Chinese Optics Letters (COL) is a short-article journal for the rapid dissemination of new, important results in all branches of optical science and technology and related fields, published monthly by Chinese Laser Press and distributed abroad by Optica Publishing Group.

Information for Authors

Authors should submit online:

Submit a Paper

Author Style Guide & Templates

When preparing the manuscripts, the authors should follow the style guide and template of Chinese Optics Letters.

Adherence to COL style guide is essential for efficient review and publication of submissions. Additional information and template for MS Word & WordPerfect and LaTeX & REVTeX are also available. See the Authors tab for general information for authors.

1. Title

The title should be concise but informative. Avoid beginning with an article or a preposition. The words "new" or "novel" should be avoided in the title and the text for legal reasons. Titles may be edited by the publisher to facilitate computer search.

2. Author names and Affiliations

Author names should be given in full and consistent form to facilitate indexing. Affiliations and postal addresses for all authors should appear on the title page.

3. Abstract

The abstract should be no longer than 100 words. It should be informative, without descriptive words or citations, and contain the major conclusions and quantitative results or other significant items in the paper. Together with the title, the abstract must be adequate as an index to all the subjects treated in the paper, and will be used as a base for indexing.

4. Equations

Equations should be punctuated and aligned to bring out their structure, and numbered consecutively in round brackets on the right-hand side of the page.

Notation. Notation must be legible, clear, compact, and consistent with standard usage. In general, acronyms should be defined at first use.

Variables and Vectors. Set single-letter variables in italics (Eg. M). Set vectors in boldface (Eg. m). Functions, derivative "d," abbreviations, and multi-letter identifiers should be set in roman (plain) type (Eg. α, cos, ∫...dx).

Fences. For simple bracketing the usual order of parentheses and brackets is { [ ( { [ ( ) ] } ) ] }.

Bit and Byte. The standard abbreviations for bit and byte are b and B, respectively. To avoid confusion, these units should be spelled out in most cases (1 bit, 20 GB). Display equations should be broken and aligned for two-column display unless spanning across two columns is essential. Equations should be centered with equation numbers set flush right. For Math Type math, use the Format Equations feature to format all equations as Times + Symbol 10. Note: There must be a blank line space above and below each displayed equation.

5. References

References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first referenced in the body of the manuscript. Two references [2,3] should be included together, separated by a comma, and three or more consecutive references should be indicated by the bounding numbers and an en dash [1-4]. When compiling your references, be sure to include the titles of articles. COL requires this information before a paper can be sent to peer review. All reference authors should be included in the reference list but when reference authors are mentioned in the text, use surnames only (unless further clarity is needed), and use "et al." and first author name when three or more authors are given. The format of references is as follows:

  1. Journal paper
    Q. Ji, X. Ma, J. Sun, H. Zhang, and Y. Yao, "Novel method for measurement of effective cavity length of DBR fiber", Chin. Opt. Lett. 8, 398 (2010).
  2. Book
    N. Bloembergen, Nonlinear Optics (Springer, 1965).
  3. Paper in published conference proceedings
    R. E. Kalman, "Algebraic aspects of the generalized inverse of a rectangular matrix", in Proceedings of Advanced Seminar on Generalized Inverse and Applications 111 (1976).
  4. SPIE proceedings
    S. K. Griebel, M. Richardson, K. E. Devenport, and H. S. Hinton, "Experimental performance of an ATM-based buffered hyperplane CMOSSEED smart pixel array", Proc. SPIE 3005, 254 (1997).
  5. Paper accepted for publication
    H. Qi, M. Zhu, W. Zhang, K. Yi, H. He, and J. Shao, "Dependence of wavefront errors on the nonuniformity of thin film", Chin. Opt. Lett. (to be published).
  6. Internet links
    A. G. Ramm, H. Wang, and J. Ye, "Invisible obstacles", http://www.arxiv.org/abs/math-ph/0608034 (June 1, 2011).
  7. Patent
    K. Zhang, J. Zhang, R. Wang, R. Guo, J. Wang, and K. Peng, “All solid state single frequency and frequency-doubled laser” (in Chinese) Chinese Patent ZL98125474.8 (2000).

6. Figures and Tables

Figures
Figures should be suitable (resolution above 300 dpi) for immediate reproduction and embedded in the text. They should be set as one column wide (6-8 cm) if possible unless two-column display is essential. In the figures, the main lines should be about 0.3 mm in width, and the assistant lines 0.15 mm. Notations in the figures should be distinct and consistent with the same ones in the text, and their font size will be 7-9 pt. Figures should also be uploaded as separate figure files. Each figure should have its own caption. Color Art is Online Only, and free to authors.

Tables
Tables must be numbered in order of appearance and identified with appropriate titles. The table title, which should be brief, goes above the table. Note that tables are usually typeset, not scanned (tables cannot be electronically reduced in size). Tables should be set in one column wide if possible and be placed near their first mention in the body.

7. Funding Sources
Please identify all appropriate funding sources by name and contract number in the Acknowledgment section.

