RSC Books Blog

This is part of a series of blogs explaining more about book publishing at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

From conception to print

We are all familiar with the sight of a book on the shelf, but how does it get there?

Submission of a Book Proposal Form is the initial part of the editorial development process. To ensure the Royal Society of Chemistry continues to publish high-quality content, the proposal is peer reviewed by other experts in the field and the reviewers’ comments discussed with the Editor.

Following acceptance of the proposal there is a period of around 12 months in which to contact potential authors, write the chapters and ensure their smooth delivery, finalise a cover image, and review and edit the content before handing the manuscript over to the production team.

Once the book is in-house we take care of the copyediting, typesetting and indexing, sending proofs through for your approval. After five months of work in production the book is ready to head to the printers, making its way onto a bookshelf near you shortly afterwards.

This is the first in a series of blogs explaining more about book publishing at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

1. What books do we publish?

The Royal Society of Chemistry publishes a range of book formats that can be pitched to the appropriate target audience, including:

• academic level books;
• Specialist Periodical Reports;
• textbooks;
• conference proceedings (camera-ready proceedings); and
• popular science books.

Academic level books provide an in-depth treatment of a very specific subject and serve as a thorough, informative and accessible reference for postgraduates, academics and industrialists. Our academic books can be published as part of a Series or as a standalone title.

Specialist Periodical Reports, published annually or biennially, provide systematic and detailed review coverage of recent developments in major areas of chemical research.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate textbooks are designed to meet the needs of a course at the appropriate level, and include case studies and Q&A sections.

If you are organising a Conference or Symposium, the proceedings can be published as an accompanying volume.

Popular science books appeal to a wide audience and can cover a range of topics. Previous titles include Molecules of Murder and Around the World in 18 Elements.

Subject areas we cover

Commissioning Editors at the Royal Society of Chemistry have a portfolio of Series and subject areas they look after, including:

• Food
• Analytical
• Materials
• Nano
• Energy and Environment
• Chemical Biology
• Drug Discovery
• Toxicology
• Green Chemistry
• Theoretical
• Catalysis

If you would like to submit an idea for a book, please fill in a Book Proposal Form and email it to the Books Editorial Department.

What to do if you have an idea

The first step to publishing a book with the Royal Society of Chemistry is to submit a Book Proposal Form to the relevant Commissioning Editor within Books Editorial.

The Book Proposal Form helps to frame your idea and provides us with the level of information required to assess and review the content. The proposal covers everything from the book title, to the table of contents, to the proposed chapter contributors.

When you have completed the Book Proposal Form, please email it to the Books Editorial Department. The proposal can then start the review process and the journey to becoming a reality.

What are we looking for?

When evaluating a book proposal there are several pieces of information the Royal Society of Chemistry requires.

These include:

• Book title.
• A paragraph providing an overview of the coverage of the book.
• Table of contents, detailing proposed chapter titles and authors.
• The anticipated readership, eg academic or industrialist.
• An estimation of the length of the book (allowing 500 words per page).
• A guide as to the number of figures, graphs, schemes etc.
• The intended timescale for delivery of the manuscript.
• A brief description of the Editors’ research interests and affiliations.

Upon receipt of the Book Proposal Form we send it for external peer review. We will discuss the feedback with you and, if the proposal is accepted, prepare the proposal for internal approval.

For more information on the Series and topics we have published to date, please see our website.

This is part of a series of blogs about book publishing at the Royal Society of Chemistry – read more on the RSC Books Blog.

Orphan Drugs and Rare Diseases

David C Pryde (Editor), Michael Palmer (Editor)
ISBN (print): 978-1-84973-806-4
Copyright: 2014
Price: £175.00

This text brings together expert authors in the regulatory, drug development and biochemistry domains to create a unique and timely reference for all researchers interested in finding out more about orphan drugs, their discovery and development, and the rare diseases they treat.

The Front Matter, Preface, Contents and First Chapter of this book are free to access with a free personal RSC Publishing Account.

Other books coming soon in the RSC Drug Discovery Series…

Human-based Systems for Translational Research

Robert Coleman (Editor)
ISBN: 978-1-84973-825-5

Macrocycles in Drug Discovery

Jeremy Levin (Editor)
ISBN: 978-1-84973-701-2

Ion Channel Drug Discovery

Brian Cox (Editor), Martin Gosling (Editor)
ISBN: 978-1-84973-186-7