1. Introduction to the Journal
Chinese Journal of Catalysis is an international journal published monthly by the Chinese Chemical Society, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Elsevier. Chinese Journal of Catalysis publishes rigorously peer-reviewed, original research papersin the fields of heterogeneous, homogeneous, and biological catalysis. The journal publishes Reviews, Communications, Articles, Highlights, Perspectives, and Viewpoints written in English or in English and Chinese.
Chinese Journal of Catalysis publishes manuscripts of highly scientific values that help the understanding and defining of new concepts in both the fundamental issues and practical applications of catalysis. Chinese Journal of Catalysis is a China’s top journal in the chemical sciences with a current SCI impact factor of 1.552 (Thomson Reuters, 2014). The journal is abstracted and indexed by many databases, including Abstract Journals (VINITI), Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CIG), Catalysts & Catalysed Reactions (RSC), Current Contents/?Engineering, Computing and Technology (Thomson ISI), Chemical Abstract Service/SciFinder (CAS), Chemistry Citation Index (Thomson ISI), EI Compendex (EI), Japan Information Center of Science and Technology, Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition (Thomson ISI), Science Citation Index Expanded (Thomson ISI), SCOPUS (Elsevier), and Web of Science (Thomson ISI), and all the important indexing systems in China.
The scope of Chinese Journal of Catalysis includes the following: New trends in catalysis for applications in energy production, environmental protection, and production of new materials, petroleum chemicals, and fine chemicals; Scientific foundation for the preparation and activation of catalysts of commercial interest or their representative models; Spectroscopic methods for structural characterization, especially in situ characterization; New theoretical methods of potential practical interest and impact in the science and applications of catalysis and catalytic reactions; Relationship between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis; Theoretical studies on the structure and reactivity of catalysts. The journal also accepts contributions to photo-catalysis, biocatalysis, surface sciences, and chemical kinetic studies related to catalysis.
2. Types of contributions
There are six types of manuscripts.
Reviews deal with topics of current interest in any of the areas covered by Chinese Journal of Catalysis. Reviews are surveys, with entire, systematic, and important information, of recent progress in important topics of catalysis. Rather than an assemblage of detailed information or a complete literature survey, a critically selected treatment of the material is desired. Unsolved problems and possible developments should also be discussed. Authors should have published articles in the field. The references for a Review should be more than 80.
Communications rapidly report studies with significant innovation and with major academic value. They are limited to 3 Journal pages (approximately 15000 characters). Manuscripts accepted as Communications will be published after its acceptance as soon as possible.
Articles are original full-text reports on innovative, systematic, and completed research topics in catalysis.
Highlights describe and comment on very important new results in the original research of a third person with a view to highlight their significance. The results should be presented clearly and concisely without the comprehensive details required for an original article. Research highlights should not be more than 2 Journal pages (approximately 9000 characters) in length and should be appropriately organized by the author. Chemical formulae, figures, and schemes should be restricted to important examples; and the number of formulae, figures, and schemes should be limited to 1-4. The number of references should be no more than 6.
Perspectives are short reviews of recent developments in an established or developing topical field. The authors of Perspectives should offer a critical assessment of the trend of the field, rather than a summary of literatures. Perspectives will be 2–5 Journal pages (10000–25000 characters) in length with a maximum of 20 references and one to four figures/tables.
Viewpoints describe the results of original research in general in a certain area, with a view to highlighting the progress, analyzing the major problems, and commenting on the possible research target and direction in the future. Viewpoints may be organized as the author wishes, but should not be more than 3–6 Journal pages (15000–30000 characters) in length. Chemical formulae, figures, and schemes should be restricted to important examples, and the number of references should be no more than 30.
3. Before submission
3.1. Conflict of interest
All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest, including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations, within the three years from the beginning of the submitted work that can inappropriately influence or is perceived to influence their work. Please see the LINK (http://www.chxb.cn/EN/column/?column355.shtml) before submission, and declare the Conflict of interest during the manuscript submission process.
3.2 Plagiarism
Chinese Journal of Catalysis does not publish manuscripts that have already appeared in print or electronically. Submission of a manuscript implies that the paper has not been previously published (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis) and is not under consideration for publication in any medium and any language. It is not in violation of any copyright law, and all authors and responsible authorities of the manuscript have agreed to its submission.the authors are to ensure that the publication of the manuscript is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright holder. To verify originality, your article may be checked through Crosscheck.
