Author Guidelines

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Scope of the Journal

The Journal of Natural Products provides an international forum for the publication of rigorous, high-impact research in all aspects on the chemistry and biology of natural product small molecules.

We welcome new research manuscripts as well as contemporary review articles that make substantial and scholarly contributions to the area of natural products research. Contributions may relate to the chemistry and/or biochemistry of naturally occurring compounds or the biology of living systems from which they are obtained. When new compounds are reported, manuscripts describing their biological activity are preferred.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • The structure, bioactivity, function, and/or ecology of natural or nature-inspired small molecules from all kingdoms of life
  • The production of natural product molecules by fermentation, chemical synthesis, biosynthesis, cell/tissue cultures, or biocatalysis
  • Natural products research in the context of analytical chemistry, pharmacology, chemical biology, machine learning, chemical ecology, biosynthetic enzymology, bioengineering, integrative omics

Manuscripts should focus on the structures and properties of small molecule natural products (for peptides, approximately 50 amino acid residues or less), rather than on proteins and polysaccharides.  

Manuscripts that focus on biological properties of chemically complex extracts, mixtures, or essential oils are outside of the scope of the journal. Moreover, manuscripts solely reporting NMR assignments or X-ray crystallographic data of known compounds will not be considered.

Manuscript Types

Manuscripts may be submitted as Articles, Notes, Reviews, or Perspectives. Authors should indicate in a cover letter accompanying the manuscript which category they intend for their submission. Manuscripts will be considered for publication on the understanding that they have not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere.

Articles

Articles are comprehensive, critical accounts of work in the areas outlined in the journal scope. For known compounds, authors should submit full experimental details of the isolation and identification data for consideration by the referees but not for publication. Full details of the isolation and identification procedures for known compounds may be made available to the reader as Supporting Information.

Notes

Notes are abbreviated publications presented in the same general style as Articles. Generally, studies that are narrower in scope than published in Articles are reported as Notes. Manuscripts that report fragmentary parts of a larger study will be returned to the authors at the Editors’ discretion.

Reviews

Reviews are considered upon invitation, or after approval of presubmission inquiries outlining a synopsis of the manuscript sent to eic@jnp.acs.org. Comprehensive reviews cover topics within the scope of the journal and are supported by significant literature references. Short reviews of recent literature that update a topic are also considered. The information in Reviews should be presented objectively, not limited only to the contributions of the authors, and written with the intent of familiarizing the general reader with the broad current state of knowledge of a topic of active interest. The length of reviews should be commensurate with the information available; there are no formal limitations on length.

Perspectives

Perspectives are personal reviews of subject or a topic in natural products, which should be focused rather than comprehensive. Perspective authors should assess the current status of the selected subject or topic, with an emphasis toward identifying important advances being made or those advances that are needed. Perspective reviews should present a forward-thinking approach in discussing the selected topic to be covered. The Journal of Natural Products Perspective should address the recent literature, including key contributors, aiming primarily to inspire and provide new insights to direct future research efforts. Perspectives authors will be invited by the Editor, or presubmission inquiries outlining a synopsis of the manuscript can be sent to eic@jnp.acs.org. Perspectives should be no more than 9,000 words, including the abstract, main text, and figure captions.

ACS Researcher Resources

While this document will provide basic information on how to prepare and submit the manuscript as well as other critical information about publishing, we also encourage authors to visit ACS Researcher Resources for additional information on everything that is needed to prepare (and review) manuscripts for ACS journals and partner journals, such as

Manuscript Preparation

Submit with Fast Format

All ACS journals and partner journals have simplified their formatting requirements in favor of a streamlined and standardized format for an initial manuscript submission. Read more about the requirements and the benefits these serves authors and reviewers here.

Manuscripts submitted for initial consideration must adhere to these standards:

  • Submissions must be complete with clearly identified standard sections used to report original research, free of annotations or highlights, and include all numbered and labeled components.
  • Figures, charts, tables, schemes, and equations should be embedded in the text at the point of relevance. Separate graphics can be supplied later at revision, if necessary.
  • When required by a journal's structure or length limitations, manuscript templates should be used.
  • References can be provided in any style, but they must be complete, including titles. For information about the required components of different reference types, please refer to the ACS Style Quick Guide.
  • Supporting Information must be submitted as a separate file(s).

Document Templates and Format

The templates facilitate the peer review process by allowing authors to place artwork and tables close to the point where they are discussed within the text. Learn more about document templates here.

General information on the preparation of manuscripts may also be found in the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication.

Acceptable Software, File Designations, and TeX/LaTeX

See the list of Acceptable Software and appropriate File Designations to be sure your file types are compatible with the submission system. Information for manuscripts generated from TeX/LaTeX is also available.

Cover Letter

A cover letter must accompany every manuscript submission. During the submission process, you may type it or paste it into the submission system, or you may attach it as a file.

Manuscript Text Components

To assist with the editorial peer review process, it is preferred that manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Natural Products be prepared in single columns per page with font size 12.

