Author Guidelines

Most articles in Photonics Insights are by invitation. Authors wishing to submit a review article without invitation should contact the editorial office in advance for additional instructions. Email: pi@clp.ac.cn

Publication Policies

The following requirements will permit you to determine if you can submit a paper to Photonics Insights.

Rights and Permissions

Prior to submission, authors should obtain all clearances, authorizations, and licenses needed for submission and publication. Upon acceptance, authors are required to complete a license authorizing SPIE and CLP to publish the paper under a Creative Commons license.

Significance

Contributions should be substantial and significant in content. We may decline to publish papers that report only incremental progress. Although a paper may be correct and appropriate for Photonics Insights, if it does not demonstrate, in the estimation of the reviewers and editor, sufficient new and important information to warrant publication, or provide a comprehensive review of the current state of the art, it will be declined. Manuscripts that are commercial in nature will not be considered.

Originality

Papers should describe the original work of the authors that has not been previously published in a refereed journal and is not currently under consideration for publication in another refereed journal. Photonics Insights does not allow or sanction duplicate or concurrent submissions of a paper to more than one peer-reviewed journal. Any copying of text, figures, data, or results of other authors without giving credit is defined as plagiarism and is a breach of professional ethics. Such papers will be rejected and other penalties may be assessed. 

SPIE Guidelines for Ethical Publishing

Authors are expected to read and abide by the Guidelines for Ethical Publishing.

SPIE is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). 

Authorship

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the concept, design, execution or interpretation of the research study. All those who have made significant contributions should be offered the opportunity to be listed as authors. Other individuals who have contributed to the study should be acknowledged, but not identified as authors. The sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

All collaborators share some degree of responsibility for any paper they coauthor. Some coauthors have responsibility for the entire paper as an accurate, verifiable, report. These include, for example, coauthors who are accountable for the integrity of the information reported in the paper, carry out the analysis, write the manuscript, present major findings at conferences, or provide scientific leadership for junior colleagues.

Coauthors who make specific, limited, contributions to a paper are responsible for them, but may have only limited responsibility for other results. While not all coauthors may be familiar with all aspects of their paper, all collaborations should have in place an appropriate process for reviewing and ensuring the accuracy and validity of the reported results, and all coauthors should be aware of this process.

Every coauthor should have the opportunity to review the manuscript before its submission. All coauthors have an obligation to provide prompt retractions or correction of errors in published works. Any individual unwilling or unable to accept appropriate responsibility for a paper should not be a coauthor.

Because authorship attribution requires accountability for the submitted work, Photonics Insights does not allow ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) to be listed as an author on a manuscript. If authors use AI tools when writing a manuscript, it must be disclosed along with all other tools used in the study in the Materials and Methods section of the paper. This section should describe which AI tool was used and how it was used. Photonics Insights follows the guidance of COPE on this topic, which further advises that “Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscript, even those parts produced by an AI tool, and are thus liable for any breach of publication ethics.”

Collaborations are expected to have a process to facilitate internal communication and allow all authors to be fully aware of the entire work. All members of a collaboration should be familiar with, and understand, the process.

For guidance on preventing and resolving authorship problems, see “ How to handle authorship disputes: a guide for new researchers” (a resource from the Committee on Publication Ethics).

Plagiarism Screening

SPIE and CLP define plagiarism as the reuse of someone else's prior ideas, processes, results, or words without explicit attribution of the original author and source. Unauthorized use of another researcher’s unpublished data or findings without permission is considered to be a form of plagiarism even if the source is attributed. SPIE and CLP consider plagiarism in any form, at any level, to be unacceptable and a serious breach of professional conduct.

SPIE and CLP use the Crossref Similarity Check plagiarism screening service to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Crossref Similarity Check is a multipublisher initiative to screen published and submitted content for originality.

Preparing a Manuscript

Overview

Manuscripts should be submitted in English, and the presentation should be as succinct as comprehension will permit. Manuscripts are reviewed and refereed. Those accepted for publication are edited for conformance to the journal's style.

It is expected that authors will ensure a high standard of scientific merit. It is essential that the review offers significant new insights based on its systematic comparison of multiple studies and has a good introductory section aimed particularly at the reader new to the field.