3.3. Author list
When submit a manuscript, the submitting author must provide the contact information (full name, e-mail address, institutional affiliation and mailing address) of all co-authors. The submitting author has the obligation of informing all co-authors concerning the manuscript submission. Requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names, must be sent to the Journal Editorial office from the corresponding author of the accepted manuscript and must include: (a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, fax, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement.
3.4. Language
Manuscripts must be written in good English (to avoid unnecessary errors, you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor). Spelling may be British or American English but consistency should be maintained within a manuscript. Authors are asked to make their manuscripts suitable for a heterogeneous readership of chemists and biologists and to be considerate to our many readers for whom English is a foreign language—please use a simple and clear style and avoid jargons. Authors who feel that their English language manuscript could not meet the publishing requirement should ask for editing services to eliminate possible grammatical and spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English.
3.5. Cover Letter
A letter is required along with the manuscript, and it must include the following components.
(a) A paragraph clearly presenting the novelty of the work and the reason why your manuscript is suitable for Chinese Journal of Catalysis.
(b)Authors are strongly encouraged to submit the manuscript with high significance rejected by other international journals (such as Journal of Catalysis, ACS Catalysis, etc.) with at least one referee recommending acceptance. Chinese Journal of Catalysis will handle the manuscripts as soon as possible. The Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors will make the final decision for such manuscripts without further reviewing or with only one referee’s comments.
(c) If the manuscript was previously rejected by Chinese Journal of Catalysis, these authors should provide both the manuscript number of the original manuscript and a detailed response to each reviewer's comments.
(d)A statement confirming the manuscript, or its contents in any other form (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), has not been published previously by any of the authors, nor is it under consideration for publication in any medium and any language, at the time of submission.
(e) A description of any supporting information and/or Review-Only Material.
(f) The names and e-mail addresses of three suggested possible reviewers.
3.6. Details of submission
The following information is required during manuscript submission process:
• Type of manuscript (Reviews, Communications, Articles, Highlights, Perspectives, Viewpoints)
• Manuscript title
• Abstract
• Attributes (Subject and Keyword)
• Authors and Institutions (the submitting author must provide the contact information (full name, e-mail address, institutional affiliation and mailing address) of all co-authors)
• Reviewers (provide at least three potential Reviewers)
• Details and Comments
• File Upload
• Review and Submit
Precautions for handling dangerous materials or for performing hazardous procedures should be fully and clearly stated in the manuscript.
4. Preparation of manuscripts
4.1. Use of word processing software
Currently, only Microsoft Word files are acceptable. When preparing the manuscript, use A4 paper, 12-point font size, 1.5 spacing, and single column. Keep the layout of the text clear and simple. All figures and tables must be placed in the manuscript file. Number all pages consecutively. All sections of the paper must be presented in a clear and concise manner.
4.2. Arrangement for manuscripts
Reviews. Title, author names, affiliations, abstract, key words, address of the corresponding author, funding agencies (if any), introduction, body (with appropriate subheadings), conclusions and prospect, acknowledgments (optional), and references.
Communications. Title, author names, affiliations, abstract, key words, address of the corresponding author, funding agencies (if any), body (without subheadings), acknowledgments (optional), and references.
Articles. Title, author names, affiliations, abstract, key words, address of the corresponding author, funding agencies (if any), introduction, experimental, results and discussion (with appropriate subheadings), conclusions (in a short conclusions section), nomenclature (optional), acknowledgments (optional), and references.
Highlights. Title, author names, body (without subheadings), corresponding author name, address of the corresponding author, Tel and Fax number, E-mail address, funding agencies (if any), and references.
Perspectives. Title, author names, body (without subheadings), corresponding author name, address of the corresponding author, Tel and Fax number, E-mail address, funding agencies (if any), and references.
Viewpoints. Title, author names, body (without subheadings), corresponding author name, address of the corresponding author, Tel and Fax number, E-mail address, funding agencies (if any), and references.
4.3. Title
Titles should clearly and concisely reflect the emphasis and content of the paper. Titles are usually used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid series number, abbreviations, and formula where possible.
4.4. Author names and affiliations
Use all capital letters for the family names of the authors to avoid ambiguity (e.g., John R. SMITH). Give full names, complete postal addresses, and the country names of authors’ affiliations below the authors’ names. Indicate all affiliations with a superscript number immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address.
