Royal Society Publishing

Initial submission of articles for dedicated Theme Issues

Philosophical Transactions A no longer considers unsolicited research papers, only those for dedicated Theme Issues some of which derive from Royal Society Discussion meetings.

Articles for Theme Issues should be submitted directly to the Guest Editor for the issue unless specifically agreed otherwise with the Editorial Office. Following this, the Guest Editors will manage the review process for these articles, send referee comments to authors and check any revisions.

In the case of issues deriving from Royal Society Discussion Meetings, articles should be submitted directly to the Guest Editor and copying in the Editorial Office at least two weeks before the Discussion Meeting. Following this, the Guest Editors will manage the review process for these articles, send referee comments to authors and check any revisions.

Final submission of accepted articles for Theme Issues 

Articles may be accepted by guest editors following review and any necessary revision.  After an article has been accepted by the guest editors, authors should submit their final versions to the journal's Editorial Office via our finalisation website:

http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/issue-ptrsa

You will be asked for an Issue Code, a list of these can be found here.

When submitting articles, authors should ensure that they upload the following files:

1) Text file of the manuscript (Word document, TeX or similar) including an abstract/summary (up to 200 words), 3-6 keywords, references, tables (including captions) and figure caption
2) Individual electronic files for each figure in the article (EPS or print-quality PDF preferred (either format should be produced directly from original creation package), or original software format-- for more info see our figure preparation instructions available as a PDF).

Following approval by the Editorial Office, the article will be put into production.  Only a few days may be available for checking proofs. Authors who may be absent from their normal address should either inform the Editorial Office of their intended whereabouts or make alternative arrangements for their proofs to be checked quickly. Significant alterations to proofs should be avoided.  One set of page proofs is sent to the corresponding author, showing the final layout of the article as it will appear in the printed journal. Proofs should be read carefully for typesetter's errors and the accuracy of tables, references, mathematical expressions, etc. Publication of a paper will be delayed if proofs are not returned within 72 hours.

The corresponding author is entitled to receive a PDF file of their final article for personal use only and a copy of the issue in which their article appears. These will be sent when the printed issue is published.

Additional copies of the printed issue can be purchased on request. For further details please see our purchasing information.

Submitting a theme proposal 

Philosophical Transactions A publishes Theme Issues, as well asissues based on Royal Society Discussion Meetings.  For details of how to submit articles to Theme Issues or Discussion Meeting issues that are in process, see above.

 We will consider proposals for theme issues on subjects across the whole of the physical sciences but particularly focusing on content within four subject clusters:

• Biophysics, biological mathematics and medical engineering
• Dynamical systems and complexity
• Environmental change and renewable energy
• Nanoscience nanoengineering and quantum computing

If you wish to propose a theme issue, maybe based on a session at a conference or collaborative research program, firstly download and complete our Theme Proposal Form.  Once complete, this form should be submitted online to our proposal submissions system: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ptrsa

Please note that all the proposed authors must have agreed to contribute before we can consider a Theme proposal.  Once a proposal has been approved, the Theme Organisers will usually contact the contributors to communicate to them a submission deadline agreed with the Editorial Office.

Theme organisers may wish to consider our Theme Issue guidelines for suggestions on how a Theme Issue should be constructed.

Preparing your article