Instructions to authors
Before submission, please carefully read the following guidelines (pdf of Instructions to Authors available here) and, if necessary, revise your manuscript to ensure a fast and efficient publication process.
INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS
General Information
Croatica Chemica Acta (Croat. Chem. Acta, CCA) is an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to the publication of papers of general interest from all fields of chemistry. As it is a diamond open access journal, no article processing charges (APCs) nor article submission fees are charged. At least four issues are published annually.
Categories of Contributions
Croatica Chemica Acta publishes Original scientific papers, Notes, Preliminary communications, Reviews, Feature articles, and Essays. The Journal also publishes Letters to the Editor, Book reviews, Obituaries and the Croatian Chemical Society news. Special issues and Festschrifts may contain other types of contributions.
Original scientific papers report unpublished results of original research, providing all information necessary to ensure reproducibility.
Notes report unpublished results of short, but completed, original research or describe original laboratory techniques (methods, apparatus, etc.). Notes should not exceed 1000 words.
Preliminary communications report unpublished preliminary results of original research that warrant prompt publication due to their high importance to the field.
Reviews are concise and critical surveys of a specific research field, providing the reader with up-to-date information on current developments and trends. As a rule, reviews are written upon invitation from the Editor. As an exception, critical surveys of the authors' own research fields are also acceptable.
Feature articles are concise and critical reviews of a current topic, pointing to trends and controversies in the field. They should be understandable to non-specialists. Feature articles are written upon invitation from the Editor and should not exceed 20 pages in the final form.
Essays present curricula vitae of distinguished chemists and accounts of the history of chemistry.
Letters to the Editor are a medium for expressing scientific opinions or exchanging different views concerning the material published in CCA.
Book reviews, Obituaries, and the Croatian Chemical Society news are contribution formats invited and managed by the Editor.
Peer Review Process
All submissions are evaluated according to the criteria of originality, scientific quality, ethical standards, and relevance to the Journal’s scope. Only papers with favorable referee reports and positive editorial assessment will be accepted for publication.
Croatica Chemica Acta relies on a single-blind peer review process, meaning that reviewers know the authors’ identities, but authors do not know the reviewers’ identities.
To facilitate the review process, the authors are requested to suggest at least three experts qualified to review their manuscripts. The full contact details, including affiliations and e-mail addresses, should be provided, along with a brief justification for each suggested reviewer and, where applicable, for any opposed reviewers. Suggested reviewers may be considered but are not necessarily selected by the Editor.
The Editor may reject submissions without external review if they are deemed unsuitable for the Journal.
All manuscripts are automatically screened for plagiarism using the appropriate tool.
Style and Language
All contributions should be written in a style that addresses a wider audience than the papers in more specialized journals.
Manuscripts must be written in clear and grammatically correct English. Authors whose native language is not English are encouraged to have their manuscripts reviewed by a native English speaker or a professional language editor prior to submission.
Either British or American English spelling may be used, but consistency should be maintained throughout the paper. Manuscripts with grammatical or vocabulary deficiencies may be disadvantaged during the scientific review process and, even if accepted, may be returned to the author(s) to be rewritten in English that adheres to the common scientific writing standards.
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND PUBLICATION POLICY
Croatica Chemica Acta adheres to internationally recognized standards of publication ethics and expects authors, reviewers, and editors to comply with the principles of integrity, transparency, and accountability.
Author Responsibilities
By submitting a manuscript, the authors confirm that:
· The work is original, has not been published previously, and is not under consideration elsewhere.
· All listed authors have made significant contributions to the work and have approved the final manuscript version.
· Data presented are accurate, complete, and honestly obtained; fabrication, falsification, or selective reporting of data is unacceptable.
· All sources are properly cited. Plagiarism, including self‑plagiarism, is strictly prohibited.
· Any conflicts of interest (financial, professional, or personal) are fully disclosed in the manuscript.
· All sources of funding and financial support are clearly acknowledged.
Ethical Compliance
Where applicable, authors must confirm compliance with relevant ethical standards, including:
· All sources of funding and financial support are clearly acknowledged.
· Institutional, national, or international regulations for experiments involving humans, animals, or hazardous materials.
· Informed consent and ethical approval where required.
Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools
The use of AI‑based tools for language editing or data analysis must be disclosed. AI tools may not be listed as authors and do not replace the responsibility of the authors for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the work.
Reviewers should act promptly and treat the received material with confidentiality. If certain circumstances preclude prompt attention to the manuscript at the time it is received or later on, the reviewer should immediately contact the Editor for possible prolongation of the report submission date or for their withdrawal from the review process. Reviewers also have the obligation of disclosing any conflict of interest.
The Editor accepts full responsibility for their decisions on the manuscripts and also has the obligation of disclosing any conflict of interest.
