Environmental Science: Atmospheres

Communications

These must report preliminary research findings that are novel and original, of immediate interest and are likely to have a high impact on the Environmental Science: Atmospheres community. Authors must provide a short paragraph explaining why their work justifies rapid publication as a communication.

Full papers

Original research papers on any of the subjects outlined in the scope section and related areas are encouraged and welcomed. All papers should give due attention to overcoming limitations and to underlying principles. All contributions will be judged on the following four criteria.

1. Novelty and insight
2. Quality of scientific work and content
3. Clarity of objectives and aims of the work
4. Appropriateness of length to content of new science

Perspectives

These may be articles providing a personal view of part of one discipline associated with Environmental Science: Atmospheres or a philosophical look at a topic of relevance. Alternatively, Perspectives may be historical articles covering a particular subject area or the development of particular legislation, technologies, methodologies or other subjects within the scope of the journal.

Critical reviews

Critical reviews must be a critical evaluation of the existing state of knowledge on a particular facet of atmospheric science. They should be timely and provide insights based on existing literature. They should be of general interest to the journal's wide readership.

All critical reviews undergo a rigorous and full peer review procedure, in the same way as regular research papers. Authors are encouraged to identify areas in the field where further developments are imminent or of urgent need, and any areas that may be of significance to the community in general. Critical reviews should not contain any unpublished original research.

Frontier reviews

These are shorter, more focused versions of critical reviews on a well-defined, specific topic area covering approximately the last two-three years. Articles should cover only the most interesting/significant developments in that specific subject area.

The article should be highly critical and selective in referencing published work. One or two paragraphs of speculation about possible future developments may also be appropriate in the conclusion section.

Frontier reviews may also cover techniques/technologies that are too new for a critical review or may address a subset of technologies available for a given area of research within the journal scope.

Frontier reviews should not contain unpublished original research.

Tutorial reviews

Tutorial reviews should provide an introduction and overview of an important topic of relevance to the journal readership. The topic should be of relevance to both researchers who are new to the field as well as experts and provide a good introduction to the development of a subject, its current state and indications of future directions the field is expected to take. Tutorial reviews should not contain unpublished original research.

Comments and Replies

Comments and replies are a medium for the discussion and exchange of scientific opinions between authors and readers concerning material published in Environmental Science: Atmospheres.

For publication, a comment should present an alternative analysis of and/or new insight into the previously published material. Any reply should further the discussion presented in the original article and the comment. Comments and replies that contain any form of personal attack are not suitable for publication. 

Comments that are acceptable for publication will be forwarded to the authors of the work being discussed, and these authors will be given the opportunity to submit a reply. The comment and reply will both be subject to rigorous peer review in consultation with the journal’s editorial board where appropriate. The comment and reply will be published together.

Title

An article should have a short, straightforward title directed at the general reader. Lengthy systematic names and complicated and numerous chemical formulae should therefore be avoided where possible. The use of non-standard abbreviations and symbols in a title is not encouraged. Please bear in mind that readers increasingly use search engines to find literature; recognisable, keywords should be included in the title where possible, to maximise the impact and discoverability of your work. Brevity in a title, though desirable, should be balanced against its accuracy and usefulness.

The use of series titles and part numbers in the titles of papers is discouraged. Instead, these can be included as a footnote to the first page together with a reference (reference 1) to the preceding part. When the preceding part has been submitted to a Royal Society of Chemistry journal but is not yet published, the paper reference number should be given.

Author names

Full names of all the authors of an article should be given. To give due acknowledgement to all workers contributing to the work, those who have contributed significantly to the research should be listed as co-authors. Authors who contributed equally can be noted with a Footnote and referenced with a symbol.

On submission of the manuscript, the corresponding author attests to the fact that those named as co-authors have agreed to its submission for publication and accept the responsibility for having properly included all (and only) co-authors. If there are more than 10 co-authors on the manuscript, the corresponding author should provide a statement to specify the contribution of each co-author. The corresponding author signs a copyright licence on behalf of all the authors.

Table of contents entry

This entry should include a colour image (no larger than 8 cm wide x 4 cm high), and 20-30 words of text that highlight the novel aspects of your work.

Graphics should be as clear as possible; simple schematic diagrams or reaction schemes are preferred to ORTEP- style crystal structure depictions and complicated graphs, for example. The graphic used in the table of contents entry need not necessarily appear in the article itself. Authors should bear in mind the final size of any lettering on the graphic. For examples, please see the online version of the journal.

