ANALYST, JANUARY 1992, VOL. 117 The Analyst INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS 109 The Analyst publishes original research papers on all aspects of the theory and practice of analytical chemistry, fundamental and applied, inorganic and organic, including chemical, physical, biochemical, clinical, pharmaceutical, biological, automatic and computer-based methods. Papers on new techniques and instrumentation, detectors and sensors, and new areas of application with due attention to overcoming limitations and to underlying principles are all equally welcome. All contributions are judged on the criteria of ( i ) originality and quality of scientific content and (ii) appropriateness of the length to content of new science. Thus, papers reporting results which would be routinely predicted or result from application of standard procedures or techniques are unlikely to prove acceptable in the absence of other attributes which themselves make publication desirable.Although short articles are acceptable, the Society strongly discourages fragmentation of a substantial body of work into a number of short publications. Unnecessary fragmentation will be a valid reason for rejection of manuscripts. Papers may be submitted for publication by members of The Royal Society of Chemistry or by non-members. There is no page charge for papers published in The Analyst. The following types of papers will be considered. Original research papers. Communications, which must be on an urgent matter and be of obvious scientific importance. Rapidity of publication is enhanced if diagrams are omitted, but tables and formulae can be included.Communications receive priority and are usually published within 5-8 weeks of receipt. They are intended for brief descriptions of work that has progressed to a stage at which it is likely to be valuable to workers faced with similar problems. A fuller paper may be offered subse- quently, if justified by later work. Although publication is at the discretion of the Editor, communications will be examined by at least one referee. Reviews, which must be a critical evaluation of the existing state of knowledge on a particular facet of analytical chemistry. However, original work may be included. Simple literature surveys will not be accepted for publication. It is desirable that potential review writers should contact the Editor before embarking on their work.Copyright. The whole of the literary matter (including tables, figures, diagrams and photographs) in The Analyst is Royal Society of Chemistry copyright and may not be reproduced without permission from the Society or such other owner of the copyright as may be indicated. Papers that are accepted must not be published elsewhere except by permission. Submission of a manuscript will be regarded as an undertaking that the same material is not being considered for publication by another journal in any language. US Associate Editor. Papers from North America can be submitted to Dr. J. F. Tyson, Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. To enhance the speed of processing of manuscripts, these papers will usually be refereed in the United States or Canada.Regional Advisory Editors. For the benefit of potential contributors outside the United Kingdom and North America, a Group of Regional Advisory Editors exists. Requests for help or advice on any matter related to the preparation of papers and their submission for publication in The Analyst can be sent to the nearest member of the Group. Currently serving Regional Advisory Editors are listed in each issue of The Analyst. Manuscripts. Papers should be typewritten in double spacing on one side only of the paper. Copies of any related, relevant, unpublished material and raw data should be made available on request. Three copies of text and illustrations should be sent to the Editor, The Analyst, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 4WF, or directly to the US Associate Editor, and a further copy retained by the author.Administration and Publication Procedure. Receipt of a contribu- tion for consideration will be acknowledged immediately by the Editorial Office. The acknowledgement will indicate the paper reference number assigned to the contribution. Authors are particu- larly asked to quote this number on all subsequent correspondence. All papers (including conference presentations submitted for special issues) are sent simultaneously to at least two referees, whose names are not disclosed to the authors. On the basis of the referees’ reports, the Editor decides whether the paper is suitable for publication, either unchanged or after appropriate revision.This decision and relevant comments of the referees are communicated to the author. Differences of opinion are mediated by the Editor, possibly after consultation with further referees, or, in the last resort, by the Editorial Board. When rejection of a paper is recommended, the Editor informs the author, and returns the top copy of the manuscript. Authors have the right to appeal to the Editorial Board if they regard a decision to reject as unfair. Authors will receive formal