Advanced Photonics Nexus
Co-Editors-in-Chief:
Xiao-Cong (Larry) Yuan, Shenzhen University, China
Anatoly Zayats, King's College London, United Kingdom
Weibiao Chen, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, CAS, China
Co-published by SPIE and Chinese Laser Press, Advanced Photonics Nexus is a Gold Open Access international journal that publishes novel results of high significance and broad interest in all areas of optics and photonics. The journal publishes high-quality original papers, letters, and review articles, reflecting important advances in fundamental and applied aspects of optics and photonics. Advanced Photonics Nexus is a sibling journal of the highly selective international journal Advanced Photonics, and ensures fast-track publication of high-quality submissions.
Now accepting submissions! Learn more and submit your work.
On the cover: Fiber sensors for self-aware medical devices ("Multimodal fiber antenna for proximity and stress sensing" by M. Gokce, E. Smolinsky, et al.)
Submission Guidelines
Please read these guidelines fully and carefully before submitting.
All manuscripts should be submitted through the Advanced Photonics Nexus ScholarOne online system ( https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/apnexus). You will need to create an account before you submit, unless you already have a ScholarOne account for other CLP journals, including Advanced Photonics, Chinese Optics Letters, and High Power Laser Science and Engineering.
When completing the online submission form, please follow these guidelines:
1. Submission Method:
Note that if you are uploading an EndNote manuscript via the system, sections of the submission form will 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 three to six 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. Authors:
- All the authors’ names, institutions, and email addresses should be added. Only one author can be selected as the corresponding author.
- 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.
4. Please view the PDF and HTML proof before submitting.
5. Please note that all items marked with an asterisk (*) in the submission form are required.
Note: The total combined limit for submission files is ~100 MB.
Before Submitting
Publication Policies
The following requirements will permit you to determine if you can submit a paper to Advanced Photonics Nexus.
Significance: Contributions should be substantial and significant in content. We may decline to publish papers that report only incremental progress. Although a paper may be correct and appropriate for Advanced Photonics Nexus, if it does not demonstrate, in the estimation of the reviewers and editors, sufficient new and important information to warrant publication, or provide a comprehensive review of the current state of the art, it will be declined. Manuscripts that are commercial in nature will not be considered.
Originality: Papers should describe the original work of the authors that has not been previously published in a refereed journal and is not currently under consideration for publication in another refereed journal. Advanced Photonics Nexus does not allow or sanction duplicate or concurrent submissions of a paper to more than one peer-reviewed journal. Papers should not report work that the author has already published in another refereed journal. Any copying of text, figures, data, or results of other authors without giving credit is defined as plagiarism and is a breach of professional ethics. Such papers will be rejected and other penalties may be assessed.
Guidelines for Ethical Publishing
The purpose of these guidelines is to present ethical guidelines for authors, editors, and reviewers to abide by when submitting to or editing/reviewing for Advanced Photonics Nexus.
Authors are expected to read the Guidelines for Ethical Publishing prior to submission.
Authorship
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the concept, design, execution or interpretation of the research study. All those who have made significant contributions should be offered the opportunity to be listed as authors. Other individuals who have contributed to the study should be acknowledged, but not identified as authors. The sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
All collaborators share some degree of responsibility for any paper they coauthor. Some coauthors have responsibility for the entire paper as an accurate, verifiable, report of the research. These include, for example, coauthors who are accountable for the integrity of the critical data reported in the paper, carry out the analysis, write the manuscript, present major findings at conferences, or provide scientific leadership for junior colleagues.
Coauthors who make specific, limited, contributions to a paper are responsible for them, but may have only limited responsibility for other results. While not all coauthors may be familiar with all aspects of the research presented in their paper, all collaborations should have in place an appropriate process for reviewing and ensuring the accuracy and validity of the reported results, and all coauthors should be aware of this process.
