While reading the Manuscript Information is the most important step, we hope that this welcome message will help you get started. Hopefully, you will find the answer to any question in our instructions. If not, please don’t hesitate to reach out. The editorial office is here to help.

For information about paper types, click on Manuscript Info in the menu. For information about the editors, board of associate editors, or scope of the journal, click on About.

We created a submission infographic awhile ago to break down the process (please note the links have not been updated yet and still go to our old website): Author Infographic

And an overview of the submission site: Submission Infographic

There is information about Open Access and page charges, color fees, and author benefits for MSA members under the tabs on this page.

Preparing Your Paper: Every journal has a particular style for nomenclature, units, page size, fonts, affiliations, abstracts, captions, and everything you can think of. While it may seem inconvenient, the consistency aids the editors and reviewers. And the articles maintain a familiar structure for readers. We trust you to do your best and to concentrate on the Science — the logic, flow, and meaning of your manuscript.

**Note that Regular and Letter papers no longer have the requirement of an Implications section. It is at the editor’s discretion.

Manuscripts with crystal structure data ought to be accompanied by a CIF, use this link for info: CIF info

Submit your paper here: online submission site. Here are some basic tips:

• You only need to create an account once. You may use it to submit subsequent manuscripts, and your name will also appear in the database of potential reviewers. If you’re interested in reviewing for Am Min, be sure to fill out your subject areas to appear in search results.
• Have all your coauthors’ information ready, especially an email address. It helps to search the database first to save time and keep the database tidy. However, make sure the email address is correct because all authors are notified of the submission.

If you need assistance, email us at peer_review@minsocam.org. The editorial board info is here: List of Editors and AE’s.

Authorship Statement: Authorship is first a responsibility. Not all workers in a lab or office will want this responsibility although they may be delighted to help you, brainstorm, proofread, or other colleague aid. Authorship is defined as (1) substantial contributions to conception and design of the specific experiment, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; or (3) final approval of the version to be published. Finally, again, (4) all authors must agree to authorship. Authorship cannot be a gift or a surprise. If you are a single author, and you wrote the paper as a graduate student or post-doc, please let us know the name and contact info your then supervisor/mentor. (The place to thank people is in Acknowledgments.)

In case of any ethical or conflict of interest situations, MSA is guided by “The Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors” of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). COPE website: https://publicationethics.org/.

– COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers, English version
– COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers, Chinese version

Authorship and AI tools. MSA follows the COPE position statement on use of AI tools in publication. 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. MSA authors must disclose the use of all AI tools at submission. In addition, MSA does not allow the use of AI tools in peer review.

Brief Scope: American Mineralogist is an international journal that publishes mineralogical papers of broad interest to the geoscience and materials science community. Manuscripts whose implications are of only regional interest or those that do not have a significant, broad scientific impact on the readership will not be accepted for publication by American Mineralogist. In your cover letter, authors must explain the importance of their research, and why their results would be of interest to an international audience. For more information on Am Min’s Scope & Mission, click here.

American Mineralogist expects authors performing research involving sample collection to acquire the samples responsibly and abide by all rules and regulations of sample collection and export for those localities in which they work. This is particularly true for samples that may have cultural or historical significance. Furthermore, we expect that local people will be involved in the research and hope that local scientists’ contributions to the research are sufficient for co-authorship on papers emerging from the research. If the contributions do not rise to the level of co-authorship American Mineralogist expects those contributions to be explicitly stated in the “Acknowledgments” section of the manuscript.

Brief Open Access Info: Submissions that are accepted must not be already published or submitted to another journal. See below if open access/open archive is desired or needed. All Open Access/Archive fees must be paid before publication, at the proof stage. MSA is the publisher; we do not belong to De Gruyter’s Rightslink although we are pleased they are a distributor of the journal. We are not at this time a transformative journal.

Summary Information of Author Charges

Note: American Mineralogist is published by Mineralogical Society of America.

American Mineralogist depends on the revenue from author charges to supplement subscription income to keep institutional subscription costs low. The cost of producing and delivering a single typeset page of content is over 60% higher than the page charge fee, and substantially higher than the cost of reprints. For this reason, MSA asks its authors to make every effort to purchase reprints or to obtain page charge support from their grants and institutions. However, publication is not contingent on payment of author charges.

