Author Guidelines

1. Introduction

ACTA GRAPHICA journal publishes original scientific papers, technical papers, reviews, short and preliminary communications, special features and other news from the field of graphical technology, printing and engineering, graphical communication and design, as well as from all basic and applied science fields relevant for graphic technology and arts. The principal intention of the journal is to keep up with recent research results in the entire area of printing science, graphic design and communications.
Subject areas covered by the journal include but are not limited to: Printing; Packaging; Materials; Security; Publishing; Management; Process control; Color reproduction; Color management; Image processing; Image reproduction; Workflow; Industrial Applications; New Applications.

1.1. Types of paper

The journal welcomes the following types of contributions.
• Original scientific paper.
• Short communication.
• Preliminary communication.
• Author viewpoint.
• Review article.
• Conference paper.
• Technical paper
The final decision on the paper classification is made by the Editorial Board.
You may be requested by the Editor to submit a revision. Please assist us in achieving our ambitious goals for short publication times by submitting a revision at your earliest convenience. One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author, to be checked for typesetting/editing. No changes in, or additions to, the accepted (and subsequently edited) manuscript will be allowed at this stage. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.

2. Prior to submission

2.1. 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 or as part of 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and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder.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 software.

2.2. Prior Conference Publication

Submission of an article that has been previously published or presented as a conference paper may be acceptable if the conference paper has been used as the basis for a more fully developed journal submission. In this case authors are required to note this when they submit the paper and must cite the conference paper. In such a case the papers cannot be identical and the journal publication must include novel aspects.

2.3. Changes to authorship

This policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts:
Before the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names, must be sent to the Journal Manager from the corresponding author of the accepted manuscript and must include: (a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, fax, 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. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will be forwarded by the Journal Manager to the corresponding author, who must follow the procedure as described above. Note that: (1) Journal Managers will inform the Journal Editors of any such requests and (2) publication of the accepted manuscript in an online issue is suspended until authorship has been agreed.
After the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Any requests to add, delete, or rearrange author names in an article published in an online issue will follow the same policies as noted above and result in a corrigendum.

2.3. Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Transfer of Copyright to Acta Graphica d.o.o.'. Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Transfer of Copyright to Acta Graphica d.o.o.' form.
Retained author rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) retain certain rights:
1. All proprietary rights other than copyright, including patent rights.
2. The right to make and distribute copies of the Paper for internal purposes.
3. The right to use the material for lecture or classroom purposes.
4. The right to prepare derivative publications based on the Paper, including books or book chapters, journal papers, and magazine articles, provided that publication of a derivative work occurs subsequent to the official date of publication by ACTA GRAPHICA.
5. The right to post an author-prepared version or an official version (preferred version) of the published paper on an internal or external server controlled exclusively by the author/employer, provided that (a) such posting is noncommercial in nature and the paper is made available to users without charge; (b) a copyright notice and full citation appear with the paper, and (c) a link to ACTA GRAPHICA's official online version of the abstract is provided using the DOI (Document Object Identifier) link.
Open access
This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

3. Submission

Submission to this journal proceeds totally online and you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of your files. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail removing the need for a paper trail.

3.1. Use of word processing software

For submission prepare your paper in one of the following formats: DOC, DOCX, TEX, ODT, TXT, RTF. It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the wordprocessor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the wordprocessor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics could be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text. See also the section on Electronic artwork.
To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your wordprocessor.

3.2. Article structure

Every article must contain the following: Title, Abstract, keywords, main text of the article (Introduction, results, conclusion, etc.. ), and references. To ensure blind peer review, authors' names or affiliations should not be given anywhere in the manuscript. Authors' details should be given in full when you register to Acta Graphica Journal. Authors are encouraged to use a template for manuscript that can be found on www.actagraphica.hr.
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, acknowledgements and references are 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.
Title
Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
Author names
Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly.
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, 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.
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 detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should 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.
Abbreviations
Abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their first mention there, as well as in the main text. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.
Acknowledgements
Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before 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.).
References
List of references should be given at the end of the article. For details on referencing see subsection 3.5 References.
Units
Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other units are mentioned, please give their equivalent in SI.
Math formulae
Present simple formulae in the line of 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 very sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article, using superscript Arabic numbers. Many wordprocessors build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Should this not be the case, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.

Table footnotes
Indicate each footnote in a table with a superscript lowercase letter.

3.4. Electronic Artwork

All electronic artwork (Images, diagrams, etc.) must be inserted in the original manuscript in its high resolution. If for some reason this is not possible, please provide high resolution electronic artwork by e-mail to: support.actagraphica@grf.hr
General points
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Save text in illustrations as 'graphics' or enclose the font.
• Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times, Symbol.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.

Formats
Regardless of the application used, 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, PDF, AI: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as 'graphics'.
• TIFF, JPG: Color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
• TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
• TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale): a minimum of 00 dpi is required.

If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is'.
Please do not:
• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Figure captions
Ensure that each illustration 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
Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters.

3.5. 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 should included in the reference list.
Reference management software

Acta Graphica recommends the use of reference management software such as Zotero, Mandalay or Endnote. Using plug-ins to wordprocessing packages, authors only need to select "Vancouver with brackets" style when preparing their article and the list of references and citations to these will be formatted according to the journal style which is described below.

Reference style
For references Acta Graphica uses "Vancouver with brackets". Examples are shown below. You may download the citation style here.

Citations
[1–4]
Bibliography
1. Hisakata R, Nishida S, Johnston A. An adaptable metric shapes perceptual space. Curr Biol [Internet]. 2016 Jul 25 [cited 2016 Oct 3];26(14):1911–5. Available from: http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(16)30544-9
2. Musk E. The secret Tesla Motors master plan (just between you and me) [Internet]. Tesla Blog. 2006 [cited 2016 Sep 29]. Available from: https://www.tesla.com/blog/secret-tesla-motors-master-plan-just-between-you-and-me
3. Hogue CWV. Structure databases. In: Baxevanis AD, Ouellette BFF, editors. Bioinformatics. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Wiley-Interscience; 2001. p. 83–109. (Life Sciences Series).
4. Sambrook J, Russell DW. Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual. 3rd ed. Cold Spring Harbor, NY: CSHL Press; 2001. 999 p.

3.6. Submission checklist

The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.
• All figures are in acceptable format and have sufficient resolution
• All figures have captions
• All tables (including title, description, footnotes)
• Manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'
• References are in the correct format for this journal
• 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

4. After Acceptance

4.1. Proofs

One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author (if we do not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post) or, a link will be provided in the e-mail so that authors can download the files themselves. Acta Graphica now provides authors with PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 (or higher) available free from http://get.adobe.com/reader. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs (also given Online at http://help.adobe.com/en_US/reader/using/WS82af097c4236e2eb-3301d0fa130e80f7907-8000.html). 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. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately – please let us have all your corrections within 48 hours. 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. Note that Acta Graphica may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.

4.2. Offprints

The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. Also paper offprints can be ordered via email.

4.3. Author Inquiries

For inquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission) please visit this journal's homepage. Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, will be provided by the publisher.