Abstract

Every paper must be accompanied by a summary (50-250 words) setting out briefly and clearly the main objects and results of the work; it should give the reader a clear idea of what has been achieved. The summary should be essentially independent of the main text; however, names, partial names or linear formulae of compounds may be accompanied by the numbers referring to the corresponding displayed formulae in the body of the text.

Please bear in mind that readers increasingly use search engines to find literature; recognisable, searchable terms and keywords should be included in the abstract to enable readers to more effectively find your paper. The abstract should aim to address the following questions.

What is the problem or research question being addressed?
What experimental approach was used to address the problem or question?
What key data and results were obtained?
What conclusions can be drawn from the experimental results?

Environmental Significance Statement

See our guidance on how to complete your environmental significance statement.

Introduction

This should give clearly and briefly, with relevant references, both the nature of the problem under investigation and its background.

Methods

Descriptions of methods and/or experiments should be given in detail sufficient to enable experienced experimental workers to repeat them.

Standard techniques and methods used throughout the work should be stated at the beginning of the section. Apparatus should be described only if it is non-standard; commercially available instruments are referred to by their stock numbers (for example, Perkin-Elmer 457 or Varian HA-100 spectrometers). The accuracy of primary measurements should be stated. In general, there is no need to report unsuccessful experiments. Authors are encouraged to make use of electronic supplementary information (ESI) for lengthy synthetic sections.

Any unusual hazards inherent in the use of chemicals, procedures or equipment in the investigation should be clearly identified.

In cases where a study involves the use of live animals or human subjects, the author should include a statement that all experiments were performed in compliance with the relevant laws and institutional guidelines, and also state the institutional committee(s) that have approved the experiments. They should also include a statement that informed consent was obtained for any experimentation with human subjects. Referees may be asked to comment specifically on any cases in which concerns arise.

Results and discussion

It is usual for the results to be presented first, followed by a discussion of their significance. Only strictly relevant results should be presented and figures, tables, and equations should be used for purposes of clarity and brevity. The use of flow diagrams and reaction schemes is encouraged. Data must not be reproduced in more than one form - for example, in both figures and tables, without good reason.

Conclusion

This is for interpretation and to highlight the novelty and significance of the work. Authors are encouraged to discuss the real-world relevance of the work reported and how it addressed problems related to atmospheric science. The conclusions should not summarise information already present in the text or abstract.

Acknowledgements

Contributors other than co-authors may be acknowledged in a separate paragraph at the end of the paper; acknowledgements should be as brief as possible. All sources of funding should be declared.

Bibliographic references and notes

We encourage the citation of primary research over review articles, where appropriate, in order to give credit to those who first reported a finding. Find out more about our commitments to the principles of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

These should be listed at the end of the manuscript in numerical order. 

Bibliographic details should be cited in the order: year, volume, page, and must include the article title. For example:

Lukas Mustajärvi, Ann-Kristin Eriksson-Wiklund, Elena Gorokhova, Annika Jahnke and Anna Sobek, Transferring mixtures of chemicals from sediment to a bioassay using silicone-based passive sampling and dosing, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2017, 19, 1404-1413. See Endnote style files. For Zotero, please use the Royal Society of Chemistry (with titles) template.

Bibliographic reference to the source of statements in the text is made by use of superior numerals at the appropriate place (for example, Wittig3). The reference numbers should be cited in the correct sequence through the text (including those in tables and figure captions, numbered according to where the table or figure is designated to appear).  Please do not use Harvard style for references.

The references themselves are given at the end of the final printed text along with any notes. The names and initials of all authors are always given in the reference; they must not be replaced by the phrase et al. This does not prevent some, or all, of the names being mentioned at their first citation in the cursive text; initials are not necessary in the text.

Notes or footnotes may be used to present material that, if included in the body of the text, would disrupt the flow of the argument but which is, nevertheless, of importance in qualifying or amplifying the textual material. Footnotes are referred to with the following symbols: †, ‡, §, ¶, ║etc.

Alternatively, the information may be included as Notes (end-notes) to appear in the Notes/references section of the manuscript. Notes should be numbered using the same numbering system as the bibliographic references.

