Information for Authors
Editorial Policy
We welcome the submission of high quality research papers in all areas of mainstream mathematics. In order to be considered for publication, a paper must be well written and its results correct, new, and significant. In additions, the paper should be of interest to a substantial number of mathematicians; papers that appeal only to a small group of specialists may be more appropriate for a specialized journal than a general mathematics journal such as the IJM.
As a general mathematics journal, we aim to publish in a diverse range of areas in mathematics, and we strive to maintain an appropriate balance among these areas. In particular, we try to avoid publishing multiple papers on the same topic, or by the same authors within a short timeframe.
Submission of Manuscripts
The submission of a paper implies the author’s assurance that it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere.
Submissions should be made electronically to the following address:
ijm-submit@math.uiuc.edu
Using this dedicated email address will ensure proper handling of the submission. Please do not send electronic submissions to the regular IJM email address (ijm@math.uiuc.edu), or directly to an editor; you may, however, use your cover letter to suggest an editor for handling the paper. The submission must include:
- A cover (email) letter, indicating the intent to submit the paper for the IJM and (optionally) suggesting an editor to handle the paper.
- The original TeX/LaTeX file of the paper and any auxiliary files necessary to process the paper (such as ps/eps files for figures, bibtex files for bibliographies).
- A pdf version of the paper. If sending a pdf file by email is not possible (e.g., because of the size of the file), please provide a web address from which the file can be downloaded. (The TeX file, however, should still be sent by email.)
We recommend that you send a single email message, containing the cover letter as the body of the message, and the electronic files as attachments.
Notes:
- Papers must be in (some flavor of) TeX; we cannot process papers in formats other than TeX (such as Microsoft Word). When preparing your Tex file, please try to follow the guidelines below.
- The TeX source file of the paper must be included with any submission; a ps/pdf file alone is not sufficient. Amongst other things, the TeX file is needed to automatically generate a database record for the paper by extracting the relevant information (author, title, etc.) from the Tex file.
- The address ijm-submit@math.uiuc.edu is intended only for the initial submission of paper; any inquiries regarding a paper already submitted should be sent to the regular IJM address, ijm@math.uiuc.edu.
- Submissions will be acknowledged within a few days of the receipt of a manuscript. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within a week or so of sending a paper, please contact the IJM office at ijm@math.uiuc.edu.
Offprints
Every corresponding author will receive a PDF file via email of the final article. This electronic delivery system eliminates the delay from print publication to offprint delivery that previously resulted from printing, sorting, and mailing paper offprints and will provide the author with permanent access to their article once it is published. There are no page charges.
Copyright Policy
Authors of accepted papers will be asked to sign a Consent to Publish and Copyright Transfer Agreement. The IJM has a liberal copyright policy that allows authors to maintain copies of their paper on personal webpages and electronic preprint servers.
Preparation of Manuscripts
General Requirements
- Abstract. All papers must contain a brief abstract. Please try to avoid displayed formulas and bibliographic references in the abstract. The abstract should not contain custom macros so that it can be compiled independently of the rest of the paper.
- Subject classification. Papers should contain a subject classification in the usual format, with one or two primary classification numbers and, optionally, one or more secondary classification numbers. In the amsart LaTeX documentclass, the classification can be provided using the \subjclass{…} macro. (For examples using this construct, see the templates and sample files below.)
- Running title. If the title is too long to be used as running title, please provide a short title. In LaTeX this can be accomplished using the \title macro as follows: \title[shorttitle]{fulltitle}.
- Acknowledgements. Brief acknowledgements will e typeset as unnumbered footnotes on the title page. In the amsart LaTeX documentclass this can be achieved with the \thanks{…} macro. (Note that the amsart class does not allow explicit footnotes to authors or titles.) Longer acknowledgements will be typeset as unnumbered subsections at the end of the paper, or the end of the introductory section.
LaTex Templates and Sample Files
The IJM is typeset in LaTeX, using a variant of the amsart documentclass, so papers prepared in that format are easiest to process. You may wish to use, or consult, one of the following LaTeX templates and sample LaTeX files.