4.5. Corresponding author
Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing, publication, and post-publication. Ensure that phone numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
4.6. Present/permanent address
If an author has moved since the work in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be included for that author. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are to be used for such footnotes.
4.7. Funding agencies
Include the source of financial support in the text after the corresponding author, beginning with 'This work was supported by'. This should not be placed in the Acknowledgments.
4.8. Abstract and key words
A concise, factual, and detailed abstract of around 300 words is required for all manuscripts. This should state the research purpose, main methods, principal results, and major conclusions. Important experimental data such as catalyst activity should be presented if necessary. Avoid the use of abbreviations in abstracts.
Immediately after the abstract, list 5–8 key words that best describe the nature of the research, avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only use abbreviations firmly established in the field. These key words will be used for indexing purposes.
4.9. Introduction
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.
The introduction should state the objectives of the work and provide adequate background of the study, its relationship to previous works in the field, the questions to be answered, and the methods used, to allow a reader to understand and evaluate the results of the present work. Authors should include an introductory statement outlining the scientific motivation for the research, which clearly state the questions to be answered as well as the connections of the present work with previous and current works in the field. Relevant previous work by the same authors should be referenced. Avoid a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results. The introduction should also point out how the work contributed to the scientific objective.
4.10. Experimental
Provide sufficient details to enable others to repeat the experiments. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference, but new and modified experimental procedures should be described in detail. Give the compositions of catalysts clearly.
4.11. Results and discussion
This section may be combined or kept separate and may be further divided by subheadings. The results should be given clearly and concisely, and the discussion should explore the significance of the results of the work. Give results in a logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations. In the discussion section, the author should discuss the significance of his/her observations, measurements, or computations. Do not repeat in the text all the data in the tables or illustrations.
4.12. Figures and tables
All figures and tables must be referenced in the text and placed in the text near the point of the first mention. Number them consecutively with Arabic numerals. The captions should be understandable without reference to the text. The same data should not be presented in more than one figure or in both a figure and a table. Tables should be created using the table format feature of the MS Word software, and authors should ensure that each data entry is in its own table cell. Schemes are illustrations of chemical structures and reactions, and should be numbered with Arabic numerals in consecutive order. In the initial manuscript submission, the figures and tables must be of sufficient quality for peer review. When the manuscript is accepted, all figures and tables, and their titles and legends may be re-created or edited to accord with the Journal style prior to publication or authors may be asked to provide proper figures (including experimental data) by the production staff.
All graphics (including chemical structures) must be provided at the actual size that they are to appear (single-column width is 8.4 cm, double-column width is 17.5 cm). Please arrange schematics so that they fill the column space (either single or double), so as not to leave a lot of unused white space. Please ensure that all illustrations within a paper are consistent in type, quality, and size. Legends may be included as part of the graphic for reviewing purposes.
To help authors provide actual size graphics, it is suggested that the following settings be used with CSC ChemDraw and ISIS Draw: font 10 pt Times New Roman, chain angle 120°, bond spacing 18% of length, fixed length 14.4 pt (0.508 cm), bold width 2 pt (0.071 cm), line width 0.6 pt (0.021 cm), margin width 1.6 pt (0.056 cm), and hash spacing 2.5 pt (0.088 cm). The original drawing cannot exceed a column width of 8.4 cm (for single column) and 17.5 cm (for double column). And add the Schemes to the main text by copying and pasting. Please save graphics as a file with .cdx extension and submit it together with the main text. It is suggested that the following settings be used with Origin software: font 9 pt Times New Roman, Line Width 0.4, Symbol size 0.3, in Title & Formatchain: Thichness 0.3，Major Tick 3，Majora and Minor both In, Ratio 100 in Copy Page Settings in Options. The original drawing cannot exceed a column width of 8.4 cm (for single column) and 17.5 cm (for double column). And add the Schemes to the main text by copying and pasting.
Formats. Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below).
TIFF: the minimum resolution for a black and white line art, grayscale art, and color art is 1200, 600, and 300 dpi, respectively.
TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale) of a minimum of 600 dpi is required.
DOC, XLS or PPT: If your electronic artwork is created in any of these Microsoft Office applications please supply 'as is'.
