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Instructions for Authors
Last Updated November 16, 2007

PLEASE NOTE: Significant changes have been made to the MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION AND ORGANIZATION section. Please review this section carefully prior to submitting your manuscript.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF SCOPE
Ethics
FEATURE ARTICLES
MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION
Authorship
Cover Letter
Availability of Materials
Language-Editing Services
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION AND ORGANIZATION
Title Page
Manuscript Title
Abstract
Introduction, Results, and Discussion
Nomenclature and Terminology
Methods
Large-scale experiments
Quantification of molecules, including DNA, RNA, and proteins
Molecular phylogenetic analyses
Tables
References
Figures
Figure legends
Figure manipulation
Figure size
Black and white figures
Color figures
Figure format
Figure resolution
Figure file size
Help with digital art
Supplemental Data
Supplemental data presentation
Large-scale data sets
Movies
Cover Submissions
PEER REVIEW
MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTANCE
PROOFS
FEES AND CHARGES
POLICIES
Electronic Posting of Articles
Materials Distribution Policy
Corrections and Retractions

STATEMENT OF SCOPE
The Plant Cell publishes novel research of special significance in plant biology, especially in the areas of cellular biology, molecular biology, genetics, development, and evolution. The primary criterion for publication is new insight that is of broad interest to plant biologists, not only specialists. The presentation of results must be appropriate for a wide audience of plant biologists. Research on the biology of plant pathogens falls within our scope if it is directly relevant to the plant's response to the pathogen. (Back to top)

Ethics. Please see http://www.aspb.org/publications/ethics.cfm for expectations for authors and ASPB procedures for handling allegations of scientific misconduct in journals. (Back to top)

FEATURE ARTICLES
The front section of the journal features occasional Editorials, Letters to the Editor, In This Issue articles, Current Perspective Essays, Historical Perspective Essays, Reviews, and Commentaries. Prospective authors may inquire about contributing to an article to one of these feature sections by contacting Dr. Nancy Eckardt, News and Reviews Editor (neckardt{at}aspb.org
), or Dr. Richard Jorgensen, Editor in Chief (raj{at}ag.arizona.edu
). (Back to top)

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION
Before initiating the submission process, these Instructions for Authors should be reviewed in full to ensure that the article is in compliance with Plant Cell standards. Even if authors have previously read them, it is strongly recommended that these pages be reread in their entirety, as they are updated periodically.

If an author does not have access to the Internet, contact Annette Kessler, Manuscript Manager, at 301/251-0560, ext. 120; e-mail: akessler{at}aspb.org
Authors should submit manuscripts online at http://submit.plantcell.org/. The Bench>Press submission system will prompt authors through the process. Help is also available from http://submit.plantcell.org/submission/submissionhelp and from Annette Kessler in the ASPB manuscript tracking office (301/251-0560, ext. 120; akessler{at}aspb.org
). A manuscript file in Microsoft Word (or some other word processing format) is required and will be automatically converted to a PDF. If using Microsoft Word, you must submit a .doc file. Please do not submit .docx files as they cannnot be processed by the Bench>Press submission system. If conversion is not satisfactory, authors may submit their own PDF, which will not be subjected to any conversion. Although there are no file size limitations, note that large files will take longer to upload and convert to PDF depending on the Internet connection. Please try to keep the maximum combined PDF file size to less than 5 MB. If you are not satisfied with the final conversion results when the submission is proofed, the complete manuscript can be reloaded as a PDF file. (Back to top)

Authorship. Contribution to a manuscript must be substantive in order to justify authorship. An author is responsible for major aspects of the research that is presented. All other contributors should instead be acknowledged appropriately in the Acknowledgments section. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all authors have made bona fide, substantive contributions to the research and have seen and approved the manuscript in final form prior to submission. For more information on corresponding authors, see "Title Page" below. An e-mail acknowledging submission of the manuscript will be sent automatically to every author (a valid, unique e-mail address must be provided for each author). If any author has not approved this submission or has any concern about the nature of this submission, the author should first contact the corresponding author about their concern and contact The Plant Cell directly only if the concern cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of all coauthors. Some concerns may be resolvable by reviewing ASPB's Ethics in Publishing policy. In the case of an unresolved concern, the corresponding author is obligated to notify The Plant Cell and explain the nature of the disagreement. After submission, any requested change in authorship will require the agreement of all coauthors. (Back to top)

Cover Letter. A cover letter must be submitted along with the manuscript, stating that the manuscript has not been submitted for publication elsewhere. Any closely related papers that are in press or that have been submitted elsewhere should be noted in the cover letter, cited in the submitted manuscript as is appropriate, and uploaded as additional supplemental files in the Bench>Press manuscript submission system. If any new gene symbols are introduced, the authors should state that they have conducted a search of the literature and of community databases and whether each new symbol has been registered in the appropriate community database (see Nomenclature and Terminology). If authors wish to request exclusion of any reviewers, specific reasons must be provided (for journal policy, see Peer Review). Authors should list the supplemental data they are submitting with the manuscript and state why it should be supplemental rather than integral to the article (aside from movies, large-scale data tables, unusual imaging software, etc). Also in the cover letter, we recommend that authors also explain the importance of their work and how and why their major findings relate to the scope of the journal. (Back to top)

Availability of Materials. Publication in The Plant Cell implies that the authors agree to provide materials that are integral to the results presented in the article, including whatever would be necessary for a skilled investigator to verify or replicate the claims. Authors are generally expected to take advantage of public repositories or commercial vendors to the extent possible. Authors should refer to the Materials Distribution Policy in these instructions for explanation of the journal's expectations of authors and requestors. (Back to top)

