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  Author Guide
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*/Note:/ the Author Guide was recently updated and expanded. Please make
sure to consult it when preparing your manuscript or when looking for
answers related to publication of your work in /Blood/.*

About Blood <#about>
? Journal scope <#j_scope>
? Journal facts <#j_facts>
? Article types <#article_type>
? Contact information <#contact>
Editorial Peer Review and Publication <#edit_peer>
? Peer review process <#peer>
? Manuscript preparation <#man_prep>
? Manuscript submission <#man_sub>
Editorial Policies for Authors <#edit_poli>
? Authorship criteria and contribution <#auth_crit>
? Copyright assignment <#copy_assign>
? Conflict of interest disclosure <#conflict>
? Funding and sponsorship <#fund>
? Duplicate or prior publication <#duplicate>
? Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects
<#ethical>
? Informed consent for patients <#informed>
? Data sharing, distribution of reagents, and compound structure
disclosure <#data_share>
? Deposition into public databases <#deposit>
? Guidelines for stem cell research <#guide_stem>
? Clinical trial registry <#clinical>
? Policy regarding NIH-sponsored authors <#policy_NIH>
? Embargo policy <#embargo>
Accepted Manuscripts <#accepted>
? Prepublication in First Edition <#prepub>
? Requirements for print <#require_print>
? Proofreading <#proof>
? Publication fees <#pub_fees>
? Reprint requests <#reprint>
Guidelines for Invited Reviews <#guide_invite>
/Blood/ Style Guide </authors/styleguide.dtl>
Forms and Checklists
? Checklist for revised online manuscripts </authors/check_revised.dtl>
? Copyright Transfer and Conflict of Interest form
</forms/copyright_transfer.dtl>
? Change of authorship form </forms/change_author.dtl>


    About /Blood/


      Journal scope

*/Blood/, **the Journal of the American Society of Hematology,*
published in print and online, provides an international forum for the
publication of original articles describing basic laboratory,
translational, and clinical investigations in hematology. Acceptance of
manuscripts is based on the originality and newness of the observation
or investigation, the quality of the work described and validity of the
evidence presented, the clarity of presentation, and the relevance to
our readership. Authors submit a manuscript with the understanding that
the manuscript (or its essential substance) has not been published other
than as an abstract in any language or format and has not been submitted
elsewhere for print or electronic publication consideration.

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      Journal facts

*Publisher:* The American Society of Hematology <http://www.hematology.org>

*Editor-in-Chief:* Sanford J. Shattil

*Editorial Board:* /Blood/ Editorial Board </about/edboard.dtl>

*Impact Factor 2005:* 10.132 (see /Blood/ Impact Factor
</about/impact.dtl> for more details)

*Frequency of publication:* 24 issues per year, on the 1st and 15 of
each month, plus an ASH Annual Meeting Program & Abstracts Book in
November; 2 volumes/year (2006: 107 and 108; 2007: 109 and 110)

*Print journal circulation:* 16,100

*No. of submissions/year:* approx. 5,000

*No. of published articles/year:* 1,190 (2006)

*No. of pages published/year:* 9,272 (2006)

*Avg Acceptance rate:* 23.2%

*Avg Time to first decision (all papers):* 18.9 days

*Avg Time to first decision (reviewed papers):* 30.4 days

*Avg Time from acceptance to First Edition prepublication:* 7-10 days

*ISSN (print journal):* 0006-4971

*ISSN (online journal):* 1528-0020

*Indexing:* Blood is indexed by these major databases: Biosis, Chemical
Abstracts, Current Contents/Life Sciences, Current Contents/Clinical
Medicine, Excerpta Medica, ISI Science Citation Index, Index Medicus,
Medline, Automatic Subject Citation Alert

*Full-text HTML/PDF accesses:* 3,889,680 (Jan-June 2006)

*Blood home page:* www.bloodjournal.org <http://www.bloodjournal.org>

*Contact:*

/Blood/
The American Society of Hematology
1900 M Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington DC 20036

*Manuscript submissions:* /Blood/ Bench>Press
<http://submit.bloodjournal.org>

*E-mail addresses:*
Editorial <mailto:editorial@hematology.org> (submission, peer review,
First Edition)
Production <mailto:production@hematology.org> (copyediting queries,
proofs, print-quality image requirements)
/Blood/ Subscriptions <mailto:bloodsubs@hematology.org>

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      Article types


        Regular Articles

Manuscripts submitted as Regular Articles are expected to be concise,
well organized, and clearly written. Acceptance of Regular Articles is
based on the originality, definitiveness, and importance of the findings
to the field of hematology.

Regular Articles will be published under the following scientific
categories: Chemokines, Cytokines, and Interleukins; Clinical Trials and
Observations; Gene Therapy; Hematopoiesis; Hemostasis, Thrombosis, and
Vascular Biology; Immunobiology; Neoplasia; Phagocytes; Red Cells; Stem
Cells in Hematology; Transfusion Medicine; and Transplantation.

Maximum length for a Regular Article is 5,000 words of text, not
counting the abstract, tables, figure legends, and references; abstracts
must not exceed 200 words and should be a single paragraph with no
subheadings. Submissions are limited to a total of 7 figures and digital
images are strongly preferred.


        Plenary Papers

Definitive manuscripts of exceptional scientific importance within the
broad discipline of hematology will be considered for inclusion in the
Plenary Papers category. The decision to highlight an article in this
section rests entirely with the Editors.


