Content / Submission Instructions

The following questions should be addressed:

  1. The research discussed must be sound physics.
  2. The content should be readily understood by a third year undergraduate or an educated lay person in science.
  3. The ideal length is 3 to 4 journal pages, or 3000 to 4000 words, minus approximately 300 words per figure. A typical article would have two to three figures and 2000 to 3000 words, including references. If the topic warrants it, the Editorial Board is willing to consider articles up to six journal pages in length.
  4. The final manuscript must be submitted in electronic format in either Word or Wordperfect format.
  5. The figure captions must be clear and readily understood.
  6. The figures must be clear and readily understood. They must be submitted in electronic format as either .jpg, .tif, or .pdf files, with a resolution of 300 dpi and fonts embedded. In order to allow for maximum flexibility in terms of placement and sizing of figures, the figures should be no smaller than 5″ x 7″ in size at 100%. The figures must be saved as individual files, not embedded in Word or WordPerfect files. (Please note that the issue is generally published in black and white; colour figures can be accommodated but are normally only included when the costs of same are covered by the author according to the schedule noted below).Colour Figures – $250 for first figure; $50 for each additional figure. This fee also includes the creation and immediate posting of an official pdf of the article on the PiC website (see #5 below for more information).

Procedure for the processing of articles:

  1. The author submits the proposed article in electronic format together with clean (not necessarily final) copies of each of the figures. The manuscript must clearly be labelled as a draft.
  2. The draft article will be reviewed for acceptability by a member of the Editorial Board. If approved in principle for publication, it will then be forwarded to an independent referee for content review.
  3. An anonymous copy of the referee’s report will be forwarded to the author with an indication of deadline for receipt of the final version of the article if accepted in order to meet the publication schedule for the preferred issue. The Editorial Board reserves the right to engage the services of a second referee where deemed appropriate. The final decision on suitability for publication rests with the Editor.
  4. The author submits the final version of the article to the Managing Editor at the Canadian Association of Physicists (pic-pac@cap.ca).The final article MUST be submitted in electronic format (WordPerfect, or Word). The figures must be submitted electronically at this time as separate graphic files (in .tif, .jpg, or .pdf format, 300 dpi with fonts embedded).
  5. The author will be provided with an electronic .pdf of the page proofs for final review prior to publication. The author will also be given the opportunity to pay a fee to make their articles available to the general public immediately otherwise the article will be available to the general public a year after the date of publication of the issue. All online articles can be accessed via the index of each particular issue on the PiC website (https://pic-pac.cap.ca).
  6. Once published, the primary author (if a non-CAP member) will be provided with complimentary electronic copy of the issue.