A review is an authoritative, balanced survey of recent development in a research field. Photonics Insights checks the similarity of every submission with other published materials and will not knowingly publish review articles containing a large amount of text copied from previously published work. The journal publishes the best high-quality review articles with academic leadership and guidelines. Therefore, the proportion of summarizing your team’s own research work should not exceed 20%, and efforts should be made to increase the review and commentary of milestone achievements or contributions in the historical development process of the field.

English Language Editing

For authors who want help improving language and grammar, AI tools,AI tools, such as Grammarly or PaperPal, offer a low-cost editing option. In accordance with the rules stated in the Large Language Models section of these guidelines, such use of AI tools is acceptable but should be disclosed in the Acknowledgments section of the manuscript.  

Alternatively, authors may prefer a human professional edit. For this service, SPIE recommends Editage, which offers a 15% discount to SPIE authors. Please note that use of this service does not guarantee editorial acceptance by an SPIE journal. You should avoid making additional changes to your manuscript after receiving the edited version, as grammatical errors may be introduced. More detailed information can be found at editage.com/spie.

Large Language Models

Use of Large Language Models (LLMs) and other AI tools must be disclosed along with all other tools used in the study. The disclosure should describe which AI tool was used, how it was used, and the prompts that were used. AI tools must be disclosed even for general uses, such as cleaning up language and grammar. AI tools used in such methodologies as data collection and figure creation should be disclosed in the Materials and Methods section of the paper. Use for language and grammar clean-up should be disclosed in the Acknowledgments.

Manuscript Types

Review articles published in Photonics Insights present the current status of a given topic, with background, research progress, conclusions, and possible future developments. The purpose of the review article is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge in the field of optics. The journal publishes the following article types:

• Full Review: This type of article can be long review articles and comprehensive tutorials. It should typically be approximately 30,000 words in length, and a longer one is acceptable. At least 300 references are cited; citations should be selective, and footnotes should not be used.
• Mini Review: This type of article can be short timely reviews of recent advances in established fields or new and emerging areas of optics. It should be approximately 12,000 words in length. At least 200 references are cited; citations should be selective, and footnotes should not be used.
• Perspective: Historical viewpoints on notable past and present scientific achievements, or even speculate on possible future academic, technological, or societal advancements. It should typically be approximately 5,000 words in length.

 

Manuscript Templates

To make your initial submission process as easy as possible, as well as to make it easier for the editors and referees to review your manuscript, for the initial submission we only require a single document containing the manuscript and figures, along with any supporting multimedia files. The document may be in MS Word, LaTeX, or PDF. The figures and their captions should be placed within the manuscript, near the first mention of each figure in the text. Upon acceptance, authors will be asked to submit individual figure files and a properly formatted manuscript for use in production.

Microsoft Word: A  Microsoft Word template (.docx) is available to assist you with formatting. Use MathType for equations. Or, if using MS Word 2007 or later, the native equation editor can be used, but the document must be saved as .docx. Backsaving to .doc format will convert all equations to low-resolution graphics, which cannot be used for typesetting. Please note that all accepted papers are professionally typeset; the template is intended only as a guideline for author convenience, and it is not necessary to rigidly adhere to the format.

LaTeX: A  LaTeX template (.zip) is available to assist you with formatting, or you can use the Overleaf authoring tool explained below. LaTeX submissions should include the manuscript, a locally compiled PDF, the bibliography, all referenced style files (such as .cls, .bst, .sty, etc.), and all figures and tables. Please note that all accepted papers are professionally typeset; the template is intended only as a guideline for author convenience, and it is not necessary to rigidly adhere to the format.

Parts of a Manuscript

Title

The title of your paper should be descriptive and concise.

• Acronyms should be spelled out.
• Titles should not begin with the articles A, An, or The.
• Avoid use of the words "new" or "novel" in the title.

 

Authors and Affiliations

Provide full author names, including given name and family name. These names will be used in official databases and indexes. Initials are not allowed for the given name. Provide full affiliations, including institution, department, street address, city, postal code, and country. An email address should be provided for the corresponding author, and this person should be noted with a footnote.

Abstract

The abstract should be a summary of the paper and not an introduction (200 words maximum). Because the abstract may be used in abstracting journals, it should be self-contained (i.e., no numerical references) and substantive in nature, presenting concisely the objectives, methodology used, results obtained, and their significance. For further guidelines, please read the brief article titled "  How to Write an Abstract ," by Philip Koopman. (Courtesy of Philip Koopman, Carnegie Mellon University.) Abstracts should not make claims of novelty, as publication implies novelty.