4.13. Units of measurements, symbols and abbreviations
All measurements should be expressed in the international system of units (SI). Other quantities should be converted into SI units. Italicize symbols of physical quantities, but not their units. Temperature units should be presented as either °C or K in the same paper. Leave a single space between the number and the unit of a value. Each abbreviation must be defined the first time it is used in the body of the manuscript.
4.14. Conclusions
For Articles and Reviews, a conclusion that briefly summarizes the principal conclusions of the work is necessary. The conclusion is an extension of the results and discussion, but not a simple repetition. It is also different from the abstract. No more than one paragraph is recommended.
4.15. Nomenclature
When a large number of field-specific terms are used in the manuscript, list their definitions in this section.
4.16. Acknowledgments
Technical assistance, material support, and other help or advice may be acknowledged briefly in this section (excluding financial support, which should appear in the text after corresponding author).
4.17. References
Number references consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Ensure that each reference cited in the text receives its own numeral and is present in the reference list (and vice versa). Each reference should be separately numbered without the use of alphabetical suffixes. Personal communications, unpublished materials, and works that have not yet been accepted for publication are not suggested as references. In the reference list, periodicals [1], books [2], multi-author books with editors [3], and patents [4] should be cited similarly to the following examples:
[1] J. Matthiesen, T. Hoff, C. Liu, C. Pueschel, R. Rao, J. P. Tessonnier, Chin. J. Catal., 2014, 35, 842–855.
[2] P. W. Selwood, Chemisorption and Magnetization, 2nd ed., Academic Press, New York, 1975, 26.
[3] T. Inui, O. Yamase, K. Fukuda, in: Jansen J C ed., Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on Catalysis, Vol. III, Berlag Chemie, Berlin, 1984, 569.
[4] L. K. Frevel, M. Mich, US Patent 3 657 310, 1972.
Authors' and editors' names are given as surname followed by initials.
List the names of all authors; 'et al.' should not be used. Abbreviations for the journal titles follow the system used by Chemical Abstracts. Each reference should be complete in itself. Journal titles are in italics. Omit periods in all abbreviations.
Web references. The full URL and the date when the reference was last approached should be provided. Any further information, if known (author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references are strongly recommended to be presented directly in the text without listing in the reference list.
4.18. Graphical abstract
Authors must supply a graphical abstract at the time the paper is first submitted. The graphical abstract should be placed at the end of the text. The graphical abstract should summarize the contents of the paper in a concise pictorial form designed to capture the attention and arouse of a wide readership. The graphic abstract includes: (1) Title of the manuscript; (2) Author’s name; (3) Author’s affiliation; (4) Description (35 words), which should not be the same as the abstract, and repetition or paraphrasing of the title and presentation of experimental details should be avoided; (5) A small colorful figure representative of the work described or some other informative illustration such as a key model, structure, reaction, equation, concept, or theorem, etc., or an ingenious representation to provide the reader with a strong image of the content of the article. The Figure should be a maximum size of 55 mm high and 150 mm wide. The color pictures here will be reproduced in color free of charge.
4.19. Supplementary material
The journal accepts electronic supplementary material to support and intensify your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author supplementary possibilities to publish supporting applications, high resolution images, background datasets and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article on Elsevier ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com/ science/journal/18722067. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please provide the qualified Figures, Schemes, Tables, and Equations according the requirement in the Figures and Tables (see 4.12). Please do not upload figures and tables that will be published in the article into the supporting information file.
5. Submission of manuscripts
All manuscripts must be submitted online. Via the journal website (https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/?cjcatal) you will be guided step by step through forming and uploading of different files. The manuscript handling system automatically converts the source files to PDF and HTML versions, which are used for the peer-review process. Please do note that these source files are needed for further processing after the manuscript acceptance. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail and via the author's homepage, removing the need for a hard-copy paper trail.
In response to the request for revision from the Editor, authors must also submit all revisions and final, accepted manuscripts via the journal website. Any Supporting Information should also be submitted electronically. The authors must inform the Editor of manuscripts submitted, soon to be submitted, or in press in other journals that have a bearing on the manuscript being submitted to Chinese Journal of Catalysis. If the manuscript is a revised/extended version of a manuscript previously rejected by Chinese Journal of Catalysis, the author must inform the Editor about the previous submission in the cover letter and explain in detail what changes have been made. This will help in the review process. In particular, authors should reveal all sources of funding for the work presented in the manuscript and should declare any conflict of interest.