        Review Articles

Review articles are highly desired and are generally solicited by the
Editor-in-Chief. A review article should focus on a topic of broad
scientific interest, on recent advances in diagnosis and therapy, or on
another timely subject relevant to the field of hematology. Such
articles must be concise and critical and include appropriate references
to the literature. Reviews should not exceed 5,000 words in length, must
include abstracts of 200 words or fewer, and must have no more than 100
references. The use of tables and color figures to summarize critical
points is encouraged; the Journal offers a service to professionally
draw illustrations, if requested. Review Articles are reviewed by the
Editors and other expert reviewers before a final publication decision
is made, and revisions may be required. See also Guidelines for Invited
Reviews <#guide_invite>.


        Review in Translational Hematology.

These critical reviews describe recent advances in basic science that
are moving from the bench to the bedside.

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        Perspectives

Perspectives on significant topics in the field of hematology are highly
desired. Interested authors should correspond with the Editor-in-Chief
prior to submission to discuss the suitability of the proposed subject
matter. The length should not exceed 2,500 words; the abstract must not
exceed 200 words; and references are limited to 50. Typically,
Perspectives state the topic concisely, discuss opposing viewpoints, and
make recommendations for further investigation.


        Inside Blood

These brief capsules written by experts in the field present analyses of
specific articles that are deemed particularly noteworthy. Invited by
the Editors.


        Brief Reports

Short manuscripts definitively documenting either experimental results
or informative patient presentations will be considered for publication
in this category. The authors are asked to document experimental results
with a clear question in the introduction and then to present definitive
proof in the body of the text. Keep the ?Materials and Methods? section
succinct, using primarily cited work, but sufficiently informative to
allow reproduction of the data. Combine the ?Results? and ?Discussion?
sections and do not repeat the introductory comments. Brief Reports
should not exceed 1,200 words of text and 150 words in the abstract and
should have no more than 2 figures/tables and 25 references.


        How I Treat

Therapeutic recommendations for a specific hematological disorder
written by an expert in the field.


        Controversies in Hematology

Expert analyses of the pros and cons on a hematological subject
currently in ferment.


        Letters to the Editor

Comments on published articles or current topics in hematology are
welcome and will be published if appropriate. Letters should stay in the
range of 300-500 words of text with 5-10 references and 1 figure or
table (if needed). Please include a brief title succinctly stating the
topic of your Letter. Submission fees and page charges do not apply to
Letters. Letters to the Editor are always screened, but may also be peer
reviewed or subjected to a Response by the authors of the initial article.


        Data Supplements

The Journal encourages the submission of Data Supplements, including
videos and short movies, that enhance the understanding of the science
discussed in the manuscript. Data Supplements must be submitted for peer
review during the initial submission of the manuscript. The Editors will
review the supplemental material along with the manuscript, but
acceptance of the manuscript does not guarantee ultimate acceptance of
the supplement. For more information, please see Data Supplements in
/Blood/ </authors/datasups.dtl>.

back to top <authorguide.dtl>


      Contact information

Please contact the /Blood/ office if you cannot find an answer to your
question(s) in our online-posted materials, in this document, or in the
/Blood/ Bench>Press <http://submit.bloodjournal.org/> Manuscript
Processing System.

/Blood/
The American Society of Hematology
1900 M Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-776-0548
Fax: 202-776-0549
Manuscript Submission: /Blood/ Bench>Press <http://submit.bloodjournal.org>
e-mail addresses:
Editorial <mailto:editorial@hematology.org> (submission, peer review,
First Edition)
Production <mailto:production@hematology.org> (copyediting queries,
proofs, print-quality image requirements)
/Blood/ subscriptions <mailto:bloodsubs@hematology.org>

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    Editorial Peer Review and Publication


      Peer review process


        Submissions

Manuscripts submitted to /Blood/ through the online system /Blood/
Bench>Press <http://submit.bloodjournal.org/> are critically reviewed by
the Editors, members of the Editorial Board, and/or other expert
reviewers. The primary criteria for judging the acceptability of a
manuscript are its novelty and scientific importance. However, editorial
decisions are based not just on technical merit of work, but also on
factors such as priority for publication, presentation of the material,
and the relevance to the Journal?s general readership.

At the discretion of the Editors, the manuscript may be returned
immediately without full review, if deemed not competitive or outside
the realm of interests of the majority of the readership of the Journal.
The decision letter (to reject, invite revision, or accept) will be
conveyed through /Blood/ Bench>Press, coming directly from the Associate
Editor who has assumed responsibility for the manuscript?s review. All
manuscripts are judged in relation to other submissions currently under
consideration. Membership in the American Society of Hematology is not a
prerequisite for review or publication. Rebuttals to rejected
manuscripts are strongly discouraged, and requests for resubmission of
rejected manuscripts are generally not granted.

Manuscripts that have passed an initial screening by the Editors are
reviewed by two or more experts in the field. The Editors select the
reviewers and make the final decision on the manuscript. All referees
who review a manuscript remain unknown to the authors. Every manuscript
is treated by the Editors and referees as privileged information, and
they are instructed to exclude themselves from review of any manuscript
that may involve a conflict of interest, or the appearance of such.

Detailed reviewers? comments are forwarded to the authors. Manuscripts
requiring extensive revision are at a disadvantage for publication.

/Blood?s/ internal policies ensure the fairness of the review process.
When /Blood?s/ Editor submits his/her research paper to /Blood/, a Guest
Editor is invited to manage the review process. The online review system
is configured to ensure confidentiality and the blind nature of the
review process.