Title and Author List

Titles should clearly and concisely reflect the emphasis and content of the manuscript and be accessible to a broad audience. Titles are of great importance for current awareness and information retrieval, and they should be carefully constructed for these purposes. Titles should not contain specialized abbreviations or jargon. In article titles, the words “new” or “novel” (with the latter referring specifically to a compound based on an unprecedented carbon skeleton) should not be included, and the number of new substances obtained should not be specified. Editors may request author revision of a title at any time prior to publication.

The author list must include all those who have made substantial contributions to the work. Refer to the Authorship, Author List, and Coauthor Notification section in the Appendix of these Guidelines for complete information.

Abstract

Abstracts should not exceed 200 words for Articles and Reviews or 100 words for Notes and Perspectives.The abstract should be a single paragraph, and it should summarize the problem, experimental approach, major findings, and conclusions. Compounds mentioned in the abstract and given as specific Arabic numerals that are bolded in the manuscript text, should also be accompanied in the abstract by the same bolded numerals.

Introduction

The manuscript should include an untitled introductory section stating the purpose of the investigation and relating the manuscript to similar research.

Results and Discussion

Results should be presented concisely, and the discussion should interpret the results and relate them to existing knowledge in the field in as clear and brief a fashion as possible. Tables and figures should be designed to maximize the presentation and comprehension of the experimental data.

Experimental Section

Provide a clear, unambiguous description of materials, methods, sources, and equipment in sufficient detail to permit repetition of the work elsewhere. Describe novel experimental procedures in detail but refer to published procedures by literature citation of both the original and any published modifications. The general order for inclusion of data should be as follows: melting points; optical rotations; UV spectra; ECD and/or VCD spectra; IR spectra; NMR spectra; mass spectra; and chromatographic and other techniques. See the Data Requirements section of these guidelines for additional details.

Authors must emphasize any unexpected, new, and/or significant hazards or risks associated with the reported work, particularly when toxins are the subject of the article.

Author Information

A section may be included, as needed, entitled “Author Notes” to provide pertinent information on the authors, such as the names of authors who contributed equally to the article.

Acknowledgments

The Acknowledgments section should include credits [initial(s) and last name] for technical assistance, financial support, and other appropriate recognition.

References and Notes

The References section should provide both citations to the literature and all notes, regardless of their nature, which should be numbered in order of appearance in the manuscript and cited in the text with superscript numbers. Each reference may have its own citation number, or alternatively, references referring to the same topic may be grouped under a common number using alphabetical subdesignations (e.g., 1a, 1b, 1c). Each note should be assigned its own number. Journal references can be provided in any style, as noted in the Fast Format section, and titles must be included.

For additional information on the reference and note format to use, see the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication.

The author is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all references. In particular, authors must cite key related references from their own work on a particular topic, such as relevant publications and submitted manuscripts under consideration. In addition to the citation, it should be explicitly indicated in the text if this is a continuing work for the same group. Because subscribers to the Web edition are now able to click on the “CAS” tag following each reference to retrieve the corresponding CAS abstract, reference accuracy is critical. Journal abbreviations should be those used by Chemical Abstracts [see Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (CASSI) 1907–2004]. A list of journal abbreviations in the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication can also be accessed.

The author should upload copies of related manuscripts that are cited as “in press” or “submitted” and designate them as Supporting Information for Review Only for use by the editors and the reviewers in evaluating the manuscript under consideration.

Supporting Information

This information is provided to the reviewers during the peer-review process (for Review Only) and is available to readers of the published work (for Publication). Supporting Information must be submitted at the same time as the manuscript. See the list of Acceptable Software by File Designation and confirm that your Supporting Information is viewable.

If the manuscript is accompanied by any supporting information files for publication, these files will be made available free of charge to readers. A brief, nonsentence description of the actual contents of each file, including the file type extension, is required. This description should be labeled Supporting Information and should appear before the Acknowledgement and Reference sections.  Examples of sufficient and insufficient descriptions are as follows:

Examples of sufficient descriptions: “Supporting Information: 1H NMR spectra for all compounds (PDF)” or “Additional experimental details, materials, and methods, including photographs of experimental setup (DOC)”.

Examples of insufficient descriptions: “Supporting Information: Figures S1-S3” or “Additional figures as mentioned in the text”.

When including supporting information for review only, include copies of references that are unpublished or in-press. These files are available only to editors and reviewers.

Research Data Policy

All ACS journals strongly encourage authors to make the research data underlying their articles publicly available at the time of publication.

Research data is defined as materials and information used in the experiments that enable the validation of the conclusions drawn in the article, including primary data produced by the authors for the study being reported, secondary data reused or analyzed by the authors for the study, and any other materials necessary to reproduce or replicate the results.

The ACS Research Data Policy provides additional information on Data Availability Statements, Data Citation, and Data Repositories.

