RSC Word Template
Basic Principles
The “.dot” file in this archive is a styles-based Microsoft Word template designed to mimic the look of a journal printed page. All the necessary font sizes, styles and spacings are pre-set in the template and shouldn’t need changing or modification. Changing the font size, paragraph spacing, page borders or any other presentation parameter will result in the final page layout being incorrect, and as such the document produced will not be an accurate reflection of the length of the final published paper.
It is highly recommended that the document is viewed in Page Layout mode, as this provides the best way of determining the length of the manuscript, and is the only view available for positioning artwork and tables. It is also recommended that the page borders and non-printing characters are made visible during editing (there are buttons on the template toolbar at the bottom of the screen which facilitate this).
Note: The formatting data for a paragraph is “stored” in the paragraph character (¶) at the end of the paragraph. If this is deleted or overtyped, the formatting is lost.
To open a new document
Insert the template “.dot” file into your Word 97 templates directory (in Word, look in Tools→Options on the File Locations tab to find the path to your User Templates directory, then copy the file into that directory). Then, from the File→New window, select the RSC template and open a new file.
Using the template
The new document consists of two pages. The first holds a “dummy paper” with the correct layout but dummy text. The dummy text should be typed over as you write your paper. If at any point the style is lost or is incorrect, e.g. during the pasting of blocks of text from another document, the correct style can be reimposed from the Styles... button on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Simply click inside the paragraph in question, then click on the button for the required style.
Note: The styles A Heading, B Heading, C Heading, and D Heading should not be used in ChemComm communications, as these articles never contain subheadings.
The second page contains a selection of Word “frames” which have been formatted to contain the various types of artwork and displayed matter (figures, equations, tables etc.) that appear in papers.
Unless you are using the template to determine the length of your article (e.g. for ChemComm), it is acceptable to place your tables and illustrations at the end of the Word file. If however you wish to insert them into the text, follow the steps below:
1. Insert the cursor next to the “X” in the frame for the artwork type you require. A hatched border will appear.
2. Hover the cursor over the hatched border until a “four arrow” style cursor appears. When it does, click once with the left mouse button. Eight black squares will appear in the hatched border.
3. From the Edit menu, choose Copy.
4. Now insert the cursor into your paper next to the first mention of this piece of artwork. Choose Paste from the Edit menu. A new frame will appear somewhere on the page.
5. Select the new frame (as in steps 1 and 2), then move the frame to the desired position on the page by dragging the hatched frame (avoid the black squares, this will cause the frame to change size, destroying the preset layout instructions). Pressing the Tidy button on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen will line up the frame with the column boundaries.
6. Replace any text in the frames with your own. If illustration captions run over onto more than one line, you will need to manually change the paragraph alignment to “Justified” (in Format →Paragraph).
7. For inserts containing artwork (figures, schemes, some equations and tables), select the “X”, and then insert the graphic file via Insert→Picture→From File (see below). Then right click on the image, and select Format Picture or Format Object (whichever appears in the pop-up menu). On the Size tab, make sure that the Height and Width scales are set to 100%. If there is a Position tab present, make sure that Float over text is NOT selected, while if there is a Layout tab, make sure In line with text IS selected. Then click OK.
Note: The frames have fixed page positions, and do not move with the text during editing. Changing the text may therefor result in incorrectly placed artwork. It is recommended that, where ever possible, artwork frames are only inserted once the bulk of the text is in place.
Tables
Once a basic table has been inserted into the document (via the instructions above), you will need to expand the single cell initially provided to produce a complete table. Tools for this are provided via the Tables... button on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Simply select one or more cells and press the relevant button. You can change the width of the columns by dragging the dashed column outlines within the table with the cursor — don’t use the markers within the page rulers at the edge of the page, as this will destroy the table width pre-sets.
Illustrations
The artwork for your article should be prepared complete in an appropriate software package, then saved as an individual file in “.tif” format, and finally inserted into your Word document using the Insert→Picture→From file sequence.
Do not edit the picture in any way once it has been inserted into the document. If further changes are necessary, edit the original version in the original software package, then save it and reinsert it into the Word document.
The one exception to the guidelines given above is artwork prepared using ChemDraw. You can select the whole of your structure or scheme, copy it to the clipboard, and then paste it into your Word document (saving as a “.tif” file is not necessary in this case). You may need to reformat the image once it is inserted, as it is often distorted initially. Right click on the image, and select Format Picture or Format Object (whichever appears in the pop-up menu). On the Size tab, make sure that the Height and Width scales are set to 100%. If there is a Position tab present, make sure that Float over text is NOT selected, while if there is a Layout tab, make sure In line with text IS selected. Then click OK.
Comprehensive guidelines for creating illustrations, as well as downloadable templates, can be obtained from the RSC website (www.rsc.org/illustrations).