Guide for Authors Computers & Geosciences

It can be advantageous to print this "Guide for Authors" section for reference during the
subsequent stages of article preparation.
Summary of Important Items when submitting a manuscript
1) Be certain that your manuscript contains suitable material for the journal (computing
methods in the physical geosciences). Out of scope articles will be returned to authors
without review. Please read the Aims & Scope of the journal.
2) Please read the Elsevier web page on Publishing Ethics:
www.elsevier.com/publishingethicskit.
3) Please provide a covering letter explaining the contribution of the manuscript.
4) Grammar, spelling and accuracy are considered as the most important screening criterion.
If your manuscript contains errors in English, it will be returned. Non-English speaking
authors are encouraged to have their manuscript checked and edited by a native English
speaker. Alternatively, the use of language editing services can be used to improve the
English of a manuscript.
5) Manuscripts, which do not meet the novelty, significance, and competence criteria (Aims
& Scope of the journal) will be returned to authors at any stage, at the discretion of the
Editor.
6) References must follow the format as stipulated in this guide. Your manuscript will be
returned if the format of the references is not correct.
7) Ensure that figures are adequately labelled (coordinates, scale bar, orientation) and the
resolution is sufficient for publication scale.
8) Choose the appropriate article type (Research, Application, Review or Short Note articles
see Aims & Scope). Ensure your manuscript falls within the word limit for the article
type that you choose. Please note: maximum word count is based on the text,

excluding abstract, keywords, references and captions.

9) Text and figure files must be uploaded separately.
10) If you are submitting a revised manuscript, CLEARLY address, point-by-point, to the
comments provided by the reviewers. This includes any request for improvements in the
English.
11) Briefly, the format of your manuscript must be:
a. in a word processing format (i.e. MS Word or LaTeX).
DO NOT SUBMIT PDF DOCUMENTS (PDF figures are ok).
b. single column
c. double spaced lines
d. line numbers
e. adhere to the reference format standard for the journal
f. figures must be uploaded separately and properly labelled during the submission
process.
g. provide a separate list of figure captions and table captions at the end of the text
document.

The following links within this document provide important details for all submissions:
Guide for Submission of Articles
Submission Checklist
Preparation of Text
Reference Citation Requirements
Preparation of Illustrations
Submission of Computer Code / Applications
Proofs and Offprints

Contact information
For general information about the journal, the submission of computer code, or inquiries on
access to the ftp site for computer code (www.iamg.org) for the journal, contact:
Professor Jef Caers
Editor-in-Chief, Computers & Geosciences
Email: jcaers@stanford.edu
For information regarding submissions and manuscript status, please contact the Journal
Manager:
David Vargas
Journal Manager
Computers & Geosciences
Email: cageo@elsevier.com
Subscription information
Business related to the International Association for Mathematical Geology (IAMG), such as
membership and subscriptions to Computers & Geosciences should be sent to:
IAMG Office
5868 Westheimer Rd. #537
Houston, TX 77057
U.S.A.
Tel: +1-832-380-8833 (messages)
email: support@iamgmembers.org

Submission of articles
General
It is essential to give an e-mail address and, if available, a fax number, when submitting a
manuscript. Articles must be written in good English. Submission of an article implies that the
work:
a) has not been published previously in whole or part (except in the form of an abstract or as part
of a published lecture or academic thesis),
b) is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
c) is approved by all Authors,
d) if accepted, will not be published elsewhere in whole or part, in English or in any other
language, without the written consent of the Publisher.
Upon acceptance of an article, Authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information
on copyright see www.elsevier.com/authors). This transfer will ensure the widest possible
dissemination of information. A letter will be sent to the corresponding Author confirming receipt
of the manuscript. A form facilitating transfer of copyright will be provided.
If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the Author(s) must obtain written
permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has
preprinted forms for use by Authors in these cases: contact Elseviers Rights Department, Oxford,
UK: phone (+44) 1865 843830, fax (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail permissions@elsevier.com.
Requests
may
also
be
completed
online
via
the
Elsevier
homepage
(www.elsevier.com/permissions).
Authors rights
Please see: www.elsevier.com/authorsrights
The Submission Process
Manuscripts are to be submitted online. No other form of submission is accepted. Use the
following guidelines to present and submit your article.
Manuscripts are submitted via the Elsevier Editorial System page of this journal,
http://ees.elsevier.com/cageo. You will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of
the various files. The system automatically converts source files to a single Adobe Acrobat PDF
version of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Please note that even though
manuscript source files are converted to PDF at submission for the review process, these source
files are also stored in their original format by the system for further processing after acceptance.
All correspondence, including notification of the Editors decision and requests for revision, takes
place by e-mail and via the Authors homepage, removing the need for a hard-copy paper trail.
If you are submitting a manuscript in LaTeX format, the figures and tables will be uploaded
together and a pdf will be created from the LaTeX document.
It can sometimes be helpful to suggest the names of up to 4 suitable referees (include their e-mail
addresses), although the Editor may not use any of them.