Data Requirements

General Requirements

Bolded structural code numbers should only be used for new compounds and for those known compounds for which new biological data or spectroscopic values are being reported and should be presented in the main text in ascending numerical order. Other known compounds should be referred to in the text by name, wherever necessary. Sugar units in glycosides should not be inferred as D or L based solely on NMR data analysis but should be determined by supporting experimental work such as measurement of their optical rotations following acid hydrolysis or by the preparation of chiral derivatives and comparison with standards using a chromatographic or spectroscopic analytical method. If the aglycone of a glycoside is also a new compound, then it should be isolated and its physical constants and spectroscopic parameters stated. Authors are advised to use correctly the terms “relative and absolute configuration” instead of “relative and absolute stereochemistry”. In, for example, a carbocyclic compound, only a stereogenic carbon or a stereogenic element, such as an axis, possesses configuration. Substituents such as methyl groups are either alpha or beta oriented and are not alpha or beta configured. Care should be taken not to make erroneous configurational conclusions via NMR NOE associations from ring to side-chain hydrogens of, for example, sterols and tetracyclic triterpenoids. The term “spectral” should be avoided in a structure elucidation discussion, when “spectroscopic” or “spectrometric” are meant instead. When describing mass spectrometric details, authors should not refer to the terms “pseudomolecular ion”, “quasimolecular ion”, or “protonated molecular ion" and should refer instead to, e.g., “a sodium adduct ion”, “a protonated molecule”, or a “deprotonated molecule” (see Pure Appl. Chem. 2013, 85, 1515–1609).

NMR Spectra

It is mandatory for authors to include NMR spectra for all new compounds in the Supporting Information with at least the 1H and 13C NMR spectra provided. A typical caption for a spectrum would be: “Figure S1. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) spectrum of the new compound xx”. Supporting Information pages should be consecutively numbered and a table of contents for the Supporting Information should be included. When submitting spectra, authors should adhere to the NMR Guidelines for ACS Journals. The correct tabular presentation of NMR spectroscopic data is shown in the table below.

table (2)2011 (2)

For every new compound, a copy of a well-resolved 1D proton NMR spectrum and a copy of a proton- decoupled 1D carbon spectrum (conventional, DEPT, DEPTQ, or PENDANT), should be included in the supporting information. In cases where structure assignments of complex molecules depend heavily on NMR data interpretation, including isolated and synthesized natural products, copies of the 2D spectra are requested. All original primary NMR data supporting a submission should be retained and provided if requested.

NMR Data Files

As of June 1, 2023, the Journal of Natural Products requires that primary (“raw”) NMR data files (free induction decay (FID) and 2D serial files) for new compounds be either: (a) deposited in a publicly accessible data depository or (b) included as an additional Supporting Information file prior to acceptance of the manuscript for publication. Note, the raw NMR data files do not have to be deposited prior to submission of the manuscript for review, only prior to acceptance. For more information, see the NMR Data Requirements editorial in the April 2023 issue of the Journal of Natural Products. The FID data should be mentioned either in a Data Availability Statement following the Experimental Section (with a permanent link, such as a DOI, or with a specific accession number) or in the Supporting Information availability statement in the manuscript file. Below are some general instructions for preparing raw NMR data (FIDs) for submission.

When preparing raw NMR data (FIDs):

  • One folder (root folder) should be created for each compound
  • The root folder should be named clearly, including the compound number and/or a unique identifier
  • Establish subfolders for each spectrum and name them according to the type of nucleus measured and experiment performed: 1H, 13C, DEPT, COSY, etc.
  • Include in each subfolder the actual FID or serial files, acquisition data and processing parameters for each experiment; depending on the spectrometer used, this can be several files or a combination of further folders and files
  • In a text document with the same name as the root folder, include the name of the manufacturer of the spectrometer used to collect the data, the acquisition software and processing programs used to analyze the data and the operating frequency used to measure each nucleus (e.g., 300 MHz 1H or 75 MHz 13C)
  • Include a structure file that shows the structure and compound identifier for each provided dataset. MolFile is the strongly preferred format
  • Compress the entire root folder into a single zip archive file

Physical and Spectroscopic Data

The correct format to present elemental analysis data is: anal. C 72.87, H 11.13%, calcd for C37H68O6, C 73.02, H 11.18%. The structures of compounds are expected to be supported by high-resolution mass spectrometry (error limit 5 ppm or 0.003 m/z units) or elemental analysis. Melting point determinations should not be provided for compounds described as “amorphous solids.” The unit of concentration to be used for optical rotation measurements is grams per 100 mL. UV extinction coefficient data should be provided as log є values, to two places of decimals. In reporting 1H NMR data of diastereotopic methylene hydrogens, the deshielded one should be listed as the “a” hydrogen and the shielded one as the “b” hydrogen, as in “H-10a” and “H-10b”, respectively. Use the appropriate number of decimal places to distinguish between hydrogen or carbon signals in an NMR spectrum that have almost the same chemical shift. Carbon-13 NMR data should be designated using the C, CH, CH2, and CH3 notation. The CSEARCH/NMRPREDICT-Server can be utilized to check 13C NMR shifts for molecules prior to submission of new structures.

Biological Data

For biological studies of purified natural products, the purity level should be > 95% and proof of purity (if not obtained from a commercial source) should be provided in the Supporting Information (HPLC trace using appropriate detection method or copy of a 1H NMR spectrum). The percent purity should be indicated in the Experimental Section.

