ACS Publications is pleased to announce our continued partnership with the Cambridge Crystallographic Date Centre (CCDC), which will enable improved processing of CIF files for Inorganic Chemistry and Organometallics. Starting Wednesday, April 19, all authors submitting new manuscripts or manuscript revisions will encounter the new CIF workflow. Adding the new CIF workflow to these journals […]

The purpose of the new workflow is to provide authors with a single location for CIF submission that ensures a single version of record and minimizes errors, provides validation of the data prior to publication, provides easy access to the data during review by editors and peer reviewers, and facilitates improved visualization of the data without the need for specialized software. At publication, readers can access the data from the article level page, pdf, or html with only one click, making the CIF files more readily discoverable.

A new partnership between the CCDC and FIZ Karlsruhe will further ensure readers are able to access inorganic, organic, and metal-organic CIF files from a single access point, and the relevant structures will be curated into the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) or Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD) as appropriate.

“We are convinced that this new protocol will ensure consistent and accurate reporting of crystallographic data of critical importance in many publications appearing in Inorganic Chemistry,” says Editor-in-Chief William “Bill” Tolman.

“Structure is often an important component of many manuscripts in Organometallics and the new protocol will improve the ease and accuracy with which crystallographic data is uploaded, reviewed, and ultimately published,” says Editor-in-Chief Paul Chirik.

Changes to the CIF Workflow

These changes to the CIF workflow apply to all inorganic, organic, and metal-organic structures that are accommodated by the CSD or the ICSD:

  • CIF files and structure factor data must be deposited with CCDC via the CCDC’s CIF deposition service prior to submission with ACS Publications.
  • CIF files deposited with the CCDC should NOT be uploaded in ACS Paragon Plus at submission.
  • checkCIF files are required and should be generated during CIF deposition at CCDC and uploaded as Supporting Information for Review Only in ACS Paragon Plus.
  • Authors should defend/respond to A and/or B level alerts in their cover letter (as required by the individual journal) and these may be added to the CIF during CIF deposition at CCDC.
  • All revised CIF files should be uploaded to CCDC only and the changes should be communicated to the journal office at revision.

To read about the process in more detail, read the full requirements document. We look forward to the improved processing ACS Publications will provide to its authors, reviewers, and readers!

Want the latest stories delivered to your inbox each month?