Author Guidelines

Before writing your article

It is more beneficial to decide on a target journal and article type at very beginning of your writing. This is useful because different journals and article types have different scientific scopes and aims and different manuscript requirements in terms of length, style, and format. By directly targeting your journal and article type, you can ensure the right approach and speed up the manuscript preparation.

More information about JJAP, including the scope and article types, can be found on our About the journal page.

Article length limits

Some types of article in JJAP have limits on the number of words and figures that can be included. When you prepare your article, we strongly recommend that you prepare your manuscript within the stated limits.

Submitted articles which exceed these limits may be delayed, as the editorial staff will ask authors to shorten their articles before peer-review. In extreme cases, submitted manuscripts may be rejected if they do not comply with the length limits.

Structure of the article

A full-length paper published in JJAP comprises the following components, and the main text is sectioned accordingly. Although Letters in APEX and Rapid Communications and Brief Notes in JJAP are not sectioned, the essential flow of presentation is usually the same in all types of paper.

Title

The title should be brief, but must be appropriate for the content, informative and clear. If the work is of interest in a limited area of research, indicate it in the title. Many people will read the title, but papers with poor or improper titles may never be actually read by the intended audience.

Authors

All your co-workers who have made significant scientific contributions to the research and have agreed to submitting the paper should be included as co-authors. Every co-author should be aware of the content of the paper and share appropriate responsibility for the work. The affiliation at which the research work was conducted must be provided for each of the authors.

Abstract

The abstract concisely states the objectives and scope of research, and summarizes the results and principal conclusion gained in your research work. A well-written abstract, together with the title, enables potential readers to determine whether your paper is interesting and worth reading in full. Abstracts must be concise, generally presented as one paragraph, and the length should not exceed 150 words for JJAP regular papers, 100 words for APEX letters and JJAP short papers.

Introduction

The introduction is a critical part of your paper because it introduces the reasons behind your paper's existence. It must state the objectives and scope of your work, present what problem or question you address, and describe why this is an interesting or important challenge. It is important to introduce appropriate and sufficient references to prior works so that readers can understand the context and background of the research and the specific reason for your research work. Having explored those, the objectives and scope of your work must be clearly stated. The introduction may explain the approach that is characteristic to your work, and mention the essence of the conclusion of the paper.

Methods

The methods section provides sufficient detail of theoretical and experimental methods and materials used in your research work so that any reader would be able to repeat your research work and reproduce the results. Be precise, complete and concise: include only relevant information. For example, provide a reference for a particular technique instead of describing all the details.

Results

The results section presents the facts, findings of the study, by effectively using figures and tables. This section must present the results clearly and logically to highlight potential implications. Combine the use of text, tables, and figures to digest and condense the data, and highlight important trends and extract relationships among different data items. Figures must be well designed, clear, and easy to read. Figure captions should be succinct yet provide sufficient information to understand the figures without reference to the text.

Discussion

In the discussion section, present your interpretation and conclusions gained from your findings. You can discuss how your findings compare with other experimental observations or theoretical expectations. Refer to your characteristic results described in the Results section to support your discussion, since your interpretation and conclusion must be based on evidence. By properly structuring this discussion, you can show how your results can solve the current problems and how they relate to the research objectives that you have described in the Introduction section. This is your chance to clearly demonstrate the novelty and importance of your research work.

Conclusions

The conclusion section summarizes the important results and impact of the research work. Future work plans may be included if they are beneficial to readers.

Acknowledgments

The acknowledgments section is to recognize financial support from funding bodies and scientific and technical contributions that you have received during your research work.

References

The references section lists prior works referred to in the other sections. It is vitally important from an ethical viewpoint, to fully acknowledge all previously published works that are relevant to your research. Whenever you use previous knowledge, you must acknowledge the source. Readers benefit from complete references as it enables them to position your work in the context of current research. Ensure that the references given are sufficient as well as current, and accessible by the readers. As a guide, typical Regular Papers and Rapid Communications in JJAP should include 30 or more appropriate references; whereas a typical Brief Note should include 20 or more references.

Writing and Editing tips

The following tips may be useful in writing the paper.

• You need not start writing the text from the Introduction. Many authors actually choose to begin with the results section since all the materials that must be described are available. This may provide good motivation for carrying out the procedure most effectively.
• Your paper must be interesting and relevant to your readers. Consider what your readers want to know rather than what you want to write. Describe your new ideas precisely in an early part of your paper so that your results are readily understood. Otherwise, do not use lengthy descriptions of the details. For example, writing too many equations and showing resembling figures or too much detailed tables should be avoided. Clarity and conciseness are extremely important.
• When preparing your manuscript, please avoid using such words like 'new' or 'novel' in the paper. Submission of a paper to APEX/JJAP itself implies the paper contains certain new materials or novel facts that have not been disclosed before. Therefore, using such words is redundant. Please claim your new or novel findings in simple, straightforward and expressive wordings. This is in particular important when organizing the title as well as abstract. The use of a phrase like 'for the first time' should also be avoided because of the same reason.
• During and after writing your draft, you must edit your writing by reconsidering your starting plan or original outline. You may decide to rewrite portions of your paper to improve logical sequence, clarity, and conciseness. This process may have to be repeated over and over.
• When editing is completed, you can send the paper to your co-authors for improvement. When all the co-authors agree on your draft, it is ready to be submitted to the journal. It is worth performing one final check of grammatical and typographical errors.
• English correction of the manuscript by a native speaker is highly recommended before your submission if you are not a native speaker. Unclear description prohibits constructive feedback in the review process.

Templates and style guide

When preparing your submission, you can use:

• Microsoft Word templates for Regular Papers or Rapid Communications and Brief Notes and follow our style guide.
• A zip archive of LaTeX files.

Supplementary data

Supplementary data attachment will enhance a reader's understanding of the article but is not essential to comprehension of the main results of the published article. Supplementary data attachments typically consist of multimedia files of video clips or animations and items including tables of raw or analyzed data, parameters in calculations, derivations of equations, computer codes, sample preparation, extra figures and so on.

Supplementary data must be submitted at the same time as the main manuscript for peer review. It cannot be altered or replaced after the article has been accepted for publication. It should not be used to avoid a length limit, and a short article accompanied by lengthy supplementary data is not appropriate. Supplementary data should not accompany Comments, Replies, or Errata.

The supplementary data is referred to in the main manuscript where necessary, for example as (see supplementary data)

The file size of supplementary data should not exceed 10 MB, unless more is required to show the work appropriately. Use popular file format for a multimedia file so that it can easily be accessed by the reader (including the editors and the reviewers). The usage of the following file formats is recommended:

*.avi, *.flv, *.mov, *.mp3, *.mp4, *.mpeg, *.mpg, *.pdf, *.qt, *.rm, *.wav, *.wmv

The author should take full responsibility for both preparation and contents of supplementary data. All questions and comments on supplementary data should be addressed to the corresponding author of the article. Supplementary data is covered under the same copyright as the associated published article.

Supplementary data should be reviewed together with the manuscript since it will be attached to the article if accepted. Reference items are used only for the reviewing process.