Instructions to authors

Electronic submission via the Web using EES.
The preferred method of submission for all categories of manuscript is online to the Editorial Office. The preferred medium of submission to the accepting Editor is online with the accompanying manuscript, illustrations, tables and annexes. Submission of a paper to Neuromuscular Disorders is understood to imply that it has not previously been published (except in abstract form) and that it is not being published elsewhere. Submitted manuscripts should be accompanied by a statement undersigned by all listed authors that they concur with the submission and that the manuscript has been approved by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out. If accepted, the manuscript shall not be published elsewhere in the same form in either the same or any other language, without the consent of the Editor and Publisher. The decision of the Editor is final.

Neuromuscular Disorders uses an online, electronic submission system called EES (Elsevier Editorial System). By accessing the following websitehttp://ees.elsevier.com/nmdyou will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. When submitting a manuscript to EES, authors need to provide an electronic version of their manuscript. The author should select a category designation for their manuscript (original article, letter to the editor, short communication, etc.) and may provide keywords and comments to the Editor separately.
Authors may send queries concerning the submission process, manuscript status, or journal procedures to the Editorial Office (j.miller@ich.ucl.ac.uk). Once the uploading is done, the system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for reviewing. All correspondence, including the Editor's decision and request for revisions, will be by e-mail.

Open access
This journal offers you the option of making your article freely available to all via the ScienceDirect platform. To prevent any conflict of interest, you can only make this choice after receiving notification that your article has been accepted for publication. The fee of $3,000 excludes taxes and other potential author fees such as color charges. In some cases, institutions and funding bodies have entered into agreement with Elsevier to meet these fees on behalf of their authors. Details of these agreements are available at http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies. Authors of accepted articles, who wish to take advantage of this option, should complete and submit the order form (available at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/openaccessform.pdf). Whatever access option you choose, you retain many rights as an author, including the right to post a revised personal version of your article on your own website. More information can be found here: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights.

Changes to authorship
This policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts:Before the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names, must be sent to the Journal Manager from the corresponding author of the accepted manuscript and must include: (a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, fax, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will be forwarded by the Journal Manager to the corresponding author, who must follow the procedure as described above. Note that: (1) Journal Managers will inform the Journal Editors of any such requests and (2) publication of the accepted manuscript in an online issue is suspended until authorship has been agreed. After the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Any requests to add, delete, or rearrange author names in an article published in an online issue will follow the same policies as noted above and result in a corrigendum.

Funding body agreements and policies
Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors whose articles appear in journals published by Elsevier, to comply with potential manuscript archiving requirements as specified as conditions of their grant awards. To learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies

Hardcopy manuscript submission
If online submission is not a feasible option, manuscripts may still be sent in triplicate with one disk copy to the Editor-in-Chief.
Manuscripts should be accompanied by a covering letter including the name and address of the author to whom correspondence should be sent. Authors should retain an additional copy of the manuscript and figures for their own files. After final acceptance, your disk plus two, final and exactly matching printed versions should be submitted together. Double density (DD) or High density (HD) diskettes (3.5 or 5.25 inch) are acceptable. It is important that the file saved is in the native format of the wordprocessor program used. Label the disk with the name of the computer and wordprocessing package used, your name, and the name of the file on the disk. Further information may be obtained from the publisher.

E-mail submission
Manuscripts containing no more than two figures may be sent to the Editorial Office (j.miller@ich.ucl.ac.uk) by email only, with a covering note, subject to prior agreement from the Editorial Office.

Manuscript Preparation
The journal has a zero tolerance for non-standard abbreviations and these should be avoided in the abstract and also in the text. Use double spacing throughout, including the reference section.
Organize the manuscript in the order indicated below, with each component beginning on a separate page and with a running title and page number typed in the upper right-hand corner of each page.

Title Page
Page 1 should include:
(a) the title of the article
(b) the authors' names
(c) affiliations (the name of the department, if any, institution, city and state or country where the work was done) indicating which authors are associated with which affiliations
(d) the name and address of the author to whom proofs and reprint requests are to be sent.

Abstract
Page 2 should include the title of the article followed by the abstract, which should have no more than 200 words of continuous text; ie please do not insert subheadings. The abstract should state the purpose of the study, basic procedures, most important findings and principal conclusions, with an emphasis on the new aspects of the study. All non-standard abbreviations should be avoided in the abstract and only introduced in the main text. Keywords for indexing should be given at the end of the abstract.