Language-Editing Services. Authors who believe their manuscripts would benefit from professional editing are encouraged to use language-editing services, such as the ones described at the following web sites, prior to submission.
http://www.prof-editing.com/
http://www.bostonbioedit.com/
http://www.internationalscienceediting.com/
http://www.asiascienceediting.com/
http://www.biosciencewriters.com/
http://www.biomeditor.com/
http://www.oleng.com.au/
http://davidherron.tripod.com/index-6.html
http://www.scientific-editor.com
http://www.bluepencilscience.com/
http://www.journalexperts.com/
http://www.writescienceright.com/
http://documentclinic.com
NOTE: ASPB provides these links as a service to our author community. The Society does not take responsibility for or endorse the services these companies offer and cannot attest to the quality of their work. Use of such services in no way guarantees acceptance of a manuscript for publication. If you have questions, or if you do use one of these services and would like to send ASPB feedback on your experience, please contact Nancy Winchester, ASPB Director of Publications, at nancyw{at}aspb.org
. (Back to top)

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION AND ORGANIZATION
Manuscripts should follow The Plant Cell style, be written in concise and grammatically correct English, and be presented in a manner and at a level that will be accessible to the broad readership of the journal. Papers that do not meet these standards will be returned to the authors without further review. Consult a current issue of The Plant Cell for guidance on format, organization, and preparation of figures, legends, tables, and references. While there are no limits to the length of manuscripts published in The Plant Cell, papers of more than 10 journal pages will be published only if the coeditor judges that the content is sufficiently novel to warrant a long paper. Ten published pages in The Plant Cell correspond to approximately 30 manuscript pages, including tables and figure legends and an average of six one-column figures.

Original manuscripts must be prepared using a standard word processing program (such as Microsoft Word) and should be prepared with 1.5 line spacing and in 12 point type using one of the following fonts: Times Roman, Courier, Helvetica, or Arial for text and Symbol font for Greek characters to avoid inadvertent character substitutions. Please do not use Chinese, Japanese or Korean fonts. Use settings for standard 8.5 x 11-inch paper. Figures should be digitally prepared (see below).

Organize manuscripts in the following order: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Results, Discussion, Methods, Acknowledgments, Figure Legends, Tables, and References. Note that when submitting your manuscript the References must be placed at the end of your document file. Tables should be included as part of your manuscript file. Figures and regular Supplemental data (Supplemental text, figures and small tables) should be included in separate files and not as part of the manuscript. These will be converted, along with the manuscript, into a single PDF on upload. See the sections on Figures and Supplemental Data below for more details. (Back to top)

Title Page. The title page should include the authors' full names and affiliations, a running title of 40 characters or less (in addition to the full paper title), and the e-mail address of the corresponding author. A second corresponding author may be listed but only in cases in which the authors are from different collaborating labs. Both corresponding authors will assume full and equal responsibility for the manuscript, including compliance with journal policies. One of the corresponding authors will be designated in the online submission system to be the primary contact with the journal office. In the manuscript, please provide each author's institutional affiliation at the time the research was done. If an author has since moved to a different institution, the new location can be indicated in a footnote. In the online submission system, the most current contact information for each author should be provided. The title page also must include the following statement as an unnumbered footnote: "The author(s) responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantcell.org) is (are): John D. Author (author@college.edu)." Contact information for the author(s) responsible for distribution of material(s) should be provided. (See Materials Distribution Policy for journal expectations in this regard.) (Back to top)

Manuscript Title. The full manuscript title should be succinct (approximately 120 characters) and informative. The title should include sufficient detail for indexing but be general enough to be clear to the broad readership of the journal. Abbreviations and acronyms, including those for gene and protein names, should be avoided in titles or the general nature of the abbreviated entity should be clear. The journal encourages active titles over merely descriptive ones. The title must mention the subject organism (or general group in the case of comparative works). Common names are allowed for major model systems (maize, rice, yeast); Latin names should be used for all organisms that have no widely accepted common name. (Back to top)

Abstract. The abstract should summarize for a broad audience the question being addressed, the approach taken, and the major findings and their significance. It should also be concise (approximately 200 words) and stand on its own with no reference to the text. General background should be reserved for the introduction. Literature references should not be included. (Back to top)

Introduction, Results, and Discussion. Manuscripts should be written to be understood by a wide audience of plant biologists. The use of abbreviations and jargon should be avoided, and terms that are not widely known should be explained clearly at first use. The Introduction should provide the necessary background information for the average reader; it should be both complete and concise. Previous publications that form a basis for the work presented must be cited. Citation of reviews is not a substitute for citing primary research articles. Citation of recent research articles is not a substitute for citing original discoveries. An author's own work should not be cited preferentially over equally relevant work of others. Authors' previously published data that are presented along with new data must be identified clearly and cited appropriately; duplicate publication of data (including data previously published as supplemental material) is not allowed without citation. Use of phrases such as "data not shown" or "unpublished results" is discouraged in the print article; instead, authors are encouraged to present such data as supplemental material. The Results and Discussion can be subdivided if subheadings give the manuscript more clarity. The Discussion should not repeat the Results; instead, the Discussion should explore the implications of the Results, citing relevant published research, and should also be as concise as possible. A Conclusions section is generally not permitted. Statements of priority or first finding are generally not permitted in The Plant Cell. (Back to top)

Nomenclature and Terminology. The Plant Cell requires that all nomenclature, including gene names and symbols, conform to nomenclature conventions adopted by the scientific community and that all genetic terminology be used in a scientifically accurate manner.

