All articles (whether Letters, Comments, Replies or invited Perspectives) should be submitted via ScholarOne. Articles must comply with our Manuscript format policy and will go through the Editorial procedure as it applies to Letters and Perspectives or to Comments and Replies. By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that they have complied with our Ethical policy.
Please see below for key points and more detailed guidance.
EPL is a member of CrossCheck by iThenticate. iThenticate is a plagiarism screening service that verifies the originality of content submitted before publication. The iThenticate software checks submissions against millions of published research papers, documents on the web, and other relevant sources. Authors, researchers and freelancers can also use the iThenticate system to screen their work before submission by visiting research.ithenticate.com.
The length of a Letter should not exceed 7 printed journal pages.
An EPL articles comprises the header (almost 1/2 page) and a body text.
Each full line in EPL comprises 55 characters (letters, punctuation marks, spaces) and each page comprises 114 lines (57 lines per column).
Equations: check whether they can be displayed in one line or if they will need to be cut. A single line equation corresponds to 285 characters. A two-line equation corresponds to 365 characters and a three-line equation corresponds to 445 characters.
For figures, choose the reduction (1/2, 1/3, 1/4 of the original size) and calculate the printed height. The character equivalent is obtained by dividing by 4.2 mm (the height of a line of text in print) and multiply by 55 (number of characters per line) if the figure appears in one column or by 110 if the figure appears accross the two columns.
Each reference takes 46 characters for each column line.
For authors who would like to easily find out the length of their paper, we recommend that they use the EPL house-style package available in the section ‘Templates’
It includes complete documentation that will enable authors to typeset their manuscript in the same format as it will appear in EPL allowing them to see the exact length of their paper.
Besides, EPL strongly recommends to send a cover letter with each new submission to EPL. The cover letter should not repeat the abstract or parts of the manuscript, but should address the following points in more general terms:
The cover letter is only meant for the Co-Editor and will usually not be sent to the referees. It should help the Co-Editor to obtain a fast and correct judgement on the suitability of the submitted work for publication in the journal. Note that EPL is “a letters journal exploring the frontiers of physics”.
Please note that if you are submitting a new article, we only require you to upload a single PDF file (in EPL style) at this stage. This should be your complete manuscript including figures and tables (but not containing a cover letter). For file type please select ‘Complete Document for Review (PDF Only)’. Please also upload any supplementary data files such as multimedia, if you have any, and any permissions already obtained. Click the ‘Upload Files’ button (you can then see your article, which now includes line numbering, by clicking on the ‘PDF’ button). When you are finished, click ‘Save and Continue’.
For more information on preparing your manuscript, see the ‘Instructions, Forms & Policies’ link at the top right hand corner of the site. If you experience any problems submitting your article online, please contact the journal team.
The peer review process is managed by a Co-Editor. Authors are required to suggest suitable Co-Editors (listed at epletters.net) on submission, but the journal is not obliged to follow such suggestions.
Although the importance and originality of a submission should be clear from the abstract and introduction, a cover letter can assist the Co-Editor in deciding whether to send out for review. Cover letters are not generally shared with referees.
The Co-Editor may reach one of the following decisions:
Resubmissions are not permitted when a rejection decision is returned. Co-Editors are authorised by the Editor-in-Chief to make decisions on manuscripts based solely on their own expert reading of the manuscript. However, before accepting a manuscript, a Co-Editor will usually request at least one (preferably two) reviews from anonymous external referees to inform their decision. Such reviews are advisory to the Co-Editor, and the editorial decision may differ from one or more referees’ recommendations.
If a resubmitted manuscript is judged still to require extensive revisions, with or without external review, it will be rejected.
Authors and reviewers must engage collegiately in the peer review process.
The Editorial Office regularly sends reminders to the referees.
