Publishing Ethics

Please see our information on Publishing Ethics.

Studies in humans and animals

If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. The manuscript should be in line with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and aim for the inclusion of representative human populations (sex, age and ethnicity) as per those recommendations. The terms sex and gender should be used correctly.

Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

All animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and should be carried out in accordance with the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 and associated guidelines, EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments, or the National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the authors should clearly indicate in the manuscript that such guidelines have been followed. The sex of animals must be indicated, and where appropriate, the influence (or association) of sex on the results of the study.

Declaration of competing interest

All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors should complete the declaration of competing interest statement in the submitted manuscript even if there are no interests to declare. Author signatures are not required.

Submission declaration and verification

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. To verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection service Crossref Similarity Check.

Use of inclusive language

Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Content should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader; contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition; and use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, stereotypes, slang, reference to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions. We advise to seek gender neutrality by using plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default/wherever possible to avoid using "he, she," or "he/she." We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition unless they are relevant and valid. When coding terminology is used, we recommend to avoid offensive or exclusionary terms such as "master", "slave", "blacklist" and "whitelist". We suggest using alternatives that are more appropriate and (self-) explanatory such as "primary", "secondary", "blocklist" and "allowlist". These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help identify appropriate language but are by no means exhaustive or definitive.

Changes to authorship

Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.

Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Copyright and Article Processing charge (APC) charge

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete an 'Open Access Licence Agreement'. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with an 'Open Access Licence Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.

Carbon Future is a subsidized open access journal where TUP pays for the publishing costs incurred by the journal. Authors do not have to pay any Article Processing Charge or Open Access Publication.

Role of the funding source

You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement, it is recommended to state this.

Language (usage and editing services)

Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the English Language Editing service by contacting the journal Editorial Office directly at carbonfuture@tup.tsinghua.edu.cn.

You can use this list to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to the journal for review. Please check the relevant section in this Submission Guidlines for more details.

Ensure that the following items are present:

One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:

• E-mail address
• Full postal address

All necessary files have been uploaded:

Manuscript:

• Choose Article types (research article, review, perspective, highlights, or news and views)
• Include keywords
• All figures (include relevant captions)
• All tables (including titles, description, footnotes)
• Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided
• Submit Table of Contents (Graphical Abstracts)
• Supporting Information file (where applicable)

Further considerations

• Manuscript has been spell checked and grammar checked
• All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)
• A competing interests statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare
• Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed
• Referee suggestions and contact details provided, based on journal requirements
• The guideline on manuscript length is that there are no specific requests. If you have any questions about the process, please contact the journal Editorial Office at carbonfuture@tup.tsinghua.edu.cn.

How to Submit

Our online submission system (https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/cf) guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word) are required to typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.

Suggesting reviewers

Please submit the names and institutional e-mail addresses of several potential reviewers. You should not suggest reviewers who are colleagues, or who have co-authored or collaborated with you during the last three years. Editors do not invite reviewers who have potential competing interests with the authors. Further, in order to provide a broad and balanced assessment of the work, and ensure scientific rigor, please suggest diverse candidate reviewers who are located in different countries/regions from the author group. Also consider other diversity attributes (e.g., gender, race and ethnicity, career stage, etc.). Finally, you should not include existing members of the journal's editorial team, of whom the journal is already aware.

Note: the editor decides whether or not to invite your suggested reviewers.

Queries

For questions about the editorial process (including the status of manuscripts under review) or for technical support on submissions, please contacting the journal Editorial Office directly at carbonfuture@tup.tsinghua.edu.cn.

Peer review

This journal utilizes a single-blind peer review process in which the reviewer‘s name and information is withheld from the author. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final. Editors are not involved in decisions about papers which they have written themselves or have been written by family members or colleagues or which relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest. Any such submission is subject to all of the journal's usual procedures, with peer review handled independently of the relevant editor and their research groups.

Article structure

Subdivision-numbered sections

Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.

Introduction

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Material and methods

Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods that are already published should be summarized, and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly from a previously published method, use quotation marks and also cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.

Theory/calculation

A Theory section should extend, not repeat, the background to the article already dealt with in the Introduction and lay the foundation for further work. In contrast, a Calculation section represents a practical development from a theoretical basis.

Results

Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion

This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

Conclusions

The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

Appendices

If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.

Essential title page information

• Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. You can add your name between parentheses in your own script behind the English transliteration. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about Methodology and Materials. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.
• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. 

