All content for each table should be in a single Word table (do not split content for a single table across multiple Word tables). Tables should use horizontal lines to delimit the top and bottom of the table and column headings. Detailed explanations or table footnotes should be typed directly beneath the table, but not in a table cell. Table footnote labels should be text; numbers or special characters are not permitted. Position tables as closely as possible to where they are mentioned in the main text.

table1

8. Article thumbnail upload

Authors have the option to upload a thumbnail image that will appear next to the published article on the Forthcoming, Current Issue, and Abstract pages. Please note that if authors do not choose a file, OSA Production Staff will choose an image from the submission. For precise representation of an article, we recommend that authors choose and upload the thumbnail image.

Authors must submit a .JPG file. The image will be resized automatically to 200 x 200 pixels. For best results, authors should upload an image this size or an image with square dimensions.

The 200 x 200 pixel image will be displayed on the article abstract page and a 50 x 50 pixel image will be displayed on the Table of Contents page.

Fig. 3. Preview of thumbnail image display on the author submission page.

9. Summary

Conforming to the specifications listed above is of critical importance to the speedy publication of a manuscript. Authors should use the following style guide checklist before submitting an article.

table2

10. Quality of English

If a student-level reader might find your English difficult to understand, please have a colleague who is fluent in English edit your paper or consider using a language editing service (eg, http://languageediting.osa.org/) before you submit it to OSA. A poorly written manuscript will most likely be rejected without external review, so addressing language deficiencies before submission is important.

11. Conclusion

After proofreading, the final step in submitting a manuscript to the express journals is to go online at https://prism.optica.org, type in the requested information into the Prism article tracking system, and then upload the Word file. For further instructions, please see the Optics Express, Biomedical Optics Express, or Optical Materials Express Author Information page.