Every coauthor should have the opportunity to review the manuscript before its submission. All coauthors have an obligation to provide prompt retractions or correction of errors in published works. Any individual unwilling or unable to accept appropriate responsibility for a paper should not be a coauthor.
Because authorship attribution requires accountability for the submitted work, SPIE does not allow ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) to be listed as an author on a manuscript. If authors use AI tools when writing a manuscript, it must be disclosed along with all other tools used in the study in the Materials and Methods section of the paper. This section should describe which AI tool was used and how it was used. SPIE follows the guidance of COPE on this topic, which further advises that “Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscript, even those parts produced by an AI tool, and are thus liable for any breach of publication ethics.”
Collaborations are expected to have a process to archive and verify the research record; to facilitate internal communication and allow all authors to be fully aware of the entire work; and respond to questions concerning the joint work and enable other responsible scientists to share the data. All members of a collaboration should be familiar with, and understand, the process.
For guidance on preventing and resolving authorship problems, see “ How to handle authorship disputes: a guide for new researchers” (a resource from the Committee on Publication Ethics).
Plagiarism Screening
SPIE defines plagiarism as the reuse of someone else's prior ideas, processes, results, or words without explicit attribution of the original author and source. Unauthorized use of another researcher’s unpublished data or findings without permission is considered to be a form of plagiarism even if the source is attributed. SPIE considers plagiarism in any form, at any level, to be unacceptable and a serious breach of professional conduct.
SPIE and CLP use the Crossref Similarity Check plagiarism screening service to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Crossref Similarity Check is a multipublisher initiative to screen published and submitted content for originality.
Use of Human Subjects and Animals
All authors are expected to observe internationally accepted principles and practices related to the ethical conduct of research involving the use of human subjects or animals. A brief statement must be included in the manuscript identifying the institutional oversight or licensing body that approved the studies. For studies involving human subjects, a statement must also be included confirming that informed consent was either obtained from all subjects or this requirement was waived by the oversight body.
Authors must obtain written permission from the subject (or parent/guardian, if the subject is a minor child) to publish a photograph with an identifiable human face. Such photographs should be used only when scientifically relevant.
Preparing a Manuscript
Overview
Manuscripts should be submitted in English, and the presentation should be as succinct as comprehension will permit. Manuscripts are reviewed and refereed. Those accepted for publication are edited for conformance to the journal's style.
How to Write a Good Scientific Paper by Chris Mack is a useful guide on writing for a peer-reviewed journal. Click here to download the full PDF of this free ebook.
Cover Letter
Authors are required to include a separate cover letter with their submission explaining the significance and novelty of the work, the problem that is being addressed, and why the manuscript belongs in this journal. This cover letter sample (.docx) can be used as a template.
English Language Editing
For authors who want help improving language and grammar, AI tools, such as Grammarly or PaperPal, offer a low-cost editing option. In accordance with the rules stated in the Large Language Models section of these guidelines, such use of AI tools is acceptable but should be disclosed in the Acknowledgments section of the manuscript.
Alternatively, authors may prefer a human professional edit. For this service, SPIE recommends Editage, which offers a 15% discount to SPIE authors. Please note that use of this service does not guarantee editorial acceptance by an SPIE journal. You should avoid making additional changes to your manuscript after receiving the edited version, as grammatical errors may be introduced. More detailed information can be found at editage.com/spie.
Large Language Models
Use of Large Language Models (LLMs) and other AI tools must be disclosed along with all other tools used in the study. The disclosure should describe which AI tool was used, how it was used, and the prompts that were used. AI tools must be disclosed even for general uses, such as cleaning up language and grammar. AI tools used in such methodologies as data collection and figure creation should be disclosed in the Materials and Methods section of the paper. Use for language and grammar clean-up should be disclosed in the Acknowledgments.
Manuscript Types
Original Paper: A full-length manuscript presenting original work.
Letter: A short technical communication of significant interest intended for publication in the Letters section of the journal. The manuscript length should not exceed five published journal pages. This corresponds to approximately 5000 words; however, the inclusion of figures will necessitate a reduction in the word count.