KML files (optional)

The journal would like to enrich online articles by providing GoogleMaps visualizing your data.
For this purpose, KML files can be uploaded in our online submission system. Keyhole Markup
Language (KML) is an XML schema for expressing geographic annotation and visualization
within Internet-based Earth browsers. Elsevier will generate GoogleMaps from the submitted
KML files and include these in the online article. Submitted KML files will also be available for
downloading from your online article on ScienceDirect.
Open Access (optional)
This journal offers you the option of making your article freely available to all via the
ScienceDirect platform. To prevent any conflict of interest, you can only make this choice after
receiving notification that your article has been accepted for publication. The fee of $3,000
excludes taxes and other potential author fees such as color charges. In some cases, institutions
and funding bodies have entered into agreement with Elsevier to meet these fees on behalf of
their authors. Details of these agreements are available at http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies.
Authors of accepted articles, who wish to take advantage of this option, should complete and
submit the order form (available at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/openaccessform.pdf).
Whatever access option you choose, you retain many rights as an author, more information can be
found here: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights.
Electronic format requirements
We accept most word processing formats, but Word or LaTeX are preferred. Always keep a
backup copy of the electronic file for reference and safety. Save your files using the default
extension of the program used (e.g. .doc).
Word Processor documents
It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor.
The text should be in single-column format, 12 point Times New Roman font, double
line-spaced with line numbering. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most
formatting codes will be removed and replaced during processing of the article. In
particular, do not use the word processors options to justify text or to hyphenate words.
However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc.
Do not embed graphically designed equations or tables, but prepare these using the
word processors facility.
When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual
table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align
columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of
conventional manuscripts (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier:
www.elsevier.com/guidepublication). Vertical lines should not be included in tables.
Do not import the figures into the text file but, instead, indicate their approximate
locations directly in the electronic text and on the manuscript. See also the section on
Preparation of electronic illustrations.
To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the spellchecker function
of your word processor.

LaTeX documents
If the LaTeX file is suitable, proofs will be produced without re-keying the text. The article
should preferably be written using Elseviers document class elsart, or alternatively the
standard document class article.
The Elsevier LaTeX package (including detailed instructions for LaTeX preparation) can be
obtained from the Journal authors home: www.elsevier.com/latex. It consists of the files:
elsarticle.cls, guidelines for users of elsarticle, a template file for quick start, and the instruction
booklet Preparing articles with LaTeX.

Database Linking
Electronic archiving of supplementary data enables readers to replicate, verify and build upon the
conclusions published in the paper. We recommend that data should be deposited in the data
library PANGAEA (www.pangaea.de). Data is archived by an editor in standard format, machine
readable form and is available Open Access. After processing, the author receives an identifier
(DOI) linking to the supplement for proof reading. Data can be referenced in the publication to
facilitate linking between the journal article and the data. Please use PANGAEAs web interface
to submit your data (http://www.pangaea.de/submit/).
Return to Page 1

