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Instructions for authors

Microscopy Today seeks interesting articles about development of new technologies and applications in all fields of microscopy and microanalysis. Since our readers represent a large number of microscopy subdisciplines, we ask that articles be written in a semi-tutorial or layman’s style so microscopists from all backgrounds can appreciate the relevance of the material that is presented. In other words, prepare the article at the same academic level used if discussing it with a mixed group of microscopists at a meeting, rather than an advanced level used when giving a formal presentation in a discipline.

We encourage submission of articles from companies describing new developments and applications of their products but ask that commercialism, such as frequent use of the company or product name, be tempered as much as possible.

Microscopy Today Style Guide: Except as noted below, guidelines concerning formatting and publication style are provided in the following: (a) Chicago Manual of Style and (b) ACS Style Guide by Coghill and Garsond, Oxford (2006). 

Abbreviations, acronyms, and units 

Each abbreviation should be written out in full the first time it is used followed by the acronym in parentheses. Universally used abbreviations, such as "µm" for micrometer, do not need to be written out. Use SI (metric) units. 

References

Microscopy Today uses the numbered reference format where callouts in the text are in the form [7], and the reference list at the end of the article must be in numerical (not alphabetical) order as they are called out in the text. Format for the References section should be as follows: 

Journal

One author:  [7] F Von Zernike, Physica 1 (1934) 689–704

Two authors:  [7] P Van roy and DEG Briggs, Nature 473 (2011) 510–13

Three or more authors: [7] MT Rossner et al., CBE Views  21(6) (1998) 197–192 

Book 

[7] MD Graef, Introduction to Conventional Transmission Electron Microscopy, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2003, pp. 42–44.

Online 

KP Hand et al., Project Engineering Team Report of the Europa Alander Science Definition Team (2017) https://europa.nasa.gov/resources/58/europa-lander-study-2016-report/

Types of Articles Published

Regular articles are about 2,500 words with at least one figure for each 500 words and provide information about technical developments including instrumentation and applications. As Microscopy Today is a magazine-format publication, the liberal use of relevant high-quality figures is encouraged. Regular articles are usually divided into the following sections:

  • A mandatory Abstract is a brief summary of the article, containing about 100 words.
  • Five Keywords are required to provide an idea of the topics discussed in the article.
  • The Introduction should give any microscopist enough background to understand the meaning and importance of the new development or experiments, along with some key references to previous or related work.
  • The Methods and Materials section should describe the instruments and techniques used in accomplishing the study. If the article is about new developments, details about the equipment or procedures should be provided.
  • The Results should describe the new technology and/or data using descriptions augmented with figures and tables.
  • The Discussion should state how this work compares with previous work, mention limitations to the work, and discuss future studies that might take the work further.
  • A Conclusion should summarize the article without including new ideas or data.
  • Most articles also include an Acknowledgments section that recognizes those who helped the author(s), and any funding sources used to complete the work.
  • A References section containing citations called out in the article should be placed at the end of the article.


Feature and Review articles relate to a specific instrument or application of general interest to microscopists. These articles are usually about 3,500 words with 6 to 10 figures.

  • A mandatory Abstract is a brief summary of the article, containing about 100 words.
  • Five Keywords are required to provide an idea of the topics discussed in the article.
  • The Introduction should be a minireview of the subject literature that indicates how the present work relates to previous instruments, methods, or studies.   
  • The organization of other sections in Feature and Review articles is not set and can have varying subheadings.    


Techniques (Protocol) articles are included in the Microscopy 101 department and provide details about common and new protocols for specimen processing and operation of instruments. These articles are approximately 2,000 words, but for large topics may be divided into two or more articles that appear in subsequent issues.

  • A mandatory Abstract is a brief summary of the article, containing about 100 words.
  • Five Keywords are required to provide an idea of the topics discussed in the article.


Microscopy Education and Outreach articles are approximately 2,000 words and include information about educational opportunities such as the use of online platforms and methods to provide education to individuals and groups that normally would not be in contact with the microscopy community. Examples might include topics such as Project Micro for elementary and middle school students.

  • A mandatory Abstract is a brief summary of the article, containing about 100 words.
  • Five Keywords are required to provide an idea of the topics discussed in the article.


Opinion articles give microscopists an opportunity to say to our community what they believe should be said. The length of Opinion articles will be determined by the Editor-in-Chief.