Review Paper: An article reviewing a particular topic or field. Review articles summarize progress made in a particular research or development area during a specified period and summarize the current state of the art. Review papers are invited papers written by a highly regarded expert in the field. Authors may also propose a review article by emailing an inquiry to the Co-Editors-in-Chief or to the staff at apnexus@spie.org or apnexus@siom.ac.cn.
Tutorial: An introductory and systematic description of a technology or a research topic. Tutorials should be accessible to general readers.
Manuscript Templates
To make your initial submission process as easy as possible, as well as to make it easier for the editors and referees to review your manuscript, for the initial submission we only require a single document containing the manuscript and figures, along with any supporting multimedia files. The document may be in MS Word, LaTeX, or PDF. The figures and their captions should be placed within the manuscript, near the first mention each figure in the text. Upon acceptance, authors will be asked to submit individual figure files and a properly formatted manuscript for use in production.
Microsoft Word: A Microsoft Word template (.docx) is available to assist you with formatting. Use MathType for equations. Or, if using MS Word 2007 or later, the native equation editor can be used, but the document must be saved as .docx. Backsaving to .doc format will convert all equations to low-resolution graphics, which cannot be used for typesetting. Please note that all accepted papers are professionally typeset; the template is intended only as a guideline for author convenience, and it is not necessary to rigidly adhere to the format.
LaTeX: A LaTeX template (.zip) is available to assist you with formatting, or you can use the Overleaf authoring tool explained below. LaTeX submissions should include the manuscript, a locally compiled PDF, the bibliography, all referenced style files (such as .cls, .bst, .sty, etc.), and all figures and tables. Please note that all accepted papers are professionally typeset; the template is intended only as a guideline for author convenience, and it is not necessary to rigidly adhere to the format.
The SPIE journal template is available in the Overleaf authoring tool. Developed to simplify LaTeX authorship, this free online tool has numerous benefits, including:
- real-time collaboration between authors
- an intuitive user interface
- user support and LaTeX help
- easy document sharing and security options
- real-time preview of formatting and equations
- inline error warnings
- a rich-text mode that will look familiar to collaborators who are more comfortable authoring in Microsoft Word
- quick submission to an SPIE journal by following the link "Submit to SPIE Journals" at the top of the Overleaf template.
The SPIE Journal template can be found on Overleaf, along with helpful LaTeX tutorials and a free introductory course for authors who are new to Overleaf and LaTeX. If you encounter any problems using the SPIE LaTeX template on Overleaf, please contact their support team via https://www.overleaf.com/contact and they will help you resolve the issue.
Parts of a Manuscript
Title
The title of your paper should be descriptive and concise.
- Acronyms should be spelled out.
- Titles should not begin with the articles A, An, or The.
- Avoid use of the words "new" or "novel" in the title.
Authors and Affiliations
Provide full author names, including given name and family name. These names will be used in official databases and indexes. Initials are not allowed for the given name. Provide full affiliations, including institution, department, street address, city, postal code, and country. An email address should be provided for the corresponding author, and this person should be noted with a footnote.
Abstract
The abstract should be a summary of the paper and not an introduction (200 words maximum). Because the abstract may be used in abstracting journals, it should be self-contained (i.e., no numerical references) and substantive in nature, presenting concisely the objectives, methodology used, results obtained, and their significance. For further guidelines, please read the brief article titled " How to Write an Abstract" by Philip Koopman (Carnegie Mellon University). Abstracts should not make claims of novelty, as publication implies novelty.
Subject terms or keywords
Keywords are required. Please provide 3-6 keywords related to your paper.
Structure
Introduction: Provide a clear context for the study, present the problem or research question, review relevant literature, and outline the paper’s objectives and hypotheses.
