Figures, graphics, images & cover artwork

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Figures & graphics

• Colour images may be used free of charge both online and in print
• Figures, Schemes and Charts should be supplied as TIFF files, with a resolution of 600 dpi or greater. You can supply EPS or PDF files instead, but we will need to convert these to TIFF files in the final article
• Images should fit within either single column (8.3 cm) or double column (17.1 cm) width, and must be no longer than 23.3 cm. They should be prepared to make best use of the space available and must not be larger than a single page
• Any text, numerical data or scale bars should be clearly legible and sized appropriately so that any data may be accurately interpreted
• Figures including logos, trademarks or brands names (for example Lego® or Rubik’s Cube®) should not be used. You must obtain permission to use any figure or graphic belonging to someone else; see our guidance on using third party material in Royal Society of Chemistry publications

Table of contents entry

A table of contents entry (graphical abstract) is required, which should be submitted at the revision stage. This should include an eye-catching graphic and 1-2 sentence(s) of text to summarise the key findings of the article to the reader. It will appear in the table of contents and feeds – for example, RSS feeds.

The graphic should:

• Be simple, but informative
• Capture the reader’s attention (the use of colour is encouraged)
• Include a structure, scheme, graph, drawing, photograph or combination that conveys the message of the article. Please note, complex schematics or spectra should be avoided
• Be original, unpublished artwork created by one of the co-authors. Preferably, the graphic should not be reused and appear again within the article
• Be suitable for, and uphold the standards of, a scholarly publication that has a global reach
• Not contain any elements that are offensive or inappropriate, in particular words or images that are discriminatory
• Not contain large amounts of text. Text should be limited to the labelling of compounds, reaction arrows and diagrams, with long phrases or sentences being avoided. Any text should be clearly legible to a reader
• Not contain logos, trademarks or brands names

The text should:

• Be concise and focus only on the key findings of the manuscript and their importance
• Avoid repeating or paraphrasing the title or abstract.
• Be provided in an editable format, e.g. .docx file

Table of Contents specifications:

• The figure should be a maximum size of 8 cm wide x 4 cm high. It is recommended that authors make use of the full space available
• Figures should be supplied as TIFF files, with a resolution of 600 dpi or greater
• The text supplied should be 1-2 sentences long, using a maximum of 250 characters

Photographs

• Photographs should be provided at the best resolution available (minimum 600 dpi) as TIFF, PDF or JPEG files
• Biography photographs should be 4 cm wide x 5 cm high (individual photograph) or 8.3 cm wide x 5 cm high (group photograph)

Chemical structures

Structures should ideally be prepared with chemistry drawing software and saved as images in TIFF, EPS or PDF format. You may also embed the graphics in your manuscript if you prefer, but these should be saved in image format first.

You should use the settings below or you can use our chemical structure templates to format these for you.

• Chain bond angle = 120^o
• Fixed bond angle = 15^o
• Bond length = 0.43 cm or 12.2 pt
• Bond width = 0.016 cm or 0.5 pt
• Bold bond width = 0.056 cm or 1.6 pt
• Double bond space = 20% of bond length
• Stereo bond width = 0.056 cm or 1.6 pt
• Hash spacing = 0.062 cm or 1.8 pt
• Captions/atom labels = Arial/Helvetica, 7 pt

To save ChemDraw diagrams in TIFF format, select File, Save As. In the “Save as type” menu select “TIFF image (*.tif, *.tiff”)”, then click “Options” and change the resolution to 600.

Crystal structure images

A conventional line drawing of the structure should normally be included and one perspective diagram (or stereo pair) if appropriate. Packing diagrams should not be included unless required to illustrate a specific chemical point. The atom numbering scheme should be clearly shown in one of the diagrams.

Journal cover artwork

Appearing on the cover of the journal in which your work is published is an excellent way to promote your work and attract readers.

If you would like us to consider your artwork for the cover of a journal, please get in touch with that journal’s editorial team once your article has been accepted for publication.  Use of artwork is at the editor's discretion and authors are required to pay a fee for this service. The submitted artwork should be the author’s own original creation.  If third-party material is used as part of the artwork, or if it has been created with the help of an illustrator or designer, please ensure that all necessary permissions have been obtained. If using AI tools to help create the cover artwork, authors must confirm that the AI tool has been trained using fully licensed datasets and the terms of the licence to use the AI output allow commercial reuse.

If chosen for a cover, we will promote your article and increase its visibility in a number of ways:

• Your article will be made free to access to all for six weeks.
• Your cover will be highlighted in the contents pages of the journal online.
• Your cover will be attached to the PDF of your article, making it highly visible to readers.
• Your article will be placed towards the front of the issue, where it will be more readily accessible to readers.

We will also send you a digital version of the cover for you to use in presentations and your own promotion.