Organisms. In the Abstract, text, and Methods, organisms should be referred to by their common name at first use (if a standard common name applies), and the Latin name should be given in parentheses. Subsequent references to organisms can be either Latin or common names but should be consistent throughout the manuscript.

Gene and protein symbols. Prior to submission, authors should determine that all gene and protein symbols used in a manuscript have priority in the literature. When introducing new symbols, the manuscript cover letter must state that the authors have conducted a search of the literature and of relevant community databases and that the new symbol has priority and has been registered in the appropriate community database (if one is available for the species in question). New gene symbols should be compliant with the naming conventions of the relevant research community. Priority may be established for a gene symbol either by publication in the literature or formal registration in a community gene symbol database. Possible conflicts and/or confusion regarding nomenclature should be resolved prior to submission, if possible, and/or addressed in the cover letter. The full name for a gene should be stated where first used in the manuscript. Full gene names, not symbols, should generally be used in the title of the manuscript.

Authors are responsible for determining that all nomenclature conforms to accepted community standards prior to submission. Some helpful resources follow.

http://www.arabidopsis.org/portals/nomenclature/guidelines.jsp (Arabidopsis)
http://www.maizegdb.org/maize_nomenclature.php (Maize)
http://www.gramene.org/newsletters/rice_genetics/rgn3/v3C.html (Rice) Nomenclature rules are being revised by the rice community at this time. When a new link is available, it will appear here.
http://wheat.pw.usda.gov/ggpages/wgc/98/ (Wheat)
http://tgrc.ucdavis.edu (Tomato)
http://www.chlamy.org/nomenclature.html (Chlamydomonas)
VandenBosch, A., and Frugoli, J. 2001. Guidelines for genetic nomenclature and community governance for the model legume Medicago trunculata. MPMI 14, 1364-1367.
http://www.chem.qmw.ac.uk/iupac/ (protein nomenclature)
http://www.expasy.org/cgi-bin/lists?nomlist.txt (list of nomenclature-related references for proteins)

Nomenclature conventions differ among species and so, for instance, Arabidopsis nomenclature should not be used for other species, or vice versa. Note also the requirements for case: nearly all plant species use uppercase for the first letter and lowercase for subsequent letters, whereas all letters are uppercase in Arabiodopsis and Petunia genes and proteins. Maize genes are referred to with only lowercase letters, except when referring to dominant alleles. Prefixes indicating species (e.g., At, Zm, Os) are not generally allowed as part of a gene symbol, except to avoid confusion in cross-species comparisons. Where used, a two-letter prefix (e.g., At for Arabidopsis thaliana) should not be italicized as it is not part of the gene symbol and should be separated from the gene name by a space or hyphen. Although a lowercase "p" is used to indicate the protein product of a gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae nomenclature (e.g., SNF2p), this is not used in most plant nomenclature systems; please use the accepted protein nomenclature system for the species in question.

Symbols for putative orthologs often differ between species. However, if probable orthology has not been established, genes should not be named or renamed for homologs in other species because this may create confusion in the future when more gene sequences are known in the species and true orthologs can be predicted with greater confidence. Authors may propose a revised nomenclature for a given clade of orthologs using a shared symbol (e.g., Xyz1), accompanied by two-letter prefixes (e.g., Zm, At, Hv, etc.; defined in the Methods and not italicized) to indicate species: e.g., Zm Xyz1 and Os Xyz1. All such proposals must be based on good phylogenetic information demonstrating probable orthology (see definition below).

Relationships between homologous genes. The Plant Cell follows the recommendations of Theissen (Nature 415:741, 2002) and Fitch (Trends in Genetics 16:227-231, 2000) for usage of terms that describe relationships between genes. Homology is a relationship between features or genes that share a common evolutionary origin. DNA sequences may be homologous or not, but they may not be "partially" or "highly homologous"; percent sequence similarity may be used, but not "percent homology." Paralogy is a relationship between genes that have originated by gene duplication, whereas orthology is a relationship between genes that originated by speciation. If orthology or paralogy have not been established by a proper phylogenetic analysis, "homolog(ue)" or modified terms such as "putative ortholog(ue)" or "likely paralog(ue)" should be used. Homeolog(ue) is preferred over paralog when gene pairs have arisen via polyploidy as opposed to gene or segmental duplication.

Gene fusions and constructs. Gene fusions may be indicated by either a single colon or a hyphen, but not by a double colon. For example, 35S:GFP, 35S-GFP, CRY2:GFP, and CRY2-GFP are acceptable to refer to promoter-coding sequence fusions and fusions of coding sequences. A double colon should be used only for insertions (such as insertions by transposable elements), as in An1::dTph1, Bz1::Ac, or LFY::TAG1. Lowercase "p" should be used to refer to plasmids (e.g., pBR322), and to avoid confusion it should not be used to refer to promoters. Authors should designate promoters as, e.g., P35S, Pro35S, or 35Spro and promoter/coding sequence fusions as P35S:LFY, Pro35S:LFY or 35Spro:LFY. Transactivations should be written, e.g., PFIL>> or FILpro>>.