Materials and Methods: Include a detailed explanation of the experimental procedures, the equipment and materials used, and the methodology employed, enabling replication of the study. Examples of materials may include cell lines, devices unique to the lab, or any purchased materials critical to the results reported in the paper.
Results: Present the findings of the study in a clear and concise manner, using tables, graphs, or text to depict the data collected, without interpreting or evaluating the results.
Discussion: Interpret the results in light of the research question, compare them with existing literature, explain the implications of the findings, and suggest areas for future research.
Text
Type manuscript in a single column, using a readable font size (for example, 12-point type). Please add page numbers. Note the following style points:
- The standard order of sections for research papers is Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions.
- Journal style does not permit use of bold and italic font for emphasis; these styles should be reserved for formatting math.
- Words should be spelled using American English.
- Spell out all abbreviations and acronyms at first use.
- Metric units should be used unless to do so is not feasible or would result in a serious loss of clarity.
- Footnotes are not allowed for the main body of the text.
Equations
Create equations using MathType or Equation Editor 3.0. If using Word 2007 or later, the native equation editor can be used, but the document must be saved as .docx. When equations built with Microsoft's Editor are back-saved to the .doc format, they are converted to low-resolution graphics and will not be usable for composition. To use MathType or the old Equation Editor 3.0, you will need to select Object on the Text section of the Insert tab and then select MathType/Equation Editor in the drop-down menu. Variables should be written in italic font.
Biographies
Biographies of authors are published with each paper. Manuscripts should include a brief professional biography not to exceed 75 words. Authors are also encouraged to add their biography and photograph to their online SPIE profile on the SPIE website, at http://spie.org/profiles/home.
Appendices
Any figures, tables, or equations in appendices should continue the numbering sequence established in the body of the paper. Appendices may not be consist of only tables and figures; they must also include explanatory text and captions.
Disclosures
Conflicts of interest should be declared under a "Disclosures" header, above Acknowledgments. If the authors have no competing interests to declare, then a statement should be included declaring no conflicts of interest. For assistance generating a disclosure statement, see the form available from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors website: http://www.icmje.org/conflicts-of-interest/.
Code and Data
In support of open scientific exchange, SPIE journals require Data and Code Availability Statements in all accepted papers under the heading “Code and Data Availability,” which should follow the Disclosures section. These statements should provide access information regarding the computer code and data that would be required to replicate or interpret the findings reported in the paper. See the section below about Code and Data for more information about what to include in this section.
Acknowledgments/Funding Sources
Use this section to identify people who have aided the authors in accomplishing the work presented and to acknowledge sources of funding. Include grant numbers and the full name of the funding body. Funding information will be deposited to FundRef.
References
The purpose of a reference is to make the source easy for the reader to locate. To this end, each reference should provide as much information as is available. The basic elements of a reference include author names (including first initials), article/chapter title, journal or book title, volume number, issue number, page range, and year of publication. References are professionally copyedited on accepted manuscripts to conform to journal style, and authors do not need to spend a lot of time adapting references to the journal's reference format, so long as all of the required information is present.
References to published literature should be listed at the end of the manuscript and numbered consecutively in the order of their citation in the text. In-text citations can use superscript or bracketed reference numbers. Private communications or unpublished reports should be treated as references. Click here for sample book, journal, and Internet references. For references with three or fewer authors, list all authors. For references with four or more authors, list the first author only followed by "et al."
Books: Author(s) (list first and middle initials, then last name), book title in italic, publisher, city, and year published. (When citing a paper chapter in a book, list the chapter title in quotes, and the book title in italic, plus the page numbers.) Example: J. A. Hall, "Imaging tubes," Chap. 13 in The Infrared Handbook, W. W. Wolfe, G. J. Zissis, Eds., pp. 132-176, ERIM, Ann Arbor, MI (1978).
Journals: Author(s) (list first and middle initials, then last name), paper title in quotes, journal name in italic (abbreviate only well-known journals), volume and issue numbers, inclusive page numbers, and year published. Example: N. Bluzer and A. S. Jensen, "Current readout of infrared detectors," Opt. Eng.26(3), 241-248 (1987).