Figures

  • IF IMAGES DO NOT HAVE ACCEPTABLE RESOLUTION AND SHARPNESS, THIS COULD DELAY OR PREVENT PUBLICATION OF YOUR ARTICLE. The Microscopy Today digital edition provides a 5x magnification of all text and figures, which requires that all images and line art be sharp. Optimum reproduction for micrographs means the image should have at least 300 ppi at 88 mm (3.5 inches), our standard column width. Line art should be at least 600 ppi at 88 mm (3.5 inches) in order to appear sharp when magnified.
  • .psd files with layers intact is the preferred figure submission format. Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) is also acceptable. Do not integrate figures into a Word or PowerPoint document.
  • Please convert images to CMYK color space (as opposed to RGB) when possible. After conversion check that the blue in RGB is acceptably represented in CMYK.
  • The submitted image orientation should be the same as intended for print.
  • Image Size/Crop: Digital art files should be cropped to remove non-printing borders.
  • Lettering and axis labels for graphs should remain legible when reduced to an image width of 84 mm. Letters within a word should not touch at this reduction.
  • Lines: Lines or rules should not be defined as hairline width. The recommended minimum line width is .25 point when the file is supplied at the same size as the final print; thicker lines must be used if the figure is to be reduced.
  • Arrows and other identifying materials on a figure must be large enough to be easily identified and contrast with the image so they are easily seen. Fonts (see next) for identifying structures must be the same for all figures.
  • Figure Numbers or Letters should be capitalized in a 24 pt sans serif font, such as Arial, Helvetica or Calibri, and placed in the upper or lower left corner of the figure; placement must be consistent for all figures in the submission. The figure letter should contrast with the background. For example, if the background is dark grey or black please use white lettering, and if light grey or white use black lettering.
  • SCALE BARS or image width must be provided for all images. The length of a scale bar may appear on the image centered over the bar or may be included in the figure legend. This must be consistent for all figures in the submission.

Originality and Permissions 

By submitting an article to Microscopy Today, the author warrants that the article is original or that the author has permission to use any copyrighted material. It is the author's responsibility to obtain all permissions needed, which must be provided in writing (or via email) from copyright holders, such as previous publishers. Conversely, Microscopy Today routinely grants permission, upon request, to any author seeking to use material appearing in the magazine for publication elsewhere.

Editing 

Articles may be edited for space, language, or technical level. In all editing, we aim to preserve the accuracy of content. Use third person in the text; use of first person is acceptable in some cases (if cleared with the Editor in advance), but avoid use of the second person "you," "yours," etc. We will send the corresponding author the edited article for comment prior to publication.

Publishing your article as Open Access  

Microscopy Today is a hybrid journal, meaning that it publishes on a subscription basis but provides authors with options to make their article open access in two different ways.

Visit our Hybrid Open Access FAQs for more information. For any questions which are not answered by our policy pages and resources, please contact [email protected].

(1) Under our Green Open Access policy for Science, Technology and Medicine (STM) journals, authors can archive certain versions of their articles in an institutional or non-commercial subject repository, or on their personal or departmental websites. The archived version can be the Accepted Manuscript (after peer review) six months after publication, or an earlier version at any time, but not the final published PDF (the Version of Record). This allows authors to comply with the open access mandates of many funders and institutions.

For more details, see our Green Open Access policy.

(2) Under Gold Open Access the author can publish under a Creative Commons license, enabling anyone to access and redistribute the content and, depending upon the license, re-use the content in new or derivative works with attribution. The terms of re-use for Gold Open Access content are stated in the copyright line of the article.

Gold Open Access is supported by an article processing charge (APC) typically paid by the author’s funding body or institution. The APC for Microscopy Today in 2021 and 2022 is USD 2,980 / GBP 1,870.

We have made a number of Read and Publish agreements to support Open Access. Authors at participating institutions may be eligible for waivers or discounts to publish their research, depending on the deal. Please click here to find out more. 

If you have opted for Gold OA publication via payment of an APC or an R&P agreement, this transaction will be initiated by email via the Copyright Clearance Center / Rightslink by Cambridge University Press once your article reaches the Production stage.

Article Submission 

If you have an idea for an article or would like more information about the technical specifications for submission, please contact the following:

Bob Price, Editor-in-Chief

[email protected]