Genes and mutations. The standard definition of the term gene in molecular terms is the complete segment of chromosome that is required for expression of a gene product (i.e., including promoters, enhancers, introns, exons, untranslated regions, etc.) Thus, a coding sequence or transcription unit should not be referred to as a gene, but rather as a component of a gene. To avoid confusion, double or triple mutations should contain the names of the mutated genes separated by a space, e.g., sad1 sad2, or cad4 cad5 cad6, and should not be given entirely new names.
Authors should note that insertional mutations are not necessarily "knockout" mutations and should not be referred to as such unless they have been shown experimentally to be null alleles. Also, putative insertional mutations should generally be characterized at both ends of an insertion prior to manuscript submission; otherwise, the possibility cannot be ruled out that the observed sequence fusion represents a translocation rather than an insertion.

Generally, characterization of multiple, independent alleles is necessary to establish that a mutation (such as a T-DNA insertion or chemically induced mutation) is responsible for an observed phenotype, as opposed to an undetected, linked mutation. Complementation tests via transformation can be valuable, although their interpretation may be limited by the possibility of redundancy, and so statements of proof should be limited to cases in which multiple independent alleles have been characterized. (Back to top)

Methods. Methods must be described completely enough that other laboratories can replicate results and verify claims. Generally, standard procedures should be referenced, though significant variations should be described. Appropriate experimental design and statistical methods should be applied and described wherever necessary for proper interpretation of data and verification of claims. All novel materials and the procedures to prepare them should be described in sufficient detail to allow their reproduction (e.g., DNA constructs, genetic stocks, enzyme preparations, and analytical software). The penultimate section of Methods should be the section entitled "Accession Number," and the last section should be "Supplemental Data," containing the titles only of all supplemental materials that will be posted online.

Accession numbers. Accession numbers should be provided as the last paragraph of Methods (just before Acknowledgements) with the heading “Accession Numbers” for any genes or new sequence data discussed in the article. Insert the following statement and provide accession numbers: “Sequence data from this article can be found in the EMBL/GenBank data libraries under accession number(s) XX000000.” In the case of Arabidopsis, the AGI locus identifier (“At number”) must be provided for each gene described (see http://www.arabidopsis.org). If a list of accession numbers is provided in a table or figure, that can be stated in this section, rather than listing all of the numbers. If an accession number has not been assigned at the time of submission, please use Xs as placeholders to be updated later. In general, accession numbers should be provided only in the Methods, not elsewhere in the manuscript, unless needed for clarity. Accession numbers for genes must be specific for each gene; accession numbers for BAC clones or chromosomes are not acceptable substitutes. Accession numbers must also be provided for any supplemental data that is placed in a permanent public repository (e.g., GEO http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo, Array-Expresshttp://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress, or Protein Data Bank (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb).

Novel nucleotide and amino acid sequences must be deposited in a public repository such as the GenBank database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). If a new function or mutation is found to be associated with a previously known DNA sequence (i.e., an existing GenBank entry), authors are encouraged to create a new GenBank entry in order to link the sequence and the gene symbol/function in the database. In the case of (partially or completely) sequenced vectors and constructs, accession numbers should be provided. All data necessary to validate protein structure determinations, including x-ray amplitudes and phases and the derived atomic coordinates, should be submitted to the Protein Data Bank (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb).

Large-scale experiments. In evaluating large-scale experiments such as transcript profiling, we will consider whether there is a clear and complete description of each experiment; whether biological and/or technical replicates should have been used; what statistical analysis has been performed; whether a multiple comparison correction has been used to control for Type I family-wise error, where necessary; and/or whether the need for statistical analysis to support the claims has been obviated through validation of claims by independent experiments. Authors are encouraged to involve statisticians in both the design and analysis of experiments, to whatever extent is necessary, to properly interpret results. Large-scale data sets must be made available for review at the time of submission and must be deposited in an accepted format to a permanent public repository with open access (e.g., GEO http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo or Array-Express http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress). The purpose of this policy is to ensure that conclusions are scientifically sound, i.e., based on an appropriate experimental design and statistical analysis of the data. If conclusions are not drawn and such experiments are used simply as a screen, then the preceding does not apply, as long as the manuscript explicitly indicates that the experiment should be regarded only as a screen, that results were used only to identify candidates which were then validated independently, and that no conclusions have been or should be drawn from the data (such as what number or fraction of genes respond in a given manner). Provision of datasets used only as screens as supplemental information is encouraged, but not necessarily required.

Quantification of molecules, including DNA, RNA, and proteins. Methods for quantification of levels or differences in levels of molecules in biological samples must be described fully and shown to be quantitative and reproducible, using true biological replicates. Any conclusion that levels differ between samples must be supported by presentation of methods and data shown to be reliable; supporting information demonstrating reliability of an assay may sometimes be provided as Supplemental Information rather than in the body of the manuscript, subject to the approval of the handling editor. Use of the term ‘semi-quantitative’ is not acceptable in The Plant Cell; instead, assays must be shown to be sufficiently quantitative to support a conclusion of changes in levels.

RNA and DNA. In the case of quantification of nucleic acids, ‘real time’ PCR assays are preferred, when feasible. In ‘standard’ PCR assays, including ChIP (chromatin immunoprecipitation) assays, ethidium bromide staining should be not be used unless it is demonstrated to be quantitative in the range of DNA concentrations being investigated. Ethidium bromide staining is not quantitative above very low levels of DNA because fluorescence saturates rapidly, leading to under-estimation of fold-changes in DNA or transcript levels or the equality of expression of controls. Thus, use of more quantitative methods of staining DNA, including SYBR green/ SYBR gold which gives linear responses over much broader ranges of DNA concentration, is generally preferred for publication in The Plant Cell. Alternatively, radioactive detection followed by appropriately short time exposures is also acceptable if shown to be quantitative. Methods must include details showing that amplification was in the logarithmic phase for each DNA molecule being analyzed. Data from low-cycle RT-PCR amplifications stained with SYBR green or gold/radio-actively detected should be referred to as 'quantitative' rather than 'semi-quantitative' RT-PCR.