In manuscripts that present results of biological studies with tumor cell lines or animal-based tumor models, authors should pay special attention to the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NIH) guidelines for cancer drug discovery studies. Compounds that suppress the growth of, or kill, isolated tumor cell lines grown in culture should be referred to as either “cytostatic” or “cytotoxic”, as appropriate. Only compounds that inhibit the growth of tumors in animal-based models should be called “antitumor”. The term “anticancer” should be reserved for compounds that show specific activity in human-based clinical studies (see Suffness, M.; Douros, J. J. Nat. Prod. 1982, 45, 1–14). Some flexibility in this system is afforded in the description of compounds that show activity in molecular-targeted antitumor assays. Compounds should be compared against a suitable positive control substance and follow accepted guidelines when represented as “active”. For example, a cytotoxic pure substance when tested against a cancer cell line would exhibit an IC50 value of <10 μM (or 4–5 μg/mL). Bioassay data should generally be presented to only two significant figures, unless stringent protocols have been used to ensure more accurate quantification of small amounts of natural materials.

Cell Lines and Microorganisms. To avoid inadvertent use of cross-contaminated or misidentified cell lines/microorganisms, authors are urged to validate each cell line/microorganism used. Authors must report the source of all cell lines/microorganisms in their manuscript, the date of authentication (must be within a year of manuscript submission date) and a description of the authentication method. Authors should be able to provide the authentication test results upon request. If no testing was done, provide the date when cells/microorganisms were purchased from authenticated source. For mammalian cell lines, authors must state whether the cell line has recently been tested for mycoplasma contamination. Resources for using cell lines as biological models:

1.    A resource for cell line authentication, annotation, and quality control

2.    Cell Lines as Biological Models: Practical Steps for More Reliable Research

Reporting of IC50 values and other bioassay data for pure compounds: For IC50 values and related data, the concentration-response curves used to generate the data should be included in a Supporting Information file. For the determination of IC50 values and similar data, at least duplicates in each experiment with a minimum of two biological replicates, i.e., two complete experiments, are required. In the Experimental Section, it should be described how the IC50 (or related value) has been calculated and clearly define the terms that are used. IC50 values should be reported for a 48 h incubation period.

Experimental biological material should be reported as authenticated if cultivated or from a natural habitat, and the herbarium deposit site and voucher number should be recorded. The month and year when the organisms were collected should be stated, and it is recommended that the exact collection location be provided using a GPS navigation tool. All microorganisms used experimentally should bear a strain designation number and the culture collection in which they are deposited. The scientific name (genus, species, authority citation, and family) should be presented when first mentioned in the body of the manuscript. Thereafter, the authority should be eliminated, and the generic name should be reduced (except in tables and figure legends) to the first capital letter of the name (but avoid ambiguity, if two or more generic names have the same first letter). If the biological material has not been identified to the species level, the manuscript will not be considered for publication unless a special protocol has been followed. Thus, a voucher specimen of the organism should be deposited with a recognized taxonomist for the particular group of organisms in question. The taxonomist should then assign to the specimen an identifying number unique to the organism so that any additional collections of the same organism would bear this same number. The number will be retained until the organism is completely identified. The taxonomist should write a brief taxonomic description to be included in the manuscript, which should state how the organism in question relates morphologically to known species. Contributors should use DNA sequence analysis to assist with the taxonomic identification of unknown organisms, and to deposit these data in GenBank. Photographs of incompletely identified organisms may be included as Supporting Information. Authors should be aware of the fact that the large-scale collection of marine or terrestrial organisms may have negative ecological effects. Therefore, authors describing an investigation derived from large-scale collections should thus include a statement in their manuscript (in the “Biological Material” paragraph of the Experimental Section) explaining why the collection had no significant adverse ecological effect or justifying such effect in terms of the benefit from the resulting work. When organisms are collected from a foreign country, the corresponding author must state in the cover letter with the submitted manuscript that formal collection permission was obtained. Authors who purchase dried “herbal remedies” or other materials from companies must make provision for their proper deposit in an herbarium or other permanent repository, for access by future workers. When a commercially available extract is obtained, the extraction procedure from the organism of origin must be specified. The identification of the extract should be supported by an HPLC trace of known secondary metabolite constituents of the organism, which should be included with the manuscript as Supporting Information.

Computational Chemistry

When docking or virtual binding studies are utilized to help identify a potential target for a bioactive natural product, the computational studies need to be verified by binding studies to confirm significant interaction with the proposed target and an appropriate bioassay to demonstrate the claimed biological effect. Docking studies that propose a new target without providing experimental results to confirm direct and potent interactions should not be included. All experimental data and molecular structures used to generate and/or validate computational models must be reported in the manuscript or Supporting Information or be readily available without infringements or restrictions.

Crystal Structures

A Crystallographic Information File (.CIF) for each compound for which X-ray crystallographic data are determined should be uploaded for inclusion as Supporting Information. The .CIF file should be the current version that includes both coordinates, input file and HKL data. Authors should submit the following minimum materials, in tabular form where possible, for each compound for which X-ray crystallographic supplementary data are available.

  1. Crystal data, including chemical formula, formula weight, crystal system and space group, cell dimensions (with uncertainties), number of formulas per unit cell, calculated density, radiation used, and wavelength. When determined, the Flack and/or Hooft parameters should be included.
  2. Final fractional atomic coordinates. Hydrogen atom coordinates should be included only if they have been experimentally determined or refined.
  3. A brief outline of procedures used for data collection and refinement, including the method used for intensity measurement, 0 limits, portion of the full sphere collected, handling of absorption (if applicable), method of refinement, number of reflections used in the refinement and criteria for their choice, treatment of hydrogen atoms, and final R factor.
  4. A perspective diagram (perhaps prepared by ORTEP, PLUTO, or similar programs) that gives the atom-numbering scheme if it is not unambiguous from the remainder of the paper. If the figure is a stereoview, it should be provided reduced to correct size, about 55–60 mm between images.