8. Article Length and Proof
Note that Chinese Optics Letters has a limit of five printed pages. If a paper exceeds this limit, it must be shortened before the paper is accepted. If the page proof is over the five-page limit, the proof must be shortened before the paper can be assigned to a final issue. Authors should use the COL Word or LaTeX templates to prepare manuscripts to facilitate length checking. Authors will receive page proofs of their papers. Corrected proofs should be returned to the COL Editorial office as soon as possible, to avoid publication delays.

9. Copyright
As the manuscript has been accepted, all authors should transfer the copyright of the article, including that of the printing and on-line version, to the publisher. All authors must sign the Transfer of Copyright Agreement before the article can be published. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information.
Editors would inform the corresponding author to return the copyright transfer agreement before the chief- editor's final examination
COL Copyright Transfer Agreement (for International Author, Click to download PDF)
COL Copyright Transfer Agreement (for Chinese Author, Click to download PDF)

Manuscript Preparation Template
Manuscript Templates
MS Word (Click to download Word template)
LaTeX (Click to download Latex template)
Citation Style Files
col.ens (EndNote)
Tips for Reference Arrangement and Journal Name Abbreviation
The authors are recommended to use reference manager tools to arrange the list of references before submission. Most journal names in the list of references should be abbreviated, and the authors can find the commonly-used journal name abbreviation from the website of journalseek.net. If you have questions or comments please e-mail: col@siom.ac.cn.

Author Submission guideline

All manuscripts should be submitted through the Chinese Optics Letters ScholarOne online system. You will need to create an account before you submit, unless you already have a ScholarOne account for other CLP journals, including Advanced Photonics and High Power Laser Science and Engineering.

When completing the online submission form, please follow these guidelines:

  1. Submission Method:

    If uploading an EndNote manuscript via this system, sections of the submission process can be populated automatically.

  2. Manuscript Information:

    The Title & Abstract should match your uploaded manuscript. You may use the “Special Characters” function to insert a special character.

    Enter two to five keywords for the submission. Select one subject from the existing list.

    The Cover Letter can be entered directly into the system or uploaded as a separate file in .docx or .pdf format.

  3. Files upload:

    The main document should be in Microsoft Word or Latex version (together with PDF) following the template of Chinese Optics Letters.

    All the separate figure files in PNG, JPG, EPS or TIFF format (resolution above 300 dpi) should be uploaded.

  4. Authors:

    All the authors' names, institutions, and email addresses should be added,. If there is more than one corresponding authors, please clarify it in the main document.

    Use the function “Find using Author's email address” when adding a co-author. If no co-author is found, please click “create a new co-author” to add the information for this author yourself.

  5. Submitting:

    Please view the PDF and HTML proof before submitting.

  6. Others:

    Please note that all items marked with an asterisk (*) are required

Peer review process

  1. First Review

    Manuscripts are screened by the editorial office regarding the manuscript format and the duplication rate. Manuscripts are then preliminarily evaluated by the editors-in-chief and editorial board members to ensure they meet the journal's rigorous scientific standards and are eligible for peer review. The manuscript might be unsubmitted or rejected in this step.

    This step averages 1-2 weeks and may extend under special occasions.

  2. Peer Review

    Manuscripts that meet these criteria are single-blind reviewed by at least two referees. The referees provide detailed comments and recommendations to help the editorial board members arrive at the appropriate editorial decision.

    This step averages 30 days and may extend under special occasions.

  3. Author Revision

    Authors should carefully address all reviewer comments when submitting a revised manuscript.

    The revision time is 7/10 days, and may extend under special occasions.

  4. Re-review

    Revised manuscripts are evaluated by the editorial board members and may be sent to the original or new referees.

    This process averages 15-30 days, and may extend under special occasions.

  5. Appeal

    Authors may appeal to the editorial office to reconsider a rejection decision if they believe that the reviewers have seriously misjudged the manuscript. All appeals will be given careful consideration. The editorial board members and/or editors-in-chief will determine if further consideration is merited or if the original decision should stand.

    *Submissions from members of the editorial board are handled by an editorial board member who is not connected with the manuscript to ensure that such submissions receive an objective and unbiased evaluation. Information about the review process for such submissions is redacted from the view of any editors who are authors of the paper within the journal's online submission and review system.

Status in Online System

When checking the Author Center, the author could probably see the following status:

Awaiting EO Decision:

The submission is in the format and quality check by editorial office, editor-in-chiefs and editorial board members before peer review.

Or all the required comments have been received. The editor is checking the comments and will make a recommendation soon.

Awaiting Reviewer Scores:

In general occasions, at least two reviewers are required in first round peer review.

Minor/Major Revision:

The review comments have been sent to the authors in decision letter. Please check the mailbox of the contact author.

Reject:

The rejection comments have been sent to the authors in decision letter. Please check the mailbox of the contact author.

Accept:

Authors of papers being accepted will receive the formal acceptance acknowledgement including the article processing charge and expecting publishing issue. Please check the mailbox of the contact author.

*After submitting the revision version, the paper enters the re-review process (ADM not assigned in this step).

Article processing charge

Up to 4 pages: 4520 RMB

Per page 4+ pages: plus 1000 RMB (up to 6 pages)