Fees/Options for Articles

*Page charges: $100 per (typeset) page.

If you wish to estimate your page charge cost before receiving typeset proofs, we suggest a very rough guideline of 3 submitted pages (double-spaced text, 1 page per firgure/table) = 1 typeset page. Full payment is not required for publication, but even partial payments are appreciated. This can be indicated when you receive your invoice link.

*Gold Open Access Article Processing Fees

Am Min now offers a two Tier fee structure, which we hope will greatly streamline the process for authors to anticipate the amount due and begin arranging the payment as soon as the invoice is received.

Tier 1: $1,000 (Letter papers)
Tier 2: $2,500 (Regular papers, 3-12 pages); $4,500 (Articles exceeding 12 pages)

Note that until the article processing fee (APF) is paid in full, the article cannot be assigned an issue and finished. The APF includes color figures in print and online and waives the page charges. (If your funding agency requires it, CC-BY and CC-BY-NC-ND are alternative licensure options with Gold Open Access. If your funding requirement is to be Open Access prior to 12 months post-publication, this is the option you need to use. Authors are responsible for understanding their funders’ requirements.) Disclaimer: If you choose to revert to a regular article after the proof return deadline for your paper, because the APF cannot be paid, there may be a $325 administrative fee depending on the timeframe. Also converting to an Open Access paper past the proof return deadline for your paper, may also incur a $325 administrative fee.

*Green Open Access: Twelve (12) months post-publication authors may use the accepted version of their manuscript, not the final typeset (published) version. This is the same as your early publication document (or paper in press, also known as the Author Accepted Manuscript, AAM). If you cannot abide by the 12 month embargo, for example, by needing to post the AAM version in a repository upon publication of the final version, then you should use the Gold Open Access option above. UKRI authors should contact email editorial@minsocam.org for a discussion of options.

Fees/Options for Figures

*Color figures in print and online: $600 (per article, not per figure, up to 16 pages typeset); for articles over 16 pages, the fee is $900. Carefully consider the cost when drafting your paper, tables, and figures. Any figure or table material may be uploaded as an online deposit for no charge, and it would be available as a link on the Am Min table of contents, at no cost to readers.

*Online-only color figures: $100 (per article, not per figure)

*There is no charge to publish figures in grayscale/black and white.

Did you know MSA Members receive free online-only color as a benefit? (Join here)

Miscellaneous Options

*Various quantities of reprints are available for purchase, but must be ordered before publication of the print volume. Further information is sent during production.

*E-link (electronic reprint): free with no expiration to MSA members (as of March 2022).

*Limited E-link (electronic reprint): As of April 2022, the corresponding author receives an e-mail with the article’s unique URL that can be shared with readers via e-mail or on a website(s). The link expires at 12 months. The link takes the reader to the GSW version of the article, behind the subscriber paywall. Persistent access (>12mo) is available to MSA members; join if you haven’t already and send us your member number to receive the upgraded link.

*Official MSA presentations, such as a memorial, award papers, or book reviews are not expected to pay page charges, although it is greatly appreciated.

Payment Options

*Using our web-based system, you will click the Invoice link in your email to verify the billing and shipping info and enter your payment method. Invoices and receipts (for credit cards) will be sent automatically. There are three ways you can pay: credit card, check, and wire transfer (fee included). Receipts for checks and wire transfer payments take longer due to processing time.

* For most authors, the invoice is sent as soon as the number of pages is determined. If you need to pay sooner due to expiring funds or other unique circumstances, email editorial@minsocam.org.

*Payment can be made online via a credit card or an invoice can be printed out and turned in to your funding office. It greatly helps if your funding office can use the web-based system. Bank transfer and other information appears directly on the invoice itself as well, if necessary. Most importantly, corresponding author name and manuscript number must appear on any check or wire transfer payment. Failure to do so can result in significant delays in processing and may affect publication of your article.

Contact Info:

MSA Business Office Info: authorcharges_service@minsocam.org (reference manuscript no. in the subject line); 703-652-9950.

