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| GENE |
An international journal on genes, genomes and evolution
Guide for Authors
Before preparing a paper for submission to Gene, the author(s) should carefully read these instructions, and Gene's List of Abbreviations, thus avoiding needless delays during the editorial process. Papers should be carefully prepared inGene's style. When a paper is submitted to Gene, the corresponding author is responsible for all authors having seen and approved the original paper and, eventually, the proofs.
The paper should be accompanied by a letter of transmittal, in which the authors are invited to suggest the names of two editorial board member who could handle the manuscript as Handling Editors, and to specify the names of five or more potential referees (including complete addresses, phone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses and areas of expertise). In order to ensure a maximum of objectivity, the names of scientists the authors do not wish to be consulted in the reviewing process can also be provided, as well as any other special requests.
Gene requires all new nucleotide and amino acid sequences to be deposited. Obtain and include an accession number with all sequences. The most convenient method for submitting sequence data is by World Wide Web:
EMBL
GenBank
DDBJ
Alternatively, the stand-alone submission tool "Sequin" is available from the EBI and from NCBI
If requested the database will withhold release of data until publication.
If references are quoted as 'In press', the relevant manuscript(s) should also be attached. Should authors be requested by the Editor to modify the text prior to publication, the revised version should be submitted within 2 months. After this period, the manuscript will be dealt with as a new one.
SPEED OF PEER REVIEW
All possible effort will be made by the Editors in order to obtain referees' comments rapidly. In principle, the authors will be informed of a decision within 6 weeks.
TYPES OF SUBMITTED PAPER
1. Regular Papers: Not exceeding a total of 25 double-spaced, font size 12 typewritten pages, including references, tables, figures and their legends. The paper should be divided into: Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion. The last two sections may be combined. Preliminary results or incompletely documented data will, however, not be considered for publication.
2. Reviews or Mini-reviews: will generally be solicited by the Editors of the journal. However, prospective authors interested in contributing such a paper are invited to contact the Editor-in-Chief in advance.
DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING PAPERS
Papers should be in perfect English, conform to Gene's style, be typed/printed out entirely double-spaced and carefully proofread by all co-authors. Sections (but not the Abstract) should be numbered 1.1, 1.2, etc. In the text or legends, always refer to the specific section of the paper, "see section 1.1, or 3.5..." (do not just refer to "the text"). Number all pages.
TITLE PAGE (page No. 1) must be prepared in this order: (a) a brief descriptive title (lower-case); (b) 4--6 key words (only words not already in the title); (c) the name(s) of the author(s) (lower-case; circle complicated or multiple family names); (d) affiliation(s): list the name of the institute, university, department, city, country (underline or italicize); if there is more than one affiliation, use superscript letters directly after the name, to refer to each affiliation; (e) mark the corresponding author with an asterisk and place the Address for Correspondence at the bottom of the page (including full address, phone and fax numbers and e-mail address if there is one); (f) separate footnotes with the present affiliations of author(s) who have moved to a different address; (g) abbreviations: consult Gene's List of Abbreviations and the pertinent literature for accepted abbreviations, especially for genes and proteins; list all those used, even if already in Gene's list (create new abbreviations if necessary). Be meticulous with symbols. For proteins, use Roman letters with at least the first letter capitalized (e.g., Hprt, HPRT or βGal; for genes (or DNA) use italicized letters (e.g., lacZ, hprt, HPRT or cat gene, not HPRTor CAT gene). Consult the nomenclature (or usage) for the particular organism concerned to use (or create) proper gene/protein abbreviations.
The ABSTRACT (on a separate page) should be concise, describing the purpose and results of the study, and the final specific conclusions. Explain any abbreviations when used for the first time. For references in the Abstract give the concise source reference (e.g., Stamm et al., Gene 2005; 344:1-20).
INTRODUCTION must be short and must mainly specify the background and aims of the work (not another Abstract).
MATERIALS AND METHODS should contain all the details necessary to repeat the experimental procedure. Avoid redescribing methods already published; only relevant modifications should be included in the text. All pertinent technical details should be specified and be detailed enough to permit repetition of the experiments. Please add to legends (for figures) or footnotes (for tables) details such as [temp.,time(s), voltage, concentrations, type and % of gel, markers,sizes (bp,kb,kDa), etc.], but outline methods themselves in the main text.
RESULTS and DISCUSSION sections should refer to the data shown in the figures and tables, and briefly discuss their significance. Divide these sections into numbered subsections with short subtitles (lower-case, Roman, not underlined). Where the Results section is combined with the Discussion section, the last subsection, subtitled Conclusions, should be short and be divided into points.
REFERENCES should be assembled alphabetically and typed/printed double-spaced. They should be referred to by name and year (Harvard System). More than one citation from the same author(s)and year must be identified by the letters, a, b, c, etc., placed after the year of publication. In the text, when referring to a paper by more than two authors, only the name of the first author should be given, followed by a non-italicized 'et al.'. When referring to a personal communication or unpublished paper, all initials and name(s) of all author(s) should be cited, and written permission from these authors should be submitted to the Editor. Literature references must be in accord with a recent Gene issue. Journal titles should be abbreviated according to the 'List of Serials Indexed for Online Users' which can be found on http://www.nlm.nih.gov For reviews with a large number of references, employ the system used in Gene 1991; 100: 13-26.