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Keywords

Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

Abbreviations

Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field. Such abbreviations in the abstract and the main text must be defined at their first mention there. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

Acknowledgements

Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article after the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).

Formatting of funding sources

List funding sources in this standard way to facilitate compliance to funder's requirements:

Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (grant number xxxx, yyyy); the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA (grant number zzzz); and the United States Institutes of Peace (grant number aaaa).

It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions on the program or type of grants and awards. When funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding.

If no funding has been provided for the research, it is recommended to include the following sentence:

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Units

Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units. If other units are mentioned, please give their equivalent in Supporting Information.

Math formulae

Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

Footnotes

Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article. Many word processors can build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Otherwise, please indicate the position of footnotes in the text and list the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.

Artwork

Image manipulation

Whilst it is accepted that authors sometimes need to manipulate images for clarity, manipulation for purposes of deception or fraud will be seen as scientific ethical abuse and will be dealt with accordingly. For graphical images, this journal is applying the following policy: no specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable if and as long as they do not obscure or eliminate any information present in the original. Nonlinear adjustments (e.g. changes to gamma settings) must be disclosed in the figure legend.

Electronic artwork

General points

• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.
• Aim to use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or use fonts that look similar.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version.
• Submit each illustration as a separate file.
• Ensure that color images are accessible to all, including those with impaired color vision.

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is given here.

Formats

If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is' in the native document format.

Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'Save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):

EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts.

TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.

TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi. TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.

Please do not:

• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colors;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Color artwork

Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF), or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures then we will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color online (our official website) as well as in the printed version.

Figure captions

Ensure that each figure has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

Tables

Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the relevant text in the article, or on separate page(s) at the end. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules and shading in table cells.

References

Citation in text

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Web references

As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

Data references

This journal encourages you to cite underlying or relevant datasets in your manuscript by citing them in your text and including a data reference in your Reference List. Data references should include the following elements: author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier. Add [dataset] immediately before the reference so we can properly identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article.

Reference style

Text: Indicate references by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.

Example: '..... as demonstrated [3, 6]. Barnaby and Jones [8] obtained a different result ....'

List: Number the references (numbers in square brackets) in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.

Examples:

(a) Reference to a journal publication:

[1] Zhou, K. B.; Wang, X.; Sun, X. M.; Peng, Q.; Li, Y. D. Enhanced catalytic activity of ceria nanorods from well defined reactive crystal planes. J. Catal. 2005, 229, 206–212.

(b) Reference to a journal publication with an article number:

[2] Liang, G. J.; Li, X. L.; Wang, Y. B.; Yang, S.; Huang, Z. D.; Yang, Q.; Wang, D. H.; Dong, B. B.; Zhu, M. S.; Zhi, C. Y. Building durable aqueous K-ion capacitors based on MXene family. Nano Res. Energy 2022, 1, e9120002. https://doi.org/10.26599/NRE.2022.9120002.

(c) Reference to a book (authored):

[3] Conway, B. E. Electrochemical Supercapacitors: Scientific Fundamentals and Technological Applications; Kluwer Academic/Plenum: New York, 1999.

(d) Reference to Book chapter

[4] Craighead, H. G. Nanostructures in electronics. In Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Properties and Applications. Edelstein, A.; Cammatata, R., Eds.; Taylor and Francis: New York, 1998; pp 565–566.

(e) Paper in proceedings

[5] Mahdavi, A.; Spasojevic, B. Incorporating simulation into building systems control logic. In Proceedings of the 10th International Building Performance Simulation Association Conference and Exhibition (BS2007), Beijing, China, 2007, pp 1175–1181.

(f) Thesis or Dissertation

[6] Chandrakanth, J. S. Effects of ozone on the colloidal stability of particles coated with natural organic matter. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA, 1994.

(g) Patent

[7] Sheem, S. K. Low-cost fiber optic pressure sensor. U.S. Patent 6,738,537, May 18, 2004.

(h) Article by DOI

[8] Slifka, M. K.; Whitton, J. L. Clinical implications of dysregulated cytokine production. J. Mol. Med., in press, DOI: 10.1007/s001090000086.

(i) Online reference

[9] Tour, J. M. Molecular Electronics: Commercial Insights, Chemistry, Devices, Architecture and Programming [Online]. World Scientific: River Edge, NJ, 2003; pp 177–180. http://legacy.netlibrary.com/ebook_info.asp?product_id=91422&piclist=19799,20141,20153 (accessed Nov 7, 2004).

(j) Reference to a website:

[10] Cancer Research UK, Cancer statistics reports for the UK. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/aboutcancer/statistics/cancerstatsreport/, 2003 (accessed 13 March 2003).

