The following information applies to edited books only.
It is important that you adhere to the information on this page and in the general guidelines to ensure your manuscript is prepared and submitted to us correctly, so that we are able to process and publish the book efficiently and on time.
Book editor responsibilities
Keep in touch. Maintain regular contact with us as you prepare the book. Let us know how the book is progressing, and inform us of any difficulties as soon as you are able.
Adhere to the submission deadlines, as agreed with us in your Formal memorandum of agreement. We'll work with you to ensure that any deadlines are realistic and achievable. If you are struggling to meet your submission date please contact us as soon as possible. Likewise, if you expect to deliver your manuscript early then please let us know, as this can impact on the cover design and copyediting processes.
Adhere to the book length, as agreed with us in your Formal memorandum of agreement. If the book looks to be far shorter or longer than agreed, please contact us as soon as possible.
Invite your chapter authors to contribute to the book. Once you have a finalised list of chapter authors, send this to us using the template provided so that we can begin preparing Letters of agreement for the principal chapter authors and providing them with instructions for formatting their chapters.
Maintain regular contact with your chapter authors.
Ensure that your chapter authors understand their responsibilities – that is: to deliver their chapters to you by the submission date agreed in their Letter of agreement; to use our guidelines while preparing their chapter; and to seek permissions for the reuse of third-party materials.
Ensure that finished chapters are supplied with wording and scientific content ready for publication.
Provide a list of keywords that our picture editors can use to source a cover image (we will begin to design the cover for your book three to four months before the submission date). You can also supply a suggested image.
Write a preface. This should be an overview of the book, providing some context to the book – for example, how the content was developed.
Prepare the manuscript following our guidelines.
Submit the complete and final manuscript to us, with all requested materials, following the instructions we provided.
Collate proof corrections and return them to us in a timely manner.
Contacting authors
You should begin contacting potential contributors as soon as possible after we have approved your book proposal, and aim to have a complete author list within two months of signing your formal Memorandum of agreement.
You can use our Sample chapter invitation letter when contacting potential authors.
Sample chapter invitation letterAs soon as all the chapter authors have agreed, you must complete our Author information spreadsheet so we can begin preparing and sending Letters of agreement to all the lead chapter authors, along with chapter formatting instructions.
We'll maintain regular contact with you regarding the progress of chapters. Please consider these a prompt for you to check on contributors’ progress.
We recommend that you contact your contributors once every two months; however, you should increase the frequency as the submission date approaches.
Preparing the book
Detailed information on formatting, as well as a sample chapter and an EndNote file for references, can be found in the general guidelines.
Preface
As editor, you must provide a preface for the book. A preface generally comprises an overview of the book, how the book was developed and its unique appeal. It is often followed by thanks and acknowledgments to people who were helpful during the time of writing. One to two pages is usually sufficient.
Table of contents
You must provide a list of the chapter titles – including part/section headings where applicable (e.g. if chapters are grouped into sections), together with the names of the contributors to that chapter – in the order that the chapters are to appear in the book.
Optional front matter
You may want to consider including other information at the start of your book, such as a foreword (an introductory piece written by someone other than yourself), dedication, acknowledgements, biographies and/or glossary. This must be submitted at the same time as the chapters.
Cover image
Around three to four months before the submission of the manuscript we will ask for image ideas for the book cover.
You should provide a list of key words that our picture editors can use to guide their image search.
You may also submit an image for consideration. The image should be a full colour TIF, EPS or JPEG file, with a minimum resolution 300 dpi at final size, and free of any copyright restrictions. If permissions or acknowledgements are necessary, please ensure you have sent these to us along with the image. Visit our Bookshop to view recent covers of similiar books (for example, other books in the same series) to see how the image will be used.
The use of any suggestions is at our discretion. The cover will then be designed and sent to you for approval.
Estimating book length
Your Formal memorandum of agreement will state how long your book is expected to be. Please use the following as a guide for estimating how long each chapter is:
- Allow 500 words on a page (approximately 50 lines at 10 words per line on average).
- Count the number of figures, schemes, tables etc:
- For figures, allow half a page, or the equivalent of 250 words.
- For schemes, the width of one substituted benzene ring is equivalent to 100 words.
- A single line of mathematics or a chemical equation is equivalent to 30 words.
Submitting the manuscript
Chapter authors will submit their final chapters to you. You are responsible for editing the chapters so that, upon submission to us, the typescripts are ready for publication with respect to wording and content. If sending an early draft for editorial feedback, please ensure that it is clearly labeled as such.
It's up to you how many times you return the drafts to the chapter contributors, or if you want to have the chapters externally peer reviewed, as long as this doesn’t delay the final submission date.
You will need to submit to us the following files:
- Title page for the book (including all editor names and contact details)
- Preface and any other optional front matter
- Brief table of contents for the whole book to indicate chapter order and any part/section headings
- Individual folders for each chapter containing the text, image files and permissions and copyright information:
- The chapter document should include (in this order):
- Chapter X and title of chapter (where X is the designated chapter number)*
- Chapter abstract
- Chapter text
- References
- Captions for figures/tables
- Tables
-
- Figures should be supplied as separate files for all images (they should not be embedded in a Word file)
- Copyright permissions for images where the chapter author is not the copyright holder for the document (see Copyright & Permissions for further information)
- A completed Chapter submission checklist
The final and complete manuscript should be submitted to us using our Large File Transfer system. Please contact us to receive your link to use the system.
