Instructions to authors submitting to the LMS Journal of Computation and Mathematics

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please do NOT use this site for the submission of papers intended for the OTHER journals of the London Mathematical Society (that is, the PROCEEDINGS, JOURNAL or BULLETIN, or the JOURNAL OF TOPOLOGY).
Material for those journals is handled separately (see http://www.lms.ac.uk/publications/submission.html).

1. The language of the journal is English; please also see the guidelines and suggestions for clear mathematical writing given below. No paper that has been previously published, or which is being considered for publication elsewhere, should be submitted to the London Mathematical Society. Nor may a paper that is under consideration by the London Mathematical Society be submitted elsewhere.
   
   PLEASE NOTE: Starting with the 2010 volume, the page format and style will change to adhere to that of the other LMS journals (Bulletin, Journal, Proceedings and the Journal of Topology).
   
   Although submissions in any document class or style are invited, authors are now encouraged to use the LMS class file, which is available by clicking here. (The older ’JCM’ class file should no longer be used.)
   
   The LMS JCM is a free open access journal, and therefore any help authors can provide in preparing their manuscript is appreciated.
   
   
   
   
2. Send the paper for initial review as a single PDF (preferred) or PostScript file, attached to an email message. The message should be sent to
   submit-jcm@lms.ac.uk
   and should contain the following information:
   1. that you wish the paper to be considered for publication in the LMS JCM,
   2. the name of the JCM Editorial Advisor whose field(s) of expertise most closely match the topic(s) of the paper (the list of the Editorial Advisors and their fields of expertise can be found at http://www.lms.ac.uk/jcm/editors.html),
   3. the title of the paper,
   4. the authors of the paper,
   5. the full address details of the corresponding author (including e-mail address),
   6. the text of the abstract,
   7. optionally, a URL (web address) or an anonymous FTP host/directory from which we can download any additional file(s) (preferably as one zipped file) that form part of the submission; such files can be appendices/"add-ons" (databases, code, graphics, etc., that are not part of the paper itself but you wish to have published with the paper, or which may be useful to the editors or referees) in an appropriate format (*.txt, *.html, *.jpg, *.m, *.g etc.), and
   8. the name and description of each file included in the submission, indicating any that are not intended for publication.
   
   You will be sent an acknowledgement when we have checked that your main file can be printed out successfully.
   
   
3. If you run into difficulties in the course of submitting the paper, please contact the LMS editorial office at jcm@lms.ac.uk.

1. Send your revised paper as a PDF (preferred) or PostScript file, attached to an email message. The message should be sent to
   
   submit-jcm@lms.ac.uk,
   and should contain the following information:
   1. that your paper is a revised version,
   2. the JCM number of the paper, if known,
   3. the title of the paper,
   4. the authors of the paper,
   5. optionally, a URL (web address) or an anonymous FTP host/directory from which we can download any additional file(s) (preferably as one zipped file) that form part of the revised version; such files can be appendices/"add-ons" (databases, code, graphics, etc., that are not part of the paper itself but you wish to have published with the paper) in an appropriate format (*.txt, *.html, *.jpg, *.m, *.g etc.),
   6. the name and description of each file associated with your paper, and
   7. a description of the changes you have made to the paper in response to the referee’s report.
   
   You will be sent an acknowledgement when we have checked that your main file can be printed out successfully.
   
   
2. If you run into difficulties in the course of re-submitting the paper, please contact the LMS editorial office at jcm@lms.ac.uk.

1. Please FTP a PDF or PostScript file of the final version of your paper, together with all the LaTeX source file(s) (including figures) and any supporting files or "add-ons".
   
   You should "put" the files into the folder (directory)
   
   ftp://ftp.lms.ac.uk/pub/jcm-submissions/
   (Instructions for methods of sending material by ftp (using UNIX, LINUX, Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer) are provided below.)
   
   
2. Then send an e-mail to submit-jcm@lms.ac.uk
   1. clearly stating that your paper has been accepted for publication, and giving:
   2. the title of the paper,
   3. the authors of the paper,
   4. the JCM number of the paper, if known,
   5. the names and types of the files that you have submitted by anonymous FTP.
   
   
   
3. If you run into difficulties in the course of submitting the final version, please inform Dr Ola Törnkvist (the LMS Managing Editor) at jcm@lms.ac.uk.

Try to ensure that editors and referees who read your work find it more a pleasure than a chore. It is your job to be understood. Responsibility for the accuracy of your results and for the quality of the exposition rests with you, not with the referee or the editor.

2. Do not use mathematical symbols and formulae in the title of your paper, and avoid the use of symbols or formulae in the abstract.