notification when papers are accepted for publication. Proofs. The address to which proofs are to be sent should accompany the paper. Proofs should be carefully checked and returned immediately (by Air Mail from outside Europe).Particular attention should be paid to numerical data both in the tables and text. Reprints. Fifty reprints of each paper are supplied free on request. Additional reprints can be purchased if ordered at the time of publication. Details are sent to authors with the proofs. Notes on the Writing of Papers for The Analyst Manuscripts should be in accordance with the style and usage shown in recent copies of The Analyst. Conciseness of expression is expected: clarity is increased by adopting a logical order of presentation, with suitable paragraph or section headings. Spellings should be in accordance with the Oxford English Dictionary. To facilitate abstracting and indexing by Chemical Abstracts Service, and other abstracting organizations, it would be helpful if at least one forename could be included with each author’s family name.The corresponding author should be clearly indicated. Descriptions of new methods should be supported by experimental results showing accuracy, precision and selectivity. The recommended order of presentation is as indicated below: Title. This should be as brief as is consistent with an adequate indication of the original features of the work. The title should usually include the analyte being determined or identified, the matrix and the analytical method used. Summary. A summary of about 250 words, giving the salient features and drawing attention to the novel aspects, should be provided for all papers. It should be essentially independent of the main text and include relevant quantitative information such as detection limits, precision and accuracy data.Keywords. Up to 5 keywords or key phrases, indicating the topics of importance in the work described, should be included after the summary. Aim of investigation. A concise introductory statement of the novel features of the work and the object of the investigation with any essential historical background, followed, if neces- sary, by a brief account of preliminary experimental work with relevant references. Description of the experimental procedures. Working details must be given concisely. Analytical procedures should pre- ferably be given in the form of instructions; well known operations should not be described in detail. Suppliers of equipment and materials, and their locations, should be mentioned.ANALYST.JANUARY 1992, VOL. 117 Results and Discussion. Results are best presented in tabular or diagrammatic form (but not both for the same results), followed by an appropriate statistical evaluation, which should be in accordance with accepted practice. For example, a new procedure for multi-element determinations which produced results for which the concentrations of 8 out of 10 of the elements determined in a standard reference material were statistically indistinguishable from the certificate values should be described in those terms and not referred to as ‘excellent agreement’. This is particularly important in the summary. Any discussion should comment on the scope of the method and its validity, followed by a statement of any conclusions drawn from the work.A separate conclusions section is not encouraged but, if included, it should not simply duplicate statements in the discussion. Acknowledgements. Contributors other than co-authors, com- panies or sponsors may be acknowledged in a separate paragraph at the end of the paper. Titles may be given but not degrees. References. References should be numbered serially in the text by means of superscript figures, e.g., Foote and Delves,’ Burns et aL2 or Hirozawa,3 and collected in numerical order under ‘References’ at the end of the paper. They should be listed, with the authors’ initials, in the following form (double-spaced typing) : Yerian, T. D., Christian, G. D., and RGiiEka, J., Analyst, 1986, 111, 865. Sharp, B. L., Barnett, N. W., Burridge, J.C., Littlejohn, D., andTyson, J. F., J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 1988, 3, 133R. Committee for Analytical Methods for Residues of Pesticides and Veterinary Products in Foodstuffs and the Working Party on Pesticide Residues of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Analyst, 1985, 110, 765. Hara, H., Horvai, G., and Pungor, E., Analyst, 1988,113,1817; Anal. Abstr., 1989, 51, 6H57. Norwitz, G., and Keliher, P. N., Analyst, 1987, 112, 903 (and references cited therein). L’vov, B. V., Polzik, L. K., Romanova, N. P., and Yuzeforskii, A. I., J. Anal. At. Spectrom., in the press. O’Connor, A., Sigma, St. Louis, MO, personal communication, 1989. Appelqvist, R., Ph.D. Thesis, University of Lund, Sweden, 1987. Klinger, J. A., and Harrison, W. W., paper presented at the 1990 Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry, St.Petersburg, FL, USA, January 8th-l3th, 1990. Journal titles should be abbreviated according to the Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (CASSI). For books, the edition (if not the first), the publisher and the place