Internet: Author (if stated), “Title of document,” Title of complete work (if relevant), date of online publication or last revision, (date of access, if known) [URL]. Example: J. D. Harrington and K. Barnstorff, "NASA tests software that may help increase flight efficiency, decrease aircraft noise," NASA , 15 December 2014 (accessed 29 January 2015). [http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/december/nasa-tests-software-that-may-help-increase-flight-efficiency-decrease-aircraft/#.VMq3AfldVI5]
Artwork Preparation
For peer review, manuscripts should be submitted with the figures/tables and their captions incorporated into the same file as the manuscript text. However, upon first revision or acceptance, authors will be asked to submit individual figure files and a properly formatted manuscript for use in production. The total combined limit for submission files is ~100 MB.
General Figure Guidelines: Figures must be submitted in TIFF, PNG, or PDF format for publication. We cannot accept application files, i.e., Corel Draw, Microsoft Word, etc. Number all figures in the order that they appear in the text. All figure parts/panels must be labeled (a), (b), etc. Submit high-resolution figures. The quality of the published figure is only as good as the original file—it cannot be improved by the typesetter.
Advanced Photonics Nexus prohibits the use of the Lena (Lenna) image. Authors are advised to use other suitable images to illustrate and compare image processing algorithms. Authors who submit new manuscripts containing the Lena image will be asked to replace the image with a substitute image.
Figure Permissions: If the figure is derived from a previously published image, the author must obtain permission from the original copyright holder, who may be the publisher and/or the author. Once permission is granted, the figure caption should include the line "Reproduced with permission, courtesy of [copyright owner]," or the publisher's required copyright statement. Many permissions can be obtained via the Copyright Clearance Center .
Figure Requirements:
File types |
TIFF, PNG, PDF, or PS |
Dimensions |
Figures will be reduced to a maximum width of 3 and 5/16 in. for single-column layout, and a maximum width of 6 and 3/4 in. for two-column layout. |
Background |
Avoid graphs with shaded, transparent, or grid backgrounds. The background should be white. |
Colored lines |
All line art should be distinguishable in grayscale. If colored lines are used, please add symbols or dot-dash textures to distinguish lines in all graphs. |
Line weight |
Ensure that line weights will be 0.5 points or greater in the final published size. Light-colored lines do not show up when printed in grayscale. |
Alpha channel |
No |
Compression |
LZW with .tiff files |
Resolution |
300-600 pixels per inch (ppi). Enlarge to 150% to check for jagged or blurry lines, indicating low resolution. |
Layers |
Flattened, no layers |
Color mode |
RGB or CMYK |
Text |
No smaller than 8 pt. Use a clear and readable font such as Times, Arial, or Symbol. |
Captions |
Do not include in image file. Captions should be listed separately within the manuscript and contain descriptions of all labeled figure parts (a), (b), etc. |
File size |
Should not exceed 2-3 MB per figure |
Multipart figures |
All parts should be included in one file, on one page. For example, if Figure 1 contains three parts (a, b, c), then all of the labeled parts should be combined in a single file for Figure 1. |
Tables
Tables should be built in Word, Excel (embedded in Word), or LaTeX. They should not contain graphics. Tables containing images must be numbered as figures. Colored fonts will not appear in the typeset version, so bold and italic should be used for emphasis instead. Explain use of bold or italic in the caption or table footnote. Do not use shading. Very large tables may be vertically oriented, or they may span multiple typeset pages. A caption must be included with the table.
Video
Research articles, letters, and reviews may include video. Acceptable file formats, including MOV, MPG, and MP4, are playable using standard media players, such as VLC or Windows Media Player.
The video should be mentioned according to the following naming/numbering convention: Video 1, Video 2, etc. If videos are included as part of an existing figure, they should be described and identified within the figure caption. The file type and size should be included in parentheses at the end of the caption, e.g., (Video 1, MPEG, 2.5 MB).