TABLES should be numbered 1, 2, 3, etc., and, at the top, bear a short descriptive title. Detailed footnote(s) identified by superscript, a,b,c...., usually one for each major column, should be presented double-spaced under the table.
FIGURES should be numbered 1, 2, 3, etc., and line drawings (including graphs) should be prepared as laser-quality computer printouts. Send original printouts, not photographs. Only if a laser-qualityprinter is not available (dot matrix printers are unsatisfactory)should you present professionally drawn figures in black ink on white paper. Always use large and bold lettering and heavy smoothlines to permit photographic reduction. Ensure that all symbols in the figure are large and match the explanations in the legend. Sequence figures should be either 60 nucleotides (or amino acids)in width (to fit into a single printed column), or 120--150 nt. As a rule no more than a single page is allowed for sequence figures. Add bp, nt, kb or kDa symbols above the numerals in marker lanes. Legends should be typed/printed double-spaced, on pages separate from the figures themselves. The maximum size of figures is A4: present larger figures on two or more sheets.
Colour illustrations in the print version are reproduced at the author's expense. The publisher will provide the author with a cost estimate upon receipt of the accepted paper. Colour illustrations in the online version are always at no cost to the authors. In review articles, colour illustrations will be reproduced free of charge if essential for the presentation of results. This will be at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.
Language Polishing. Authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission please visit http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors/languagepolishing or contact authorsupport@elsevier.com for more information. Please note Elsevier neither endorses nor takes responsibility for any products, goods or services offered by outside vendors through our services or in any advertising. For more information please refer to our Terms & Conditions http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/termsandconditions.cws_home/termsconditions
Articles in Special Issues: Please ensure that the words this issue are added (in the list and text) to any references to other articles in this Special Issue.
Instructions for authors regarding GenBank/DNA sequence linking
DNA sequences and GenBank Accession numbers
Many Elsevier journals cite 'gene accession numbers' in their running text and footnotes. Gene accession numbers refer to genes or DNA sequences about which further information can be found in the databases at the National Center for Biotechnical Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine. Elsevier authors wishing to enable other scientists to use the accession numbers cited in their papers via links to these sources, should type this information in the following manner:
For each and everyaccession number cited in an article, authors should type the accession number in bold, underlined text. Letters in the accession number should always be capitalized. (See Example 1 below). This combination of letters and format will enable Elsevier's typesetters to recognize the relevant texts as accession numbers and add the required link to GenBank's sequences.
Example 1: '(GenBank accession nos. AI631510, AI631511, AI632198, and BF223228), a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE675048), and a T-cell lymphoma (GeneBank accession no. AA361117) '.
Authors are encouraged to check accession numbers very carefully. An error in a letter or number can result in a dead link.
In the final version of the printed article, the accession number text will not appear bold or underlined (see Example 2 below).
Example 2: 'GenBank accession nos. AI631510, AI631511, AI632198, and BF223228), a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accessionno.BE675048), and a T-cell lymphoma (GenBank accession no. AA361117)'.
In the final version of the electronic copy, the accession number text will be linked to the appropriate source in the NCBI databases enabling readers to go directly to that source from the article (see Example 3 below).
Example 3: 'GeneBank accession nos. AI631510, AI631511, AI632198, and BF223228), a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE67048), and a T-cell lymphoma (GenBank accession no. AA361117)').
SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of the article in Elsevier web products, including ScienceDirect . Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit http://www.elsevier.com/authors.
PROOFREADING
One set of proofs, as an e-mail PDF, will be sent to the corresponding author as given on the title page of the manuscript. Only typesetter's errors may be corrected; no changes in, or additions to, the edited manuscript will be allowed. Elsevier will do everything possible to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Subsequent corrections are not possible, so please ensure your first sending is complete.
NO PAGE CHARGES
There will be no page charges.
OFFPRINTS
Twenty-five offprints of each paper will be provided free of charge. Additional copies may be ordered at the prices shown on the Price List which will be sent by the publisher to the author together with the offprint order form upon receipt of the accepted manuscript.
US National Institutes of Health (NIH) voluntary posting (" Public Access") policy
Elsevier facilitates author response to the NIH voluntary posting request (referred to as the NIH "Public Access Policy"; (see http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/index.htm) by posting the peer-reviewed author's manuscript directly to PubMed Central on request from the author, 12 months after formal publication. Upon notification from Elsevier of acceptance, we will ask you to confirm via e-mail (by e-mailing us at NIHauthorrequest@elsevier.com) that your work has received NIH funding and that you intend to respond to the NIH policy request, along with your NIH award number to facilitate processing. Upon such confirmation, Elsevier will submit to PubMed Central on your behalf a version of your manuscript that will include peer-review comments, for posting 12 months after formal publication. This will ensure that you will have responded fully to the NIH request policy. There will be no need for you to post your manuscript directly with PubMed Central, and any such posting is prohibited.
ONLINE MANUSCRIPT TRACKING
Authors can keep track on the progress of their manuscripts, and set up e-mail alerts informing them of changes to their manuscript's status, by using the "Track a Paper" feature at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle.

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