Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta is a professional scientific research journal, devoted primarily to publication of high-quality original research reports contributed by members of the relevant scientific community at large. The scope of the journal is simply what its name implies: geochemistry and cosmochemistry. These are broad fields at the interfaces of geology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics and astronomy, and they encompass numerous specialized professional disciplines. Contributions within the scope of the journal are welcome. They will be evaluated for scientific merit by thorough professional review, and those judged to be of high scientific quality, originality and broad relevance will be accepted for publication. Contributions judged to lie outside the scope of the journal will not be further considered. In most cases it will be obvious whether the subject of any given submitted manuscript lies within the scope of the journal. Marginal cases will be evaluated on an individual basis by the Executive Editor and the Associate Editors. If there is any question that a submitted manuscript lies within the scope of the journal, it will be the authors' responsibility to demonstrate that it does.

Authors submitting manuscripts for consideration by GCA should make two 'ethics' statements: One is that the research reported in the manuscript represents original work and presents results not previously published or under consideration for publication, and which will not be submitted for publication elsewhere while under consideration for Geochimica (see Originality). The second is that all authors of the manuscript are aware of and approve the content of the manuscript and its submission to Geochimica.

These statements should be included in the cover letter which accompanies submission. Failure to provide these statements may lead to delay in manuscript evaluation or to rejection.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta is sponsored by the Geochemical Society and by the Meteoritical Society. There is no requirement, however, that any author of a submitted manuscript must be a member of either society.

No page charges are required or requested for publication in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. The only exception is if authors wish to have their published contributions include color figures.

In keeping with its scope, the primary type of contribution to Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, and the primary type of published material, is the Article, which is a report of geochemical or cosmochemical research conducted by its authors. The report should constitute an original scientific contribution, perhaps including new analytical data for natural materials, or new ideas, theories, reinterpretations, etc. Articles should be concise, self-contained, and written for a professional audience, but also intelligible to the geochemistry-cosmochemistry community at large, including students. If a submitted work has a substantial focus on descriptions, local problems or analytical technique it will be the authors' responsibility to demonstrate broader relevance to the geochemistry-cosmochemistry community. The journal strives for high scientific quality and originality as well as broad relevance, and manuscripts submitted as Articles will generally undergo peer review to evaluate whether they are suitable for publication in light of these criteria.

There is no a priori limit to the length of an Article, nor is any special permission required for submission of a long manuscript. Authors are cautioned, however, that length will be one of the criteria involved in evaluation, particularly length relative to the amount of necessary discussion or documentation. It is possible that a manuscript of only 15 double-spaced pages will be considered unnecessarily long for what it has to say, or that an 80-page manuscript is written economically and could be shortened only with loss of substantive content. A manuscript judged excessively long in relation to its scientific content will not be accepted for publication.

The journal will also publish occasional Invited Reviews. These are papers which describe a field of study or research in a comprehensive fashion which is aimed at non-specialists, and while an Invited Review should provide a broad overview it need not constitute an original research contribution. Suggestions for Invited Review topics and authors will be welcome, but manuscripts should not be prepared except at the express invitation of the Executive Editor. Invitation does not guarantee publication, and manuscripts submitted as Invited Reviews will also undergo peer review of scientific quality, except that the criteria for originality will be relaxed and the criteria for broad relevance and also clarity and comprehensiveness will be strengthened.

Authors may also submit a Comment on an Article previously published in the journal. A Comment is a short paper which is not self-contained but focuses specifically on the target Article, often with the intent of disputing conclusions or pointing out purported error or misunderstanding. A Comment must be short (no more than four printed pages, including any tables, figures, references, etc., and may not include any new or previously unpublished data. The main focus of a Comment should be to improve understanding of the scientific issues at stake, and not just to register disagreement, advocate an alternative interpretation already in the literature, or dispute priority. Authors of the target Article will be offered the opportunity to respond to the Comment by submitting a Response, which must similarly be short, include no previously unpublished data, and focus on the scientific issues. Comments and Responses will, in general, be reviewed and evaluated by criteria of relevance and scientific quality. Additional special protocols will apply to Comment and Response situations, and authors should consult these guidelines before preparing or submitting a Comment.

Besides these three categories, the journal will occasionally publish other types of contributions, such as Editorials, Book Reviews, Announcements (e.g., of upcoming conferences) and awards ceremony speeches related to honors granted by the sponsoring societies. In general, such contributions will be short, will not be subject to review, and will be published only at the express invitation of the Executive Editor.