Authors will deposit the tables of final fractional atomic coordinates and the full list of bond lengths and angles at the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) prior to the submission of their manuscript, and the CCDC deposition number must be included in the submitted manuscript. CIF Deposition Guidelines are available on the CCDC website.

Language and Editing Services

A well-written paper helps share your results most clearly. ACS Publications’ English Editing Service is designed to help scientists communicate their research effectively. Our subject-matter expert editors will edit your manuscript for grammar, spelling, and other language errors so your ideas are presented at their best.

Preparing Graphics

The quality of illustrations in ACS journals and partner journals depends on the quality of the original files provided by the authors. Figures are not modified or enhanced by journal production staff. All graphics must be prepared and submitted in digital format.

Graphics should be inserted into the main body whenever possible. Please see Appendix 2 for additional information.

Any graphic (figure chart, scheme, or equation) that has appeared in an earlier publication should include a credit line citing the original source. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to re-use this material.

Figure and Illustration Services

The impact of your research is not limited to what you can express with words. Tables and figures such as graphs, photographs, illustrations, diagrams, and other visuals can play a significant role in effectively communicating your findings. Our Artwork Editing and Graphical Abstract services generate publication-ready figures and Table of Contents (TOC) graphics that conform to your chosen journal’s specifications. For figures, this includes changes to file type, resolution, color space, font, scale, line weights, and layout (to improve readability and professional appearance). For TOC graphics, our illustrators can work with a rough sketch or concept or help extract the key findings of your manuscript directly for use as a visual summary of your paper.

Preparing for Submission

Manuscripts, graphics, supporting information, and required forms, as well as manuscript revisions, must all be submitted in digital format through ACS Publishing Center, which requires an ACS ID to log in. Registering for an ACS ID is fast, free, and does not require an ACS membership. Please refer to Appendix 1 for additional information on preparing your submission

Prior Publication Policy

Journal of Natural Products authors are allowed to deposit an initial draft of their manuscript in a preprint service such as ChemRxiv, arXiv, or bioRxiv. A patent or a published patent application is not considered to be a prior "publication". Please note any use of a preprint server, patents, and dissertations in the cover letter, and as appropriate, state how the manuscript has been adjusted/updated between deposition and submission. All other prior/redundant publications are forbidden. Upon publication in Journal of Natural Products, authors are advised to add a link from the preprint to the published paper via the Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

Editorial Policies

Nomenclature

It is the responsibility of the authors to provide correct nomenclature. All nomenclature must be consistent and unambiguous and should conform with current American usage. Insofar as possible, authors should use systematic names similar to those used by Chemical Abstracts Service, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. For new natural products that are closely related structurally to known compounds, it is preferred to assign the new compound as a derivative of the known compound, rather than introduce a completely new trivial name into the literature.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations are used without periods. Standard abbreviations should be used throughout the manuscript, including for common solvents (MeOH, EtOH, EtOAc, MeCN, CH2Cl2, CHCl3, H2O) and chemicals. All nonstandard abbreviations should be kept to a minimum and must be defined in the text following their first use. The preferred forms of some of the more commonly used abbreviations are mp, bp, °C, K, s, min, h, mL, μL, kg, g, mg, μg, cm, mm, nm, mol, mmol, μmol, ppm, TLC, GC, NMR, MS, UV, ECD/VCD, and IR. For further information, refer to the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication.

Authors should not provide a separate list of abbreviations in a manuscript; additional abbreviations should be spelled out in full the first time they are mentioned. Authors are discouraged from using abbreviations for terms that are included in the manuscript in only a few instances.

Providing Potential Reviewer Names

Please suggest 4 reviewers. Authors are encouraged to avoid suggesting reviewers from the authors’ institutions. Do not suggest reviewers who may have a real or perceived conflict of interest. Whenever possible, suggest academic email addresses rather than personal email addresses.

Manuscript Transfer

If your submission is declined for publication by this journal, the editors might deem your work to be better suited for another ACS Publications journal or partner journal and suggest that the authors consider transferring the submission. Manuscript Transfer simplifies and shortens the process of submitting to another ACS journal or partner journal, as all the coauthors, suggested reviewers, manuscript files, and responses to submission questions are copied to the new draft submission. Authors are free to accept or decline the transfer offer.

Note that each journal is editorially independent. Transferring a manuscript is not a guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted, as the final publication decision will belong to the editor of the next journal.

PRODUCTION AND PUBLICATION

Proofs via ACS Direct Correct

Correction of the galley proofs is the responsibility of the Corresponding Author. The Corresponding Author of an accepted manuscript will receive e-mail notification and complete instructions when page proofs are available for review via ACS Direct Correct. Extensive or important changes on page proofs, including changes to the title or list of authors, are subject to review by the editor.

It is the responsibility of the Corresponding Author to ensure that all authors listed on the manuscript agree with the changes made on the proofs. Galley proofs should be returned within 48 hours in order to ensure timely publication of the manuscript.