Journals

The style of journal abbreviations to be used in RSC publications is that defined in Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (CASSI) (http://www.cas.org/expertise/cascontent/caplus/corejournals.html).

Bibliographic details should be cited in the order: year, volume, page.

Where page numbers are not yet known, articles should be cited by DOI (Digital Object Identifier) - for example, T. J. Hebden, R. R. Schrock, M. K. Takase and P. Müller, Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2CC17634C.

Books

J. Barker, in Catalyst Deactivation, ed. B. Delmon and C. Froment, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2nd edn., 1987, vol. 1, ch. 4, pp. 253-255.

Patents

Br. Pat., 357 450, 1986. US Pat., 1 171 230, 1990.

Reports and bulletins, etc

R. A. Allen, D. B. Smith and J. E. Hiscott, Radioisotope Data, UKAEA Research Group Report AERE-R 2938, H.M.S.O., London, 1961.

Material presented at meetings

H. C. Freeman, Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Coordination Chemistry, Toulouse, 1980.

Theses

A. D. Mount, Ph.D. Thesis, University of London, 1977.

Reference to unpublished material

For material presented at a meeting, congress or before a Society, etc., but not published, the following form is used: 

A. R. Jones, presented in part at the 28th Congress of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Vancouver, August, 1981.

For material accepted for publication, but not yet published, the following forms are used.

• A. R. Jones, Dalton Trans., 2003, DOI: 10.1039/manuscript number, for RSC journals 
• A. R. Jones, Angew. Chem., in press, for non-RSC journals
  If DOI numbers are known these should be cited in the form recommended by the publisher.

For material submitted for publication but not yet accepted the following form is used.

• A. R. Jones, Angew. Chem., submitted.

For personal communications the following is used.

• G. B. Ball, personal communication.

If material is to be published but has yet to be submitted the following form is used.

• G. B. Ball, unpublished work.

Reference to unpublished work should not be made without the permission of those by whom the work was performed.

Software

TF James,  AIM2000, version 1.0, University of Applied Sciences, Bielefeld,  Germany, 2000. T Bellander, M Lewne and B Brunekreef, GAUSSIAN 3 (Revision B.05), Gaussian Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, 2003.

Online resources (including databases)

Please note the most important information to include is the URL and the data accessed.

1. The Merck Index Online, http://www.rsc.org/Merck-lndex/monograph/mono1500000841, (accessed October 2013).
2. ChemSpider, http://www.chemspider.com/Chemicai-Structure.1906.html, (accessed June 2011).

arXiv references

V. Krstic and M. Glerup, 2006, arXiv:cond-mat/0601513.

Figures & schemes

Preparation of graphics

Artwork should be submitted at its final size so that reduction is not required. The appearance of graphics is the responsibility of the author.

• Graphics should fit within either single column (8.3 cm) or double column (17.1 cm) width, and must be no longer than 23.3 cm.
• Graphical abstracts should be no larger than 8 x 4 cm.
• Schemes and structures should be drawn to make best use of single and double column widths.

Colour figures

Colour figure reproduction is provided free of charge both online and in print.

Journal covers

Authors who wish to have their artwork featured on a journal cover should contact the editorial office of the journal to which the article is being submitted. A contribution to the additional production costs will be requested.

Use of such artwork is at the editor's discretion; the editor's decision is final. Examples of previous journal covers can be viewed via the journal homepage.

Electronic supplementary information

Introduction

The journal's electronic supplementary information (ESI) service is a free facility that enables authors to enhance and increase the impact of their articles. Authors are encouraged to make the most of the benefits of publishing supplementary information in electronic form. Such data can take full advantage of the electronic medium, allowing the use of 3D molecular models and movies.

Authors can also improve the readability of their articles by placing appropriate material, such as repetitive experimental details and bulky data, as ESI. All information published as ESI is also fully archived.

When preparing their ESI data files, authors should keep in mind the following points.

• Supplementary data is peer-reviewed, and should therefore be included with the original submission.
• ESI files are published 'as is'; editorial staff will not usually edit the data for style or content.
• Data is useful only if readers can access it; use common file formats.
• Large files may prove difficult for users to download and access.

The Royal Society of Chemistry believes that where possible, all data associated with the research in a manuscript should be as Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) as possible, enabling other researchers to replicate and build on that research. Please see the Experimental reporting requirements and data sharing page for more information.

