After an Article or other type of contribution is formally accepted for publication by the Executive Editor, it is transferred to the Production Manager, who supervises the further processing (loosely, "production") necessary to publish the contribution in the journal. This page describes some aspects of production, particularly of the transition from editorial office to production office, stressing what authors need to do and need to provide to the editorial office, after acceptance, before the editorial office can transmit the manuscript to the production office.

Before an accepted manuscript can be transmitted to the Production Manager for publication, the authors must supply five items to the editorial office: (1) The electronic source (word processor) file for all text (if available), (2) suitable electronic files or labeled camera-ready hardcopy for figures (if applicable), (3) a running head, and (4) a selection of index terms. In addition, (5) authors must either approve a pdf-format version of the accepted manuscript, prepared from author-supplied source file and posted on the editorial office website, or supply the editorial office with complete hardcopy text (including tables). Moreover, authors must transfer copyright to Elsevier at the time they receive page proofs. All of these requirements are described in more detail in separate items below.

Most manuscripts are prepared by commercial word processor programs. In the case of Geochimica's clientele, this mostly means Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect. If this is the case for your manuscript, we need the source file (i.e. the word processor file) for the final version of your manuscript. This should be one file which contains all the text segments of the manuscript: title page, abstract, main text, references, tables, appendices, figure captions, everything (except figures). This file should be prepared according to our posted manuscript format guidelines. This means numbered pages, one-inch margins, double-spacing, assembly in standard order, the required formats for section headings, references, and so on. If you submit a file which does not follow these guidelines it will only delay things, because we will just have to ask you for a file in the right format.

Even if you are confident that this is the final version of your manuscript, please do not use the character string "final" in the filename. Often it turns out not to be really final, and having "final" as part of the filename only confuses things.

If a Word or WordPerfect file is not available, i.e. you used some other word processor (e.g. LaTex) or you typed the manuscript manually, you will have to supply the final version as hardcopy, following the same format guidelines. The production office will then have to typeset your manuscript from the hardcopy.

If we already have the necessary file (or hardcopy) at the time your manuscript is accepted, i.e. that's how you sent in a revised version, you don't need to send it again. Otherwise, you will have to prepare a final version and send it to us. Hardcopy can be sent by regular mail or by courier; please send two copies (not stapled). A word processor file is best sent by upload on the website; make sure you note the manuscript number in the "cover letter" textbox on the upload page. File transmission by e-mail attachment also often works, but not always. If you want, you can also mail it in on a floppy diskette, as long as it's a 3.5 inch diskette formatted for a PC. (If the file is too long for a floppy, use a CD or a ZIP disk.)

In addition to the word-processor source file for the text of your manuscript, we have to send to the Production Manager the hardcopy equivalent of this file. You should be aware that if there is any conflict between the source file and the hardcopy, the hardcopy will be considered primary. It is particularly important for authors to understand that their source files will be converted to other file formats adapted to the production process and that some "special characters" (e.g. characters from non-English alphabets, notably Greek, mathematical symbols, symbols generated as graphics, etc.) may be lost during this conversion. They will be restored by reference to the hardcopy.

In practice, in most circumstances we do not actually send a paper copy to the production office: The hardcopy equivalent referred to above is a pdf file. Our preference, which should also be easiest and fastest for authors, is to make a pdf file directly from your source file. We will post the "final version" pdf file on the website (in the same place as prior versions), ask you to examine it carefully, and ask whether you approve it. If you approve the posted pdf file, this is what we will send to the production office If you do not approve it, tell us what's wrong and send another source file if appropriate, and we will repeat the process.

Sometimes this approach will not work, i.e. the pdf file we make from your source file does not look right, and we can't make it look right, because your word processor has some facility that ours doesn't, e.g. special other-language alphabets, third-party add-ons for symbols and graphics, etc. If this is the case, you will have to mail us hardcopy text that you prepare yourself (two copies, unstapled); we will scan the hardcopy to make the pdf file for the production office. If we need to resort to this, we ask that you exercise special care to make sure that the hardcopy really is printed from the source file. This situation should also alert you to be particularly vigilant in checking proofs.

In submitting figures for publication, authors may submit electronic files ("digital artwork") or hardcopy, at their discretion. A digital file may be used for any figure, but if you have the files you may find this a particularly useful approach for figures which are high-resolution grayscale images (rather than line drawings), e.g. photomicrographs and SEM/TEM/AFM images.

For digital artwork, there are restrictions on file formats, resolution, and the programs used to prepare them. Prior to final manuscript submission authors should consult the guidelines and requirements provided at Elsevier website http://authors.elsevier.com/ArtworkInstructions.html?dc=AI1.

For digital artwork, each figure should be submitted as a separate file. The filename should follow a standard format: "Wnnnn-Fig-1.xxx", where "Wnnnn" is the manuscript number (e.g. "W1234") and "xxx" is the standard extension used to designate file type (e.g. "jpg" or "gif").