Plain-Language Summary

You have the option to include a short summary of your manuscript (200 words maximum) and its potential applications. This summary may be used by the journal for promotion of significant work. Nonspecialist readers of the summary should be able to understand the language used and the significance of the review. The summary should provide an accurate description of the importance of the review without overstating the potential impact of the paper. 

Subject terms or keywords

Keywords are required. Please provide 3-6 keywords related to your paper.

Text

Type manuscript in a single column, using a readable font size (for example, 12-point type). Please add page numbers. Note the following style points:

• Journal style does not permit use of bold and italic font for emphasis; these styles should be reserved for formatting math. 
• Spell out all abbreviations and acronyms at first use. 
• Metric units should be used unless to do so is not feasible or would result in a serious loss of clarity. 
• Footnotes are not allowed for the main body of the text.

Equations

Create equations using MathType. If using Word 2007 or later, the native equation editor can be used, but the document must be saved as .docx. When equations built with Microsoft's Editor are back-saved to the .doc format, they are converted to low-resolution graphics and will not be usable for composition. To use MathType, you will need to select Object on the Text section of the Insert tab and then select MathType in the drop-down menu. Variables should be written in italic font.

Appendices

Any figures, tables, or equations in appendices should continue the numbering sequence established in the body of the paper. Appendices may not consist of only tables and figures; they must also include explanatory text and captions.

Disclosures

Conflicts of interest should be declared under a "Disclosures" header, above Acknowledgments. If the authors have no competing interests to declare, then a statement should be included declaring no conflicts of interest. For assistance generating a disclosure statement, see the form available from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors website:  http://www.icmje.org/conflicts-of-interest/.

Acknowledgments/Funding Sources

Use this section to identify people who have aided the authors in accomplishing the work presented and to acknowledge sources of funding. Include grant numbers and the full name of the funding body. Funding information will be deposited to  FundRef.

References

The purpose of a reference is to make the source easy for the reader to locate. To this end, each reference should provide as much information as is available. The basic elements of a reference include author names (including first initials), article/chapter title, journal or book title, volume number, issue number, page range, and year of publication. References are professionally copyedited on accepted manuscripts to conform to journal style, and authors do not need to spend a lot of time adapting references to the journal's reference format, so long as all of the required information is present.

References to published literature should be listed at the end of the manuscript and numbered consecutively in the order of their citation in the text. In-text citations can use superscript bracketed reference numbers. Private communications or unpublished reports should be treated as references.  Click here for sample book, journal, and Internet references. For references with three or fewer authors, list all authors. For references with four or more authors, list the first author only followed by "et al."

Reference formating samples:

1. Ma et al., “Information metasurfaces and intelligent metasurfaces,” Photon. Insights1, R01 (2022). [Journal article]
2. Choi et al., “StarGAN: unified generative adversarial networks for multi-domain image-to-image translation,” in IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (2018), p. 8789. [Conference article]
3. W. Boyd, Nonlinear Optics (Elsevier, 2008). [Book]

Artwork Preparation

General Figure Guidelines: Figures must be submitted in EPS, TIFF, PNG, or PDF format for publication. We cannot accept application files, i.e., Corel Draw, Microsoft Word, etc. Number all figures in the order that they appear in the text. All figure parts/panels must be labeled (a), (b), etc. Submit high-resolution figures. The quality of the published figure is only as good as the original file—it cannot be improved by the typesetter.

Photonics Insights strongly discourages the use of the Lena (Lenna) image. Authors are advised to use other suitable images to illustrate and compare image processing algorithms. Authors who submit new manuscripts containing the Lena image will be asked to replace the image with a substitute image if they cannot provide a convincing scientific justification for its use.

Figure Permissions: If the figure is derived from a previously published image, the author must obtain permission from the original copyright holder, who may be the publisher and/or the author. Once permission is granted, the figure caption should include the line "Reprinted/Adapted with permission from Ref. [XX], © xxxx (year), copyright owner (or publisher)," or the publisher's required copyright statement. Many permissions can be obtained via the  Copyright Clearance Center .