Molecular phylogenetic analyses. Methods used for sequence analysis must be reported in full with citations and software and parameter values (even if only default values were used) in a separate section of Methods entitled "Phylogenetic Analysis". Please note that CLUSTAL does not produce an acceptable phylogeny; use a true phylogenetic analysis program (e.g., PHYLIP, MEGA, MR. BAYES). Alignments used to produce phylogenies should be produced with an appropriate alignment program (e.g., CLUSTAL), then manually adjusted to optimize alignments. Alignments must be provided as a Supplemental Table or Figure (preferably as a .doc file). Statistical support for nodes in phylogenetic tree figures must be reported (e.g., posterior probabilities or bootstrap values from a minimum of 1000 trials). If phylogenetic trees are depicted or interpreted as rooted, the criterion used for rooting (e.g., midpoint, outgroup) must be provided and, if outgroup rooting is used, the basis for the choice of outgroup should be explained. Authors are encouraged to consult with an expert in molecular phylogenetics if they do not have such expertise themselves. (Back to top)

Tables. Tables should be submitted embedded within the text file just before the references. Prepare tables using Word's table feature. If not using Word's table feature, tables can be prepared using a single tab between columns. Number tables consecutively as they are first mentioned in the text. Provide a concise title for each table, and label each column with an unambiguous heading. If footnotes are needed for clarity, designate them with lowercase letters in the order in which they are referenced in the table. Table titles and footnotes should be placed as regular text outside the table body. Each table may include a short general description before the footnotes. (Back to top)

References. Cite references in the text by name and date of publication and not by number. List only articles that are published or in press. References should contain complete titles and inclusive page numbers. Authors are expected to proofread every citation in their reference list against the PDF or photocopy of the cited work so that the reference list is accurate with respect to spellings, symbols, italics, subscripts/superscripts, and accents. Cite in the text all unpublished results, including personal communications and submitted manuscripts (for example, R. Goldberg and K. Jofuku, unpublished results). A permission letter from each person cited as a personal communication will be required upon acceptance. Permission is also required from the authors of unpublished information cited in the text if those authors are different from the article's authors. Citations for web sites (other than for primary literature) should be handled parenthetically in the text and not included in the reference list. Authors should test all URLs and links.

If you are citing an article that only exists as an early online version, include the PubMed ID (PMID) number to allow reviewers to link directly to the article. At the bottom of the PubMed record for the article, you will find the PMID number which you should include in the reference as follows:

> Author, A.B., and Author, B.B. (2006). Title of article. PMID: 16723506.

It is expected that all cited publications have been read and determined to be appropriate by the authors, not merely identified by database searches. Reference to specific results should be to original research articles, not to more recent articles or reviews. (Back to top)

Figures. Number figures consecutively according to the order in which they are called out in the text. Figures should be unambiguous and as conceptual as possible and should provide enough information so that the reader can understand them without significant input from the text. For the best possible reproduction of gel blots, submit combination figures in which the labels and photographs or autoradiographs are composite images. Format sequence data preferably to one-column width for shorter sequences and two- column width for longer sequences. Make sure that the fonts in sequences are easily readable, especially if sections are highlighted to display conserved or structural features. Use the same fonts for all figures. For those figures that contain more than one panel, designate the panels with capital letters (no parentheses and no periods following letters) in the upper left-hand corner of each panel, if possible. Wording in figures must match the rest of the manuscript for capitalization, italics, and use of symbols. If labels contain typographic errors or inconsistencies, the author will be asked to upload corrected figures.

Figure legends. Provide a short title for each figure. Figure legends should be concise and should not repeat information presented in the text. Figure panels that are designated with capital letters should have specific subtitles in the legend and should be described separately and completely. Do not describe methods in figure legends unless they are necessary to interpret the results conveyed by the figure. Define in the legend all symbols and abbreviations that are used in the figure. Accession numbers should not be included in figure legends. For bar graphs, error bars should be defined in the legend, along with sample sizes. Each figure legend should appear at the end of the manuscript text file.(Back to top)

Figure manipulation. The Plant Cell does not allow certain electronic enhancements or manipulations of micrographs, gels, or other digital images using Photoshop or any other software. If multiple images are collected into a single figure, be sure to separate them clearly with lines. If a digital tool is used to adjust contrast, brightness, or color, it must be applied uniformly to an entire image; targeted alteration of only part of an image is prohibited. The Plant Cell reserves the right to ask authors to provide supporting data on which figures were based. Please refer to J Cell Biol (2002) 158: 1151 (http://www.jcb.org/cgi/content/full/158/7/1151) for guidance on acceptable and unacceptable digital image manipulation.

Figure size. All parts of a figure must fit on a single printed page in portrait, not landscape, format and each figure should be sent in its own file. Please format figures to fit into one column whenever appropriate. In general, smaller gel images look neater than larger ones. Format figures for full-page size when a figure contains multiple panels or when important morphological, microscopic, or other experimental data could not be distinguished at one-column width. Place panels as close together as possible and eliminate or reduce black or white backgrounds as much as possible. For panels that are side-by-side or stacked vertically, repeated identical ordinate or abscissa labels can be deleted, unless needed for clarity. Include the figure number at the top or bottom of the page.