A title that includes symbols or formulae is usually incomprehensible except by a small number of specialists. Symbols in titles make for bibliographical difficulties, and the font used for titles does not usually accommodate formulae satisfactorily or easily.

3. Do not attach footnote markers to titles or authors' names. They are rarely necessary, and are an unsightly distraction. (The JCM style file puts author addresses, as well as acknowledgements, at the end of the paper.) The symbol † is unfortunately similar to the sign which, in many cultures, is used to indicate that the named person has died.

4. Ensure that formulae are not perverted or distorted by adjacent material, and that they can be parsed at first reading.

• Avoid the use of footnotes.
  
• Never allow formulae to coalesce. For example, never begin a sentence with a formula or a mathematical symbol when the preceding sentence has ended with a symbol – the eye will first read the concatenation of symbols as one formula. (In fact, it is a useful rule always to try to organise your writing so that sentences never, or rarely, begin with a technical symbol.)
  
• Ensure that reference citations do not pervert formulae. "The same theorem has been proved for M₁₂ (see [4])" is easier to read than "The same theorem has been proved for M₁₂ [4]".
  
• Avoid the use of abbreviations such as "i.e." or "e.g.". Avoid inverted commas (apostrophe, quotation marks) adjacent to formulae.
  
• Never try to make plurals from symbols using "apostrophe s". Even in printed form, a group of letters such as "g_i's" looks like one formula. Besides, it is ungrammatical, and (since "apostrophe s" usually indicates a possessive) it is misleading.
  
• Quantifiers should be properly attached to the appropriate variables. For example, the natural first reading of the assertion "every 0 ≠ x ∈ F has an inverse" is obviously not what is intended.

5. Ensure that phrases, sentences and paragraphs are formed according to standard grammatical rules. It is understood that the usual rules of language have to be modified to incorporate formulae in mathematical writing. If you modify them unreasonably, or break them too frequently, your paper will be unreadable, with the result that, even if your research is good, your paper may be rejected. Mathematics must not only be done, it must be seen to be done.

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You should set your FTP to "ascii" if you are sending text, TeX, LaTeX or html files, and to "binary" if you are sending PostScript, PDF or dvi files. Some FTP software (for example, a Netscape browser) will do this for you automatically. See under the relevant header for further help.

1. UNIX, LINUX and COMMAND-LINE ftp transfer.

   If you are using a command line (for example, on a terminal with UNIX), you must first log in by typing "ftp ftp.lms.ac.uk" (there is a space after the first "ftp"). When you are asked for "Name:", type either "anonymous" or "ftp". When you are asked for a "Password", type in your full e-mail address.

   To change directories, use the command "cd /pub/jcm-submissions" (note that "cd" is followed by a space).

   If you are sending a Postscript (.ps, .eps), PDF or .dvi file, you should now set your FTP transfer to "binary" by typing "binary" and pressing the return key. Then to upload a file, type "put", followed by a space and then the name of the file you are sending.

   When the file has been successfully received, you should see a message "Transfer complete". (Ignore the message "command successful", which means only that your command has been successfully received, and not that it has been successfully carried out!) For security reasons, it will not be possible for you to determine whether the upload was successful; you will receive a message from the Executive Editor if there is a problem.

   Please do not forget to email submit-jcm@lms.ac.uk with the information requested above!

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2. NETSCAPE BROWSER If you are using a Netscape browser, you should point your browser to the appropriate URL as follows.
   ftp://ftp.lms.ac.uk/pub/jcm-submissions/

   Then go to "Upload File" in the browser's File menu, and follow the instructions that the browser sends you.

   Please do not forget to email submit-jcm@lms.ac.uk with the information requested above!

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3. MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER
   1. If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, you should "Copy" the relevant file(s) to your clipboard. Then point your browser to appropriate URL as follows.
      ftp://ftp.lms.ac.uk/pub/jcm-submissions/

      Then "Paste" the file(s) into the FTP site.

   2. Newer versions of Explorer may support dragging & dropping. If so, open a window that shows the files you want to transfer. Open your web browser and point it at the appropriate URL, as described above. Resize windows and arrange your screen so that you can see the files to be transferred, and also the window of the web browser. Drag the files to be transferred from their current window to the web-browser window, and release the mouse button (drop them). You will then get a "copying" animated display, and the transferred file(s) will be visible in the web-browser window when the transfer is complete.

   Please do not forget to email submit-jcm@lms.ac.uk with the information requested above!

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IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS with this server, please report them to: jcm@lms.ac.uk. If you suspect that your problems may be with FTP itself rather than the server, we recommend the very helpful FTP tutorial at