Submission checklist
This list should be used prior to the submission of the article for review. All papers must be
submitted to the Editor using the Electronic Submission System. Please do NOT send as
hardcopy or by e-mail attachment. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any
item.
Ensure that the following items are present:
One Author designated as corresponding Author:
E-mail address
Full postal address
Telephone and fax numbers
All necessary files have been uploaded
Keywords
All figure captions
All tables (including title, description, footnotes)
Further considerations
Manuscript has been spellchecked and the English grammar is correct.
For information on language editing please see www.elsevier.com/languageediting.
References are in the correct format for this journal (see Reference Citation
Requirements).
All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa
Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources
(including the Web).
Colour figures are clearly marked as being intended for colour reproduction on the Web
(free of charge) and in print or to be reproduced in colour on the Web (free of charge) and
in black-and-white in print.
If only colour on the Web is required, black and white versions of the figures are also
supplied for printing purposes.
The text should be uploaded separately from the tables and figures.
Figures should be uploaded separately as described during the submission process.
Subject matter is appropriate (computing in the physical geosciences).
Novelty, significance, and competence criteria are met (see Aims & Scope)
For any further information please contact the Author Support Department at
authorsupport@elsevier.com.
Return to Page 1

Preparation of text
The journal accepts the following types of articles: research (for novel computer methods),
application (for significant applications of computer methods), reviews (for critical reviews of
state-of-the-art in geoscience computing,) short notes (brief descriptions of an application or a
timely research development), book and software reviews and letters (for communication).
Source code and test datasets associated with published papers can be made available for public
distribution from the Editor's page.
Presentation of manuscript
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture
of these). Italics are not to be used for expressions of Latin origin, for example, in vivo, et al., per
se. Use decimal points (not commas); use a space for thousands (10 000 and above).
Language Polishing. Authors who require information about language editing and copyediting
services, pre- and post-submission, please visit www.elsevier.com/languagepolishing or contact
authorsupport@elsevier.com for more information. Please note Elsevier neither endorses nor
takes responsibility for any products, goods or services offered by outside vendors through our
services or in any advertising. For more information please refer to our Terms & Conditions:
www.elsevier.com/termsandconditions.
Provide the following data on the title page (in the order given).
Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid
abbreviations and formulae where possible.
Author names and affiliations. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name),
please indicate this clearly. Present the Authors affiliation addresses (where the actual work was
done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately
after the Authors name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of
each affiliation, including the country name, and, if available, the e-mail address of each Author.
Corresponding Author. Clearly indicate who is willing to handle correspondence at all stages of
refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that telephone and fax numbers (with
country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete
postal address of the Corresponding Author.
Present/permanent address. If an Author has moved since the work described in the article was
done, or was visiting at the time, a Present address (or Permanent address) may be indicated
as a footnote to that Authors name. The address at which the Author actually did the work must
be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such
footnotes.
Abstract. A concise and factual abstract is required (maximum length 300 words). The abstract
should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. A
structured abstract is required. For this, a recent copy of the journal should be consulted. An
abstract is often presented separate from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. References
should therefore be avoided, but if essential, they must be cited in full, without reference to the
reference list.

Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be

defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.
Keywords. Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, avoiding general
and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, and, of). Also, avoid using words
that are already in the title. Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established
in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.
Abbreviations. Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field at their first occurrence in
the article: in the abstract but also in the main text after it. Ensure consistency of abbreviations
throughout the article.
Acknowledgements. Collate acknowledgements, including information on grants received, in a
separate section at the end of the article and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a
footnote to the title or otherwise.
Arrangement of the article
Subdivision of the article. Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections.
Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included
in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to
the text. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own
separate line.
References. See separate section, below.
Figure captions, tables, figures, schemes. Present these, in this order, at the end of the article.
They are described in more detail below. If you are working with LaTeX and have such features
embedded in the text, these can be left, but such embedding should not be done specifically for
publishing purposes. Further, high-resolution graphics files must be provided separately (see
Preparation of illustrations).
Text graphics. Present incidental graphics not suitable for mention as figures, plates or schemes at
the end of the article and number them Graphic 1, etc. Their precise position in the text can
then be indicated. See further details under the section, Preparation of illustrations. If you are
working with LaTeX and have such features embedded in the text, these can be left, but such
embedding should not be done specifically for publishing purposes. Further, high-resolution
graphics files must be provided separately (see Preparation of illustrations).
Specific remarks
Mathematical formulae. Present simple formulae in the line of normal text where possible. In
principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line,
e.g., Xp/Ym rather than

Xp
Ym

Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp.

Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separate from the text (if referred
to explicitly in the text).

Footnotes. Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the
article, using superscript Arabic numbers. Many word processors build footnotes into the text,
and this feature may be used. Should this not be the case, indicate the position of footnotes in the
text and present the footnotes themselves at the bottom of each page. Website data or descriptions
do not qualify as references and are to be shown within the text as footnotes. Do not include
footnotes in the Reference list.
Tables. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place
footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters.
Avoid vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do
not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Vertical lines should not be included in
tables.
Nomenclature and units. Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the
international system of units (SI). If other quantities are mentioned, give their equivalent in SI.
Preparation of supplementary data. Elsevier accepts supplementary material to support and
enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the Author additional possibilities to
publish supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images,
background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online
alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including
ScienceDirect: www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly
usable, please ensure that data is provided in one of our recommended file formats. Authors
should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and
descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork
instruction pages at www.elsevier.com/artwork.
Return to Page 1

Reference Citation Requirements

Responsibility for the accuracy of bibliographic citations lies entirely with the Authors.
Citations in the text: Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the
reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full, but in
general, do not use references in the abstract. Unpublished results and personal communications
should not be used in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text e.g. (J. Smith, Personal
Communication, May 2005). Citation of a reference as in press implies that the item has been
accepted for publication.
All citations in the text should refer to:
1. Single Author: the Authors family name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the
year of publication;
2. Two Authors: both Authors names and the year of publication;
3. Three or more Authors: first Authors name followed by et al. and the year of publication.
Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically). Groups of references should be listed first
alphabetically, then chronologically.
Examples: as demonstrated (Allan, 1996a, 1996b, 1999; Allan and Jones, 1995). Kramer et al.
(2000) have recently shown ....
Listing References: References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted
chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same Author(s) in the same year
must be identified by the letters a, b, c, etc., placed after the year of publication.
Citing and listing of Internet/Web references. Published standards, data released as an official
publication, software or software manuals (see examples below) are to be included in the
Reference section. Publication details including author names, dates, reference to a source
publication, etc. should also be given and followed by the full URL and last date of access.
Website data or descriptions do not qualify as references and are to be shown within the text as
footnotes. Internet links should not be embedded in the text. Footnote or move to References, as
appropriate, formatting according to styles provided in the examples below.
Digital Object Identifiers (DOI)
The digital object identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The DOI
consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the
publisher upon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is
an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly 'Articles in press' because they have not yet
received their full bibliographic information. The correct format for citing a DOI is shown as
follows:
doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2004.10.009
When you use the DOI to create URL hyperlinks to documents on the web, they are guaranteed
never to change.
Please note that journal names are not to be abbreviated.

Reference Examples
Journal article
Srivastava, D.C., Lisle, R.J., 2004. Rapid analysis of fold shape using Bezier curves. Journal of
Structural Geology 26, 1553-1559. (Note: spell out journal names in full)
Xu, S.J, Lu, X.C, Zhao, L.Z., 2001. Earth science curriculum redesign and multimedia
courseware development. China Geology Education 40(4), 12-15 [in Chinese]. (Note: Article
published in another language)
Pinnegar, C., Eaton, D.W., 2003. Application of the S-transform to prestack noise attenuation
filtering. Journal of Geophysics Research 108(B9), 2422-2431. doi:10.1029/2002JB002258.
(Note: doi is cited)
Abshire, J.B., Sun, X., Riris, H., Sirota, J.M., McGarry, J.F., Palm, S., Yi, D., Liiva, P., 2005.
Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) on the ICESat Mission: On-orbit measurement
performance. Geophysical Research Letters 32, L21S02, 1-4. doi: 10.1029/2005GL024028.
(Note: article number and/or page ranges are provided)
Entire (special) issue of a journal
Glaser, R., Bond, L. (Eds.), 1981. Testing: Concepts and Research (Special Issue). American
Psychologist 36 (10).
Articles in press
Articles in press are papers that have been accepted for publication. This does not include papers
that have been submitted or are under review at the time of submission of the manuscript.
Grunsky, E.C., in press. The interpretation of geochemical survey data. Geochemistry,
Environment, Exploration, Analysis. (include DOI if available).
Book
Johnson, A.M., Fletcher, R.F., 1994. Folding of Viscous Layers, 1st edn., Columbia University
Press, New York, NY, 461pp. (Note: Note capitalize first letters of words in books and give total
pages in book.)
Richardson, J.L., Vepraskas, M.J. (Eds.), 2001. Wetland Soils. Genesis, Hydrology, Landscapes
and Classification, Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, 417pp.
Article/Chapter in edited book
De Paor, D.G., 1996. Bezier curves and geological design, In: De Paor, D.G. (Ed.) Structural
Geology and Personal Computers, Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp. 389-417. (Note capitalize first
letters of words in books and give page range of cited article.)
McGuinness, D., da Silva, P., 2003. Infrastructure for Web explanations. International
Semantic Web Conference 2003, Published in: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol.
2870, Springer, Berlin, pp. 113-129.