Fig. 1 Confocal microscopic images of red blood cells in (a) an isotonic buffer (Video 1) and (b) a hypertonic buffer (Video 2) in three different viewing projections (Video 1, MPEG, 3.1 MB; Video 2, MPEG, 4.2 MB).
Authors are encouraged to provide a representative still image for any stand-alone video. The image should be treated as a figure, numbered in sequence, and submitted in one of the accepted figure file formats. A caption describing the content of the video file is required, similar to a typical figure caption. For example:
Fig. 4 Photodynamic therapy response of the targeted region (MP4, 5 MB).
Code and Data
In support of open scientific exchange, SPIE/CLP co-published journals require Code and Data Availability Statements in all accepted papers. These statements should describe how to access any data that would be required to replicate or interpret the findings reported in the paper. See below for more information about what to include in this section.
Availability Statement
Authors are encouraged to make the data and code related to the manuscript publicly available whenever possible, utilizing repositories that are well-known to the field. If the data or code cannot be made publicly available, authors should state the reason and explain how it can be obtained. Likewise, if data sharing is not applicable, the statement must say so.
The following examples may be used as guidance for Data Availability Statements:
- All data in support of the findings of this paper are available within the article or as supplementary material.
- The data presented in this article are publicly available in [repository name] at [DOI link].
- The archived version of the code described in this manuscript can be freely accessed through Code Ocean [DOI link].
- The data utilized in this study were obtained from [third party name]. Data are available from the authors upon request, and with permission from [third party].
- The data that support the findings of this article are not publicly available due to [privacy, ethical concerns]. They can be requested from the author at [email address].
- Data sharing is not applicable to this article, as no new data were created or analyzed.
Repositories
Code and data can be shared using any well-known repositories, including FigShare, Github, and CodeOcean. Data or code contained in an external repository should be cited in the reference list, and authors should include a DOI whenever it is available.
Dataset Reference Example: Creator Name, “Dataset Title,” Repository Name, version (publication year). https://doi.org/.....
Manuscripts that include externally hosted code should mention that code and the name of the repository in the text of the paper or figure caption:
Example 1:
The archived version of the code can be freely accessed and executed through Code Ocean.
Example 2:
The code used to generate the results and figures is available in a Github repository.
Code Ocean is our recommended platform for sharing code, but other repositories may be similarly used as a hosting platform. Software and code essential for reproducibility and reuse can be easily incorporated into your SPIE journal manuscript via Code Ocean
If you intend to upload code to Code Ocean, you may do so before or after article acceptance, but prior to publication. Authors of papers that mention code/software on Code Ocean will receive instructions on how to link the code to the article in the author proofs.
Supplementary Material
Authors may submit supplementary material supporting original research. Please indicate whether the supplementary material is intended for publication.
If intended for publication, supplementary material such as notes, figures, and tables should be compiled by the author into a single “Supplementary Material” PDF file to be linked to the parent article upon publication (e.g., doi 10.1117/1.AP.2.1.016001.s01).
Any references cited in the supplementary material must be included in the full list of references in the main article; if any references are not cited in the main text, they should be listed in order at the end of the main reference list.
Countable supplementary items mentioned in the primary text should be numbered sequentially with an uppercase S to identify them as supplementary, i.e. Figure S1, Figure S2, etc.
Other types of supplementary material may be considered for publication, if they will benefit the reader's understanding of the work. Please contact the editorial staff at apnexus@siom.ac.cn or apnexus@spie.org for guidance.
All supplementary material submitted will be assessed for appropriateness and value. The journal editor has final authority to decide whether supplementary material should be published with the article. Authors are responsible for ensuring that any supplemental materials they submit are not subject to any prior copyright.
