Author Guidelines

Advances in Polar Science (APS) is an international, peer-reviewed quarterly journal jointly sponsored by the Polar Research Institute of China and the Chinese Society for Oceanography. APS publishes original articles relating to the polar regions. Young scientists and researchers from countries which recently started polar research, are especially encouraged to submit manuscripts.

Before you begin

The submitted work should not been published previously or under consideration for publication elsewhere. Please visit our Publishing Ethics page for more information.

Submissions should focus on the polar regions. Failure to do this might result in immediate rejection. Please visit our Aims and Scope page for more information.

APS provides immediate open access to its published articles under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND). Please visit our Open Access Policy page for more information. Submission and publication are free of charge.

Prepare your manuscript

APS publishes original work in five categories, namely Opinion Editorials, Reviews, Articles, Trends & Letters and Data Papers. Please visit our Manuscript Types page for more information.

The manuscript should be divided into clearly defined and numbered section. The manuscript should be assembled in the order: title, abstract, main body of the article (including tables, figure captions and figures), acknowledgments and references. The main body of an Article/Trend & Letter usually includs sections as follows: introduction, methods and materials, results, discussions, and conclusions. The main body of an Data Paper usually including sections as follows: introduction, methods, data records, technical validation and usage note and code availability. The Opinion Editorial and Review could have a flexible structure.

Authors should ensure that papers conform as closely as possible to the format to facilitate publication as speedily as possible. Please visit our Prepare Your Manuscript page for more information.

Submission

Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system accepts a wide range of file, and allows you to check the status of your manuscript online throughout the review process. Please carry out a final check of your submission and make sure all necessary files have been uploaded before you send it to the journal for review.

Please submit your manuscript via https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/advps.

Peer review

APS operates a single anonymized review process. The submissions will be initially assessed by the editorial office and associate editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then sent to a minimum of two independent reviewers to assess the submission’s scientific quality. The Co-Editors-in-Chief are responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of the submission. Once the decision on manuscript was made, the decision and accompanying reviews are sent to the authors via e-mail.

Authors are asked to provide the names and contact information of three experts in their area as possible reviewers. To avoid a conflict of interest, do not list colleagues who are close associates, collaborators, or family members.

Editors and officers are not involved in decisions about papers which they have written themselves or have been written by family members or colleagues or which relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest.

After acceptance

Once a submission has been accepted, the process of copyright transfer, figure modification, copy editing, typesetting, proofing and publishing will begin.

Copyright transfer. Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a “Copyright Transfer Agreement” (please find the file under “Download”).

Figure modification. APS graphics experts will evaluate and size your figures. If any of your figures do not meet technical specifications, you will be contacted and asked to provide revised figures.

Copy editing. Copy editing begins after figures are finalized. This reduces the number of changes needed at article proof stage and gives you a chance to make minor last-minute corrections. The electronic text file (including tables) will be edited to make sure that figures/tables match their captions and the text. Authors who are not native English speakers may receive free language editing services to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English. You will be contacted via e-mail to resolve any questions or discrepancies. After queries are answered, your manuscript will be processed into electronic publishing outputs.

Proofing. When the proofs are ready, the corresponding author will be contacted via e-mail and asked to proofread the PDF version. Articles are not fully proofed by staff, so authors are asked to be thorough in their reviews of the PDF version, paying particular attention to mathematics, tables, and graphics. The proof is not a draft; authors should submit only serious corrections that affect the interpretation of the article or correct the data and avoid simple rewording and rephrasing.

Most frequently made changes. The following checklist covers the changes made most frequently to APS manuscripts. Following this checklist will help speed the processing of your manuscript.

1. List all authors on title page and provide complete addresses for all authors;

2. Use American spellings rather than British spellings;

3. Incorporate footnoted information into text;

4. Define abbreviations/acronyms at first use;

5. Change dates to international date format: 25 January 2003 (in tables, months may be abbreviated);

6. Change bulleted lists to numbered lists;

7. Add space between numeral and unit of measure;

8. Number text equations consecutively throughout instead of numbering by section;

9. Provide equations that are editable, not formatted as pictures;

10. Cite all references in the text and provide a reference for each unique text citation;

11. The citation style and reference listing: use author name and date with references listed alphabetically;

12. Provide complete information for each reference;

13. Provide tables that are editable, not formatted as pictures (note that tables may be submitted in Excel);

14. Include at least two points of latitude and longitude on figures containing maps.

Publications Fees. Submission and publication are free of charge thanks to generous funding from the Polar Research Institute of China.