Conference Proceedings
Sandberg, S.K., Corso, W., Levine, J.R., Newhart, G., Powell, G., 2001. Mapping a paleochannel
system controlling contaminant migration at a wood-treating facility using electromagnetics. In:
Proceedings Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental
Problems, Denver, CO, paper ASP-2 (on CDROM) pp. 1-12.
Ainsworth, S.E., Peevers, G.J., 2003. The interaction between informational and computational
properties of external representations on problem-solving and learning. In: Alterman, R., Kirsh,
D. (Eds.), Proceedings 25th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Boston,
Massachusetts, USA. pp. 67-72,
http://www.cogsci.rpi.edu/CSJarchive/proceedings/2003/pdfs/35.pdf.
Deutsch, C.V., 1997. Direct assessment of local accuracy and precision. In: Baafi, E.Y.,
Schofield, N.A. (Eds.), Geostatistics Wollongong '96, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht,
pp. 115-125. (Note: this could also be considered a Article in Edited Book reference as this is a
book with published papers from a conference)
Thesis
Use Dissertation when referring to Ph.D. theses
Apel, M., 2004. A 3d geoscience information system framework. Ph.D. Dissertation, Technische
Universitaet Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany, 105pp. (Note: include total pages.)
Use Thesis when referring to B.Sc. or M.Sc. theses
Peternell, M., 2002. Geology of syntectonic granites in the Itapema Regiona SE Brazil
Magmatic structures of the Rio Pequeno Granite SE Brazil and analyses with methods of fractal
geometry. Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis, Technische Universitt Mnchen, Munich, 90pp.
Non-English journal article, title translated into English
Assink, E.H.M., Verloop, N., 1977. Het aanleren van deel-geheel relaties (Teaching part-whole
relations). Pedagogische Studien 54, 130-142.
Technical report
van Rijn, L.C., 1990. Handbook of sediment transport by currents and waves. Report -H461
Delft Hydraulics, Delft, The Netherlands, 435pp.
Reimann, C., 1998. Environmental geochemical atlas of the central Barents region. Geological
Survey of Norway, Trondheim, Norway, 745pp. (Note: include total pages.)
National Science Foundation (NSF), 2003. Revolutionizing science and engineering through
cyberinfrastructure: Report of the National Science Foundation Blue Ribbon Advisory
Panel on Cyberinfrastructure, Arlington, Virginia. URL:
http://www.communitytechnology.org/nsf_ci_report/ExecSum.pdf (accessed 21Sept 2007) (Note:
digital report)