Black and white figures. Do not save black and white or grayscale images in color mode such as RGB or CMYK, as this will result in huge file sizes.

Color figures. Color figures must be submitted in RGB mode only. "Adobe (1998)" should be selected as the ICC profile to ensure that we can reproduce the color accurately. One in twelve males, on average, is colorblind. In preparing your figures, please observe the following guidelines to ensure that all readers, reviewers, and editors will be able to comprehend your data. In fluorescent double-staining micrographs and DNA chips, do not use the combination of red and green; use magenta and green instead. For micrographs with triple or more channels, additionally show either a grayscale image of each channel, or the combination of the two most important channels in magenta and green. For graphs and line drawings, label elements on the graph itself rather than making a separate color-coded key. Do not try to convey information in color only, but use BOTH color and shape (solid and dotted lines, different symbols, various hatchings, etc.; however, avoid pattern fills if creating PowerPoint files). For more information, see the following website: http://jfly.iam.u-tokyo.ac.jp/color/.

Figure format. Figures may be created using PDF, Photoshop, Powerpoint, Illustrator or other Windows Office software. If you use Photoshop or similar software, send .tif files or lzw compression .tif files at full size and delete any blank space around the edges of each figure. If you use Illustrator or similar software, send .eps files. Type should be set to "create outlines" or "convert to paths," or fonts should be embedded when saving the file. If you use PowerPoint, send the original .ppt files. Use only basic PowerPoint fonts, do not draw lines that are less than .25 pts thick, and use shaded or colored fills instead of “pattern” fills. PDF files are acceptable if they are of high quality and should have fonts embedded.

Figure resolution. Resolution of most figures should be 600 dpi at the actual size the figure is to print. For all-black line art, 1000 dpi is needed. Images imported into PowerPoint should have 600 dpi resolution. Please be sure that figures are at the size you expect them to be published in the journal. The width of one column is about 3.25 inches (85 mm) and a two-column width is about 7 inches (175mm).

Figure file size. Please keep file size as small as possible. Large file sizes (30 MB or greater) may occasionally be needed, but should be avoided if possible. Please do not use any compression such as WinZip or STF. For .tif image files, use lzw lossless compression, which has no quality loss due to compression.

Help with digital art. Helpful information on technical aspects of creating figures is available at http://submit.plantcell.org/journals/plantcell/forms/TPCdigital_art.pdf. Questions may be directed to Susan Entwistle at The Plant Cell editorial office (301/251-0560, ext. 118; susan{at}aspb.org
). (Back to top)

Supplemental Data. Data that are integral to the manuscript but impractical to include in the printed journal (for instance, large-scale data sets and videos) may be presented in The Plant Cell Online. Data and information that are peripheral to the conclusions may be provided as supplemental data if the coeditor agrees that these data would be valuable to specialist readers and are not necessary for other readers to understand the experimental support for important claims and conclusions. All data that are directly relevant to, and necessary for support of the central claims and conclusions of the article must be presented in the manuscript itself. Authors should note that the function of The Plant Cell Online is to provide an opportunity to present data and information that would not normally be published in the print journal, rather than to reduce article length. Important control experiments should always be presented in the manuscript, whereas assays that merely demonstrate that a reagent is suitable for use in an experiment (for instance) may be presented as supplemental material with the permission of the coeditor. Detailed experimental protocols that would be of interest only to specialists and are not necessary to support the central claims and conclusions are also permissible in Supplemental Data. Use of phrases such as "data not shown" or "unpublished results" is discouraged in the print article; instead, authors are encouraged to present such data as supplemental material. All supplemental materials will be reviewed as part of the normal manuscript review process.

Supplemental data presentation. Supplemental materials presented at The Plant Cell Online are subject to the same copyright restrictions as published manuscripts and cannot be presented elsewhere without proper citation.

Supplemental materials must be briefly described in the manuscript (in the Results or Methods section, as appropriate) with direct reference to each item, such as "Supplemental Figure 1 online," "Supplemental Table 1 online," etc. The titles (only) of each Supplemental Figure, Table, Movie, etc. should be listed at the end of the Methods section under the heading “Supplemental Data” in the following order: Supplemental Figures, Supplemental Tables, Supplemental Methods, Supplemental Movies.

Multiple supplemental files should be combined and submitted as a single .pdf file, no larger than 5 MB, entitled “Supplemental Data”. (Please note: high resolution files are not necessary for online viewing.) Files to be merged into a single Supplemental file include figures, tables and supplemental methods. Titles and complete legends to Supplemental Figures should be placed above or below each figure and should follow the same guidelines as for article figure legends (see above). Supplemental Tables should include any relevant footnotes and information necessary to understand the material in the table. References associated with supplemental materials may be placed immediately below the corresponding figure or table, or in a separate section entitled “Supplemental References” at the end of the Supplemental Data file.

Large-scale data sets (i.e., large tables) should be presented as separate files in .xls or other appropriate format (e.g., .dat, .hmm), and not as pdf files. Individual file sizes of large tables should be no larger than 5 MB.

Supplemental Movies should be presented as separate files no larger than 10 MB. Any legends associated with Supplemental Movies should be presented in a separate Microsoft Word file entitled “Supplemental Movie Legends”. (Please do not include this file in the combined .pdf file).