Publication Date and Patent Dates

Accepted manuscripts will be published on the ACS Publications Web site as soon as page proofs are corrected and all author concerns are resolved. The first date on which the document is published on the Web is considered the publication date.

Publication of manuscripts on the Web may occur weeks in advance of the cover date of the issue of publication. Authors should take this into account when planning their patent and intellectual property activities related to a document and should ensure that all patent information is available at the time of first publication, whether ASAP or issue publication.

All articles published ahead of print receive a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, which is used to cite the manuscript before and after the paper appears in an issue. Additionally, any supplemental information submitted along with the manuscript will automatically be assigned a DOI and hosted on Figshare to promote open data discoverability and use of your research outputs.

ASAP Publication

Manuscripts will be published on the “ASAP Articles” page on the web as soon as page proofs are corrected and all author concerns are resolved. ASAP publication usually occurs within a few working days of receipt of page proof corrections, which can be several weeks in advance of the cover date of the issue.

Post-Publication Policies

The American Chemical Society follows guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when considering any ethical concerns regarding a published article, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern.

Additions and Corrections

Additions and Corrections may be requested by the author(s) or initiated by the Editor to address important issues or correct errors and omissions of consequence that arise after publication of an article. All Additions and Corrections are subject to approval by the Editor, and should bring new and directly relevant information and corrections that fix scientific facts. Minor corrections and additions will not be published. Readers who detect errors of consequence in the work of others should contact the corresponding author of that work.

Additions and Corrections must be submitted as new manuscripts via the ACS Publishing Center by the Corresponding Author for publication in the “Addition/Correction” section of the Journal. The corresponding author should obtain approval from all coauthors prior to submitting or provide evidence that such approval has been solicited. The manuscript should include the original article title and author list, citation including DOI, and details of the correction.

Retractions

Articles may be retracted for scientific or ethical reasons and may be requested by the article author(s) or by the journal Editor(s), but are ultimately published at the discretion of the Editor. Articles that contain seriously flawed or erroneous data such that their findings and conclusions cannot be relied upon may be retracted in order to correct the scientific record. When an article is retracted, a notice of Retraction will be published containing information about the reason for the Retraction. The originally published article will remain online except in extraordinary circumstances (e.g. where deemed legally necessary, or if the availability of the published content poses public health risks).

Expressions of Concern

Expressions of Concern may be issued at the discretion of the Editor if:

  • there is inconclusive evidence of research or publication misconduct by the authors;
  • there is evidence that the findings are unreliable but the authors’ institution will not investigate the case;
  • an investigation into alleged misconduct related to the publication either has not been, or would not be, fair and impartial or conclusive;
  • an investigation is underway but a judgment will not be available for a considerable time.

Upon completion of any related investigation, and when a final determination is made about the outcome of the article, the Expression of Concern may be replaced with a Retraction notice or Correction.

Sharing Your Published Article

At ACS Publications, we know it is important for you to be able to share your peer reviewed, published work with colleagues in the global community of scientists. As sharing on sites known as scholarly collaboration networks (SCNs) is becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s scholarly research ecosystem, we would like to remind you of the many ways in which you, a valued ACS author, can share your published work.

Publishing open access makes it easy to share your work with friends, colleagues, and family members. In addition, ACS Publications makes it easy to share your newly published research with ACS Articles on Request (see below). Don’t forget to promote your research and related data on social media, at conferences, and through scholarly communication networks. Increase the impact of your research using the following resources: Altmetrics, Figshare, ACS Certified Deposit

E-Prints

When your article is published in an ACS journal or partner journal, corresponding authors are provided with a link that offers up to 50 free digital prints of the final published work. This link is valid for the first 12 months following online publication, and can be shared via email or an author’s website. After one year, the access restrictions to your article will be lifted, and you can share the Articles on Request URL on social media and other channels. To access all your Articles on Request links, log in to your ACS Researcher Resources account and visit the “My Published Manuscripts” page.

Reprints

Article, journal, and commercial reprints are available to order.

Appendix 1: PREPARING FOR SUBMISSION

We’ve developed ACS’ publishing and editorial policies in consultation with the research communities that we serve, including authors and librarians. Browse our policies below to learn more.

Ethical Guidelines

ACS editors have provided Ethical Guidelines for persons engaged in the publication of chemical research—specifically, for editors, authors, and reviewers. Each journal also has a specific policy on prior publication.

OFAC Compliance

As a U.S.-based non-profit organization, the American Chemical Society (ACS) is required to comply with U.S. sanctions laws and regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). While these laws and regulations permit U.S.-based publishers like ACS to engage in publishing-related activities with authors located in sanctioned regions in many cases, ACS may be prohibited under U.S. law from engaging in publishing-related activities in some cases, including, but not limited to, instances where an author or the institution with which an author is affiliated is located in a particular sanctioned region or has been designated by OFAC as a Specially Designated National (SDN) pursuant to certain U.S. sanctions programs. ACS reserves the right to refrain from engaging in any publishing-related activities that ACS determines in its sole discretion may be in violation of U.S. law.