Peer Review Process
Overview
All submissions are screened to ensure they meet basic standards of manuscript presentation and are also processed through Crossref Similarity Check. Directly submitted manuscripts and those transferred from sister journal Advanced Photonics are then evaluated by the Co-Editors-in-Chief (Co-EiCs) and editorial board members (EBMs) to ensure they meet the journal's rigorous scientific standards and are eligible for peer review. Manuscripts that meet these criteria are reviewed (single-anonymous) by at least two referees selected by the EBM based on their expertise in the topic. The referees provide detailed comments and recommendations to help the EBM arrive at the appropriate editorial decision. Revised manuscripts are evaluated by the EBM and may be sent to the original or new referees. The Co-EiCs have the ultimate authority to accept or reject a submission.
Authors should carefully address all reviewer comments when submitting a revised manuscript.
Authors may appeal to the EBM or Co-EiCs to reconsider a rejection decision if they believe that the reviewers have seriously misjudged the manuscript. All appeals will be given careful consideration. The EBM and/or Co-EiCs will determine if further consideration is merited or if the original decision should stand.
Submissions from editors or members of the editorial board are handled by an EBM 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 or EBMs who are authors of the paper within the journal's online submission and review system.
Revised Manuscripts
When submitting a revised manuscript, authors must include a “response letter” that addresses the reviewers’ comments on a point-by-point basis. The following guidelines are provided to assist you in writing an appropriate response letter.
First, you should be aware that the response letter will be read by the assistant editors, topical editors, and sometimes the original reviewers, if the paper requires re-review. It will be easier for the editors and reviewers to evaluate your revised manuscript if you provide a well-written and detailed response letter that thoroughly addresses the reviewers’ comments. The response letter connects the revised paper with the reviewers’ comments and the original paper. When an editor or reviewer reads the response letter, they should be able to easily determine what comments were raised by the reviewers, how the authors addressed these comments, and where the revisions are located in the manuscript corresponding to each comment.
Here are some additional tips:
- Answer the reviewers’ comments item by item, in the order presented by the reviewers. Avoid mixing all the questions together and answering them in your own order. Although this may seem more logical to you, it will make it more difficult for the editors to determine whether you have adequately addressed the reviewers’ comments.
- Take the reviewers’ comments seriously and answer them all completely. Avoid simply answering “Ok” or “Yes” to the questions. At the very least, you should indicate where you made changes in the manuscript corresponding to each reviewer comment.
- Read your response letter several times to ensure you have addressed all the reviewers’ comments and have not made any typos or grammatical mistakes.
For your reference, a template response letter is available here.
After Acceptance
Open Access
Advanced Photonics Nexus articles are published with immediate open access under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 Attribution license ( CC BY). The article publication charge (APC) is waived for all articles submitted through 1 July 2024. For articles submitted after 1 July, the standard APC for open access will apply ($1675, with discounts available). Read more about our open access program.
Upon acceptance, authors are given instructions for completing and returning the CC BY license form.
Under the CC BY license, ownership of copyright in the article (if applicable) and all other proprietary rights, including patent rights, remain with the author(s). In addition to any rights under copyright, the author(s) retain the rights (a) to reproduce, distribute, and publicly display the article in any form or medium; (b) to prepare derivative works from the article; and (c) to authorize others to make any use of the article, provided that proper full attribution is given to the original SPIE publication.
Author Proofs
Accepted papers are immediately sent into production, where they are professionally copyedited and typeset in XML. It usually takes 10-12 days after acceptance to generate the first proof. The corresponding author will be notified by email when the proof is ready to review. Changes should be kept to a minimum. Additions or subtractions of large portions of text may require re-review.
Promote Your Research
- Share your article on social media. This tip sheet for SPIE journal authors can help get you started.
- Write an article summary to share with your institution’s communications or PR office.
- Update your online CV and website to include a complete citation to the article.
- Inform your institution that it has been published so that it may be added to any lists of publications they maintain and disseminate.
- Create a 90-second Explainer Video to be published with your paper and shared on social media.