        Revised manuscripts

In many cases, authors are invited to make revisions to their
manuscript. A revised manuscript must generally be received by the
reviewing Associate Editor within 3 months of the date on the decision
letter or it will be considered a new submission. An extension can
sometimes be granted through correspondence with the Associate Editor.
An extension must be requested at least 2 weeks before the 3-month
revision deadline expires. A Copyright Transfer and Conflict of Interest
form </forms/copyright_transfer.dtl>, *signed by all authors*, must also
be submitted by fax with the revision. If there are any changes to the
manuscript?s authorship since the original submission (such as an
addition or deletion of an author, or a change in the order of
authorship), the Change of authorship form </forms/change_author.dtl>
must be signed by all authors and faxed to the Editorial office to
202-776-0549. Both forms can be found in this document, under Forms and
Checklists.

When preparing your manuscript for submission, please make sure that all
revisions stand out in the text and are obvious on a black and white
printout (e.g., you may use different font size, color or underline).
See also Checklist for Revised Manuscripts </authors/check_revised.dtl>
for more information.

back to top <authorguide.dtl>


      Manuscript preparation

Before submitting your manuscript online at /Blood/ Bench>Press
<http://submit.bloodjournal.org>, please read and follow the guidelines
below; they will be of help when preparing and formatting your Word or
RTF file.

Please note that the /Blood/ Journal adheres to the criteria of the
International Committee of Medical Journal editors, which has
established Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical
Journals <http://www.icmje.org>.


        Manuscript length

For regular articles, maximum length is 5,000 words of text, not
counting abstracts, tables, figure legends, and references, and
submissions are limited to a total of 7 figures. Abstracts must not
exceed 200 words and should be a single paragraph with no subheadings.
*Submissions exceeding these limits will not be considered for review
and will be returned to the author.*


        Word counts

All manuscripts must include on the title page a total text word count
and an abstract word count. Only under exceptional circumstances will
manuscripts containing more than 5,000 words be considered, but under no
circumstances will abstracts longer than 200 words be published. (The
limits for Brief Reports are 1,200 words of text and 150 words in
abstracts.)


        Editing services for non-English speakers

For the non-English speaking authors, an editing service may help
improve the presentation of the paper. Here are some names of companies
specializing in such services. Please note that /Blood/ does not endorse
nor has it any direct involvement with any of the services listed; this
information is provided solely for the convenience of the /Blood/ authors.
www.biosciencewriters.com <http://www.biosciencewriters.com>
www.bostonbioedit.com <http://www.bostonbioedit.com>
www.prof-editing.com <http://www.prof-editing.com>
www.journalexperts.com <http://www.journalexperts.com>


        Manuscript organization

Organize the content of your manuscript file as follows: Title page,
Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion,
Acknowledgments, References, Tables, Figure Legends, and Figures. For
Brief Reports, Results and Discussion must be combined.


        Title page

Title page must contain the following: article title; short title for
the running head (not to exceed 50 characters, including spaces between
words); full and accurate names of all authors (as you want them to
appear in online searches and citations); affiliations of institutions
where the research was done, reflecting the order of authorship by using
superscripted numbers; corresponding author?s full name, address, e-mail
address, and phone and fax numbers; word counts for text and abstract.

back to top <authorguide.dtl>

You must also include on the title page an appropriate scientific
category chosen from among the following: Chemokines; Clinical
Observations, Interventions, and Therapeutic Trials; Gene Therapy;
Hematopoiesis; Hemostasis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology;
Immunobiology; Neoplasia; Phagocytes; Red Cells; Transfusion Medicine;
and Transplantation. Please note that Brief Reports must also list a
scientific category on the title page.


        Abstract

The abstract should contain 200 words or fewer (150 words or fewer for
Brief Reports) and state the rationale/hypothesis, objectives, findings,
and conclusions of the study.


        Acknowledgments

Acknowledge support received from individuals. Any grant and other
financial support should also be listed here as well as the explanation
of authors? contributions and potential conflict of interest disclosure
statement. If the authors declare no competing financial interests, they
must state it here as well.


        References

Include references in numerical order at the end of the article
according to the order of the citation in the text. Text citations of
reference should consist of superscript numbers. Format references per
instructions at the /Blood/ Style Guide </authors/styleguide.dtl>. If
you use citation software, check it carefully to ensure that it formats
your references according to the current /Blood/ style.

Authors can now have Medline links in their HTML references for
citations that have only been published via prepublication in /Blood/
First Edition or in other prepublished articles. Since prepublished
articles have PubMed records and a PubMed ID (PMID) is listed at the
bottom of every PubMed record as the citation identifier, an author can
include the PMID within their manuscript references to link the
prepublication citation to its PubMed record.


        Footnotes and abbreviations

Do not use footnotes; instead, use sparingly parenthetical statements
within text. Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and
thereafter applied consistently throughout the article. Do not use
nonstandard abbreviations or abbreviate terms appearing fewer than 3
times. Give the chemical name of a compound after the first use of the
common name. The common name may be used throughout the article.
Abbreviate units of measure only when used with numbers. See the /Blood/
Style Guide </authors/styleguide.dtl> for more information.