If a manuscript needs revision, the reports are transmitted to the author(s) together with the Co-Editor’s decision and comments. When submitting their revised version, the authors should explain the changes made to the manuscript and respond to the remarks/criticism of the referee(s). Authors should also check that the length of the revised version does not exceed 7 pages. A PDF file is always asked together with the source files. An acknowledgment message is sent to the authors for the revised version.
The modified text should also be highlighted in the manuscript. If the file is in EPL style, please use the command revision. For other LaTeX files and word documents, please use standard command/tools for highlighting the modified text.
Example: revision{Text changed in this version of the manuscript}. In the pdf file, the modified text will appear in red thanks to the revision{} command.
| Text in the latex file | Display in the pdf file | |
|---|---|---|
| Original Version | e=MC$^{3}$ | e=MC3 |
| Revised Version | revision{E=mc{$^{2}$} | E=mc2 |
When submitting your revised article, please upload the latest version of your complete manuscript as a PDF file, using the file type ‘Complete Document for Review (PDF Only)’.
Please also upload the following, as ‘Source Files (incl. Word, TeX, Figures etc)’:
Please also upload the following, as ‘Supplementary Data Files (incl. Multimedia)’:
| Note: If no revised version is received within four weeks after it was requested, the Editorial Office will consider the manuscript as withdrawn and will close the file. |
|
If a revised version is received more than four weeks after the author has been requested to carry out revision, it may be considered as a new submission with a new reception date. |
Based on the authors’ reply, the Co-Editor can process the manuscript further. Possible courses of action include (a) acceptance or, in exceptional cases, rejection without further review; (b) sending the manuscript to new or to the previous referees for further advice. If further refereeing is sought, the Co-Editor will make a final decision upon receipt of the report(s). No new revision will be allowed after the second round of reviews.
The responsibility of the final decision lies with the Co-Editor. Except in very rare cases (minor modifications, etc.), a decision resulting from a second round of refereeing concludes the editorial processing of the manuscript.
In case of rejection, the reports that led to that decision are sent to the authors. This decision concludes the editorial processing of the manuscript.
Note: For papers which were rejected on grounds of EPL specificity (general interest, etc.) and not on grounds of scientific issues, the authors may opt for the transfer of their paper to one of the regular papers journals, ONLY if the Co-editor makes this offer.
The electronic files are sent to the Production Office where copy-editing will be processed and proofs will be sent to the corresponding author.
Authors will receive an e-mail from the Production Office advising them on how they can promptly download the proofs. The e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author and a 48 HOURS LIMIT will have to be adhered to. In case he/she might not be available, a second e-mail address should be provided upon acceptance in order to keep the processing times as short as possible.
The proofs will have to be returned to the Production Office in Bologna either via fax (+39 051 581340) or e-mail (epl@sif.it) in .pdf format within two days. Alternatively, corrections and clarifications to signalled points can be clearly listed and identified according to paragraphs and sent by e-mail to the Production Office.
Only amendments or small corrections, not meant to modify the content, are accepted. Since modifications will be introduced into the files already in hand, revised or corrected electronic files should not be submitted at this stage.
As soon as the proofs are returned, the paper will be corrected and shortly published on-line. Please note that from then on, further changes and amendments will not be accepted unless by submission of an Erratum.
| Società Italiana di Fisica |
| Via Saragozza 12 • I – 40123 Bologna • Italy |
| E-mail: epl@sif.it • website: www.sif.it |
If the authors are asked to send the electronic source files to the Production Office, they must make sure that the files exactly match the accepted version.
EPL articles are published on-line in their final form as soon as they have been corrected and will be fully citable immediately. Please note that the on-line publication is protected by the copyright, therefore citable (with the e-print DOI reference) and definite. Any changes will thus necessarily require an Erratum.
There are no page charges and authors will receive, instead of reprints, the PDF file of their article for free as soon as it is published on-line.
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Submission to publication: 73 days
European Physical Society
6, rue des Frères Lumière
68200 Mulhouse
France
Copyright© 2025 – EPL Association