Authors should note that that the editorial office's requirements for electronic figures accompanying manuscripts for review are much less stringent than Elsevier's requirements, so that electronic figures that were acceptable for review and editorial evaluation are not necessarily acceptable for publication.

Hardcopy figures should be good-quality original prints with adequate white space around the area to be photographed. Each figure should be labeled with item identification (e.g. "Fig. 5b"), manuscript identification (e.g. "GCA W1234") and author (e.g. "Einstein et al.") on the back of the sheet or on the front, well away from the area to be reproduced. Authors should send hardcopy in packaging which will minimize the likelihood of folding or other forms of damage in transit.

Authors are advised that if they submit artwork as digital files, and any sort of problem with these figures arises in production, the printer will attempt to communicate with the authors through the e-mail address provided for the correspondence author. This consultation will introduce some delay into the production process, although not necessarily much. If it is anticipated that the correspondence author will be unable to respond to e-mail for an extended interval in the period after transmittal, e.g. because of field work or change of institution, authors should designate (at the time of formal acceptance) a different correspondence author who can be more promptly responsive to inquiries.

Tables in the printed journal are normally typeset, with data keyed in manually on the basis of a pdf file supplied to the Production Manager by the editorial office. Authors are invited/requested to supply the pdf file themselves. Otherwise, however, authors may provide hardcopy, which the editorial office will scan to produce the necessary pdf file. Either way, as part of the verification process prior to transmittal to the production office, authors will be asked to examine and approve final versions of tables posted as pdf files.

Normally, electronic source files (e.g. word processor or spreadsheet) are not used for publication of tables in the printed journal. Unless specifically requested, authors need not supply electronic source files for tables.

In rare instances, especially large, dense or heavily formatted tables will be reproduced photographically rather than typeset. In these case, tables are essentially treated as figures and authors will be asked to provide clean hardcopy.

A "running head" is the line of text that appears at the top of alternate printed pages (after the first page) of your paper in the printed journal. It is basically a short title. It may be the full title if the full title is short enough, but usually the title needs to be abbreviated. The running head may not exceed one printed line; generally, a maximum 50-60 characters is better.

A running head should be short enough to be read quickly and easily but not so short that it fails to convey what the paper is about. If, for example, your title is "TOF-SIMS study of Re-Os systematics of lower Dionysian calc-alkaline basalts from the northwestern Isle of Skye: Comparison with MORBS and OIBS and relevance to models of lower crustal delamination", then "Re-Os systematics" and "Skye basalts" are both too short, but "Re-Os systematics of Isle of Skye basalts" is about right.

The editorial office and/or the Production Manager will make up a running head if you don't, but it's better if you do it yourself. No special form is needed: Just tell us (in an e-mail) what the running head should be.

We ask that you supply a few keywords and phrases which will help identify your paper in the journal's annual index. It's to your advantage to do so, carefully, since it will help readers interested in a given subject to find your paper.

The index has main headings and, under a main heading, a list of subheadings. If you wish, you can view the format and/or get some ideas for subjects by examining the subject index for Volume 66 (in PDF format).

Please supply two to ten index entries (main heading and subheading) for your paper. A special form is not necessary; just send the information in an e-mail.

Most figures in Geochimica are black-and-white line art or grayscale images. Color figures can be accommodated when appropriate, however. There are three ways to introduce color figures into your manuscript:

(1) An electronic file that you provide as an electronic annex may consist of or contain color figures.

(2) You provide a color figure as part of your main article. In the printed journal this figure will appear in black-and-white, but in the "Full Text + Links" version (i.e. the html version), as well as the pdf version, on the Science Direct website the figure will appear in color.

(3) You provide a color figure as part of your main article. It will appear in color in the print version as well as in the html and pdf versions on the Science Direct website.

For the first option (electronic annex), you must, of course, provide your figure as an electronic file. The second and third options are viable whether you provide figures as electronic files or as hardcopy.

Options one and two are free. Option three - color figures in print - involves a cost which must be borne by the authors. At present,the charge is 325 euros (or USD 400) for each color figure.

Authors who wish to use color figures should call attention to this, and state their intent regarding the options above, in the cover letter accompanying original submission, and again in the cover letter accompanying submission of a revised manuscript. If authors supply color figures but make no statement concerning them, the default condition is option two, i.e. the figure will be presented in color in the html and pdf versions on the Science Direct website but in black-and-white in the printed journal. Authors who wish to use option three - color in the print version - will be required to document payment of the charge at the time of formal acceptance, before the manuscript enters production. At the time of formal acceptance authors may also suggest color figure layouts, but a final decision on color layouts will be in the hands of the Production Manager.

