Author-Friendly Electronic Submission to SGML-based Academic Journal

Abstract

Keywords:

1. Introduction

SGML-based publishing, especially tagging of data element, is a time-consuming work. Elsevier that publishes more than 1000 journals, extends tagging of title page data to all journals, however selects strictly journals in tagging of full-text data. If a SGML-oriented and author-friendly electronic submission is developed for an academic article, it will be an efficient method to publish an academic journal. Massachusetts Medical Society [6] adopted an electronic submission with WordPerfect in publishing SGML-based textbook: "The AIDS Knowledge Base". The style of the electronic manuscript is constructed a tagged format, such as a title is followed by "@T=". Y. Tanaka and I adopted a similar tagged format in the case of JJSIK in 1990. However, such a format is not easy to an author.

One of solutions of that problem is RTF-to-SGML conversion. Here, RTF is an exchange format for word processing text data, and is supported by popular word processing software: Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, PageMaker, etc. However several RTF-to-SGML converter tools[7] exist, Y. Tanaka, I and T. Ito [8] developed RTF-to-SGML converter program written in AWK, since self-developed program is more flexible than a converter tool, and since flexibility is suitable for a writing style of an academic article. We also adopted a style function available in Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, PageMaker, and successfully applied to electronic submission to BCSJ in 1993. I will report this electronic submission method in detail.

I will also introduce that this method will be included in one of Japanese standards: SIST (Standards for Information of Science and Technology) [9] No. 14 (draft) "Guideline for electronic submission", which is now considered in SIST Committee, and will be published in near future.

2. Author-friendly and SGML-oriented electronic submission

Ito, Tanaka and I adopted style function (STYLE) and RTF combination on Windows PC or Macintosh in the case of BCSJ. Here, STYLE specifies a style name to a corresponding data element, such as section-title, and its parameters, such as, centering, font, and its size, etc. RTF can include information of STYLE. Only ASCII character or character-string is used in RTF to indicate any control command, such as font and its size and so on, and style-name, start-tag-of-the-style, end-tag-of-the-style.

The reasons of adopting STYLE and RTF are as follows; (1) STYLE and RTF are available in a popular word processing software, such as Microsoft Word on Windows/Macintosh, WordPerfect, PageMaker, etc., (2) STYLE serves easy assignment of data element by a contributor, and supports layout functions, such as centering, character size, etc., (3) while STYLE does not show any control characters on a display or a printed page, RTF including STYLE specifies data corresponding to SGML data element-name, start-tag, and end-tag (4) RTF text data including STYLE may automatically convert to SGML text data.

Table 1 shows a list of styles with display format of electronic manuscript for submission to BCSJ. Figure 1 shows a sample of an electronic manuscript written w ith this method. Style: Synopsis is selected on pull down menu of style in Fig. 1. A contributor may use bold, italic, superscript, subscript. He/she may type Greek alphabet using 'symbol font'. A special character is typed using a corresponding entity name defined in the DTD (Document Type Definition) for BCSJ; for example, 'right double arrow' is typed as '⇒'. The DTD includes entity name sets for special characters defined in ISO 8879 Annex and ISO/IEC TR 9573-13. Referring to a bibliographic reference is indicated superscript number with a parenthesis, such as 1). Referring to a table or a figure is indicated underlined character string like "... Table 1 shows ...". Bodies of a figure, a table, and a complicated equation are not included in this electronic submission yet, because of incompatibility among word processing software.

Table 1 Styles used in electronic submission to Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan

Figure 1 Writing an electronic manuscript with style file on MS Word

CSJ [10] recruited a monitor of this method in March 1994. The style file and the manual for electronic submission to BCSJ have been free of charge from CSJ's WW W site since March 1996 [11].

Conversion program from RTF to SGML-text is written in AWK according to the follo wing methods.

(1) data element
In RTF, a style and its data are described like that: "...\s3...Synthesis and Reactions .... Acids\par".
Here, '\s3' and '\par' indicate start tag of the style for 'subtitle' and end tag of it, respectively.
Corresponding SGML text format is like that: "<SBT>Synthesis and Reactions .... Acids</SBT>".
Here, '<SBT>' and '</SBT>' are start-tag and end-tag of data element: subtitle, respectively.

(2) Greek alphabet
Italic Greek alphabet: 'η' is described as "{\i\f3\fs22 h}" in RTF, and as "<it>η</it>" in SGML-text.Here, '\i', '\f3', '\fs22' and 'h' indicate 'italic', 'symbol font', 'font size 11 point' and '', respectively.

(3) Referring to a bibliographic reference, to a table or to a figure
The conversion program finds superscript number with a parenthesis to convert a bibliographic reference; If without a parenthesis, the number does not indicates a bibliographic reference only superscript. Underlined character string including "Table" or "Fig." indicates Table or Figure reference, respectively. Therefore, the program converts the character string to a corresponding SGML expression.

(4) Others
'Italic' or 'bold' is converted to corresponding data element or ignored, which depends on context. 'Italic' character string in bibliographic references is converted to the data element: 'journal title', however 'italic' one in a sentence is converted to "<it> ... </it>". 'Bold' in paragraph is converted to SGML expression: "<bo> ... </bo>", however 'bold' in section title is ignored. 'Centering' is ignored, since style: title, author or section title indicates data element, and 'centering' is not necessary.
Author name(s) is written as follows: 'first name' 'blank' ['middle name'] 'blank' 'last name' [comma 'first name' ....]. Therefore, our conversion program segments and pick up each author and first, middle, last names by comma and blank.

3. Discussion