File types	EPS, TIFF, PNG, PDF, or PS
Dimensions	Figures will be reduced to a maximum width of 3 and 5/16 in. for single-column layout, and a maximum width of 6 and 3/4 in. for two-column layout.
Background	Avoid graphs with shaded, transparent, or grid backgrounds. The background should be white.
Colored lines	All line art should be distinguishable in grayscale. If colored lines are used, please add symbols or dot-dash textures to distinguish lines in all graphs.
Line weight	Ensure that line weights will be 0.5 points or greater in the final published size. Light-colored lines do not show up when printed in grayscale.
Alpha channel	No
Compression	LZW with .tiff files
Resolution	300-600 pixels per inch (ppi). Enlarge to 150% to check for jagged or blurry lines, indicating low resolution.
Layers	Flattened, no layers
Color mode	RGB or CMYK
Text	No smaller than 8 pt. Use a clear and readable font such as Times, Arial, or Symbol.
Captions	Do not include in image file. Captions should be listed separately within the manuscript and contain descriptions of all labeled figure parts (a), (b), etc.
File size	Should not exceed 2-3 MB per figure
Multipart figures	All parts should be included in one file, on one page. For example, if Figure 1 contains three parts (a),(b), and (c), then all of the labeled parts should be combined in a single file for Figure 1.

Tables

Tables should be built in Word, Excel (embedded in Word), or LaTeX. They should not contain graphics. Tables containing images must be numbered as figures. Colored fonts will not appear in the typeset version, so bold and italic should be used for emphasis instead. Explain use of bold or italic in the caption or table footnote. Do not use shading. Very large tables may be vertically oriented, or they may span multiple typeset pages. A caption must be included with the table.

Peer Review Process

All submissions are screened to ensure they meet basic standards of manuscript presentation and are also processed through Crossref Similarity Check. Manuscripts are then evaluated by the editor-in-chief (EiC) and/or a designated editorial board member (EBM) to ensure they meet the journal's rigorous scientific standards and are eligible for peer review. Manuscripts that meet these criteria are reviewed (single-anonymous) by at least two referees selected by the EBM based on their expertise in the topic. The referees provide detailed comments and recommendations to help the EBM arrive at the appropriate editorial decision. Revised manuscripts are evaluated by the EBM and are sent back to the original referees in the case of major revisions. The EiC has the ultimate authority to accept or reject a submission.

Authors may appeal to the EBM or EiC to reconsider a rejection decision if they believe that the reviewers have seriously misjudged the manuscript. All appeals will be given careful consideration. The EBM and/or EiC will determine if further consideration is merited or if the original decision should stand.

Submissions from editors or members of the editorial board are handled by an editorial board member who is not connected with the manuscript to ensure that such submissions receive an objective and unbiased evaluation. Information about the review process for such submissions is redacted from the view of any editors or editorial board members who are authors of the paper within the journal's online submission and review system.

Here are some additional tips: 

1. Answer the reviewers’ comments item by item, in the order presented by the reviewers. Avoid mixing all the questions together and answering them in your own order. Although this may seem more logical to you, it will make it more difficult for the editors to determine whether you have adequately addressed the reviewers’ comments.
2. Take the reviewers’ comments seriously and answer them all completely. Avoid simply answering “Ok” or “Yes” to the questions. At the very least, you should indicate where you made changes in the manuscript corresponding to each reviewer comment.
3. Read your response letter several times to ensure you have addressed all the reviewers’ comments and have not made any typos or grammatical mistakes.

 For your reference, a template response letter is available  here.

After Acceptance

Open Access

Photonics Insights articles are published with immediate open access under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 Attribution license (CC BY).

Upon acceptance, authors are given instructions for completing and returning the CC BY license form. Under the CC BY license, ownership of copyright in the article (if applicable) and all other proprietary rights, including patent rights, remain with the author(s). In addition to any rights under copyright, the author(s) retain the rights (a) to reproduce, distribute, and publicly display the article in any form or medium; (b) to prepare derivative works from the article; and (c) to authorize others to make any use of the article, provided that proper full attribution is given to the original publication.

Author Proofs

Accepted papers are immediately sent into production, where they are professionally copyedited and typeset in XML. It usually takes 10-12 days after acceptance to generate the first proof. The corresponding author will be notified by email when the proof is ready to review. Changes should be kept to a minimum. Additions or subtractions of large portions of text may require re-review.

