JOM Author Guidelines
Please browse through the following frequently asked questions, regarding author submissions and the review process.
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Published monthly by The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS), JOM is a professional forum for technology exchange among dedicated materials
scientists and engineers practicing in a wide spectrum of disciplinary specialties.
JOM is neither an archival research publication nor a commercial trade magazine, although it possesses characteristics of both. Rather, the journal acts as a literature resource reporting on scholarly work that elucidates state-of-the-art processing, fabrication, and design from a materials perspective.
| What are the particular technical interest areas covered by JOM? |
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Technical interest areas can be broadly defined as extraction and processing; light metals; materials processing and manufacturing; structural materials; and electronic, magnetic, and photonic materials.
About 11,000 people, mostly members of TMS. About a third are students working toward a degree in a discipline of materials science and engineering, while most of the remaining readers are degreed professionals working in industry, academia, or government.
| What kind of review process does JOM employ? |
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JOM is not rigorously peer-reviewed. All manuscripts are, however, reviewed by at least one expert in the subject area and by the journal's editorial staff. JOM is recognized and ranked by Science Citation Index in the areas of
Take a close look at the Technical Emphasis Calendar, which lists the year’s topics, to determine where your paper fits. Editorial advisors—TMS member volunteers—assist the editor in selecting papers and/or arranging for a qualified review of the manuscript.
Authors should formally notify the editor of their publishing intent by submitting a 300-word abstract by completing the on-line form.
| How long will it take for my paper to be reviewed? |
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Generally, at least one month is required from the time the paper is first received at the editorial offices until the author is notified of acceptance or rejection.
| How technical should my paper be? |
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Written at a B.Sc. level, the journal is designed to appeal to an international, academic, industrial, and governmental audience. Therefore, an emphasis is placed on general review articles. Please review the details on editorial formats below.
| Where can I get details on the editorial formats? |
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JOM offers its contributors a variety of formats for articles that fall within the technical calendar topics, however not all formats are published in all issues. Each format has a length restriction which should be carefully employed by the author when developing the manuscript. Authors are strongly encouraged to write with brevity and contribute papers that reflect the page minimums for the article format rather than the maximum. On rare occasions, extremely lengthy articles will be considered for serialization. The editorial formats include the formats listed below (the editor is always open, however, to suggestions for other formats as well).
- Overview: 4-8 printed pages (3,200–6,400 words). A well-referenced and well-illustrated introduction to the issues affecting and recent developments occurring in a topical technology. The purpose is to thoroughly introduce the general reader to the specifics of the field.
- Research Summary: 3-5 printed pages (2,400–4,000 words). These papers outline recent, technically in-depth investigations in materials science and technology.
- Applied Technology: 2-4 printed pages (1,600–3,200 words). These articles communicate information about advancements in commercial products or processes and are typically submitted by industrial sources.
- Design: 2-4 printed pages (1,600–3,200 words). These articles emphasize the application of the design process in the development of a material system, process, or product.
- Testing and Analysis: 2-4 printed pages (1,600–3,200 words). These articles emphasize the application of analytical techniques in the study of the properties and/or performance of a material.
- Industrial Insight: 2-5 printed pages (1,600–3,200 words). An experience-driven description of the economic, managerial, environmental, engineering, scientific, governmental, international, competitive, etc., factors that influence the development, introduction, and application of technology on an industrial scale.
- Nontechnical Feature: 2-4 printed pages (1,600–3,200 words). These articles examine pertinent issues in education, professional affairs, government policy, economics, and other areas important to materials scientists and engineers.
- Conference Reviews: 1-4 printed pages (800–3,200 words). A synopsis of a recent (no more than one year from the month of publication) symposium or conference. Key, not all, presentations are briefly summarized and attributed.
- Opinion: 1-2 printed pages (800–1,600 words). Qualified commentary by a recognized expert on a topical or controversial issue. A thesis and arguments for or against a particular premise must be presented with even-handedness and without innuendo.
- Archaeotechnology: 2-4 printed pages (1,600–3,200 words). These articles explore materials usage and development throughout history. They must contain new research results as well as detail on the cultural and historic context being examined.
- JOM-e (by invitation only): length unlimited. These papers appear quarterly on JOM's World Wide Web site and can incorporate color and multimedia enhancements (for example, video clips, animation, audio, and sample software).
If the abstract is accepted, you will be asked to submit a manuscript no later than three months in advance of the planned month of publication. When sending the complete manuscript to the JOM editorial office, the package should include the following:
- The manuscript. The length of the manuscript is determined by
the type of editorial format to which the
article conforms. As a general guideline, three double-spaced, typewritten
pages (about 1,200 words) equal one journal page. Aside from strictly
adhering to length restrictions, be sure that the manuscript includes
the following:
- Title. 5-10 words
- Byline List all authors, with the primary author being first.
- Summary. Describe the scope of the paper in 3-4 sentences.
- Introduction. Provide background and set parameters for the discussion to follow in 2-3 paragraphs.
- Headings. The headings should be descriptive and more specific to the textural content that follows than simply "Procedure,"
"Results," "Discussion," etc.
- Conclusion. States deductions flowing from the paper or comments of future needs. Do not simply repeat facts and
prior discussion. If this occurs, the section will be deleted
during editing.