Text
Papers should be organized in the following format: Introduction, Materials (or Patients) and Methods, Results and Discussion. Other descriptive headings and sub-headings may be used if appropriate. Every effort should be made to avoid jargon and non-standard abbreviations. Contents of the study should be presented as clearly and as concisely as possible.
Manuscripts containing English or American spelling are acceptable. Be sure that all references are cited in numerical order in the text and that all tables and figures cited in the text are numbered according to the order in which they appear. Data appearing in the tables or figures should be summarized, not duplicated, in the text. All data cited in the text should be checked carefully against the data in the tables to ensure that they correspond, and all the names cited in the text should be checked carefully against the references. Any ambiguous symbols (e.g. the letter 'O' vs the numeral '0', the letter 'l' vs the numeral '1') should be identified. Unnecessary abbreviations should be avoided.
At his discretion the Editor-in-Chief will convert any such abbreviations into their unabbreviated form in order to maintain the flow and sense of the text. Acknowledgements of grant support and of individuals who were of direct help in the preparation of the study should be included at the end of the text. Any experimental work on human subjects should be accompanied by a statement relating to appropriate ethical approval.
At the beginning there should be a title page which provides a title and addresses for all of the authors as they should appear in the publication and full contact details for the corresponding author (address with postal codes and countries, phone, fax and e-mail).

References
Type references double spaced and number them consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text, not alphabetically. Identify references in the text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals within square brackets. References cited only in tables or figure legends should be numbered in accordance with a sequence established by the first mention in the text of a particular table or figure.
The authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the references. For journal articles the following information should be included: (a) for up to and including six authors, all author names (surnames followed by initials), and for more than six authors, only the first three authors' names (surnames followed by initials) followed by et al., (b) title of the article, (c) the journal title which may be abbreviated according to the rules set out in Index Medicus, (d) the year of publication, (e) the volume number and (f) the first and last page numbers. If the article is published in a language other than English the title should be translated into English and followed by the original language in brackets, for instance ''(in Swedish)''. For books, include the chapter title, chapter authors, editors of the book, title of the book (including volume and edition number), publisher's location and name, year of publication and appropriate page numbers.
Examples of the correct format are as follows:

[1] Ervasti JM, Ohlendieck K, Kahl SD, Gaver MG, Campbell KP.
Deficiency of a glycoprotein component of the dystrophin complex in dystrophic muscle.
Nature 1990; 345: 315-319.
[2] Dubowitz V. A Colour Atlas of Muscle Disorders in Childhood.
London: Wolfe Medical Publications, 1989.
[3] Williamson R. Molecular biology in relation to medical genetics.
In: Emery A E H, ed. Principles and Practice of Medical Genetics.
Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone,1983: 16-25.

''Unpublished observations'' and ''personal communications'' should not appear in the references. These should be inserted in parentheses in the text, and letters of permission from all individuals cited in this way should accompany the manuscript Information obtained from manuscripts that have been submitted for publication but not yet accepted should be cited in the references: include authors and manuscript title followed by ''submitted for publication''. Manuscripts that have been accepted for publication but have not yet been published may appear in the references: include the authors, manuscript title, and name of the journal followed by ''(in press)''.

Tables
Tables should be submitted online as a separate file and should bear a short descriptive title. In case of hardcopy, tables should be submitted on separate sheets of paper. If a table must exceed one typewritten page, duplicate all headings on the second sheet. Number tables in the order in which they are cited in the text. Every column in the table should have an abbreviated heading. Define all abbreviations and indicate the units of measurements for all values. Explain all empty spaces or dashes. Indicate footnotes to the table with the superscript symbols cited in order as you read the table horizontally.

Unless tables are unavoidably wide, please present them in portrait format with adequate left and right-hand margins to ensure they do not defailt to landscape presentation at the typesetters.

Figures
Figures of good quality should be submitted online as a separate file. Letters, numbers and symbols should be clear throughout and should be large to permit photographic reduction. If a figure cannot be submitted online, a hardcopy may be submitted in professionally drawn, photograph or high-quality laser printed form.
Be sure that all spelling is correct, that there are no broken letters or uneven type, and that abbreviations used are consistent with those in the text. Use a label on the back of each figure to indicate the article's running title and the top of the figure. Do not write directly on the back of photographs. Do not trim, mount, clip or staple the illustrations. Submit photomicrographs in the final desired size. The colour transparency or negative should be supplied, in addition to colour prints.
Photographs of recognizable persons should be accompanied by a signed release from the patient or legal guardian authorizing publication. Masking eyes to hide identity is not sufficient.

Colour Reproduction
Since Neuromuscular Disorders is primarily a printed journal it is important that any figures requiring colour should be published in colour in print. You will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article.For further information on the preparation of the electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/locate/authorartwork

Figure and Table Legends
Legends should be typed double spaced on a separate page and numbered with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations.
When symbols, arrows, numbers or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, each should be explained clearly in the legend.
The legends should permit the figures to be understood with reference to the text. If the figure has been published previously a credit line should be included.

Preparation of Supplementary Material
Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting figures, tables, applications, high-resolution images, background datasets, movies, animation sequences, sound clips, videos and more.
NB: Please contact the Editorial Office and discuss before attempting to submit sound or video files.

Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier web products, including ScienceDirect http://www.sciencedirect.com in order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data is provided in one of our recommended file formats. Contact the Editorial Office prior to submission.

Section Editor Categories
In addition to submitting regular original articles, letters and meeting reports, we invite readers to submit interesting articles to the special sections listed below. All items should be submitted online in the usual way to the main Editorial Office in London, with the relevant section category selected from the drop-down menu.