When necessary the journal will print Errata to correct mistakes in previously published materials. Special format guidelines are applicable, but errata should be submitted in the same way as any other manuscript.

Once per year the journal will publish a special supplemental issue containing abstracts submitted the V. M. Goldschmidt Conference, which is the annual meeting of the Geochemical Society. The abstracts are not peer-reviewed and are not handled by the editorial office as individual manuscripts, and authors should not send Goldschmidt Conference abstracts to the editorial office. The abstracts are collected and compiled by the organizers of each individual conference, and prospective authors are referred to each conference's circulars or website for details. The journal will not publish Comments or Errata based on Goldschmidt Conference abstracts.

As noted above, "broad relevance" is an essential criterion for publication in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, and manuscripts lacking broad relevance will not be accepted even if otherwise of high quality. In general, this requirement means not only that the topic of the manuscript lie within the scope of the journal but also that it can plausibly be assessed to be of interest to a significant fraction of the geo/cosmochemistry community. One way in which a manuscript might fail to satisfy this criterion is a narrow geographic focus, e.g. study of a specific sedimentary rock unit, basin, river, mineral deposit, and so on. A specific geographic focus certainly does not preclude acceptance of a manuscript for publication in Geochimica, since results in one locality can be of wide interest or of global significance, but for manuscripts based on localized studies the authors must bear the burden of proof of broad relevance.

Editorial staff will consider relevance when a manuscript is first submitted, and manuscripts judged to lack sufficient relevance may be declined shortly after submission, without external review. It is still possible, however, that a manuscript may be declined for insufficient relevance even after review.

A "technique paper" is one which focuses on describing a new analytical or perhaps computational technique for use in geochemistry and/or cosmochemistry, or a modification/improvement of an existing technique, or perhaps a critical assessment of a technique. As a rule, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta will not publish technique papers, and discourages their submision. There are, however, two exceptions: One is the case in which there is a significant improvement in some technique and plausible expectation of a broad interest, in the technique itself, in the geo/cosmochemical community well beyond the group of investigators who actually use that technique. The second is the case in which the description of the new technique is accompanied by the results of its application to a geo-cosmochemical problem of significant interest in its own right, and demonstration that the new technique yields results superior to those of previously existing techniques. Authors wishing to submit a technique paper must carry the burden of proof that one of these exception criteria is met.

Authors sometimes submit multiple papers which constitute a sequence or otherwise a closely related group, often bearing "part" numbers to distinguish partially identical titles (e.g Clay mineral occurrences. I. Prospecting and Clay mineral occurrences. II. Mudslinging), and often requesting publication in consecutive pages. The question often arises whether it would be better to combine the parts to make one more comprehensive paper.

Arguments that a combined manuscript would be too long will not be effective. The governing criterion is that each paper should be able to stand on its own, such that it would be possible for a reader to read and derive benefit from one paper even without reading the companion(s). By this criterion, for example, if Part I describes procedures and Part II describes results, such that Part I is uninteresting without Part II and Part II is incomprehensible or unbelievable without Part I, the two parts should be combined into a single manuscript. In principle and often in practice the independent value of the separate manuscripts will be tested by use of different reviewers, perhaps also different Associate Editors, for the various parts.

The outcome of separate evaluation may be that one paper in a group is accepted for publication and another not, or that the authors are requested to combine material from multiple papers into a single manuscript. If both/all papers in a group are accepted they will be published in sequential pages if the authors so request.

As noted above, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta intends to publish (as Articles) reports of original scientific research, i.e. work which has not been previously published. It is understood that to establish proper context for understanding and appreciation of the present work it is necessary to describe concepts, results and conclusions in other publications, including some by the present authors. Nevertheless, an Article must be written in such a way that a reader will be able to discern the difference between what is original to the present manuscript and what is referenced to other publications, including manuscripts presently under consideration for publication. Manuscripts judged to have excessive overlap or duplication of material presented in other works, published or under consideration for publication, may be declined even if otherwise satisfying criteria for publication in Geochimica.