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE STATEMENT
Croatica Chemica Acta operates at the highest existing level of Open Access, meaning that all content is immediately and freely available to anyone, anywhere, to be downloaded, printed, distributed, read, reused, self-archived, and remixed (including commercially) without restriction, as long as the author(s) and the original source are properly attributed according to the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY). The author(s) retain copyright and unrestricted publishing rights.
CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) is the most accommodating of public copyright licenses as defined by Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that provides legal tools for sharing and use of creative works and research. The CC BY license is recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials. All content published in Croatica Chemica Acta is available under CC BY.
CC BY is the appropriate license for publicly funded research; it maximizes the potential for both economic and scholarly impact, protects the rights of authors and strengthens the long-standing tradition of appropriate attribution and credit for scholarship.
SUBMISSION AND ADMINISTRATION
Manuscripts and all accompanying materials (Supporting Information, Cover Letter, etc.) must be submitted through the online submission system (https://cca.hkd.hr/) as medium quality (screen optimized) PDF files. Supporting Information (if any) should be submitted as a separate file. All submissions must be accompanied by a Cover Letter outlining the novelty and significance of the research.
Upon acceptance for publication, the authors must provide the final (revised) material both in screen optimized PDF and in the recommended text and graphic formats.
All manuscripts received for consideration will be acknowledged by the Editorial Office and assigned a reference number for correspondence.
The corresponding author should confirm that all coauthors have approved the submission of the final version of the manuscript and its publication in the Journal if accepted.
For accepted manuscripts proofs will be sent electronically to the corresponding author. After corrections are made, articles will be published online as Online First, prior to their inclusion in a printed issue.
PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
Introductory Notes
Rapid publication is aided by careful preparation of the text and illustrations. Special attention should be given to the use of SI units and associated conventions, current IUPAC nomenclature and symbolism, and standard methods of literature citation.
The quality of illustrations in the Journal depends on the quality of the original artwork provided by the authors. Illustrations may be colored but the authors should choose colors in such a way that converting to grayscale or printing in grayscale does not reduce the clarity of the presented information.
Important. Minimum resolution of 300 dpi for photography and 600 dpi for line art at 10 cm width is mandatory. Lettering and lines should be of uniform density and the lines unbroken.
Organization of Material
Manuscripts should be assembled as follows: Title page, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Experimental/Computational methods section, Results and discussion, Conclusions,
Acknowledgements, References, and Graphical abstract. Figures, schemes, and tables should be embedded in the text at the appropriate positions.
As a rule, Original scientific papers should be subdivided into the components stated above. Subdivision of other papers may deviate from this rule.
Numbering of sections is generally discouraged but may be used if extensive cross‑referencing is required.
The Title page must include: the title of the paper, name(s) of the author(s) (first name spelt out), full mailing addresses of all authors, running title (no more than 50 characters, including spaces), keywords (up to 6), and the e-mail address(es) of the corresponding author(s).
The manuscript should have a concise and clear title directed to a general readership. The title should be brief, preferably 12 words or less; longer titles are less likely to be read and absorbed. The use of non-standard abbreviations, symbols, and formulae in the title is discouraged.
The Abstract should be written in an impersonal form and must not exceed 150 words, clearly stating the aim of the work, principal results, and conclusions.
The Introduction should clearly state the research aims and provide a concise description of background information directly relevant to the paper.
Experimental/Computational methods section should describe materials, tools, and procedures in sufficient detail to enable an experienced researcher to reproduce the experiments and/or computations. Well-known methods need not be described in detail but proper literature references should be provided.
For new compounds, evidence of identity and purity must be provided. Purity documentation is also required for known compounds whose preparation by a new or modified method is reported. The acceptable minimal evidence of identity and purity, especially for organic compounds, includes 1H and 13C NMR spectra and elemental analysis or HRMS. Copies of the ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra should be provided in the Supporting Information. Strongly encouraged is also the inclusion of additional analytical data, like IR spectra, various chromatograms (HPLC, GC, etc.), melting (boiling) point reporting, mass spectra, etc.
The reporting and interpretation of experimental and computational results in the Results and discussion section must be clear and concise. Results and Discussion may be combined or kept separate. This section should not be cluttered with technical details.
The Conclusions section should briefly summarize the key results and highlight the novelty and significance of the work.
The Graphical abstract should highlight the essence of the chemistry described in the article in such a way as to encourage further perusal of the paper. Graphics used need not necessarily appear in the article itself.
The graphic for the front page will be selected from all (original) figures in the current issue, based on the image quality and overall impression. Authors may suggest graphic for the front page after their manuscript has been accepted for publication. The Editorial Board is not obliged to obtain permission to use the graphic for the front page art or for other means of Journal's promotion.
Additional Notes on the
Preparation of Manuscripts
1. IUPAC recommendations should be followed. Detailed guidance is provided in the relevant IUPAC publications available at: https://iupac.org/what-we-do/books/color-books/.