Large-scale data sets. Large-scale data sets (e.g., complete or draft genome sequences, genome annotations, genetic maps, EST data sets, transcript profiles, proteomic data sets, and metabolic profiles) that are integral to the manuscript must be provided at time of manuscript submission. At time of submission, large-scale supplemental data must be placed in a permanent public repository (e.g., GEO http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo or Array-Express http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress), as it will not be stored at The Plant Cell Online site permanently, only during the review process. Non-permanent URLs may be provided at the option of authors as a means to enable readers to access or query information more conveniently. Non-permanent URLs should also be provided if authors want to make available imaging or other software with unusual file types requiring special software downloads or those that are not compatible with The Plant Cell Online site. In general, large-scale data sets must be complete (e.g., must include the complete set of genome sequences analyzed, ESTs identified, genes queried in transcript profiling, peptides identified, molecules identified, etc.) and should be provided in Microsoft Excel format. Data supporting transcript profiling experiments must include complete sequence information (e.g., accession numbers, any relevant annotation data, and in the case of Arabidopsis, TAIR locus identifiers [http://www.arabidopsis.org]). Authors are encouraged to follow the MIAME (Minimal Information for a Microarray Experiment) standards. See Methods for expectations of experimental design, analysis, and reporting.

Movies. Video material that is absolutely required for interpretation of data may be used to supplement the online journal. Please upload your video as supplemental data in QuickTime (.mov) 3.0 or higher format so that reviewers can evaluate the video. (Other acceptable video formats include .mpeg and .avi.) To avoid excessive delays in downloading, video files should be no larger than 10 MB and should run between 30 and 60 seconds. Use QuickTime's "compress" option when preparing files to help control file size. Cropping frames and image sizes can also significantly reduce file sizes. Files submitted can be looped to play more than once, provided the file size does not become excessive. All videos should be submitted at the desired reproduction size and length. No editing will be done to the videos at the editorial office; all changes are the author's responsibility.

IMPORTANT: A set of still images corresponding to each video must be included as a figure in the article. The figure should include three frames of the video, indicating the beginning, middle, and end. Please indicate clearly in your text whether a figure has a video associated with it as supplemental data. A brief figure legend should also be provided. The figures should be prepared using the guidelines for figures indicated above. Stills from more than one video may be included in the same figure. (Back to top)

Cover Submissions. Each cover of The Plant Cell will feature an image representative of an article published in that issue. Authors who wish to have an image considered for the cover should upload the image as an additional supplemental file along with a separate text file that includes a brief one-paragraph description of the image, and indicate on the checklist provided at acceptance that a cover candidate has been submitted. Authors may also email a .jpg file of their cover submission, along with the brief description to Susan Entwistle at The Plant Cell editorial office: susan{at}aspb.org
. If an author does not hold the copyright for a submitted image, they are responsible for obtaining the necessary permission to use the image in The Plant Cell. (Back to top)

PEER REVIEW
Members of the editorial board will evaluate all manuscripts upon submission to determine whether they are appropriate for evaluation by expert outside reviewers. Reviewers are required to follow ASPB’s policy regarding conflicts of interest . Authors may suggest reviewers, but should not suggest persons who have a conflict of interest as defined by the ASPB policy. Editors are permitted to use any reviewer reasonably believed to be an appropriate scientific expert, except reviewers who would be excluded by ASPB’s conflict of interest policy. If authors wish to request the exclusion of certain reviewers for other reasons, specific justification must be provided in the cover letter; such requests may be considered at the discretion of the editor. Decisions will be made as rapidly as possible, and the journal strives to return reviewers' comments to authors within 4 weeks whenever possible. If revision is requested, the editorial board will evaluate revised manuscripts and determine whether outside review is required. The board normally will consider only one revised manuscript, and this manuscript must be submitted within 1 month unless an extension is granted. In the case that extensive revision including additional experimentation is required, journal policy is to decline the manuscript, but editors may choose to encourage resubmission. Resubmissions are subject to the full review process. It is the goal of the journal to publish manuscripts within 4 months after submission, but this can only be achieved if the original submission meets all journal requirements. (Back to top)

MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTANCE
Authors of accepted manuscripts will be provided with a checklist for preparing their final submission. Accepted manuscripts are copyedited for grammar and journal style before proof is generated. To facilitate rapid publication, after authors have reviewed proof and corrections are made, the article will be posted online as part of the publication Plant Cell Preview. Articles are posted anywhere from a few days to a few weeks prior to the full online issue of the journal. Any subsequent final corrections to the paper will appear in the final published version (and will suppress any earlier version) for both The Plant Cell Online and The Plant Cell (paper) versions. If an author does not want to have an article posted online ahead of final publication, this should be specified on the checklist provided at acceptance. The official date of publication is the date that the article first appears online as part of Plant Cell Preview. (Back to top)