- Basic LaTeX template. A basic LaTeX template.
- Enhanced LaTeX template. A slightly customized version of the basic template with a provision for theorem and equation numbering by section (e.g., Theorem 1.1, Corollary 1.2, (1.1), (1.2), etc.).
- Sample file. A complete LaTeX file of an article published in the IJM.
Additional Guidelines for Papers in LaTex
The following simple guidelines will help significantly reduce the time and cost involved in processing papers. Most of these guidelines are not IJM specific, but simply reflect good LaTeX practices.
- Documentclass/documentstyle. Use of the standard documentclasses for journal articles, either the AMS article class “amsart” or the standard LaTeX “article” class, i.e., \documentclass{amsart} or \documentclass{article}. (In LaTeX 2.09, the old version of LaTex, replace \documentclass by \documentstyle.)
- Page dimensions. To achieve the correct page dimensions, add the following commands to the preamble:
\setlength{\textheight}{43pc}
\setlength {\textwidth}{28pc}
Do not use other commands that change page dimensions (such as oddsidemargin or hoffset, or baselinestretch), since such commands may interfere with the above settings and will likely have to be removed when processing the paper. Also, remove any options to the “\documentclass” command that change the font size or page dimensions, such as [11 pt] or [a4paper]. - Bibliography. Set references using \bibitem and the thebibliography environment, using a format similar to that used by AMS journals. If you have a bibtex database, use amsalpha or amsplain as bibliography style to generate the bibitem entries.
- Avoid manual formatting. Do not use commands such as
- \centerline{1. Introduction}
- {\bf Theorem 1.} {\it …}
- \par\noindent{\it Proof.}
To format sections, theorems, proofs, etc.; use instead appropriate LaTex constructs:
- \section{Introduction}
- \begin{theorem} … \end{theorem} (along with a \newtheorem declaration)
- \begin{proof} … \end{proof}
Similarly, avoid explicit spacing commands like \bigskip, \newline or \\ (except in multiline displays), or \noindent. LaTex commands such as \end{proof} or \section automatically create an appropriate amount of space. Manual coding of theorems, proofs, section headings, etc., will have to be removed by us and replaced by corresponding LaTeX constructs; this is a laborious and time-consuming task. Excessive manual formatting may increase the time it takes us to process a paper by an order of magnitude.
- Packages. Standard packages, loaded with \usepackage{…}, are fine, if they are needed in the paper. Some useful packages are graphicx (for graphics inclusion), amssymb, or amscd (for commutative diagrams).
- Pictures. Electronically generated graphics should be provided as eps (encapsulated postscript) files.
- Special note for users of Scientific Workplace (TCI). Scientific Workplace can create LaTeX files, but for the files to be compatible with a standard LaTeX environment, they must be saved as portable LaTeX files; otherwise, the files created require proprietary macros and cannot be used outside the SW.
Guidelines for Papers in AmsTeX and Plain TeX
Papers in AmsTeX will be converted by us to LaTeX. As with LaTeX papers, manual formatting should be avoided, and appropriate amstex/amsppt constructs should be used, such as:
- \title … \endtitle
- \author .. \endauthor
- \head … \endhead
- \proclaim … \endproclaim
- \demo … \enddemo
- \ref … \endref
We use an automated process that can convert properly formatted AmsTeX papers to LaTeX, with little or no additional markup required. To achieve the correct page dimensions, use no \magnification and specify the following in the preamble, after \documentstyle{amsppt}:
\pageheight{43pc}
\pagewidth{28pc}For papers in plain tex, specify the page dimensions with the following commands:
\vsize43pc \hsize28pc. Do not use a magnification.LaTeX Tips
The following is a home grown (and growing) list of tips for using LaTeX more efficiently, borne out of experience with processing papers for the IJM. The tips are geared towards typesetting mathematical journal articles, though not IJM specific.
- The Top Ten List
- General Tips
- Creating a TeX file
- Macros
- Lists
- Math Basics
- Math Displays
- Theorems
- Bibliographies
- Figures and tables
- Document classes and packages
- Installing custom packages and style files