and date of publication should be given, followed by the page number. Harrison, W. W., and Donohue, D. L., in Treatise on Analytical Chemistry, eds. Kolthoff, I. M., and Winefordner, J. D., Wiley, New York, 2nd edn., 1989, pt. 1, vol. 11, ch. 3, pp. 189-235. Gutscht, C. D., Calixarenes, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 1989. British Pharmacopoeia 1988, HM Stationery Office, London, 1988, vol. 1, p. 140. RiiiiEka, J., and Hansen, E. H., Flow Injection Analysis, 2nd edn., Wiley, New York, 1988, pp.299-304. Moody, G. J . , and Thomas, J. D . R . , in Zon Selective Electrodes in Analytical Chemistry, ed. Freiser, H., Plenum Press, New York, 1978, ch. 4. Beauchemin, D., and Craig, J. M., in Plasma Source Mass Spectrometry. The Proceedings of the Third Surrey Conference on Plasma Source Mass Spectrometry, University of Surrey, July 16th-l9th, 1989, eds. Jarvis, K. E., Gray, A. L., Jarvis, I., and Williams, J. G., Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 1990, pp. 25-42. Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists, ed. Horwitz, W., Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Arlington, VA, 13th edn., 1980, sect. 20.104. Authors must, in their own interest, check the lists of references against the original papers; second-hand references are a frequent source of error.References to conference abstracts which have not been published in the open literature are not acceptable. The number of references must be kept to a minimum. Nomenclature. Current internationally recognized (IUPAC) chemical nomenclature should be used. Common trivial names may be used, but should first be defined in terms of IUPAC nomenclature. A listing of all relevant IUPAC nomenclature publications appears in the January issue. Symbols and units. The SI system of units, as recommended by IUPAC, should be followed. Their basis is the ‘Systkme Internation- ale d’UnitCs’ (SI). A detailed treatment is given in the so-called Green Book: Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry (Black- well Scientific Publications, Oxford, 1988 edn.).The following will be the guidelines used: (a) A metric system will always be used in preference to a ( b ) SI will be the standard usage. (c) The units used to record the definitive values of ‘critical data’ or quantitities measured to a high degree of accuracy will be SI. These units are summarized in the Appendix. non-metric one. The effect on current style of papers for The Analyst includes the following: dimensions should preferably be given in metres (m) or in millimetres (mm); temperatures should be expressed in K or “C (not OF); wavelengths should be expressed in nanometres (nm) (not mp); frequency should be expressed in Hz (or kHz, etc.), not in c/s or c.P.s.; rotational frequency can be denoted by use of s-1; in mass spectrometry, signal intensity should be expressed in counts s-1 and not in Hz; radionuclide activity will be expressed in becquerels (Bq) or curies (Ci); 1 Ci = 3.7 X 1010 Bq; the micron (p) will not be used; 10-6 m will be 1 pm.When non-SI units are used they must be adequately explained unless their definition is obvious (e.g., degree Celsius, mmHg). The derivation of derived non-SI units should be indicated. Abbreviations. Abbreviational full stops are omitted after the common contractions of metric units (e.g., ml, g, pg, mm) and other units represented by symbols. Abbreviations other than those of recognised units should be avoided in the text except after definition. Upper case letters without points should be used for abbreviations for techniques and associated terms, e.g.., HPLC, AAS, XRF, UV, NMR, SCE.Other common abbreviations and contractions require full points, e.g., eqn., m.p., Dr., except when sub- or super-script, h,,, for example. The abbreviations Me, Et, Pr”, Bun, Bui, BUS, But, Ph, Ac, Alk, Ar and Hal can be used; others should be defined. Carboxy groups are written COzR, not COOR. Substituents should be indicated by R (one) or by R1, R2, R3 . . . (more than one). Percentage concentrations of solutions should be stated in inter- nationally recognized terms. Thus the symbols ‘m’ instead of ‘w’ for mass and ‘v’ for volume are to be used. The following show the manner of expressing these percentages together with an acceptable alternative given in parentheses: % m/m (g per 100 g); % m/v (g per 100 ml); Yo v/v.Further implications of the use of the term ‘mass’ are that ‘relative atomic mass’ of an element (A,) replaces atomic weight, and ‘relative molecular mass’ of a substance (M,) replaces molecular weight. Concentrations of solutions of the common acids are often conveniently given as dilutions of the concentrated acids, such as ‘dilute hydrochloric acid (1 + 4)’, which signifies 1 volume of the concentrated acid mixed with 4 volumes of water. This avoids the ambiguity of 1 : 4, which might represent either 1 + 4 or 1 + 3. Dilutions of other solutions can be expressed in a similar manner. Molarity is generally expressed as a decimal fraction (e.g., 0.375 mol dm-3). Tables and diagrams. Table column headings should be brief. Tables consisting of only two columns can often be