After a manuscript has been formally accepted for publication, and the requirements described above have been satisfied, the editorial office will transmit all materials to the Production Manager for the remaining processing. At this time the correspondence author will receive a transmittal notice, an e-mail with the subject line "GCA Manuscript Wnnnn Transmittal".

The time from transmittal to publication is generally approximately five months, provided that authors return proof corrections promptly. Authors can expect to receive proofs approximately three to four months after transmittal.

After accepted manuscripts have been transferred to the Publisher, further processing is directed by the Production Manager,

to whom any further queries or correspondence should be directed. When a manuscript is transmitted from the editorial office to the production office the authors will receive an acknowledgment letter from the production office.

This acknowledgment letter will include a reference number (different from the manuscript number used in the editorial office), which will be of the form "GCAnnnn" where "nnnn" is a four-digit number. Authors should cite this number in any correspondence with the Production Manager.

The status of a manuscript in the production process can be checked through the OASIS system (Online Article Status Information System) on Elsevier's website. Go to internet location www.elsevier.com/oasis to use OASIS. To access information for your manuscript you will need the reference number noted above.

You will get page proofs before your manuscript is committed to publication, and be asked to approve and/or correct them. You may also be asked to answer some copyediting queries, update references cited as "submitted" or "in press", etc.

Your page proofs will be available on the internet, as a pdf file. When your proofs are ready the correspondence author will receive an e-mail notification, which will also provide instructions for how to access the proofs and how to submit corrections. If you prefer to receive traditional hardcopy proofs, you will also have that option. If the e-mail notification is not opened within a specified time, hardcopy proofs will automatically be sent to the correspondence author's postal address.

It is possible to modify figures at the proof stage, as long as the modifications are minor and the overall appearance and function of the figure is preserved. If you want to change a figure at the proof stage, you must supply the compositor with a new figure, either electronic or hardcopy according to how the figure was originally submitted.

The editorial office will keep copies of manuscripts as transmitted to the Production Manager for publication, at least until the time they appear in print. If perchance you have lost your copy of the manuscript, and would like a copy with which to check proofs, contact the editorial office.

Before your manuscript can be published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta you must transfer copyright to Elsevier. This is accomplished by a signing a copyright form (uniquely bar-coded for your manuscript). This form will accompany the proofs of your manuscript.

Authors will receive 25 free hardcopy reprints of each publication. Additional copies may be purchased. Reprint order forms will accompany proofs. A specimen reprint order form (in pdf format) is appended. (This form, which includes price information, is for reference only, and should not be used for actual reprint orders. The form contains a unique barcode which identifies the specific article to be ordered, so that authors should use only the form provided with their proofs.)

Authors are reminded that they will have electronic access to the journal at the time their article is published, even if they do not otherwise have access through individual or institutional subscription. Authors are encouraged to download copies of the files for their own manuscripts. The pdf files, in particular, can be printed to make good-quality hardcopy reprints whenever needed.

All authors will be granted free temporary full-text access to the electronic version of Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, compliments of the publisher, Elsevier. Access will be valid for three months after the time it is first used. If you want to assure that you have access to your own paper, you should not begin to use access until you know that your paper has been published, or, alternatively, not until about a month after you return your proofs.

For electronic access, go to the Elsevier internet website gateway page for GCA, www.elsevier.com/locate/gca. On this page, click the link titled "Online Access for Geochemical Society and Meteoritical Society member subscribers" (you do not actually have to be a subscriber or a member of either society). This will lead to an index page for several volumes of GCA, up to and including the current year. Clicking on one of the volume links will lead to an index page of issues for that volume, and clicking on an issue link will lead to a page with the table of contents for that issue. In each visit to the website you will be asked to log in the first time you try to access a full-text article. To log in you must supply a valid username and password.

To obtain a valid username and password you must first register. To register, go directly to www.elsevier.com/login. In registration you will be asked to supply a variety of information, and also to supply your own username and password. You need register only once. On subsequent visits (within three months) to the website you can log in with your username and password generated during registration.

Before you can complete registration, and validate your username and password, you will be asked to supply a "reader key". The reader key is an alphanumeric string which will be disclosed to you in your transmittal notice. The registration entry is case-sensitive, so enter the reader key exactly as it is provided to you.

The correspondence author (the only author to whom the transmittal notice will be sent) is at liberty to provide access (i.e. disclose the reader key) to co-authors, but authors are expected to maintain confidentiality and not disclose the key to colleagues and associates who are not authors of the particular paper in question. Continuation of complimentary access for authors is dependent on non-abuse of this privilege.

This access program is intended as a benefit for authors who otherwise lack electronic access to Geochimica, and the number of registrations which will be permitted is limited. If you are an author who already has electronic access, through institutional or individual subscription, author-registration as described above gains you nothing but uses up one of the allowed number of author slots, so you are asked not to do it.