Maps
Grunsky, E.C., 1987. Precambrian Geology of the Batchawana Synoptic Project Area, Welcome
Lake-Ranger Lake Sheet, District of Algoma: Ontario Geological Survey, Map P.3064,
Geological Series-Preliminary Map, scale 1:50000.
Fenneman, N., 1946. Map A46. Physical Divisions of the United States, 1:7000000 Map, United
States Geological Survey, Reston, VA.
Software References
GEO-SLOPE, 2007. SLOPE/W, Calgary,
http://www.geo-slope.com/products/slopew2007.aspx, [Accessed September 22, 2008].
RockWare, 2008. RockPack III, RockWare - Earth Science and GIS Software, Golden, CO,
http://www.rockware.com/product/overview.php?id=119, [Accessed September 22, 2008].
Rocscience, 2008. SLIDE 5.0 - 2D limit equilibrium slope stability analysis, Rocscience Inc.,
Toronto, http://www.rocscience.com/products/Slide.asp, [Accessed September 22, 2008].
Software Manual References
MySQL, 2007. Reference Manual Version 5.0, MySQL AB, Cupertino, CA, USA, 1574pp.
Spectra Vista Co., 2005. GER 3700 User Manual, Spectra Vista Co., New York, USA, 45pp.
S-Plus Programmers Guide, 1997. Version 4, Data Analysis Products Division, Mathsoft,
Seattle, Washington, USA, 582pp.
Internet References
Wood, J., 1996. The geomorphological characterization of digital elevation models, PhD
Dissertation, University of Leicester, England, 193pp. http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/~jwo/phd/,
[accessed 23 March 2009].
GEOSS The 10-Year Implementation Plan, 2005. The Group on Earth Observations, 11 pp.
http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/publications/v.php?id=8631, [accessed 02
July, 2009].
Portele,
C.
(Ed.),
2007.
GeographyMarkupLanguage
v3.2.1.
OGC
OpenGeospatialConsortium, Inc., 437pp.
http://portal.open-geospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=20509, [accessed 15 March, 2007].

07-036.

Cox, S. (Ed.), 2007. Observations and MeasurementsPart1 Observation schema.OGC07-022r1.

Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc., 85pp. http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=22466
9 [accessed 01 March, 2008].
Lieberman, J., 2003. OpenGIS Web services architecture (OGC 03-025,
Version 0.3), Open GIS Consortium Inc., USA, 58 pp.
http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=1320

Whiteside, A., 2005. OpenGIS Web services architecture description (OGC

05-042r2, Version 0.1.0), OpenGIS Consortium Inc., USA, 28 pp.
http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=13140
References in a Special Issue
Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any references in the list (and any citations in
the text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.
Return to Page 1

Preparation of Illustrations
Preparation of electronic illustrations
Use uniform lettering and sizing in your original artwork.
Save text in illustrations as graphics or enclose the font.
Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Times, Symbol.
Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
Provide all illustrations as separate files and as hardcopy printouts on separate sheets.
Provide captions to illustrations separately.
Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.
A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: www.elsevier.com/artwork.
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalised, please save as or
convert the images to one of the following formats (Note the resolution requirements for line
drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below.):
Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as graphics.
Colour or greyscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300
dpi.
TIFF:
Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF:
Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (colour or greyscale): a minimum of
500 dpi is required.
DOC, XLS or PPT:
If your electronic artwork is created in any of these Microsoft Office
applications please supply as is.
EPS:
TIFF:

Please do not:
Supply embedded graphics in your word processor (spreadsheet, presentation) document;
Supply files that are optimised for screen use (like GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is
too low;
Supply files that are too low in resolution;
Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
Captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure.
A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the
illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and
abbreviations used. Do not use the definite article (the) in figure or table captions.
Line drawings
The lettering and symbols, as well as other details, should have proportionate dimensions, to
avoid becoming illegible or unclear after possible reduction; in general, the figures should be

designed for a reduction factor of two to three. The degree of reduction will be determined by the
Publisher. Illustrations will not be enlarged. Consider the page format of the journal when
designing the illustrations.
Do not use any type of shading on computer-generated illustrations.
Photographs (halftones)
Remove non-essential areas of a photograph. Do not mount photographs unless they form part of
a composite figure. Where necessary, insert a scale bar in the illustration (not below it), as
opposed to giving a magnification factor in the caption.
Colour illustrations
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS or MS Office files)
and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour
figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, these figures will appear in colour on
the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are
reproduced in colour in the printed version. For colour reproduction in print, you will receive
information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. Please
indicate your preference for colour in print or on the Web only. For further information on the
preparation of electronic artwork, please see www.elsevier.com/artwork.
Please note: Because of technical complications which can arise by converting colour figures to
grey scale (for the printed version should you not opt for colour in print) please submit in
addition usable black and white versions of all the colour illustrations.
Return to Page 1