Questions on a specific paper or how to use the web form, contact: editorial@minsocam.org

Tips for Peer Review

1. Have your coauthors’ info: Search the database, but check for correct email addresses.
2. Read the Manuscript Information in full.
3. Figures: Don’t forget to proofread the text in your figures carefully and label them with the figure number.
4. Cover letter is attached.
5. Tables are at the end of your article file, or in a separate editable format.
6. Have good artwork files: readable fonts (remember to embed fonts), thick lines.
7. Got “CIFs”? Submit just one CIF file.
8. No Conclusions, or summary, at the end of your paper—summary is for the Abstract. Concluding remarks are allowed. Implications may be necessary or requested, but are not required for all papers.
9. Use Equation Editor for display equations, but not individual characters (like symbols or sub/superscript).
10. Is your submission part of a Special Collection? Remember to select the name from the pull-down list. More information here: Special Collections

General tip: To clear your cache or temporary internet files. This PDF shows you how (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Sarari, and Chrome).

Proofs

Overview: Proofs are sent to authors via e-mail. With our new web-based system, authors access their PDF file by clicking a link. Authors will use this link multiple times: to download proofs, then upload corrections. There is a comment box for very short lists of corrections or short notes to staff. The system automatically files the proof with the paper, alerts us, and keeps everything on track.

Check out this helpful “how to” Quicktime video presented by the managing editor. It shows the screens and basic process of downloading and uploading your proof files.

It is important to return proof corrections within 5 days of receipt to avoid publication delays. The new web-based proofs system will improve communication with authors and be much easier for authors. Do not hesitate to contact editorial@minsocam.org with any questions or concerns.

Software requirements: It advised to obtain the most recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader (free to download), which is necessary for viewing page proofs and other aspects of the submission and review process. Of course Acrobat professional version will work perfectly too.

Changes in proofs: Changes made at the page-proof stage are time consuming, expensive, and are logically discouraged. An author who makes extensive changes in text (such as rewriting passages or changing data on tables) may be billed as a result of the additions or deletions. Re-doing of figures because of an author’s changes can also be charged to the author. However, there is no charge for answering Editor queries or correcting scientific mistakes.

Returning page proofs: Authors will be advised of the timeframe in which page proofs are due to arrive when their manuscript is accepted. If they expect to be away during that time, it is their responsibility to provide the Editorial Office with an alternative e-mail address, if necessary, to which the page proofs may be sent or to make other arrangements for the proofs to be checked and returned. Authors have 5 business days from the date the proofs arrive to return them to the Editorial Office. All proof procedures are explained with the proof.

Page charges: It is humbly requested that all authors who are able pay their page charges. Details will be included in your proofs e-mail. There are a variety of ways to contribute financially to the production of your paper and support the Society.

Background: MSA is a nonprofit society funding the journal primarily with a subscriber-based economic model. Subscriptions to online versions or the traditional print version are kept as low in cost as possible by offsets from author page charges and other revenue. To keep Am Min viable, if the paper is to be freely available to all readers concurrently or previously to publication, then the author must pay the open access/archive charges (and the paper will also be open to all readers on our websites). For institutional/funding requirements it is possible that an inexpensive post-publication “e-link” may suffice. Any details can be discussed with the managing editor before submission.

Page charges: Authors are requested to pay a set rate per page for page charges, although current publication costs are considerably higher than the requested amount. Payment of page charges is not a condition of acceptance for manuscript publication; however, MSA depends largely on the revenue generated from page charges and reprint orders to keep journal subscription costs low. For this reason, authors are asked to make every effort to obtain funds for page charges or reprints from their granting agency or institution.

Authors who pay page charges may receive up to 100 offprints and an “e-link” of their paper with this option if desired. Authors can also purchase additional offprints (also called reprints). (An “e-link” is a url code you can e-mail or post on a website that allows anyone access to the full text of your paper on GeoScienceWorld with no expiration.)

Other options: Authors may also order offprints, without paying page charges, if funds do not allow. If the first author is an MSA member ((join here)), but cannot pay page charges or order offprints, they are eligible for a complementary “e-link” as a member benefit.

Orders shipped to non-U.S. addresses are by surface delivery at no extra charge; airmail first class service for faster service costs extra.

Agreed upon figure related costs (full color and online color) can also be addressed on the offprint/page charge form.

Authors of memorials, review papers, and official MSA presentations are exempt from page charges, but may opt to receive complementary reprints and/or the “e-link” of their paper.

Details of fees can be found at https://msaweb.org/MSA/AmMin/authorinfo/#charges.

