Analytical Chemistry Formatting Requirements: Complete Author Guide

The abstract follows standard ACS conventions.

• Word limit: 80 to 250 words for Articles, Letters and Technical Notes

• Content: Describe briefly and clearly the purpose of the research, the principal results, and the major conclusions

• Methodology: Either the title or the abstract must contain the name(s) of the central measurement methodology (or methodologies) used in the paper

• Graphic: An abstract graphic appears with the abstract text

For an analytical chemistry paper, the abstract should state the analytical challenge, the method or approach, the key performance metrics (limit of detection, linear range, selectivity, throughput), and the application. Quantitative specifics matter enormously. "We developed a sensitive method for detecting pesticides" is useless. "We developed a paper-based SERS sensor detecting organophosphate pesticides at 0.8 ppb in water samples with 15-minute turnaround and 96% recovery" gives readers the data they need to evaluate whether the method is useful for their work.

Every Analytical Chemistry submission needs a TOC graphic. This is standard across ACS journals.

TOC graphic specifications:

• Size: must fit in an area no larger than 3.25 inches by 1.75 inches (approx. 8.25 cm by 4.45 cm), submitted at the actual size to be used

• Resolution: TIF at 300 dpi for color and at 1200 dpi for black and white

• File format: TIF, or EPS in RGB document color mode with all fonts converted to outlines or embedded in the file

• Content: a structure, graph, drawing, photograph, or scheme, or a combination, that is entirely original, unpublished artwork created by one of the coauthors

• Text: usually limited to labeling, in a sans serif font such as Helvetica, preferably 8 pt but no smaller than 6 pt

• Not allowed: a photograph, drawing, or caricature of any person, postage stamps or currency, or trademarked items such as company logos

• Color is free

For analytical chemistry papers, effective TOC graphics typically show a schematic of the analytical workflow, the sensing mechanism, or the instrument setup alongside a key result. Avoid trying to represent the entire method. Pick the single most innovative element and illustrate it clearly.

Label the graphic "For Table of Contents Only" and provide it on the last page of the submitted manuscript. It can also be uploaded with the manuscript as "Graphics for manuscript" in addition to being included in the manuscript file. Avoid choosing a graphic that already appears within the text of the manuscript.

Analytical Chemistry follows ACS figure standards. ACS does not publish a figure cap for Articles.

Figure formatting requirements:

Analytical data figures: ACS does not publish rules for how analytical data is presented, but readers expect it. Chromatograms should include labeled peaks with retention times. Spectra should show clear axis labels with units. Calibration curves should include the regression equation, R-squared value, and the number of data points. Signal-to-noise calculations should be visible when reporting limits of detection.

Table formatting: Each table needs a brief title (one phrase or sentence) that describes its contents, with details in footnotes. Keep tables simple and concise, and avoid merging or splitting cells. Analytical Chemistry papers often include method comparison tables, and these should include figures of merit for each method compared.

Color figures: ACS provides color reproduction of graphics at no additional cost to the author.

Supporting Information: Submit it at the same time as the manuscript, as a separate file or files, with a brief non-sentence description of each file's contents placed before the Acknowledgments and References. The author guidelines set no size limit, but important experimental details cannot be moved there to get around the length guidelines.

Analytical Chemistry uses the standard ACS reference system.

In-text citations: Superscript numbers in order of first appearance. Multiple citations: ^1,3^ or ^1-5^.

Reference list format (worked example in the style the author guidelines show):

(1) Garcia, M. L.; Thompson, R. J.; Nakamura, K. Label-Free Detection of Cardiac Biomarkers Using Plasmonic Nanogap Sensors. Anal. Chem. 2026, 98, 5678-5687. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b00789.

Key formatting details:

• Author names: Last name, then initials with periods

• Semicolons between authors

• Journal titles abbreviated as in the guidelines' example (Anal. Chem.); at initial submission any complete reference style is accepted

• Year, volume and page range follow the journal title

• Titles of cited articles are included

• For work published online (ASAP, in press), the DOI is furnished in addition to the standard bibliographic information

A reference manager set to an ACS style can handle this formatting automatically. Don't manually edit reference manager output unless there's a clear error.