If you wish to discuss anything with section editors prior to submission please refer to the journal homepage online or the inside front cover of the printed journal for up-to-date contact information of each section editor.

Reviews
Review papers should cover recent, important developments related to diagnosis, pathogenesis or therapy of a neuromuscular disorder. They can be either in-depth and comprehensive, or short, mini-reviews. Please include an abstract and key words. Reviews will be directed to Anders Oldfors who will co-ordinate peer review.

Case Reports
Case reports should be of interest to the multidisciplinary readership of Neuromuscular Disorders and have a neuromuscular component. Topics such as sensory neuropathies and ataxias are of limited interest to our readership. Case reports should not exceed 2000 words and may include up to three tables or figures and a maximum of 25 references. They should take the form of Title, Abstract (up to 150 words), Introduction, Case Report, Discussion, Acknowledgements and References. Case reports will be directed to Luciano Merlini who will co-ordinate the editorial process.

Animal Models for Neuromuscular Diseases
Gillian Butler-Browne will be allocated papers submitted under this section.

Veterinary Myology
Diane Shelton will be pleased to receive papers covering clinical or investigative aspects of spontaneously occurring myopathies, neuropathies or disorders of neuromuscular transmission in domestic animals.

Picture of the Month
Please send an interesting clinical photograph, or possibly histopathological or radiological or any other pictorial material of clinical challenge or interest, accompanied by a brief case presentation and discussion of no more than 500 words and up to three references. These items will be referred to Beril Talim for the editorial process.

What the Journals Say
For this section we invite concise and critical commentaries (around 250 words) about any relevant articles on the treatment of neuromuscular disorders, good, bad, or indifferent, published in other current journals. Please submit online and select this category from the drop-down menu and we will refer your article to Allan Bretag.

Clinical Casebook
Victor Dubowitz invites short case reports that present a conflict of interpretation between the clinical and the investigative aspects of a case, with a view to raising questions, promoting thinking and discussion and potentially opening new channels of research to advance our knowledge.

Historical Reports
We welcome articles of historical interest. These can be sent to the editorial office in the first instance and will be redirected to the Historical Section Editor, Alan Emery.

ENMC Workshop Reports
These submissions will be treated as report on a workshop, with the convenor[s] listed as corresponding author[s]. They will not be subjected to peer review and will be published in the next available issue of the journal. The format should be that of a workshop report and not a review of the particular subject.

Under exceptional circumstances as, for example, with the "myocluster" research groups funded by the EU, where a lot of new [unpublished] material was presented, special arrangements were agreed at the time, as listed in the following set of guidelines.

The editor of NMD is prepared to follow the same guidelines in special cases, as listed in section 4 below, but the corresponding author will need to provide an accompanying letter justifying the special circumstances and listing the specific new, unpublished contributions of the selected "authors".

Here follow the ENMC workshop Reports guidelines:

1. The basic format of the ENMC based workshop reports will be the same as in the past with a TITLE reflecting the number of the ENMC workshop, the number if appropriate of the topic workshop and the location and date

2. A full list of all PARTICIPANTS will be included at the end of the report, with their city and country. This list will also include any ENMC representative [K. Busby or her representative] as appropriate with [ENMC] after their name.

3. Full ACKNOWLEDGEMENT will be given to ENMC and all its sponsoring organisations at the end of the report using the exact wording as requested by ENMC as one of the conditions in their original letter of acceptance of the workshop.

4. In addition to the reporter [s]/ convenor [s] of the workshop, who alone were listed in the past as "AUTHORS" of the report, it has been agreed that any participants of the workshop who have presented new and unpublished scientific data at the workshop can also be included as "authors" of the report. The selection of these additional persons will be entirely at the discretion of the workshop convenors whose decision will be final.

It is anticipated that in general there would probably be no more than 5 or 6 authors in total to these reports, but under special circumstances when there was much new development in relation to a particular disorder, a total of up to a maximum of 10 authors would be accepted by the Journal.

In future the list of authors will be included on the first page of the report, under the title, with a similar format to the original papers in the journal. A full but preferably brief address can be included for each author, and the corresponding author for proofs and reprints should also be indicated.

5. As in the past, these reports will not be subjected to any peer review and it will be assumed that the content has the approval of all participants of the workshop. Once received the report will be given priority publication in the next available issue of the journal.

6. Keywords can be provided for reference

English language help service: Upon request, Elsevier will direct authors to an agent who can check and improve the English of their paper vvv (before submission). Please contact support@elsevier.com for further information.

Page Proofs
One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding Author (if we do not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post). Elsevier now sends PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 available free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs.
If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return to Elsevier in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by fax, or scan the pages and e-mail, or by post. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately.
Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.

E-offprints: Option for PDF or Paper
Offprints. The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail or, alternatively, 50 free paper offprints. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use.

Preparation of Supplementary Material. Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting figures, tables, applications, high-resolution images, background datasets, movies, animation sequences, sound clips, videos and more.
NB Please contact the Editorial Office and discuss before attempting to submit sound or video files.
Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier web products, including ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com).
In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data is provided in one of our recommended file formats. Contact the Editorial Office prior to submission.