Initial Submissions

When you initially submit your manuscript to AJP, it should be a single .pdf file incorporating all figures. Each figure should appear near where it is first referenced, not at the end of the manuscript. The file should be under 10 MB so that it can be emailed to reviewers. If you include photographs or high-resolution figures, you may need to decrease their resolution. The same instructions should be followed after a "revise and resubmit" decision.

Final Submission

The typesetters will copy your figures from the pdf or docx file; you do not need to separately upload the figures. We recommend incorporating high resolution figures into the final submission. Vector graphic format is normally best, .eps or .pdf. The .jpg format should be avoided.

Graphs and diagrams

Graphs should be plotted inside a frame, with tick marks around all sides and clear labels on both axes. Be sure to place labels where they don't cross over any of the plotted data. Numerical axis labels should use a consistent number of decimal places (for example, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0; not 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2). Beware that it is difficult to create professional-looking plots using Excel; better choices include Matlab, Mathematica, SigmaPlot, Origin, gnuplot, and Matplotlib. For diagrams, we recommend Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape over PowerPoint.

Designing figures

Carefully designed and prepared figures play a vital role in papers, enabling easy understanding of complicated data or equipment. To save time, begin creating a figure only after you have carefully designed it and determined its content.

Most figures in AJP are printed at a width of one text column, about 3.4 inches (8.6 cm). When necessary, a wide figure can be printed across both columns. Be sure to print the figure at the production size to check the brightness, contrast, font sizes, and line weights. The smallest font should be 8 pt in size (1 mm in height) when the figure is printed at the required width. Since the journal is printed in Times New Roman, we recommend (but do not require) using this font in labels. Remember that symbols are italicized but units are not.

Readers of the online journal will be able to see the color in your figures, but print readers see only grayscale (unless you pay for color printing; see below). Please try to ensure that your figures can still be understood in grayscale. For example, refer to the “orange dotted line,” or, when possible, label the curve directly, perhaps using an arrow to connect the label to the curve. When appropriate, you may include a parenthetical "(color online)" at the beginning of the figure caption, either to let readers know that the online version is prettier or to point out that print readers may miss essential features.

Annotating photographs

If you need to annotate a photo with text, it is best to import it into a graphics editing program like Adobe Illustrator and make the annotations there. Save the resulting image in .eps format. Then the photo will still be a bitmap, but the annotations will be resolution-independent vector graphic elements.

Obtaining permission to reprint figures created by others

Figures are different from text. While you can quote sentences written by others as long as you acknowledge the source, you cannot copy figures – even those found on the internet – unless you have the permission of the creator or the figure is explicitly labeled as being in the public domain. For more information, see “Reusing Content Published by Others” on this page.

Highlight image

A highlight image is requested at conditional acceptance. It can be either a figure from your paper or another image you create that reflects your work. The image should be roughly square. Acceptable file types for the highlight image are EPS, TIFF, and JPEG. The highlight image will appear next to your paper in the online table of contents.

Color in Figures

If the use of color in a figure is essential to the content of an article, then authors may pay to have the figure printed in color. The current rates are $650 for the first figure and $325 for each additional figure.

If you will be paying for color printing, then it's fine--and probably necessary--to refer to the colors in the figure caption.

Please let the editors know as early as possible if it is your intent to have a figure printed in color. Unless we hear otherwise, we will assume that all figures will be printed in black and white. Please let the editors know as early as possible if it is your intent to have a figure printed in color. Unless we hear otherwise, we will assume that all figures will be printed in black and white. You will be able to confirm the option of paying for color figures when you receive the proofs.