Safety Considerations

Authors must emphasize any unexpected, new, and/or significant hazards or risks associated with the reported work. This information should be in the Experimental Section of a full article and included in the main text of a communication or letter. Statement examples can be found in the Safety Statement Style Sheet and additional information on communicating safety information from the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication is freely available here.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

A statement describing any financial conflicts of interest or lack thereof is published in each ACS journal and partner journal article.

During the submission process, the Corresponding Author must provide a statement on behalf of all authors of the manuscript, describing all potential sources of bias, including affiliations, funding sources, and financial or management relationships, that may constitute conflicts of interest. If the manuscript is accepted, the statement will be published in the final article.

If the manuscript is accepted and no conflict of interest has been declared, the following statement will be published in the final article: “The authors declare no competing financial interest.”

Plagiarism

In publishing only original research, ACS is committed to deterring plagiarism, including self-plagiarism. ACS Publications uses CrossCheck's iThenticate software to screen submitted manuscripts for similarity to published material. Note that your manuscript may be screened during the submission process.

Further information about plagiarism can be found in Part B of the Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Research. See also the press release regarding ACS' participation in the CrossCheck initiative.

Authorship, Author List, and Coauthor Notification

Authors are required to obtain the consent of all their coauthors prior to submitting a manuscript. The submitting author accepts the responsibility of notifying all coauthors that the manuscript is being submitted.

During manuscript submission, the submitting author must provide contact information (full name, email address, institutional affiliation, and mailing address) for all of the coauthors. Because all of the author names are automatically imported into the electronic Journal Publishing Agreement, the names must be entered into the submission system. (Note that coauthors are not required to register in the ACS Publishing Center.) Author affiliation should reflect where the work was completed, even if the author has since left that institution. Authors may include a note with a current address if their institution has changed since the work was completed.

To expedite the processing of your manuscript, please format your author and affiliation information according the guidelines in this document.

Criteria for authorship can be found in Part B of the Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Research. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools do not qualify for authorship. The use of AI tools for text or image generation should be disclosed in the manuscript within the Acknowledgment section with a description of when and how the tools were used. For more substantial use cases or descriptions of AI tool use, authors should provide full details within the Methods or other appropriate section of the manuscript.

If any change in authorship is necessary after a manuscript has been submitted, confirmation is required that all of the authors (including those being added or removed) have been notified and have agreed to the change. To provide this confirmation, authors are asked to complete and sign an authorship change form and provide the completed form to the appropriate editorial office.

Authors with a single name: If you, or any of your coauthors, have only one name, please follow these steps for proper submission to the ACS Publishing Center:

  1. First (Given) Name Field: Enter an asterisk (*) into the "First (Given) Name" field.
  2. Last (Family) Name Field: Enter your single name into the "Last (Family) Name" field.

If your paper is accepted, the asterisk (*) will be removed from the published version of the paper.

Patent Activities and Intellectual Property

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all patent activities and intellectual property issues are satisfactorily resolved prior to first publication (ASAP or in issue). Acceptance and publication will not be delayed for pending or unresolved issues of this nature.

Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)

Authors submitting manuscript revisions are required to provide their own personal, validated ORCID iD before completing the submission, if an ORCID iD is not already associated with their ACS Publishing Center user profiles. This ID may be provided during original manuscript submission or when submitting the manuscript revision. All authors are strongly encouraged to register for an ORCID iD, a unique researcher identifier. The ORCID iD will be displayed in the published article for any author on a manuscript who has a validated ORCID iD associated with ACS when the manuscript is accepted.

ORCID iDs should not be typed into the manuscript. ACS publishes only those ORCID iDs that have been properly verified and linked before the manuscript is accepted. After your ORCID iD is linked, it will be displayed automatically in all subsequently accepted manuscripts for any/all ACS journals. We do not publish ORCID iDs provided during proof review or via other communications after a manuscript is accepted for publication.

With an ORCID iD, you can create a profile of your research activities to distinguish yourself from other researchers with similar names, and make it easier for your colleagues to find your publications. If you do not yet have an ORCID iD, or you wish to associate your existing ORCID iD with your ACS Publishing Center account, you may do so by clicking on “Profile” from your ACS Publishing Center dashboard and following the ORCID-related links. Learn more at www.orcid.org.

To obtain forms and guidelines for completing the Journal Publishing Agreement or obtaining permissions from copyright owners, and to explore a Copyright Learning Module for chemists, click here.

Funder Reporting Requirement

Authors are required to report funding sources and grant/award numbers. Enter ALL sources of funding for ALL authors in BOTH the Funder Registry Tool in the submission system and in your manuscript to meet this requirement.

Open Access Compliance

ACS offers options by which authors can fulfill the requirements for open access and deposition into repositories for funded research. Visit our ACS Open Science site to see how to fulfill requirements for specific funders and to find out if you are eligible to publish under a Read + Publish agreement between ACS and your institution. You can also find out more about Open Access Compliance and ACS Open Science initiatives.

Diversity and Inclusion Statement

During manuscript submission, ACS journal authors have the option to submit a statement sharing information related to diversity and inclusion that is relevant for their paper. If supplying a diversity and inclusion statement, the corresponding author must provide this on behalf of all authors of the manuscript during the submission process. These statements include but are not limited to analysis of citation diversity and acknowledgment of indigenous land on which research was conducted. Statements expressing political beliefs are not permitted and may be removed by the journal office. All statements are subject to final review by the Editor.