        Tables

Each table should have a brief, specific, descriptive title, giving
sufficient explanation to make the data intelligible without reference
to the text. Number all tables and cite in numerical order in the text,
using Arabic numerals.

back to top <authorguide.dtl>


        Image acquisition and preparation

(This set of instructions is adapted with permission from the Journal of
Cell Biology <http://www.jcb.org/> instructions to authors.) The
following information must be provided about the acquisition and
processing of images:

   1. Make and model of microscope
   2. Type, magnification, and numerical aperture of the objective lenses
   3. Temperature
   4. Imaging medium
   5. Fluorochromes
   6. Camera make and model
   7. Acquisition software
   8. Any subsequent software used for image processing, with details
      about types of operations involved (e.g., type of deconvolution,
      3D reconstructions, surface or volume rendering, gamma
      adjustments, etc.).

Please note that the technical requirements for manuscript review and
the First Edition prepublication are different from the print
requirements and do NOT require high-resolution images. Follow the
online uploading instructions during submission and prepublication. To
prepare print-quality figures, see Figure preparation and sizing for the
final print publication <#fig_prep>.


        Working with gels and micrographs

Note that no specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured,
moved, removed, or introduced. If groupings of images from different
parts of the same gel or from different gels, fields, or exposures are
used, they must be made explicit by the arrangement of the figure (i.e.,
by inserting black dividing lines) and in the text of the figure legend,
explaining what steps were taken to produce the final image and for what
reason. If dividing lines are not included, they will be added by Blood
staff, resulting in publication delays. Adjustments of brightness,
contrast, or color balance are acceptable if they are applied to the
whole image and as long as they do not obscure, eliminate, or
misrepresent any information present in the original, including
backgrounds. Without background information, it is not possible to
evaluate how much of the original gel is actually shown. Nonlinear
adjustments (e.g., changes to gamma settings) must be disclosed in the
figure legend. The use of special software tools (e.g., erasing,
cloning) available in popular image-editing software is strongly
discouraged unless absolutely necessary and explained in the figure legend.

Digital images in manuscripts accepted for publication will be
scrutinized for any indication of improper manipulation or editing.
Questions raised by /Blood/ staff will be referred to the Editors, who
may then request the original data from the authors for comparison with
the submitted figures. Such manuscripts will be put on hold and *will
not be prepublished* in /Blood/ First Edition until the matter is
satisfactorily resolved. If the original data cannot be produced, the
acceptance of the manuscript may be revoked.

Cases of deliberate misrepresentation of data will result in revocation
of acceptance and will be reported to the corresponding author?s home
institution or funding agency.


        Figure legends

All legends must begin with a short descriptive sentence that sums up
the intent and content of the data contained in the figure. This
sentence should be in boldface. A more detailed explanation of the data
contained in the figure and/or its parts should follow. The detailed
description should be in Roman type (i.e., not in boldface).


        Display of sequences

Prepare sequences as figures (images), not tables. This will ensure that
proper alignment within a sequence is preserved.

back to top <authorguide.dtl>


      Manuscript submission

*All manuscripts must be submitted online through /Blood/ Bench>Press
<http://submit.bloodjournal.org/>.*


        Your account in /Blood/ Bench>Press

If you have not interacted with this website before, you must register a
new user account using your primary and desired e-mail address. That,
along with your designated password, will be your entry into the site at
all times, so please make sure that your password is easily available to
you. If you had a user account on a previous /Blood/ website but have
not accessed /Blood/Bench>Press, you will not have an existing user
account on the site.

The Bench>Press system is used by many other journals. If you are
registered with another journal on Bench>Press, you must contact the
/Blood/ editorial office with the e-mail address with which you are
registered to that other site. The staff will then help you add /Blood/
to the list of Bench>Press journals to which you are registered. Please
note that the same e-mail address and password will apply for all
journal Bench>Press sites, including /Blood?/s.


        Submission

Before submitting your manuscript online, please note that you should
have on hand the following information:

   1. Author contact information and individual contributions to authorship
   2. Abstract and manuscript files
   3. Word counts of abstract and text and a reference count
   4. Manuscript number(s) if this manuscript was previously submitted,
      if this is a revision, or if this submission is part of a
      companion group.
   5. Cover letter to the Editor-in-Chief.
   6. e-mail addresses of suggested reviewers.
   7. If this is a revision, you will also need to submit a response to
      reviewers and you will need to fax the Copyright Transfer and
      Conflict of Interest form </forms/copyright_transfer.dtl> signed
      by all authors.

/Blood/ Bench>Press, the web-based manuscript processing system,
provides an easy-to-follow set of instructions and Help notes (follow a
"?" next to each new step) that will guide you through the process. You
may find a main Help site and a set of FAQs at the top of each page
within the site. The e-mail correspondence you will receive may provide
confirmation of the steps performed, provide instructions for the next
step in the process, and/or ask for specific changes that may be
required. Mac users are encouraged to use Safari or Firefox instead of
Internet Explorer to access the manuscript processing system.

Note that the submission process needs to be successfully completed
before the peer review can begin; a successful online submission is
acknowledged by an e-mail to the corresponding author. In it, the
corresponding author will receive the manuscript number, which needs to
be cited in all correspondence, both within and outside /Blood/
Bench>Press. Please note that you will have 30 days to finish a partial
(incomplete) submission of your manuscript. After 30 days, however, all
partial submissions are automatically deleted from the system.

For additional questions regarding the submission process, please
contact the /Blood/ Editorial Department <mailto:editorial@hematology.org>.