1. Method validation data is expected. Analytical Chemistry editors and reviewers expect rigorous method validation. For quantitative methods, you should report: limit of detection (with how it was calculated), limit of quantification, linear range, precision (intra-day and inter-day RSD), accuracy (recovery studies), and selectivity/specificity. The author guidelines list insufficient data to substantiate the claims and conclusions among the reasons for rejection without external review.

2. Real sample analysis is strongly preferred. Papers that only demonstrate a method on standard solutions without testing real samples (environmental water, biological fluids, food matrices) are frequently criticized. If your method hasn't been tested on real samples, explain why and acknowledge the limitation.

3. Comparison with existing methods. Analytical Chemistry expects a comparison table showing your method's performance against published alternatives. This table should include the analytical technique, LOD, linear range, analysis time, and sample type for each method compared. It's not optional; reviewers will ask for it if it's missing.

4. Supporting Information for raw data. ACS strongly encourages authors to make the research data underlying their articles publicly available at the time of publication, and submitting data as part of the Supporting Information is acceptable. Raw analytical data (chromatograms, spectra, calibration data) there supports reproducibility and allows readers to evaluate data quality independently.

5. Acknowledgments and statements. The author guidelines put funding and other acknowledgments in an Acknowledgments part of the manuscript and ask for author-contribution statements as a separate statement. ORCID iDs should not be typed into the manuscript; link them to your ACS account instead. The conflict-of-interest statement is entered by the corresponding author during submission and published in the article if the manuscript is accepted.

6. Instrument and reagent details. The Experimental Section should list only devices of a specialized nature and describe the preparation of special reagents only, with adequate detail on critical steps so others can repeat the work. For specialized instruments, giving the model, manufacturer, and software version helps reproducibility, and for reagents, supplier, purity grade, and catalog number help where relevant.

7. Uncertainty and error reporting. All quantitative values should include uncertainty estimates. Report standard deviations or confidence intervals, not just mean values. Significant figures should be consistent with the measurement uncertainty.

A standard Analytical Chemistry Article follows this order:

The Experimental Section at Analytical Chemistry tends to be more detailed than at most journals because reproducibility of analytical methods depends on exact conditions. Include column specifications, mobile phase compositions with exact volumes, flow rates, temperatures, detector settings, and software parameters.

For manuscripts targeting Analytical Chemistry, four patterns generate the most consistent desk-rejection outcomes.

Scope: application study without new analytical methodology. Analytical Chemistry's scope is new methods, new instrumentation, and fundamental analytical measurements. Studies that apply an existing, published analytical method to a new sample matrix or analyte set, without improving the method's performance, selectivity, sensitivity, or mechanistic understanding, are rejected for scope. The author guidelines say papers dealing with established analytical methods "need to offer a significantly improved, original application of the method." A study demonstrating that a known HPLC method detects a biomarker in a new clinical matrix is an application, not a methodological advance.

TOC graphic missing or outside the size limit. ACS requires a TOC graphic with every Analytical Chemistry submission, sized to fit an area no larger than 3.25 x 1.75 inches and saved as a TIF (300 dpi for color) or an EPS. A graphic that is too large, unreadable at that size, or repeats a figure already in the text goes against ACS's TOC guidance, and one that shows the application rather than the methodological advance wastes the space next to the abstract.

Analytical figures of merit missing or incomplete. Analytical Chemistry reviewers specifically check whether limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ), linear dynamic range, precision (intra- and inter-day RSD), and recovery are reported. For new sensors or detection methods, these figures of merit are mandatory, not optional. Manuscripts that report selectivity data and performance comparisons without LOD/LOQ are routinely asked to provide them in revision. Omitting figures of merit is the most common revision request at this journal.

Supporting Information not including full method validation data. ACS reviewers at Analytical Chemistry expect SI to contain the complete validation dataset: calibration curves, statistical analysis of replicate measurements, matrix effect data for biological samples, and stability data where relevant. A 3-page SI for a biosensor paper, or SI that shows representative spectra without numerical validation tables, generates major revision requests before the paper is accepted.

A Analytical Chemistry submission readiness check evaluates methodological novelty, TOC graphic compliance, figures of merit completeness, and validation data against these patterns.