  • Citation Diversity Statement:The citation diversity statement should appear in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript. ACS recommends including the following: (1) the importance of citation diversity, (2) the proportion of citations by gender and race/ethnicity for the first and last authors, (3) the method used to determine those proportions and its limitations, and (4) steps taken by the authors to improve citation diversity in the article. We recognize that one limitation of the current methods is that it cannot account for intersex, non-binary, and transgender people, or Indigenous and mixed-race authors. (Adapted from BMES/Springer Guidelines)
  • Land acknowledgment:The land acknowledgment statement should appear in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript. The statement should link to the institutions’ formal land acknowledgments on which the research took place, if possible. Further guidance for creating these statements can be found here: https://nativegov.org/news/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment/.

Appendix 2: Preparing Graphics

Resolution

Digital graphics pasted into manuscripts should have the following minimum resolutions:

  • Black and white line art, 1200 dpi
  • Grayscale art, 600 dpi
  • Color art, 300 dpi

Size

Graphics must fit a one- or two-column format. Single-column graphics can be sized up to 240 points wide (3.33 in.) and double-column graphics must be sized between 300 and 504 points (4.167 in. and 7 in.). The maximum depth for all graphics is 660 points (9.167 in.) including the caption (allow 12 pts. For each line of caption text). Lettering should be no smaller than 4.5 points in the final published format. The text should be legible when the graphic is viewed full-size. Helvetica or Arial fonts work well for lettering. Lines should be no thinner than 0.5 point.

Color

Color may be used to enhance the clarity of complex structures, figures, spectra, and schemes, etc., and color reproduction of graphics is provided at no additional cost to the author. Graphics intended to appear in black and white or grayscale should not be submitted in color.

Type of Graphics

Table of Contents (TOC)/Abstract Graphic

Consult the Guidelines for Table of Contents/Abstract Graphics for specifications.

Our team of subject-matter experts and graphical designers can also help generate a compelling TOC graphic to convey your key findings. Learn more about our Graphical Abstract service.

Figures

A caption giving the figure number and a brief description must be included below each figure. The caption should be understandable without reference to the text. It is preferable to place any key to symbols used in the artwork itself, not in the caption. Ensure that any symbols and abbreviations used in the text agree with those in the artwork.

Charts

Charts (groups of structures that do not show reactions) may have a brief caption describing their contents.

Tables

Each table must have a brief (one phrase or sentence) title that describes the contents. The title should be understandable without reference to the text. Details should be put in footnotes, not in the title. Tables should be used when the data cannot be presented clearly in the narrative, when many numbers must be presented, or when more meaningful inter-relationships can be conveyed by the tabular format. Tables should supplement, not duplicate, information presented in the text and figures. Tables should be simple and concise.

Schemes

Each scheme (sequences of reactions) may have a brief caption describing its contents.

Chemical Structures

Chemical structures should be produced with the use of a drawing program such as ChemDraw.

Cover Art

Journal of Natural Products authors are encouraged to submit images to be considered for use on the journal’s front cover or Supplementary Covers at the time of the submission of their revised manuscript. If your article is accepted for publication, your suggestion may also be selected for use on one of the journal’s covers. If your art is selected for front cover, ACS will send you information about how to request one complimentary 18” by 24” printed poster featuring your work. Images chosen for the front cover will be published at no cost to the author.

Cover image submissions should be colorful and visually engaging, with minimal text. The cover image should not resemble a Table of Contents (TOC) or graphical abstract or data figure, but rather should be an artistic and scientifically accurate representation of the manuscript. Cover illustrations for the Journal of Natural Products generally are composed of a high-contrast photograph of an organism (e.g., higher or lower plant, microbe, or a marine animal), which is overlaid by the chemical structure of a constituent of significance from this organism. Representative past cover motifs are provided on the journal website.

Image files should be submitted as TIF, JPG, PNG, or EPS files (not PDF or PPT) with a resolution of at least 300 dpi for pixel-based images. Cover art should be 8.19 inches (20.8 cm) wide × 10 inches (25.4 cm) high at 300 ppi, and submission of “layered” artwork is encouraged. The journal’s logo will obscure the top 3 inches (7.62 cm) of the image. Authors should submit the cover image, along with a brief (<50-word) cover caption explaining the significance of the cover motif, inclusive of the citation of pertinent bibliography presented in the correct style for the journal. These items should be submitted as supplementary files to the ACS Publishing Center with the revised manuscript. Authors are responsible for providing signed permission forms as deemed necessary by the American Chemical Society.

If you wish to be considered only for the front cover, and not a paid supplementary cover, please respond NO accordingly to the Supplementary Cover Art question in the submission system. For more information on the Supplementary Covers program, please see this webpage. All art submitted for consideration for a supplementary cover will also be considered for a front cover.

Web Enhanced Objects (WEO)

The Web editions of ACS journals allow readers to view multimedia attachments such as animations and movies that complement understanding of the research being reported.

WEOs should be uploaded in the submission system with ‘Web Enhanced Object’ selected as the file designation. Consult the list of compatible WEO formats.

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