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    Editorial Policies for Authors


      Authorship criteria and contribution

/Blood/ has refined its definition of authorship and made the authorship
contribution statement mandatory as of May 1, 2006. All authors listed
in a manuscript submitted to /Blood/ must have contributed substantially
to the work, as defined in more detail below. The corresponding author
takes responsibility for obtaining permission from all coauthors for the
submission of any version of the manuscript and for any changes in
authorship. When submitting the manuscript, the corresponding author
must indicate, on the online submission website *and* in a note under
the Acknowledgments section, the specific contribution of each author.

All collaborators share some degree of responsibility for any manuscript
they coauthor. Some coauthors have responsibility for the entire
manuscript as an accurate, verifiable report of the research. These
include coauthors who are accountable for the conception or execution of
the research reported in the paper, the integrity and analysis of the
data, or the writing of the manuscript. Coauthors who make specific,
limited contributions to a paper are responsible for their contributions
but may have only limited responsibility for other results. While not
all coauthors may be familiar with all aspects of the research presented
in their manuscript, all coauthors should have in place an appropriate
process for reviewing the accuracy of the reported results.

Authors are required to indicate their specific contributions to the
published work. This information will be published in the First Edition
as well as in the final print and online /Blood/ issue in the Authorship
section. *Examples of designations include: designed research, performed
research, contributed vital new reagents or analytical tools, collected
data, analyzed and interpreted data, performed statistical analysis, and
drafted the manuscript.*

An author may list more than one type of contribution, and more than one
author may have contributed to the same aspect of the work.

If a study group is involved in a manuscript, those members who meet
criteria for authorship should be listed individually on the byline; the
number of individual authors may range from 3 to 25. Study group members
who do not meet authorship criteria but who contributed materially may
be cited in the Acknowledgments section, and if the manuscript is
accepted all study group members will need to be listed as an online
supplement.

For more information on this topic, see the Authorship section in the
/CSE?s White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal
Publications/
<http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/editorial_policies/white_paper.cfm>.


      Copyright assignment

All material published in /Blood/ represents the opinions of the authors
and does not reflect the opinions of The American Society of Hematology
<http://www.hematology.org>, the Editors, or the institutions with which
the authors are affiliated.

Authors submitting manuscripts to /Blood/ do so with the understanding
that -- if their manuscript is accepted -- the copyright in the article,
including the right to reproduce the article in all forms and media,
shall be assigned exclusively to The American Society of Hematology and
that the corresponding author and all coauthors will be required to sign
and submit a Copyright Transfer and Conflict of Interest form
</forms/copyright_transfer.dtl> at the time of submission of the revised
manuscript. /Blood/ allows authors to retain a number of nonexclusive
rights to their published article (see Copyright Transfer and Conflict
of Interest form for details).

The work of the authors who are US Federal Government employees is not
protected by the Copyright Act, and copyright ownership will not be
transferred in these cases.

back to top <authorguide.dtl>


      Conflict of interest disclosure

American Society of Hematology (ASH), the Publisher of /Blood/, and the
/Blood/ Journal are committed to ensuring the integrity of all their
activities. The Conflict of Interest Disclosure policy for /Blood/
contributors requires each author to disclose all relevant financial and
other interests, *regardless of amount or value,* that might be
construed as resulting in an actual, potential, or apparent conflict in
one?s role as contributor to /Blood/.

At the time of online submission of their manuscript to /Blood/, the
authors are required to disclose any potential financial conflict of
interest, which may include one or more of the following: *employment;
consultancy within the past two years; ownership interests (including
stock options) in a start-up company, the stock of which is not publicly
traded; ownership interest (including stock options but excluding
indirect investments through mutual funds and the like) in a publicly
traded company; research funding; honoraria directly received from an
entity; paid expert testimony within the past two years; any other
financial relationship (e.g., receiving royalties); membership on
another entity?s Board of Directors or its advisory committees (whether
for profit or not for profit).*

/*Please note:*/ It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to
review this policy with all authors and to collectively list ALL
pertinent commercial relationships.

During the peer review process the conflict(s) of interests will only be
disclosed to editors and reviewers who will keep them confidential.

If the paper is accepted for publication in /Blood/, all disclosures
will appear in the prepublished article and in the final print and
online edition of the article, under the acknowledgment section.

If the authors have no conflict of interest to declare, they must also
state this at submission. If the paper is accepted for publication in
/Blood/, the statement of no conflict of interest will appear in the
prepublished article and in the final print and online edition of the
article, under the acknowledgment section.

With their Revised manuscript, the authors will be asked to fill out the
Copyright Transfer and Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form
</forms/copyright_transfer.dtl> for Authors and Contributors to /Blood/.
This form must be signed by ALL authors, and the manuscript will not be
processed until the /Blood/ Editorial Office receives the signed form.

It is important to note that this policy and the disclosure statements
shall not be regarded as creating a presumption of impropriety in the
existence of financial interests or other relationships of a commercial
nature. Instead, /Blood?s/ purpose is to inform its editors, peer
reviewers, and readers of the existence of financial relationships
pertinent to the article in the interest of the full transparency of the
peer review and publication processes.

To read the ASH Conflict of Interest policy, click here
<http://www.hematology.org/about/coi.cfm>.

*How to interpret this policy:*

For submitted manuscripts that contain information about commercial
products or potential products, /Blood/ requires that the authors
declare all relevant financial interests in the product, or in
potentially competing products. Relationships that must be disclosed
include investors in and consultants to the involved commercial venture
as well as persons holding patents relating to the product or
potentially competing products. /Blood/ also requires that authors
employed by companies whose commercial products are discussed in a
submitted manuscript disclose the fact of their employment.