2. SI units (SI, Système Internationale d'Unités) should be used. Where there are special reasons for making an exception to this rule, it is recommended to define the units used in terms of SI units. In tabulating the numerical values of physical quantities, or labeling the axes of graphs, the quotient of a physical quantity and a unit should be used in such a form that the values to be tabulated are pure numbers.
Examples:
T/K or Temperature/K
103(T/K)–1
ln(p/kPa)
(Im/mmol kg–1)1/2
Percents and per mills, although not being units in the same sense as the units of dimensioned quantities, can be treated as such (e.g. mass fraction, w/%.)
3. Decimal points (not commas) are required.
4. The data for new compounds should be quoted as follows: yield, melting (boiling) point, UV absorption with the reported molar absorption coefficient, IR absorption, NMR spectra (1H and 13C, other nuclei if applicable), mass spectrum, high resolution mass spectrum and/or elemental analysis; e.g. 5 g (53 %); m.p. 75–76 °C; UV(EtOH), λmax/nm: 228 and 262 (log ε/dm3 mol–1 cm–1: 4.23 and 3.92; IR(KBr), : 1650 (CO), 1620 (C=N); 1H NMR (CDCl3), δ/ppm: 2.30 (s, 3H, Me), 4.51 (d, 1H, J1,2 = 3.2 Hz, H-3); 13C NMR (CDCl3), δ/ppm: 160.8 (C-5), 120.5 (C-2); MS, m/z: 264 (M+, 100 %) and 246 (M+-18); HRMS (MALDI): calcd. for C6H5N 79.0422, found 79.0425; anal. calcd. mass fractions of elements, w/%, for C18H13N3O5S (Mr=383.38) are: C 56.39, H 3.42, N10.96, O20.87, S8.36; found: C56.31, H3.62, N 10.76, O 20.60, S 8.19.
5. Illustrations (figures, graphs, structural formulae of compounds) should be suitable for direct reproduction.
6. Tables must have brief titles that describe their contents. Details should be put in footnotes, not in the title. Tables should be sized to conform to the single and double column width.
7. Tables and illustrations should be comprehensible without referring to the text. All tables and illustrations must be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. Large tables and figures should be included in the Supporting Information and this should be noted in the manuscript.
8. Prior to submitting a manuscript reporting the results of crystal structure determination(s), the authors must deposit the crystallographic data with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (organic and metal-organic structures, deposit@ccdc.cam.ac.uk) or with the Fachinformationszentrum Karlsruhe (inorganic structures, https://www.fiz-karlsruhe.de/en/leistungen/kristallographie/kristallstrukturdepot.html).Deposition number(s) must be submitted together with the manuscript and an appropriate note should be included in the Experimental section.
9. Bibliographic references should be typed as superscripts in square brackets, placed after punctuation (for example: ... was studied.[14,15]) References must be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text. References themselves should be given at the end of the paper using ordinal numbers in square brackets.
10. Journal articles should be cited as follows: name(s) of the author(s), journal abbreviation (italic), year of issue (bold), volume number (italic), page numbers (first to last). The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) should be placed at the end of the reference entry.
For example:
[1] N. Colocci, P. B. Dervan, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1994, 116, 785–786. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja00081a056
Journal abbreviations should be those listed in the Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (CASSI). The CAplusSM Core Journal Coverage List of journal names and abbreviations is available at: https://cassi.cas.org/search.jsp.
11. Books should be cited as follows:
Books without editor: E. Wingender, Gene Regulation in Eukaryotes, VCH, Weinheim, 1993, p. 215.
Books with editor(s): T. D. Tullius in Comprehensive Supramolecular Chemistry, Vol. 5 (Eds.: J. L. Atwood, J. E. D. Davies, D. D. MacNicol, F. Vögtle, K. S. Suslick), Pergamon, Oxford, 1996, pp. 317–343.
12. Names of all authors should be given in the list of references; the abbreviation et al. may be used in the text only.
Preparation of Electronic Files
The preferred text formats are docx, doc, and rtf. If Tex/LaTex is used, a UTF-8 encoded text file should be exported and submitted together with the images, tex file, and PDF export of the whole material.
The following formats of computer-generated graphics should be used: cdr, wmf, emf, eps, ps, tif (tiff), ai, jpg (jpeg), png, bmp, or high quality (press optimized) PDF (use min. 300 dpi for rasterization of vector graphics, but no more than 600 dpi). The use of gif images is discouraged since their quality is in most cases too low for publishing (low resolution, noticeable compression artifacts, etc.).
When preparing the manuscript text, use a simple, full-width format with no page formatting other than margin definitions. The text must be unjustified. Do not insert spaces before punctuation. Carefully proofread the final version for consistent notation and correct spelling.