Text and graphics

The preferred format for ESI comprising text and graphics is Microsoft Word. Publishing staff will convert Word files to PDF before publication, as this format can be accessed easily and reliably on most computing platforms using the freely available Adobe Acrobat Reader. If other formats are submitted they will also usually be converted to PDF files prior to publication.

Multimedia files

We welcome submission of multimedia files (including videos and animations) alongside articles for publication. Videos are an excellent medium to present elements of your work that can be difficult to communicate only in words. Please note that any videos of general interest are shared with the wider community via the RSC Journals YouTube channel. Please notify the editorial team if you prefer for your video(s) not to be uploaded to YouTube.

If you submit a multimedia file alongside your paper, please refer to it within your paper to draw it to the reader’s attention. Also please see the section on submitting multimedia files.

Format

Acceptable formats for video or animation clips are listed below.

• WMV
• AVI
• MOV
• MPG

Please minimise file sizes where you can, by considering the following points.

• The recommended maximum frame size is 640 x 480 pixels.
• Our recommended maximum file size is 5 Mb.
• Many packages output 30 frames per second (fps) as standard, but it's possible to specify a lower frame rate; this may not noticeably affect the quality of your video but will reduce the file size.
• Use a 256-colour palette, if that is suitable for the presentation of the material.

Please consider the use of lower specifications for all these points if the material can still be represented clearly.

If your video is very short (that is, several seconds long) then it is recommended that you loop it and repeat it a few times to provide a more detailed view.

Submitting multimedia files

Upload your video online, together with your manuscript under the category 'electronic supplementary material' and please supply the following.

• A clear file name for your video.
• A short descriptive title for the video, which can be used when uploading the video onto a streaming channel.
• A video legend of approximately 30 words long; this caption must be provided to aid discoverability.
• Five to 10 keywords that can be used to tag the video; the more accurate the tags are the better discoverability videos will have.

Copies of any relevant 'in press' references

Manuscripts should be submitted with copies of any ‘in press’ articles referenced.

Environmental Significance Statement

Authors must provide an 'Environmental Significance Statement' (120 words maximum) that states how the work is significant to atmospheric science. This statement should be different from the abstract and set the work in broader context with regards to environmental science. It should aim to answer the following questions.

1. What is the problem/situation?
2. Why is it important to address/understand this?
3. What is the key finding?
4. How can this be generalised? 

This statement will be seen by the reviewers and will help ascertain the relevance of the article for a broad but technical audience. Authors should use it to show that they have given serious consideration to the broader significance of their presented study. If the paper is accepted this statement will also be published. Please note that papers cannot be peer-reviewed without this statement.

Examples of Environmental Significance Statements

Below are some examples of Environmental Significance Statements which may help to guide you when preparing your submission:

Insights into HONO sources from observations during a solar eclipse

Nitrous acid (HONO) is a major, often the dominant, boundary layer precursor to the key daytime atmospheric oxidant OH; however sources of HONO are poorly understood, with a number of candidate formation mechanisms advanced. Here, we use a natural perturbation – a solar eclipse – to identify the photochemical factors governing HONO formation, from their variation with this large-scale change in solar intensity. We demonstrate that HONO is not controlled by a single source, but that photoenhanced production (i.e. reactions accelerated by sunlight) are a major component of HONO production, suggesting a dominant role for photochemical processing of traffic-derived NO2 upon surfaces producing HONO, alongside a smaller contribution from direct vehicular emissions. In both cases, association with (anthropogenically derived) NO2 indicates that HONO formation may fall with future vehicle fleet evolution and tailpipe emissions reduction.

Peroxy radical kinetics and new particle formation

New particle formation is a major contributor to atmospheric aerosol number and is enhanced by low volatility organics. Understanding the conditions under which these organics are formed is crucial to our understanding of new particle formation. These processes are often studied in laboratory smog chamber experiments, which simulate atmospheric conditions without the complication of the many species present in the actual atmosphere. In addition, parameterizations derived from those experiments may have limited applicability if they lack molecular detail; understanding this chemistry at the molecular level allows for a broader extension of experimental results. In this work we look at how species present in abundance in the atmosphere, but not in smog chambers, affect the chemistry that leads to these low volatility products. This can cause a high bias in new-particle formation rates observed in smog chamber experiments. Thus we stress the importance of knowing the exact conditions of smog chamber experiments and building molecular level understanding before extending results to atmospheric conditions.