The conflict of interest disclosure may include one or more of the
following:

    * One (several) of the authors (authors? initials) has (have)
      declared a financial interest in a company whose (potential)
      product was studied in the present work.
    * One (several) of the authors (authors? initials) is (are) employed
      by a company or a competitor of a company (X company) whose
      (potential) product was studied in the present work.
    * One (several) of the authors (authors? initials) holds (hold) a
      patent related to the work that is described in the present study.
    * One (several) of the authors (authors? initials) provided paid
      expert testimony related to the work that is described in the
      present study.
    * One (several) of the authors (authors? initials) received
      royalties related to the work that is described in the present study.


      Funding and sponsorship

For work involving a biomedical product or potential product partially
or wholly supported by corporate funding, a note, placed in the
?Acknowledgments? section, must accompany the manuscript stating: /This
study was supported (in part) by research funding from (company name) to
(authors? initials)./

Grant support, if received, needs to be stated and the specific granting
institution(s) name(s) and grant numbers provided when applicable.


      Duplicate or prior publication

The /Blood/ Journal accepts only manuscripts that are original work, no
part of which has been submitted for publication elsewhere except as
brief abstracts. Authors should take care to exclude overlap and
duplication in manuscripts dealing with related materials. Copies of
existing manuscripts with potentially overlapping or duplicative
material should be submitted together with the manuscript, so that the
Editors can judge suitability for publication. See also Redundant or
Duplicate Publication in Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted
to Biomedical Journals <http://www.icmje.org/index.html> and Definition
of Research Misconduct in the /CSE?s White Paper on Promoting Integrity
in Scientific Journal Publications/
<http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/editorial_policies/white_paper.cfm>.

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      Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects

All studies that involve human subjects must abide by the rules of the
appropriate Institutional Review Board (or equivalent organization in
foreign countries) of the institution in which the research was
conducted and by the tenants of the (most recently revised) Helsinki
protocol <http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm>.


      Informed consent for patients

Published studies that involve human subjects should not provide
subjects? identifying information (e.g., names, true initials,
recognizable images) unless the information is essential for scientific
purposes *and* the patient (or parent/guardian) gives written informed
consent for publication. If your study requires the appropriate written
consent, please submit a patient-signed copy of the consent to the
Editorial Office by fax at 202-776-0549 or via overnight mail to 1900 M
Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036. See the Uniform
Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals
<http://www.icmje.org/index.html> for further information.


      Data sharing, distribution of reagents, and compound structure
      disclosure


        Data sharing

/Blood/ supports the efforts of the National Academy of Sciences to
encourage the open sharing of publication-related data. /Blood/ adheres
to the belief that authors should include in their publications the
data, algorithms, or other information that is central or integral to
the publication or make it freely and readily accessible; use public
repositories for data whenever possible; and make patented material
available under a license for research use. For more information, see
the NAS website <http://newton.nap.edu/books/0309088593/html/1.html>.


        Distribution of reagents

In 1998, the Editors of /Blood/ adopted the policy that any readily
renewable resources mentioned in a Journal article not already obtained
from commercial resources shall be made available to all qualified
investigators in the field. The policy stems from the long-standing
scientific principle that authenticity requires reproducibility.
Publication in /Blood/ constitutes a de facto acceptance of this policy.
Included are reagents that can be easily provided; specifically, nucleic
acid sequences, cDNA and genomic clones, cell lines, and monoclonal
antibody clones. Small amounts (sufficient for the replication of any in
vitro work reported) of novel protein reagents are also considered
transferable.

Although the Editors appreciate that many of the reagents mentioned in
/Blood/ are proprietary or unique, neither condition is considered
adequate grounds for deviation from this policy. Suitable
material-transfer agreements can be drawn up between the provider and
the requester, but if a reasonable request is turned down and not
submitted to the Editor-in-Chief, the corresponding author will be held
accountable. The consequence for noncompliance is simple: the
corresponding author will not publish in /Blood/ for the following 3 years.


        Disclosure of compound structure

Authors must provide the specific chemical structure(s) of synthetic
compounds either in the manuscript or through a web link to a publicly
available source. For natural products, the chemical structure must be
similarly provided if it is known. If it is not known, adequate
information on the source and composition must be provided to identify
the compound uniquely.

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      Deposition into public databases


        Submission of sequences to GenBank

Original DNA sequences reported in /Blood/ must also be submitted to
GenBank. Instructions for submission can be found at GenBank
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Genbank/index.html>. An accession number
must be supplied parenthetically at a relevant location in text.


        Microarray databases

/Blood/ supports the efforts of the Microarray Gene Expression Data
Society to standardize the presentation of microarray data. In
compliance with the MGED Society?s Minimum Information About a
Microarray Experiment (MIAME)
<http://www.mged.org/Workgroups/MIAME/miame_checklist.html>, the journal
requires that authors deposit their microarray data into a public
database, such as Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO)
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/> or Array Express
<http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress/>. Authors should also include their
microarray data as a supplement with the initial submission of the
manuscript (see Data Supplements) <#data_supp2>. An accession number
must be supplied parenthetically at a relevant location in text.


      Guidelines for stem cell research

Research with embryonic stem cells should adhere to the guidelines
established by the National Academy of Sciences, as published in the
National Academy Press <http://newton.nap.edu/books/0309088593/html/1.html>.