PROOFS
The journal printer will deliver electronic page proofs to the corresponding author. The printer will notify the author via e-mail to retrieve page proofs. The author will have access to a PDF file, which will contain PDF pages (with figures and tables), a high-resolution PDF file of the images only, and a reprint order form. Page proofs are considered to be the final version of the manuscript. With the exception of typographical or minor clerical errors, no changes will be made in the manuscript at the proof stage. Notes added in proof will be sent to the coeditor assigned to the manuscript prior to publication and will be reviewed for appropriate content and wording. Authors will receive proofs approximately 3 to 4 weeks after final acceptance of the manuscript. Because of the tight publication schedule, authors must relay all additions and corrections to the printer by e-mail or by overnight mail within 24 hours of receipt of the proofs. Failure to act promptly to approve the page proofs may delay publication of the manuscript. For electronic correction of manuscripts, please use the free text tool to mark your PDF proof and e-mail your corrections to tpc{at}dartmouthjournals.com
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FEES AND CHARGES
Corresponding authors will be assessed a per page charge of $75. Corresponding authors who are ASPB members will receive a $20 per page discount. There will also be a charge of $350 for each color figure. Publication of an article in The Plant Cell is not contingent upon the author's ability to pay. Under exceptional circumstances that are explained in writing to the Managing Editor, authors may request waiver of the page charges or the color reproduction charges. Authors will need to justify that the color figure is essential for interpreting the results presented in the manuscript. Authors are charged for alterations made in proof that are not due to editor or typesetter errors. Color figures changed to grayscale in proof will be charged as author alterations.

ASPB is now offering an Open Access option that allows authors to have their online articles available for free to all users immediately upon publication. The fee for Open Access, which is in addition to the usual author charges, is $1000 (discounted to $500 if the author's institution subscribes to the journal). For more information, click here. (Back to top)

POLICIES

Electronic Posting of Articles. The Plant Cell will review manuscripts that include data that are posted on an author's web site. If the data are posted in the form of a preprint, it should be clearly stated beneath the title of the web preprint that it is under review (or accepted for publication) by The Plant Cell. Authors may post only the version of their manuscript that is under consideration by The Plant Cell editorial board. Final published manuscripts will reside on the journal sites. Once the published article has appeared online at the journal site, a toll-free link providing barrier-free access to the HTML and PDF versions of the article will be e-mailed to all authors. Authors should replace their manuscript posting with the toll-free link to their article. These links also may be deposited in institutional repositories. (Back to top)

Materials Distribution Policy. Publication in The Plant Cell requires that authors make available all materials integral to the reported results (i.e., necessary to support the major claims and enable their verification or replication) for non-commercial research purposes. Such materials include mutants, genetic stocks, transgenic plants, cell lines, recombinant constructs, vectors, viruses, enzymes, antibodies, and software. In general, authors are expected to deposit novel materials in public repositories, to the extent possible and consistent with the policy stated here. All manuscripts submitted to The Plant Cell will be reviewed for compliance with journal policy and should include the following statement as an unnumbered footnote: "The author(s) responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantcell.org) is (are): John D. Author (author@college.edu)." Contact information for the author(s) responsible for distribution of materials must be provided.

Authors should expect to comply with requests for materials within 60 days. Requestors should expect to comply with conditions (including via a signed Materials Transfer Agreement) that do not unreasonably limit use for non-commercial research purposes. Authors are expected to make materials available to all qualified investigators in private or public organizations on similar, if not identical, terms. If authors do not possess rights to distribute materials, upon request they should supply contact information for the source of the materials and should make their best efforts to facilitate the transfer of these materials within the expected timeframe, preferably by arranging for standard, reasonable terms in advance of publication or even prior to the initiation of research with such materials. In the case of unreasonable delay (and lack of extenuating circumstances, such as travel or illness, or special circumstances, such as significant and reasonable regulatory or safety issues), the requestor may contact the managing editor. Non-compliance with this policy by authors may result in denial of future rights to publish in The Plant Cell and/or notification of authors' funding agencies or employers and/or retraction of the publication describing the materials on the grounds that it is not possible to confirm the results and conclusions. It is reasonable for authors to require that requestors obtain a license for research use of patented materials. Reasonable approaches to protect ownership rights are allowable if they are described in the Methods. For instance, mutants or alleles that exist only in proprietary inbred lines may be provided via hybrids if the inbred line itself is not integral to the findings. In lieu of providing plasmid constructs, complete DNA sequences necessary to replicate them could be provided via a public repository or supplemental data, assuming component elements are readily available and the construct is not so complex that it could not be replicated in a timely manner. Authors may reasonably limit amounts of materials (such as enzymes, antibodies, and natural products) that will be distributed in the case that substantial effort is required for their isolation. Sufficiently detailed procedures must be provided to permit production of such materials; detailed protocols should be provided as supplemental material via The Plant Cell Online.

To facilitate sharing of materials, authors may choose to use one of the following services.
Addgene (http://www.addgene.org)
Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center (http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/pcmb/Facilities/abrc/abrchrome.htm)
Maize Genetics Cooperation Stock Center (http://maizecoop.cropsci.uiuc.edu/)
NOTE: ASPB provides these links as a service to our author community. The Society does not take responsibility for or endorse the services these companies offer and cannot attest to the quality of their work. If you have questions, or if you do use one of these services and would like to send ASPB feedback on your experience, please contact Nancy Winchester, ASPB Director of Publications, at nancyw{at}aspb.org
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Corrections and Retractions. If necessary, corrections of significant errors in published articles will be published in a later issue of the journal. Authors are requested to bring any errors to the attention of the Production Manager as soon as possible. A correction published in the print journal will also be published as a correction in the online journal and will be linked to the original article. Articles may be retracted by their authors, academic or institutional sponsor, editor, or publisher because of pervasive error or unsubstantiated or irreproducible data. A correction or retraction, so labeled, will appear in a prominent section of the journal, will be listed in the contents page, and will include the title of the original article. The text of a retraction will explain why the article is being retracted and will include a bibliographic reference to it.
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