- References. Credit the work of others when it is cited or employed. References should be numbered consecutively as they appear in the article. In preparing the references, use the footnote format described in any commonly available handbook on manuscript preparation. Alternatively, review our list of commonly used reference formats in the journal. If you are unsure of how to prepare a particular reference, err on the side of providing too much information rather than too little.
- Tables. Include only as essential. Number them with Roman numerals.
- Original Artwork. While illustration can enhance the appearance of an article, available space is restricted to essential
figures. Generally, one illustration per manuscript page is
a good guideline. Number the figures using Arabic numerals.
Include the primary author's name on the back of each figure.
Important detail on artwork appears in the following section.
- Figure Captions. In terms of content, figure captions should be free-standing and contain details particular to the
figure. More general observations and discussion based on the
depicted information should be relegated to the body of the
text. Add the figure captions to the end of the article, even
if the captions are already typed below the actual figure.
- Metric Units. Do not use U.S. customary units.
- A photocopy of the complete manuscript.
- A disk containing the complete manuscript. Ideally, the manuscript
should be prepared in Microsoft Word, Word Perfect, or some
other widely used word-processing program for Macs and/or Windows-based
systems. If you plan to send digitized figures as well, send them
as EPS files. Do not embed them in the word-processing document.
With prior approval from the editor, authors may provide all electronic
files via FTP rather than disk submission. If you do not have access
to a computer, the manuscript must be typed, double spaced, on clean
bond paper.
- A signed copyright
form. This form can be downloaded in portable document format
(PDF) for viewing and print out using Adobe
Acrobat.
- Completed author biography forms for each author. Requested data include author's name, title, employer,
educational background, and TMS affiliation.
- A cover letter that includes all necessary contact information for the primary author. To avoid confusion, the editor will work
with only the designated contact author.
Yes, with proper citation. This is covered by a U.S. copyright law known as Fair Use. This law states that material used for purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research is considered fair use. Any material that is not your original work must be cited via the use of appropriate references. For considerably more detail on Fair Use, view the JOM article on the subject, "Understanding
Copyrights: Ownership, Infringement, and Fair Use.")
| How should artwork be prepared? |
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- Authors may
submit digital copies of their artwork. EPS files are preferred. Resolution
for these figures should be at least 300 dpi for photographs and 600 dpi
for drawings. JPEGs and TIFFs will be accepted as well provided that the
resolution matchs the aforementioned guidelines.
- If providing
printed photographs, provide high-quality glossy prints (size is not
a critical consideration, although larger prints are preferred).
- Do not
assemble collages or composite images to achieve a particular layout
provide a sketch of the desired effect and then leave it to the journal's
staff to produce the appropriate design.
- Do not provide
clearly inferior photos or photocopies in lieu of original photographs.
They will not be printed.
- If providing
printed line art,
be sure to provide no worse than laser printer originals.
- Be sure that
the type that appears in the figures is large as the figures will be
reduced to fit the journal's format. The type should still be readable
if the figure is ultimately reduced to a maximum width of slightly more
than 5 cm.
- Micrographs
require scale markers for reference after reduction. Position the scale
marker outside of the image area. Artwork can be returned upon request.
- Color may be
used, but there is a surcharge to the authors for color printing in their
articles.
- Photographs
suitable for use on the front cover of the journal are always welcome.
Likewise, interesting figures with free-standing captions are welcomed
to balance the layout or highlight the article's appearance when space
permits.
Yes, but if the
file is too large we may need you to place it on our FTP site. The resolution
for digital figures should be 300 dpi for photographs and 600 dpi for drawings.
| Does the journal print color figures? |
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Yes, but there is a surcharge to the authors for color printing in their articles.
If your paper has been invited for inclusion as part of JOM-e,
the file does not have to be prepared in HTML (hypertext markup language).
The same guidelines as apply to a conventional manuscript apply to the
electronic version as well. However, the submission should also include
all necessary electronic files and/or supplemental information that
will be used to achieve web presentation (e.g., animation, downloadable
software, video, suggested hyperlinks, etc.).
Yes, manuscripts are edited for clarity as well as to conform to the size and style requirements of the journal. Each submission is read by the editorial staff and one or more reviewers. Content,
headings, figure captions, formality of the language, and the general
structure are all styled to attract reader attention and enable readers
to procede at a comfortably brisk pace. In this process, every attempt
is made to preserve the technical integrity of the original work.
Yes. Galley proofs are sent to the contact author only for approval, typically 4–6 weeks prior to the month of publication. Except for the correction of typos and technical errors, editorial and style revisions will not be accepted.
Yes. Every month, JOM presents one full-length, hypertext-enhanced technical article with broad appeal on its web site, available to the general public at no charge. The remaining articles are listed, with abstracts, in a table of contents and are available for purchase as a PDF through the Knowledge Resource Center.
| After it’s been printed in JOM, can I post a PDF of my paper on my web site? |
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No, but you can direct readers to the Knowledge Resource Center for PDF downloads.
Yes. Reprints may be ordered through TMS Customer Service via e-mail or phone toll-free 1-800-759-4867 or (724) 776-9000, ext. 270.