How to Cite
Advanced Photonics Nexus uses six-digit citation identifiers (CIDs) in place of traditional page numbering. This allows an issue to build online one article at a time, while retaining the ability to segment tables of contents by article type or subject area. An example of the correct citation format for an Advanced Photonics Nexus article is:
A. Smith and B. Jones, "Paper title," Adv. Photon.Nexus 1(2), 023407 (2019).
In this fictitious example, the article by Smith and Jones was published in Advanced Photonics Nexus in Issue 2 of Volume 1, as the seventh article published in the section of the table of contents to which it was assigned (in this case, category number 34, which could represent either a topical section or an article type category within the table of contents).
In the full-text PDF file, the CID appears on each page. Appended at the end of the CID is a hyphen followed by a consecutive page number. For the sample article above, the pages would carry this page numbering: 023407-1, 023407-2, 023407-3, etc. The hyphen and additional digits should not be used when citing or searching for an article.
Article Sharing
For details about publication licenses and the associated rights to share published articles, see the policies on article sharing.
Corrections and Retractions
As a publisher, SPIE has an obligation to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record, and will make changes to published articles in certain circumstances, as described here.
Errata
An erratum describes corrections to a published paper resulting from errors with data or interpretation, omissions of information, or any other technical error. An erratum may be initiated by the author, a reader, or an editor, but must have the author’s approval. These statements are published separately from the original paper and include a citation to the original article. When an erratum is published, the original work will also, whenever possible, be corrected and republished with a Corrected date on the PDF, which helps to prevent future duplication of the error.
Any changes to the author list post-publication require approval from all authors and the Editor in Chief, and are at the discretion of the Publisher.
Errata are free to read.
Publisher’s Note
When an error in a paper is initiated by the publisher, such as something inadvertently introduced during copyediting or typesetting, and the error impacts the integrity of the article, a Publisher’s Note may be issued. In this case, the original article will be corrected and republished online with a Corrected date on the PDF. The Publisher’s Note will describe the change and include a citation and link to the original article. Publisher’s Notes are free to read.
Retraction
Retractions can be initiated by a journal editor, author, publisher, or an author’s institution. The journal editor may consider retraction if they have clear evidence that the paper’s findings are unreliable, either as a result of a major error, or as a result of fabrication or falsification. Other reasons for retraction include plagiarism; previously reported findings, without proper attribution; unauthorized data or material; copyright infringement; unethical research involving human or animal subjects; work published solely on the basis of a compromised or manipulated peer review process; the authors failed to disclose a significant conflict of interest; or egregious dishonesty surrounding authorship, including paid authorship or listing authors without their permission. These reasons for retraction are in line with the Council of Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on retraction.
In the case of retraction, the PDF of the original paper will be republished with a “Retracted” watermark across all pages, and the word “Retracted” will be added to the paper title. The online version of the article will be replaced by a retraction notice that includes the full citation of the original paper and the reason the paper is retracted. The retraction notice will effectively replace the original paper, with the same DOI and citation information.
Prior to retraction, authors will be given an opportunity to respond and appeal, but retraction does not require unanimous agreement of the authors. Retraction notices are free to read.
Name Changes
SPIE allows authors to change their names in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion in research communities. Authors may wish to change a name due to gender identity, marriage, divorce, religion, or other reasons, and SPIE will not require proof or supporting documentation for this change. When an author requests a name change on a work or works published in the SPIE Digital Library, the paper(s) will be updated and republished online, while maintaining the same citation information. Name changes do not require an erratum. It is recommended that co-authors are informed of the name change.
Misspellings and errors in an author's name are a different matter and still require correction via erratum.
To request a name change, please contact name_change_request@spie.org with your request. Include the paper DOI and the name change information. We will update the paper promptly and republish online, which will trigger it to be redelivered to all abstracting and indexing databases.
Misuse of this policy is an ethical violation and will be investigated and acted upon.