Online form: The page charge/offprint form with the page-charge order and billing instructions is now on the web; a link to the URL accompanies page proofs. A response should be returned to the MSA Business Office at the same time page proofs are returned to the Editorial Office; any purchase order forms required by the author’s institution may be sent at a later time. Please submit your form only once. If changes become necessary, contact the Editorial office directly.

Deposit Items & Data Sets

Supplementary material will be placed in MSA’s free to use, free to read depository, which is located online (click on any Table of Contents, look for a deposit item and click the link). Here’s an example of our data page. Starting in 2016, deposit links are located next to the issue in the TOC grid.

Almost any content, including tables, figures, and data sets may be deposited and do not have to comply with the official Am Min style guidelines. (Although CIF guidelines are strictly enforced.) In general, deposit materials will appear exactly as the author prepared them. Since deposit material is supposed to last for a long time, using plain txt, PDF, Excel, or other “universal” format is advised; but any format is accepted. It would also be beneficial to your paper, if the metadata of the item included author(s) name(s), title of the paper, and other keyword information as possible.

Submission Requirements

An electronic copy of deposit/supplementary materials, figures, tables, CIFs, additional methods information, and even movies should be uploaded to the peer review system when you submit your paper. Contact the Editorial office regarding any questions or concerns about special format files or for transmitting the files by ftp.

In most cases, the Editorial office will add the “branding” needed to identify the published version of your article. However, it is very helpful and a “best practice” for authors to put at the top of the file last name, year of publication, and American Mineralogist. Authors with many deposits will be asked to do this in the production phase if they have not.

CIFs: These data have specific requirements and are vetted in peer review. See CIF guidelines.

Supplemental Data Sets

If you deposit data related to your research in public data repositories, whether with your institution, Figshare, Dryad, or other, we will enable hyperlinks to that data if you provide an URL, especially if your funding requires that your data be deposited and linked. The format can be to simply embed this in the method’s text, but it could also be treated as a reference and cited and listed as any reference. If another person’s data is used, be sure to reference that in the References List, and call it out in the paper, basically as you would any citation (author(s), year, title, repository info/name, and the persistent link). The specific persistent link could be a DOI or any other format.

We encourage authors to do this; the community of science now and in the future may find the raw data or big data invaluable. Furthermore, think of your deposited data set, and our link to it, as a discovery tool for your paper. Finally, this should aid those of you with funding requirements that require linking of data to the published paper.

For Consideration:

Please consider making some Figures, Tables or even a portion of your paper “supplementary data”, if you have a large paper (over 50 pages raw, counting each figure as 1 page). Very approximately, every 3 pages deposited reduces the final typeset version by 1 page. Evidence-based publishing indicates that shorter articles are more often read/cited than longer articles. And if your paper is Open Access, that reduces your APF; or your reprint costs for a regular paper. Of course MSA is interested in reducing costs; however, if the science needs the space then that is important to communicate to the editor.

A common concern about deposit materials is that readers will not click the url or the url will break in future years or the paper will just be incomplete. To solve that consider depositing the material in Dryad, Figshare, etc. — options at the bottom of this page although are many such services and you can use the one you wish. They will supply you with an DOI — a digital object identifier — and you let us know what that is and we embed that into the paper. Many advantages — the DOI will always work, the material is linked to you and to the paper, the deposit material is not under embargo of any sort, it is typically free to all readers, it is another discovery tool for the paper. Let us know how this works for you so we can improve our information for authors.

Authors can supply us with DOIs for data if they wish, the data that is often requested by funders, etc. but isn’t really a part of the paper.

Resources

Not in any priority order, a list that will likely grow over time of “data resources”. Contact us with any suggestions.

• Dryad: datadryad.org
• Figshare: figshare.com
• Data Management Short Course for Scientists, hosted by The ESIP Federation
• Registry of Research Data Repositories: re3data.org
• Center for Open Science
• American Mineralogist Crystal Structure database
• COD (Crystallography Open Database): www.crystallography.net
• IUCR: www.iucr.org/resources/data/datasets
• System for Earth Sample Registration: www.geosamples.org
• Library of Experimental Phase Relations (LEPR): lepr.ofm-research.org/YUI/access_user/login.php
• pMELTS Database: melts.ofm-research.org/Database/php/index.php
• DataCite
• DataONE