*Please see general guidelines for information on chapter numbering for books in the Issues in Environmental Science and Technology series
The production process
Once we've received your completed manuscript, and we're satisfied that everything has been submitted in accordance with our guidelines, the manuscript will go through the following production processes.
| Process | Weeks |
|---|---|
| Copy-editing | 3–4 |
| Typesetting and proof production | 4–5 |
| Proof correction by contributors | 1 |
| Proof collation and revision by editor | 1–3 |
| Revision of proofs and checking by our staff | 2–3 |
| Indexing | 3–4 |
| Printing | 3 |
| Total publication time | 20–25 (approx. five months) |
Proofs
Proofs will be ready typically within two to three months of submission.
You will be responsible for collating the proof corrections from the chapter authors. A complete set of proofs will be made available for you to download, while the lead chapter author will be emailed a set of PDF proofs accompanied by complete instructions on when and where to return them. He or she will email an annotated PDF (using Adobe’s commenting tools) to you within one week of receipt. Please contact the contributors directly if you have not received the PDF in this time.
You should then collate the proofs into one master set, together with any of your own additional comments, using the Adobe commenting tools. Please pay particular attention to the front matter as this will not be seen by the contributors.
Do not change the text within the PDF file or send a revised Word document.
Please note that the proofing stage is to correct typographical errors. We will correct simple errors in the original typescript but we will not accept large insertions or major revision of the text.
Please return one master set of corrections within three weeks of proof issue. It is essential that the book is published as promptly as possible, so please make sure that all your contributors return their proof corrections on time.
Indexing
The index will be created by us. If you wish to supply keywords for the indexer please include a separate list when you submit the chapters.
On publication
We will contact you to confirm your address for delivery of complimentary copies of the book, as given in your Formal memorandum of agreement. Complimentary copies will be sent shortly after the print version has been published.
One copy of the book will also be sent to each lead chapter author.
Chapter author responsibilities
Sign and return your Letter of agreement within one month of receiving it. Without this we will not be able to publish your contribution.
Keep in touch with your book editor. Inform him or her of any difficulties as soon as you are able.
Adhere to the submission deadlines, as agreed with us in your Letter of agreement. If you're struggling to meet your submission date please contact the editor as soon as possible.
Adhere to the book length, as agreed with us in your Letter of agreement. If your chapter looks to be far shorter or longer than agreed, please contact the editor as soon as possible.
Seek any necessary permissions for the reuse of third party materials. You'll need to supply us with evidence that this has been done when the manuscript is submitted.
Prepare your chapter following our guidelines.
Submit the complete and final chapter to your editor – with all requested materials – following instructions provided by us.
Check chapter proofs and return them to the editor on time.
Preparing the book
Detailed information on formatting, as well as a sample chapter and an EndNote file for references, can be found in the general guidelines.
Estimating chapter length
Your Letter of agreement will state how long your chapter is expected to be; please use the following as a guide for estimating how long your chapter is.
- Allow 500 words on a page (approximately 50 lines at 10 words per line on average).
- Count the number of figures, schemes, tables etc:
- For figures, allow half a page, or the equivalent of 250 words.
- For schemes, the width of one substituted benzene ring is equivalent to 100 words.
- A single line of mathematics or a chemical equation is equivalent to 30 words.
Submitting the chapter
You should submit your chapter to your book editor. Do not send your chapter to the Royal Society of Chemistry.
You will need to submit to the following files.
- Individual folders for each chapter containing the text, image files and permissions and copyright information:
- The chapter document should include (in this order):
- Chapter number and title of chapter (where chapter number is known. Otherwise use X i.e. Chapter X), together with the names, affiliations and addresses for all chapter authors, and the email address of the corresponding author*.
- Chapter abstract
- Chapter text
- References
- Captions for figures/tables
- Tables
-
- Figures should be supplied as separate files for all images (they should not be embedded in a Word file)
- Copyright permissions for images where the chapter author is not the copyright holder of the image (see Copyright Information & Permissions for further information)
- A completed Chapter submission checklist
*Please see general guidelines for information on chapter numbering for books in the Issues in Environmental Science and Technology series
The production process
When all chapters have been received, the book editor will send all the files to us. Once we are satisfied that everything has been submitted in accordance with our guidelines, the manuscript will go through the following production processes.
| Process | Weeks |
|---|---|
| Copy-editing | 3–4 |
| Typesetting and proof production | 4–5 |
| Proof correction by contributors | 1 |
| Proof collation and revision by editor | 1–3 |
| Revision of proofs and checking by our staff | 2–3 |
| Indexing | 3–4 |
| Printing | 3 |
| Total publication time | 20–25 (approx. five months) |
Proofs
Proofs will be ready typically within two to three months of submission.
A complete set of proofs will be made available to the book editor, whilst the lead chapter author will be emailed a link to download PDF proofs for their chapter accompanied by complete instructions on when and where to return them. He or she will email an annotated PDF (using Adobe’s commenting tools) to the book editor within one week of receipt.
Do not change the text within the PDF file or send a revised Word document.
The book editor will then collate the proofs into one master set and return this to us.
Please note that the proofing stage is to correct typographical errors. We will correct simple errors in the original typescript but we will not accept large insertions or major revision of the text.
It is essential that the book is published as promptly as possible, so please make sure that you return your proof corrections to on time.
Indexing
The index will be created by us.
On publication
The eBook version of the volume will be published approximately two weeks in advance of the print edition.
At this time we will contact the lead chapter author to confirm the address for delivery of the complimentary copy of the book, as given in the Letter of agreement. Complimentary copies will be sent shortly after the print version has been published.