Promote Your Research

Here are some ways you can publicize your new article:

• Share your article on social media. This tip sheet for SPIE journal authors can help get you started.
• Write an article summary to share with your institution’s communications or PR office, or commission Impact Science to write one for you with SPIE's Enhanced Article Processing Charges (APCs) .
• Update your online CV and website to include a complete citation to the article.
• Inform your institution that it has been published so that it may be added to any lists of publications they maintain and disseminate.
• Create a 90-second Explainer Video to be published with your paper and shared on social media.

How to Cite

Photonics Insights uses six-digit citation identifiers (CIDs) in place of traditional page numbering. This allows an issue to build online one article at a time, while retaining the ability to segment tables of contents by article type or subject area. An example of the correct citation format for a Photonics Insights article is:

1. Smith and B. Jones, "Paper title," Photon. Insights 1(2), 023407 (2023).

In this fictitious example, the article by Smith and Jones was published in Photonics Insights in Issue 2 of Volume 1, as the seventh article published in the section of the table of contents to which it was assigned (in this case, category number 34, which could represent either a topical section or an article type category within the table of contents).

In the full-text PDF file, the CID appears on each page. Appended at the end of the CID is a hyphen followed by a consecutive page number. For the sample article above, the pages would carry this page numbering: 023407-1, 023407-2, 023407-3, etc. The hyphen and additional digits should not be used when citing or searching for an article.

Corrections and Retractions

As a publisher, SPIE has an obligation to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record, and will make changes to published articles in certain circumstances, as described here.

Errata

An erratum describes corrections to a published paper resulting from errors with data or interpretation, omissions of information, or any other technical error. An erratum may be initiated by the author, a reader, or an editor, but must have the author’s approval. These statements are published separately from the original paper and include a citation to the original article. When an erratum is published, the original work will also, whenever possible, be corrected and republished with a Corrected date on the PDF, which helps to prevent future duplication of the error.

Any changes to the author list post-publication require approval from all authors and the Co-Editors in Chief, and are at the discretion of the Publisher.

Publisher’s Note

When an error in a paper is initiated by the publisher, such as something inadvertently introduced during copyediting or typesetting, and the error impacts the integrity of the article, a Publisher’s Note may be issued. In this case, the original article will be corrected and republished online with a Corrected date on the PDF. The Publisher’s Note will describe the change and include a citation and link to the original article.

Retraction

Retractions can be initiated by a journal editor, author, publisher, or an author’s institution. The journal editor may consider retraction if they have clear evidence that the paper’s findings are unreliable, either as a result of a major error, or as a result of fabrication or falsification. Other reasons for retraction include plagiarism; previously reported findings, without proper attribution; unauthorized data or material; copyright infringement; unethical research involving human or animal subjects; work published solely on the basis of a compromised or manipulated peer review process; the authors failed to disclose a significant conflict of interest; or egregious dishonesty surrounding authorship, including paid authorship or listing authors without their permission. These reasons for retraction are in line with the Council of Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on retraction.

In the case of retraction, the PDF of the original paper will be republished with a “Retracted” watermark across all pages, and the word “Retracted” will be added to the paper title. The online version of the article will be replaced by a retraction notice that includes the full citation of the original paper and the reason the paper is retracted. The retraction notice will effectively replace the original paper, with the same DOI and citation information.

Prior to retraction, authors will be given an opportunity to respond and appeal, but retraction does not require unanimous agreement of the authors.

Name Changes

In support of diversity, equity, and inclusion in research communities, SPIE allows authors to change their names. Authors may wish to change a name due to gender identity, marriage, divorce, religion, or other reasons, and SPIE will not require proof or supporting documentation for this change. When an author requests a name change on a work or works published in the SPIE Digital Library, the paper(s) will be updated and republished online, while maintaining the same citation information. Name changes do not require an erratum. It is recommended that co-authors are informed of the name change.

Misspellings and errors in an author's name are a different matter and still require correction via erratum.

To request a name change, please contact name_change_request@spie.org with your request. Include the paper DOI and the name change information. We will update the paper promptly and republish online, which will trigger it to be redelivered to all abstracting and indexing databases.

Misuse of this policy is an ethical violation and will be investigated and acted upon.