In their cover letters accompanying manuscript submission, authors will be expected to make an explicit statement indicating that the manuscript represents original work and presents results not previously published or under consideration for publication, and which will not be submitted for publication elsewhere while under consideration for Geochimica. Alternatively, if any of the "new" data, results or conclusions do have any degree of overlap with material in other works, published or under consideration for publication, in their cover letters authors will be expected to make a statement to this effect and to discuss the relevant relationship, and also to provide copies of the other works. Absence of any such statement from the cover letter may lead to a request for such a statement, possibly causing delay in evaluation of the manuscript.

Geochimica will not decline to consider manuscripts whose content has been or may be partly published in generalist scientific journals which severely restrict manuscript length (e.g. Nature or Science), as long as the manuscript submitted to Geochimica contains significant additional material and is substantially more detailed and complete. If this situation applies, authors will be expected to so note in their cover letters, and also to provide copies of the other papers.

Unrefereed abstracts of conference presentations, oral or poster, do not count as prior publication, and need not be mentioned in cover letters. Privately circulated "preprints" and academic degree theses also do not count as prior publication, nor does temporary publicly-accessible internet posting, even of material which substantially duplicates material in the submitted manuscript, as long as that material was not copyrighted. If copyrighted, the authors should provide the details in their cover letter.

Geochimica requests authors to publish all data (not previously published) which is referenced or otherwise used in a paper. This specifically includes data that might otherwise be displayed only graphically or referred to in summary form. If a dataset is extensive and would require excessive space to tabulate it may be presented in electronic annexes only.

For data representing chemical or isotopic analysis of natural materials authors are also requested to provide specially-formatted computer-readable files for posting as electronic annexes, whether or not the data are also tabulated in the print version of the paper (see Primary Date Tables).

Some manuscripts make important reference to other work by the authors or their colleagues. "Important" in this context means that it would be difficult or impossible to substantiate the present manuscript in question without reference to the prior work. The prior work might be a paper published in the professional literature or an unpublished student thesis or agency report, etc., which contains details of analytical procedure or instrument construction, sample descriptions, mathematical derivations, computer programs, etc. Unless such an infrastructure reference is a publication in a widely accessible journal or book, the authors should be prepared to provide copies to editors and/or reviewers on request.

If an essential infrastructure reference is published in a form that is not widely accessible, e.g. a student thesis, an agency internal report, or a journal with very restricted circulation, the authors of the GCA paper may be asked to provide the reference in electronic format for posting as an electronic annex. If so, the GCA paper should note the availability of the electronic annex.

A parallel reference is a reference to another manuscript which is either "submitted" (submitted but not yet accepted for publication; the phrase "in review" is equivalent) or "in press" (accepted for publication but not yet published), whether in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta or elsewhere. Parallel references should be cited normally in text and should appear in the reference list as a normal entry except that "submitted" or "in press", whichever is applicable, should appear in place of volume and page references.

Authors submitting a manuscript to Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta which uses a parallel reference should be prepared to provide a copy of that paper to the editorial office, electronic if possible, for use by the Executive Editor, the Associate Editor, and/or the reviewers. (The submitted manuscript may be declined if its authors are unable to provide a copy of the parallel reference.) Provision of the parallel reference should be automatic if the submitted manuscript makes important reference to it (see Infrastructure References above) or if the submitted paper and the parallel reference share co-authors. If the parallel reference is also submitted to or in press in Geochimica, unless authors assert the contrary it will be assumed that they give implicit consent for the editorial office to provide AE and/or reviewers with a copy of that reference.

If revision is invited, the authors will be responsible for updating the status of the parallel reference in the revised version.

Although submission of a manuscript containing parallel references is not a problem, it is the policy of the journal not to publish manuscripts which cite a "submitted" parallel reference. A manuscript may be formally accepted for publication and transmitted to the production office for printing, but if the manuscript contains a "submitted" parallel reference the acceptance must be regarded as conditional, pending removal of the "submitted" reference.

Copyeditors are instructed to query the author and request update for any parallel references encountered. Authors will be expected to provide updates, if possible, when they return proof corrections. If the reference has been published, the update is to provide details (volume, page numbers, etc.). If a reference originally listed as "submitted" has been formally accepted for publication, the update is to change "submitted" to "in press".

If a "submitted" parallel reference cannot be updated, at least to "in press", at the time of proof corrections, the Production Manager will remove that manuscript from the production queue and advise the editorial office. Further action on that manuscript will be suspended until the reference has been accepted for publication and can be changed to "in press" or the authors have modified the manuscript to remove the reference and all the reasons why it was cited.