If the manuscript contains references to unpublished works, copies of these manuscripts should be provided to aid the review process.
If figures and tables in the manuscript are taken directly from other copyrighted works, the author must supply the written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source in the manuscript.
A submitted Communication must include a brief statement from the authors explaining the papers significance and why it deserves rapid publication. An abstract should be included for use in reviewing.
For manuscripts from outside China, there are no manuscript submission fees or page charges. No fee is required for papers published.
Referees. Please submit, with the manuscript, the names, addresses and e-mail addresses of at least 3 potential international referees. Note that the editor decides whether or not the suggested reviewers are used.
Editorial Office of Chinese Journal of Catalysis
Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics
Chinese Academy of Sciences
457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116023, Liaoning, China
E-mail: cjcatal@dicp.ac.cn
Tel: +86-411-84379240
Fax: +86-411-84379543
http://www.elsevier.com/locate/chnjc
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/18722067
6. Editorial review
All editorial correspondence concerning receipt, review, revision, editing, proofs, and publication of a manuscript will be sent to only the corresponding author by e-mail and via the author's homepage. All correspondence concerning the manuscript must include the manuscript number in the 'Subject' line of the e-mail message.
6.1. Peer review
All submitted manuscripts are reviewed initially by the Editor and/or Associate Editors. Manuscripts that lack novelty or new insights and do not meet the general criteria for publication in this journal will be rejected without external peer review. In such instances, these decisions will be sent as quickly as possible so as not to delay publication elsewhere. For other manuscripts, the Editors and Associate Editors will invite two or more referees who are active in the field to review the manuscript. The reviewers act only in an advisory capacity, and the final decision is the responsibility of the Editors and Associate Editors. The reviewers are asked to comment not only on the scientific content but also on the manuscript’s suitability for Chinese Journal of Catalysis. All reviews are anonymous. Peer reviewer identities are kept confidential, but author identities are made known to the reviewers. In general, reviewers return comments in 1–2 months. The comments will be sent to the authors regardless of whether the manuscript is accepted or not.
6.2. Revised manuscripts
After the peer review, if a revision is requested for a potentially acceptable manuscript, the authors should upload the revised manuscript via the Journal website as soon as possible. The revision deadlines for Reviews, Articles, Perspectives, and Viewpoints are as follows.
Minor revisions: 14 days
Major revisions: 21 days
Reject and resubmit: 90 days
Owing to their shorter format and higher degree of imperativeness, the revision deadlines for Communications and Highlights are as follows:
Minor revisions: 10 days
Major revisions: 15 days
Reject and resubmit: 45 days
If a revised manuscript is returned late and after a period that exceeds the average publication time, the manuscript will be given a new queue date for publication. Revised papers should be accompanied by a point-by-point response to all the comments made by the reviewers. All revised contents in the manuscript should be underlined to facilitate further review. Revised manuscripts are sometimes sent back to the original reviewers, who are asked to comment on the revisions. If only minor revisions are involved, the Editor will examine the revised manuscript in light of the recommendations of the reviewers without seeking further opinions. The final decision to accept or reject a paper will be made by the Editorial Board and the Editorial Office.
7. After acceptance
7.1. Editing and proofs
Accepted papers are copy-edited and language polished with a view to clarity, brevity, and consistency before publication to conform to the journal style and to meet space limitations. Page proofs in PDF format which can be annotated are sent by e-mail to the corresponding author, who is to check it for typesetting and editing errors. For this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 (or higher) available free from http://get.adobe.com/reader. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs (also given online). The system requirements are given at the Adobe site: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/tech-specs.html.
If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return them to Chinese Journal of Catalysis in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and scan the pages and then e-mail these to us. Please use the proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately – please let us have all your corrections within 48 hours. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that Chinese Journal of Catalysis can proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.
7.2. Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to submit a Copyright. The Copyright can be downloaded via the homepage of Submitting author (also can be downloaded via the LINK http://www.chxb.cn/EN/column/column355.shtml), and which should be uploaded through the ScholarOne system after all items completed.
7.3. Offprints and sample Journal
The corresponding author will be provided with a PDF file of the article by e-mail (the PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use). No paper offprints and sample Journal will be provided to the author. Sample Journal can be ordered via e-mail.