arrangedANALYST, JANUARY 1992, VOL.117 111 horizontally. Tables must be supplied with titles and be so set out as to be understandable without reference to the text. Either tables or graphs may be used but not both for the same set of results, unless important additional information is given by so doing. The information given by a straight-line calibration graph can usually be conveyed adequately as an equation or statement in the text. Column headings and graph axis labels should be in accord with SI conventions. Thus, the expression of numerical values of a physical quantity should be dimensionless, i.e., the quotient of the symbol for the physical quantity and the symbol for the unit used, e.g., platm, or some mathematical function of a number, e.g., Inblatm).Further examples are vlcm-l, Ucm, mass of substancelg and flow-rate/ml min-1. For units which are already dimensionless, i.e., ratios such as % or ppm, the type of ratio is indicated in parentheses, e.g., c (%) or c (ppm). The diagonal line (solidus) will not be used to represent ‘per’. In accordance with the SI system, units such as grams per millilitre are already expressed in the form g ml-I. It should be noted that the ‘combined’ unit, g ml-l, must not have any ‘intrusive’ numbers. To express concentration in grams per 100 millilitres, the word ‘per’ will still be required: Concentration/g per 100 ml. It may be preferable for an author to express concentrations in grams per litre (g I-l) rather than grams per 100 ml. Most diagrams will be retraced and lettered in order to achieve uniform line thicknesses and lettering size and style.However, all diagrams should be carefully and clearly drawn on good quality paper and should be carefully and clearly lettered. If possible, chromato- grams and spectra, complicated flow charts, circuit diagrams, etc., should be supplied as artwork for direct reproduction in order to avoid time-consuming and expensive redrawing. The clearest copy should be without lettering. Three complete sets of illustrations should be provided, two sets of which may be made by any convenient copying process for trans- mission to the referees. All diagrams should be accompanied by a separately typed set of captions. Wherever possible, extensive identifying lettering should be placed in the caption rather than on lines on graphs, etc.Photographs. Photographs can be submitted if they convey essential information that cannot be shown in any other way. They should be submitted as glossy or matt prints made to give the maximum detail. Colour photographs will be accepted only when a black-and-white photograph fails to show some vital feature and can be supplied either as prints or transparencies. Appendix The SI System of Units In the SI system there are seven base units- Physical Name Symbol quantity of unit for unit length metre m mass kilogram kg time second S electric current ampere A thermodynamic temperature kelvin K amount of substance mole mol luminous intensity candela cd There are two supplementary dimensionless units for plane angle (radian, rad) and solid angle (steradian, sr).Some derived SI units that have special names are as follows- Physical quantity energy force power electric charge electric conductance electric potential difference electric resistance electric capacitance frequency magnetic flux density radionuclide activity presssure, stress energy, work, heat inductance (magnetic induction) Name of unit joule newton watt coulomb siemens volt ohm farad hertz tesla becquerel pascal joule henry Examples of other derived SI units are- Physical quantity area volume Symbol for unit J N w C S V 52 F Hz T Pa J H Bq SI unit square metre cubic metre density kilogram per cubic metre velocity metre per second angular velocity radian per second acceleration metre per second squared magnetic field strength ampere per metre kgs-zA-l= Vsm-2 S-1 m-1 kg s-2 (= N m-2) m2kgs-2(= Nm = Pam3) m2 kg s-2 A-2 (= VA-1 s) Symbol for unit m2 m3 kg m-3 m s-1 rad s-1 m s-2 A m-1112 ANALYST, JANUARY 1992, VOL. 117 Certain units will be allowed in conjunction with the SI system, e.g. Physical quantity time plane angle volume magnetic flux density temperature, t radionuclide activity energy pressure mass (magnetic induction) Name of unit minute degree litre gauss degree Celsius curie electronvolt bar unified atomic mass unit Symbol for unit min 1 G "C Ci eV bar 0 U Definition of unit 60s (~1180) rad 10-3 m3 = dm3 10-4 T 1.6021 x 10-19 J tl°C = TIK - 273.16 3.7 x 1010Bq l o 5 Pa 1.66054 x 10-27 kg The other common units of time (e.g., hour and day) will continue to be used in appropriate contexts. Decimal multiples and submultiples have the following names and symbols (for use as prefixes)- 10-3 10-9 1 0 4 5 10-24 10-6 10-12 10-18 10-21 milli micro nano pic0 femto atto zepto yocto m CL n P f a Y Z Compound prefixes (e.g., mpm) should not be used; 10-9 m = 1 nm. The Royal Society of Chemistry, Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 4WF, UK 103 109 1015 1024 106 1012 1018 1021 kilo mega tera peta exa zetta yotta gigs k M G T P E Z Y Telephone 0223 420066; Fax 0223 423623 (Group III); E-mail RSCl @UK.AC. RL.GB (JANET)