      Clinical trial registry

In accordance with the guidelines published by the International
Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the recent changes to
the policy published in an ICMJE Editorial in June 2007
(http://www.icmje.org/clin_trial07.pdf), /Blood/ requires, as a
condition of consideration for publication, that all clinical trials be
registered in one of five ICMJE-approved public trials registries (i.e.,
ClinicalTrials.gov <http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/>, www.actr.org.au
<http://www.actr.org.au/>, www.ISRCTN.org <http://www.ISRCTN.org/>,
www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index/htm <http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index/htm/>, or
www.trialregister.nl <http://www.trialregister.nl/>). Trials *must be
registered at or before the onset of patient enrollment*.

In addition to accepting registration in any of the above five
registries, the ICMJE and /Blood/ will accept registration of clinical
trials in any of the primary registers that participate in the WHO
International Clinical Trial Registry Platform (ICTRP). Registration in
a partner register only is insufficient.

The ICMJE and /Blood/ will begin to implement the WHO definition of
clinical trials for all trials that begin enrollment on or after 1 July
2008. This definition states that a clinical trial is ?any research
study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans
to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on
health outcomes.?

Following ICMJE, /Blood/ will not consider results posted in the same
clinical trials registry in which the primary registration resides to be
previous publication if the results are presented in the form of a
brief, structured (<500 words) abstract or table.

For more information, see ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts
Submitted to Biomedical Journals <http://www.icmje.org/#clin_trials>.


      Policy regarding NIH-sponsored authors

/Blood/ and the American Society of Hematology (ASH) signed an agreement
with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that creates a new option
to comply with the NIH policy on enhanced access. This new program will
remove the current burden for authors to submit their manuscripts to
PubMed Central <http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/>. ASH has volunteered
/Blood/ to be the first participant in this program and has signed the
one-year agreement with NIH. As a result of ASH?s participation in this
program, all /Blood/ authors who published NIH-funded articles from May,
2005, forward have *no obligation to submit manuscripts to the NIH
archive because /Blood/ will do this on their behalf.*


      Embargo policy

/Blood/ manuscripts that are accepted and prepublished in /Blood/ First
Edition are considered to be formally published on the date of the
article?s appearance on the /Blood/ First Edition website
</papbyrecent.dtl>. The site organizes prepublished articles by posting
date.

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    Accepted Manuscripts


      Prepublication in First Edition

All original research manuscripts accepted through /Blood/ Bench>Press
and submitted for /Blood/ First Edition </papbyrecent.dtl> by the author
are prepublished online twice-weekly in unedited form (author?s PDF).
Please note that Controversies in Hematology, Letters to the Editor,
Inside /Blood/ comments, Editorials, and Introductions to specially
featured articles are not prepublished as First Edition articles. First
Edition articles are searchable in Medline, Google Scholar, Yahoo, and
other search engines; they are citable and establish publication priority.

Prior to submitting for First Edition prepublication, the submitting
author must carefully review the entire manuscript file, paying
particular attention to list full and accurate names of all authors;
include accurate institutional affiliations for each author; and include
all figures, legends, and tables within the uploaded document. Note that
figures do NOT need to be high-resolution and may be embedded in the
text itself or at the end of the manuscript. Please follow the specific
instructions that come with the acceptance letter.

An article prepublished in First Edition subsequently undergoes the
standard production process, which includes copyediting, composition,
and proofreading. The edited article is then published in its final form
in the first available print and online issue of /Blood/ (see
Requirements for Print <#require_print> for further information).
Accepted Data Supplements are also prepublished with the First Edition
version of the article; they need to be separately uploaded by following
the online instructions.


      Requirements for print


        Manuscript file format

A Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) file of your accepted
manuscript is required to allow the manuscript to be copyedited and
composed. You will be requested to upload the accepted text document
during the submission to First Edition. Please note that publication of
your article will be put on hold until you upload a Word or RTF
document. You must make sure that the document you submit is the same as
the one accepted. There cannot be ANY content changes from the final
accepted version; however, you should remove any highlighted or
red-lined text that may have been inserted to indicate revisions to the
original submission.


        Figure preparation and sizing for the final print publication

Detailed instructions for submitting digital artwork can be found at
Digital artwork for production in /Blood/ </authors/digitalart.dtl>.

/Blood/ accepts digital TIFF and EPS images for print. If necessary,
/Blood/ will also accept Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt) files, although we
cannot guarantee the same quality from them as we do from TIFF or EPS files.

All digital print-quality images need to pass an inspection program,
Rapid Inspector, to ensure their suitability for print. You can freely
download the Rapid Inspector software
<http://rapidinspector.cadmus.com/RapidInspector/zh8/index.jsp>. To
deposit your print-ready image files, you may either upload them
alongside your First Edition document or access the /Blood/ FTP site
<ftp://blood.hematology.org>. Specific instructions are sent in the
acceptance letter.

For print publication, lay out figures as compactly as is consistent
with conveying the relevant data. Figures will be sized to fit the
smallest possible space, but in order to prevent radical changes in
figure content, prepare the figures in one of two sizes: 8.0 cm
(1-column width) or, if necessary, 11.5 cm (1½ column width). Note that
these instructions do NOT apply to figures submitted for online review
and prepublication.


        Cover illustrations

Cover illustrations are chosen by the Editor-in-Chief. Authors who
submit a manuscript are encouraged to include a color image they
consider suitable for the cover of /Blood/ (the author must own
copyright to the image). The image must be sharp enough to allow
magnification to the full size of the 6½ x 11 in. image area. Add a
brief caption explaining the content of the figure. Cover illustrations
are published without charge to the author, but authors pay for any
color figures printed within their article. Authors will be notified by
e-mail if their illustration has been selected for the cover.

