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Related pages: Publications, tools for authors, acceptable formats, preparing graphics, figure FAQ, multimedia FAQ, presentation options, and submitting to AGU journals

Manuscript Preparation

Authors are asked to provide manuscripts and artwork as electronic files. For information, see Acceptable File Formats.

The manuscript should be arranged in the following order (begin new sections on new pages):

1. Title page including authors’ names and affiliations
2. Abstract
3. Text (including appendices)
4. Acknowledgments
5. Reference list
6. Figure captions
7. Tables
8. Figures
9. Copyrighted material
10. Supporting nonprint material (e.g., data sets, long tables, appendices, graphs). See additional information in About Auxiliary Material.

AGU’s LaTeX Formating Toolkit provides detailed information about manuscript preparation for journals using LaTeX. Contact author.help@agu.org for additional help.

With electronic manuscripts and in-house macros, formatting requirements are few:

• For LaTeX, use the AGU template. If your article contains math, create file in the draft format, paying particular attention to breaks in the displayed equations. For submission and production-ready files, change command line to draft format. See instructions in the Formatting Toolkit.
• For MS Word and Corel WordPerfect, use double-spaced, 12 pt Times New Roman.
• Use line numbers in submitted manuscript. (except GRL)
• Use English U.S. as the language.
• Use Times New Roman. Do not use Symbol, Sim Sun, or Minchon fonts.
• Indent or space between all paragraphs.
• Do not use italic font for units of measure or chemical elements.
• Do not use any special typeface for emphasis.
• Avoid text footnotes; they should be incorporated into the text or eliminated completely.
• Do not create math equations or tables as pictures.
• Use MathType or insert symbols as normal text.

The AGU Editorial Style Guide for Authors provides a list of the most frequent changes made in editing. The complete AGU Grammar and Style Guide is available for download.

Abstract

The purpose of the abstract is twofold: (1) state the nature of the investigation and (2) summarize the important conclusions of this investigation. The abstract should be suitable for separate publication in an abstract journal and be adequate for indexing.

• Set as a single paragraph.
• Limit to 250 words for JGR; 150 words for other journals.
• Do not include references in the abstract.

Index Terms

Index terms are a key part of AGU’s strategy for electronic distribution of journal articles. They will be used in database searches, in subject indices, and in identifying articles for inclusion in AGU Personal Choice journals.

• Provide up to five index terms at the time of submission.
• Use the AGU Index Set.
• Ensure that the selected terms properly classify the article.

Authors may also provide up to six keywords. These are free-form terms that can be used to facilitate online searches.

Mathematics

• Use italic for variables, bold for vectors and matrices, script for transforms, and sans serif for tensors.
• Use superscripts and subscripts in superior or inferior position; do not use raised and lowered fonts.
• Extend fraction bars under the entire length of the numerator.
• Use the “degree” symbol instead of superscript lowercase “o.”
• Use “exp” rather than “e” if the argument of an exponential is complicated or lengthy.
• Avoid awkward fractional composition by using negative powers.
• Use solidus fractions (l/r) in text.
• Use the following to avoid ambiguity: parentheses, brackets, and braces, in that order { [ ( ) ] }.
• Number displayed equations consecutively within the article, not within the section.
• Place equation number (in parentheses) to the right of the equation.
• Add one extra line space above and below all displayed equations.

Notation

The notation is a list of parameters used in the text and their definitions that should be set up as shown in the following sample:

c        rate of soil accumulation, m/yr.
d        median grain size of water-deposited material, μm.
D        distance of the locus of points, m.
h        elevation of the rock stream channel at a particular time t_i, m.

Acknowledgments

• Acknowledgments should be limited to collegial and financial assistance.
• Acknowledgments are not meant to recognize personal or manuscript production support.

References

• See a brief overview of References in AGU Publications.
• Download the AGU Reference Style Guide (PDF).

Tables

• Every table must have a title, and all columns must have headings.
• Column headings must be arranged so that their relation to the data is clear and refer to column below.
• Footnotes should be indicated by superscript, lowercase letters.
• Each table must be cited in text.
• Avoid tables created with the tab key, pictures, and embedded objects.

Figures

See the Guidelines for Preparing Graphics Files for helpful hints for preparing images for publication. Refer to Acceptable File Formats for accepted formats for submission, publication, and the archive.

• Cite each figure in numerical order in text.
• Clearly mark orientation on figure, if questionable.
• Indicate latitude and longitude on maps.
• Do not include in the figure any information that could easily be included in the caption.
• For submission each figure must also have a caption with the figure and appear in a separate list of captions.
• For publication, delete captions from figures; include separate caption list only.
• See Figure FAQ for responses to frequently asked questions.

Color figures (PDF), foldouts, pocket maps, etc., can be accommodated, but the costs of color for publishing these special features must be borne by the author.

For additional information, contact the Author Information Helpdesk at author.help@agu.org.

Copyrighted Material

Authors who use material (e.g., graphics, tables) from another author or copyright holder must obtain written permission to do so. This includes any figures redrawn but basically unaltered or with only slight modifications.

Permission must allow for the distribution of the material in any and all media in current and future formats.

Obtaining permission can be a lengthy process, so please make sure that you have the necessary permissions before you submit your manuscript to AGU.

Written permission(s) should accompany the manuscript when submitted. Articles will not be published until permissions are received at AGU.

Supporting Material

See Guidelines and online information about AGU Auxiliary Materials for help in defining and submitting this material. Contact the editor’s assistant for more information on this service. Please note that all auxiliary data will be reviewed with your manuscript.

AGU is a worldwide scientific community that advances, through unselfish cooperation in research, the understanding of Earth and space for the benefit of humanity.

© 2007 American Geophysical Union

updated 20 Aug. 2007