A forward reference is a manuscript or other contribution which is not yet completed and submitted for publication, or, sometimes, is only being contemplated by its prospective authors. Usually a forward reference will appear in the reference list with "in preparation", or "to be submitted", or equivalent phrase, in place of publication details. Sometimes, it does not appear in the references list at all, but is only cited in the text as "... Larry, Shemp and Moe (in prep.) ...", or equivalent phrase. Occasionally an entry in the reference list will appear with authors and title but no publication location information at all; any such entry will be taken to be a forward reference.

Forward references are not permitted in Geochimica. If a manuscript in review is discovered to contain a forward reference the review process will be suspended and the manuscript rejected, and the authors will be asked to resubmit, generally for ab initio evaluation, either the same manuscript after the "in prep." reference has actually been submitted, or a rewritten manuscript in which the citation and the need for it have been eliminated. Copyeditors are instructed that if they encounter a forward reference the production of the manuscript should be terminated and the manuscript returned to the editorial office.

Replacing an "in prep." forward reference with citation of a "private communication" or of "unpublished data" does not change the basic situation and is not an acceptable resolution of the problem of a forward reference. Similarly, it does not suffice to simply remove the citation without also removing the statement that required it in the first place. The operative principle is that if the manuscript in question requires citation of some external authority for an observation or a scientific argument/conclusion, that reference must be accessible to an interested reader who wants to look it up. If the referenced source is not publicly available to an interested reader with reasonable access resources, that source may not be cited.

Some scientific studies are conducted in a "consortium" mode, in which some ad hoc or governmental agency organization provides financial support or special samples to an investigator and in return expects adherence to some set of guidelines regarding, among other things, method and venue of publication reporting results obtained under consortium auspices. It is possible that a consortium-based manuscript could be submitted to GCA which does not follow such guidelines regarding publication. GCA recognizes that authors should be free to publish manuscripts in a scientific journal of their own choice, as long as they meet the normal scientific criteria for publication, but it also takes seriously the obligations entered into through consortium agreements. It is thus possible that a manuscript reporting consortium-supported work may be declined if it violates a consortium publication policy, even if the manuscript is otherwise found suitable for publication according to normal scientific criteria. In cases of contested guidelines, the decision to accept or decline a manuscript will be made by the Executive Editor according to available information for the specific case in question.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta has a board of Associate Editors, knowledgeable members of the geochemistry and cosmochemistry community with a variety of disciplinary expertise, who play a major role in the functioning of the journal. A list of Associate Editors appears on the cover of the journal. A more detailed and up-to-date listing, with contact information and a description of disciplinary expertise, is publicly accessible on this website (Associate Editors).

In most cases a submitted manuscript will be assigned to a specific Associate Editor (AE), who will have the primary responsibility for obtaining professional reviews, communicating with authors as appropriate, and advising the Executive Editor on the suitability of the manuscript for publication and/or on the need for revision prior to publication. In the cover letters accompanying submission authors are requested to recommend one or more AEs whose disciplinary expertise best matches the subject of the submitted manuscript.

Communications between authors, reviewers, Associate Editors and the editorial office may use a variety of media. When possible, the office's preference is e-mail. Most correspondence, e.g., that regarding manuscripts, reviews, etc., should be addressed to office@gca.wustl.edu. E-mail specifically for the Executive Editor should be addressed to editor@gca.wustl.edu. The office's telephone number is 314-935-7453; the fax number is 314-935-8280. The postal address (which may also be used for courier service) is

The editorial office maintains this website (http://gca.wustl.edu), which provides publicly accessible information (such as this "Scope and Overview" page) and announcements relevant to the journal. It also provides facilities for electronic manuscript submission by uploading to the server from the authors' computer (click the Submission button). In addition, this website contains password-protected locations for use by reviewers, Associate Editors, and authors with manuscripts in the process of evaluation.

After a manuscript has been accepted for publication, and all necessary materials and information assembled, the editorial office will transmit the manuscript to the publisher's production office. The editorial office will notify authors when transmittal occurs, and transmitted manuscripts will be listed on the "What's New" page of this website until they appear in print. Once a manuscript is transmitted, however, the editorial office has no control and no direct information on further processing. Inquiries regarding status and timing should be directed to the publisher, Elsevier (see the "Production" page for details).