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      Proofreading

Authors of accepted manuscripts will receive electronic page proofs
directly from the printer and are responsible for proofreading and
checking the entire article, including tables, figures, and references.
Authors should correct only typesetting errors at this stage and may be
charged for extensive alterations. *Page proofs must be returned within
48 hours* to avoid delays in publication. Follow instructions that come
with your electronic proofs.


      Publication fees

Please note that the submission fee applies to manuscripts submitted for
peer review in /Blood/; the page charges and the color charges apply
only to the manuscripts accepted for publication in /Blood/.


        Manuscript submission fee

A nonrefundable fee of $50 is due on submission of Regular Articles and
Brief Reports. There is no submission fee for Review Articles,
Perspectives, Introduction to Focus on Hematology, Inside /Blood/, or
for Letters to the Editor. *If a fee is required, you will be asked to
pay it online at the time of submission, using a credit card.* Please
note that purchase orders and bank wire transfers cannot be accepted for
the processing fee.


        Page charges

Authors of Regular Articles, Plenary Papers, and Brief Reports are
required to pay page charges to share in the high costs of publication.
The page charge is $60 per printed page. Page charges are waived for any
type of Review Article, Perspective, How I Treat, Introduction, or
Letters to the Editor.


        Color charges

The cost of printing images in color is in part shared with the /Blood/
authors. Color charges are assessed for authors who submit a color image
with a Regular Article, Plenary Paper, Brief Report, and a Letter to the
Editor. Color charges are waived for all Review Articles, Perspective,
How I Treat, and Introduction.

Charges to the author are currently assessed at $600 per color figure,
even if the figure has multiple panels (A, B, C, etc.). You must decide
at submission whether you agree to pay for color in any, or all, of your
figures. Please note, however, that the reviewing Editor may decide
that, for a given figure, color is essential for scientific clarity. In
such case, the figure will be printed in color, and the color charges
will be assessed. If the color is not essential, the alternative is to
convert all or some of the figures to black-and-white at the revision
stage, before providing glossy originals for production.

Page and color charges are expected to be paid with an invoice from
Cadmus Professional Communications sent to the corresponding author at
the proof stage.

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      Reprint requests

At the request of /Blood/, the reprint fees (as well as page and color
charges) are being handled by Cadmus Professional Communications at the
page proof stage. *Authors receive with their proof a form for Reprints
and Publication Fees, which must be used for ordering reprints and for
paying page charges and color charges.*


        Reprint prices

A reprint price list is provided on the Reprint Order Form. Reprints
must be ordered at the time the page proofs are reviewed. Late orders,
especially of Reprints with color images, will cost much more.


        Payment options for reprints and publication fees

It is recommended that international authors pay by credit card (VISA or
MasterCard); if they use a check, it must be drawn from a US bank and
made out in US dollars. Domestic (US) authors may use a credit card or
pay by check; they will also have the option to present an Institutional
Purchase Order. Make the check out to *Cadmus Professional
Communications.* The form for Reprints and Publication fees must be
returned to the following address:

*Cadmus* Professional Communications
/Reprints and Publication Fees/
PO Box 751903
Charlotte, NC 28275-1903


      Guidelines for Invited Reviews

In the past, /Blood/ published timely review articles on a wide range of
subjects related to clinical and basic aspects of hematology. In
general, the reviews have been authoritative works on subjects that
often encompassed a substantial body of work or a wide range of clinical
issues. Although such works can be invaluable for the research and
clinical communities, we no longer feel it appropriate to publish this
type of all-encompassing reviews because of increasing demands on
Journal space for articles focusing on primary data and because more
concise, interpretive reviews may be more useful for our readership.

Currently published and solicited reviews are based on specific topics
related to hematology or oncology that can be discussed within a maximum
of 5,000 words and with no more than 100 references. Each Review Article
must contain an abstract of 200 words or fewer.

A review should focus on a topic of broad scientific interest, on recent
advances in diagnosis or therapy, or on another timely subject relevant
to hematology. For clinical topics, such reviews should focus on what?s
new; the use of a new drug to treat a hematological malignancy does not
require a discussion on how one diagnoses the disorder, and a research
review on a cytokine does not need to include how the protein was first
discovered or the strategy used to clone its cDNA, if this was
previously reported in a suitable format. This is especially true when
the same subject was reviewed in /Blood/ in recent years; in this case,
only information obtained since the publication of the previous review
should be considered.

References should not be all inclusive; citing only the first or at most
the first two articles that make a specific point will suffice without
listing all of the articles that appear in a Medline search of the topic.

For the more research-oriented topics, we ask our authors to make the
extra effort of linking our better understanding of the basic science of
hematology and oncology with issues in clinical medicine. And remember,
"a picture is worth a thousand words." Please illustrate your work with
informative figures and/or diagrams. Color is encouraged when it
enhances the points to be made. Contact the /Blood/ Production Office
<mailto:production@hematology.org> if you would like your figures to be
drawn by a professional science illustrator.

It is hoped that this approach will help the expert reader identify what
is truly new in the field and will allow the uninitiated to grasp the
issues confronting and exciting those who work in the field of hematology.

back to top <authorguide.dtl>

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        Online ISSN: 1528-0020