Computer code
Computer code, including test data and user manuals, can be uploaded to the Elsevier esubmission site under item type as Computer Code. This material will also be zipped and placed
on the IAMG (International Association for Mathematical Geology) server for public access. For
very large files, or many files, please contact the Editor-in-Chief (email address above) to arrange
a means of transmitting the files.
Computer code should provide the following information:
1. a readme.txt file (or equivalent) providing the name of the program, the title of the
manuscript along with the author details. This will assist in correctly assigning the
program code and associated files to the correct submission.
2. A user manual or instruction guide that provides information on how to use the
program
3. The source code for any programs that have been written.
4. Test data that can be used to assure that the program is working correctly.
5. Output files should also be provided that will allow a user to check if a compiled
program is working properly.
6. Executable program code is not encouraged because of difficulty in transmitting .exe
files past Virus scanners and the limited life of executable code.
7. All files should be compressed into .zip or .gz format, which will then be placed on
the Computers & Geosciences FTP site for download once the manuscript has been
accepted and published. Please do not use the RAR format as this is a less common
compression format and requires reconfiguration to ZIP format by the journal Editor.
Return to Page 1

Proofs and Offprints

Proofs
One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding Author (if we
do not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post). Elsevier now sends PDF
proofs, which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 or
later available free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. Instructions on
how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs.
If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including
replies to the Query Form) and return to Elsevier in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting
line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other
comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by fax, or
scan the pages and e-mail, or by post.
Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of
the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only
be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get
your article published quickly and accurately. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your
corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as
inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your
responsibility. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response
is received.
Electronic offprints (e-offprints)
The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail.
The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the
journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use. Additional paper
offprints can be ordered by the authors. An order form with prices will be sent to the
corresponding author
AUTHOR INQUIRIES
For inquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission where
available) please visit this journal's homepage. You can track accepted articles at
www.elsevier.com/trackarticle and set up e-mail alerts to inform you of when an article's status
has changed. Also accessible from here is information on copyright, frequently asked questions
and more. Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those
relating to proofs, will be provided by the publisher.
Return to Page 1

Computers & Geociences Aims and Scope of the Journal

1. Research Article (5000 words)
Method development: describes new computation methods for the geosciences using standard
scientific article format; includes a range of methods such as those for geoscience information
infrastructure, collection, representation, management, analysis, visualization, as well as for
software development and scientific and social use of geoscience information. This also includes
new educational methods as well as comparison of significant computational methods for the
geosciences using well-defined benchmarks to reveal new understanding about the nature or use
of the methods. In general, papers should include both a novel method or comparison, and a
demonstration of relevance to the geosciences. Emphasis is on novelty of method, or comparison
with other methods.
The highest level of academic quality is expected in terms of citation of appropriate resources,
proper referencing of the source of figures, and disclosure of related articles by the same author(s)
with related content.
2. Application Article (5000 words)
Application development: describes new digital products created for the geosciences using
existing computational methods, and discusses their novelty as well as significance and relevance
to important geoscience issues: e.g. a novel database, a significant resource assessment, a novel
software application or web service. This also includes comparison of products using welldefined benchmarks to reveal a new understanding about the nature or use of the products.
Emphasis is on novelty or significance of the application, or comparison of applications or
products.
Author(s) must disclose financial relationships to product vendors, where applicable, and product
endorsements are not accepted.
3. Review Article
Scientific review (6000 words): critically describes the state-of-the art of some field in
computation for the geosciences. Emphasis is on completeness, depth and novelty of the critical
review. Reviews must be timely, of general interest, high quality, written by recognized experts,
and will be run only on an occasional basis. Review outlines should be pre-approved by a
member of the C&G editorial board, and reviews may be used to frame special C&G issues.
4. Short Note
Short Notes (maximum 1500 words) provide a brief description of an application or a timely
research development. Emphasis is on novelty or significance of the research or application. An
abstract is not required.
5. Book and Software Reviews
Book and software reviews (1500 words): describe and evaluate a new book or similar significant
publication relevant to computation in the geosciences. Software reviews are also published.

6. Letter to the Editor

Letters to the Editor provide a mechanism to debate issues arising from published articles. They
are intended to serve workers in academia, industry and government.
Please note maximum word counts are based on the text, excluding abstract,

keywords, references and captions.

Return to Page 1