(k) Reference to a dataset:

[dataset] [11] M. Oguro, S. Imahiro, S. Saito, T. Nakashizuka, Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions, Mendeley Data, v1, 2015. https://doi.org/10.17632/xwj98nb39r.1.

(l) Reference to software:

[12] E. Coon, M. Berndt, A. Jan, D. Svyatsky, A. Atchley, E. Kikinzon, D. Harp, G. Manzini, E. Shelef, K. Lipnikov, R. Garimella, C. Xu, D. Moulton, S. Karra, S. Painter, E. Jafarov, S. Molins, Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS) v0.88 (Version 0.88), Zenodo, March 25, 2020. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3727209.

Graphical Table of Contents

Each manuscript must include a graphic for the Table of Contents at the end of the manuscript file. 1-2 sentences should be written below the figure to summarize the paper. This graphic should capture the readers’ attention and give readers a visual impression of the essence of the paper. Labels, formulae, or numbers within the graphic must be legible at publication size. Tables or spectra are not acceptable. Color graphics are highly encouraged. The resolution of the figure should be at least 600 dpi. The size should be at least 50 mm × 80 mm with a rectangular shape (ideally, the ratio of height to width should be less than 1 and larger than 5/8).

Supplementary Information (SI)

If SI is submitted, it will be published as received from the author in the online version only. SI may consist of

• information that cannot be printed: animations, video clips, sound recordings;
• information that is more convenient in electronic form: sequences, spectral data, etc.;
• large amounts of original data, e.g. additional tables, illustrations, etc.;
• If supplying any SI, the text must make specific mention of the material as a citation, similar to that of figures and tables (e.g., “…Supplementary Fig. S1.”).
• If supplying any SI, a paragraph should be added at the end of the article (Supplementary information: The online version contains Supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.26599/CF.2024.920000X).

Depositions of crystal structure data from X-ray and neutron diffraction studies

If your paper includes crystal structure data from X-ray and neutron diffraction studies, please deposit the data in a crystallographic database prior to submitting your manuscript to the journal so that referees can access the information electronically free of charge. The two databases, the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) and the Fachinformationszentrum Karlsruhe (FIZ), have the same procedure for the deposition of data and both will be pleased to provide help.

You can send your data (preferably electronically) to the address, e.g. deposit@ccdc.cam.ac.uk. Guidance for data deposition can be obtained from the database website, e.g. http://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/conts/depositing.html. In general, you will receive a depository number from the database two working days after electronic deposition. Please then quote the depository number in your manuscript.

Where possible, all examples from languages not using the Latin alphabet, in particular Asian languages, should be transliterated using an accepted system of transliteration. Authors should use their chosen system consistently throughout the manuscript. Where no standard system has been adopted in the literature (e.g., examples of certain dialects never described before), use symbols to represent sounds that are as close to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols as possible, and give explanations where appropriate. Where a transliteration system is already used in the literature, no new transliteration system invented by the author will be accepted.

Copyright and APC charge

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete an 'Open Access Licence Agreement'. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with an 'Open Access Licence Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement. Carbon Future is a subsidized open access journal where TUP pays for the publishing costs incurred by the journal. Authors do not have to pay any Article Processing Charge or Open Access Publication.

Just accepted

Accepted papers will be posted online prior to technical editing, formatting for publication, and author proofing as “Just Accepted” papers. This is intended to expedite publication and increase the impact of accepted papers. Just accepted papers will be accessible and citable with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI®).

Proof reading

To ensure a fast publication process of the article, we kindly ask authors to provide us with their proof corrections within two days. Corresponding authors will receive an e-mail with the PDF version, you can choose to annotate on the PDF version and you can also comment on figures/tables and answer questions.

All instructions for proofing will be given in the e-mail we send to authors. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.

Online first

The articles will be published online after receipt of the corrected proofs. This is the official first publication. After release of the whole issue, the paper can also be cited by issue and article numbers.

After online publication, further changes can only be made in the form of an Erratum, which will be hyperlinked to the article.

Mendeley Data

This journal supports Mendeley Data, enabling you to deposit any research data (including raw and processed data, video, code, software, algorithms, protocols, and methods) associated with your manuscript in a free-to-use, open access repository. Before submitting your article, you can deposit the relevant datasets to Mendeley Data. Please include the DOI of the deposited dataset(s) in your main manuscript file. The datasets will be listed and directly accessible to readers next to your published article online.

For more information, visit the Mendeley Data.