The American Journal of the Medical Sciences

Introduction

The American Journal of the Medical Sciences (AJMS) considers manuscripts reporting original clinical or translational investigations, reviews and special feature topics, as described below. Papers on all internal medicine subspecialties are invited. Please note, submissions considered outside of the scope of the AJMS, for example articles focused on a pediatric cohorts, basic science studies that are descriptive in nature and/or use a single cell line for study without significant translational application, or articles describing radiographic or other specialized procedures/techniques that are not expansive to a wider general medicine audience will not be considered for publication. Clinical studies that include a very small cohort of patients or that address a very regional problem not relevant to our wider audience will not be given high priority. Case reports will not be considered.

Before you begin

Ethics in publishing

Please see our information on Ethics in publishing.

Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects

If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript.

If the work involves the use of animal or human subjects, the author should ensure, with a statement in the beginning of the "Methods" section, that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) have approved them. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

For human subjects, the author should ensure, with a statement in the beginning of the Methods section, that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving human subjects. (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/)

Appropriate consents, permissions and releases must be obtained where an author wishes to include case details or other personal information or images of patients and any other individuals in an Elsevier publication. Authors should ensure, with a statement in the Disclosures section of the manuscript, that written and fully informed consent for publication was obtained. Written consents must be retained by the author and copies of the consents or evidence that such consents have been obtained must be provided to on request (https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/patient-consent).

All animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines (https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/arrive-guidelines). and should be carried out in accordance with the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and associated guidelines (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/619140/ConsolidatedASPA1Jan2013.pdf), or ?EU Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes (https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/chemicals/animals-science_en), or the U.S. Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and, as applicable, the Animal Welfare Act (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/references/phspolicylabanimals.pdf).

Conflict of interests

All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work. A conflict of Interest statement is to be added to the Title Page. See also https://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest. Further information and an example of a Conflict of Interest form can be found at: https://service.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/286/supporthub/publishing.

Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing

The below guidance only refers to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyse and draw insights from data as part of the research process.

Where authors use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, authors should only use these technologies to improve readability and language. Applying the technology should be done with human oversight and control, and authors should carefully review and edit the result, as AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete or biased. AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author, or be cited as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans, as outlined in Elsevier’s AI policy for authors.

Authors should disclose in their manuscript the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by following the instructions below. A statement will appear in the published work. Please note that authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work.

Disclosure instructions
Authors must disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by adding a statement at the end of their manuscript in the core manuscript file, before the References list. The statement should be placed in a new section entitled ‘Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process’.

Statement: During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication.

This declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc. If there is nothing to disclose, there is no need to add a statement.

Submission Declaration

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint, see https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/sharing, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere including electronically in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright-holder. This statement should appear in the Cover Letter.

Use of inclusive language

Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Content should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader; contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition; and use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, stereotypes, slang, reference to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions. We advise to seek gender neutrality by using plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default/wherever possible to avoid using "he, she," or "he/she." We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition unless they are relevant and valid. When coding terminology is used, we recommend to avoid offensive or exclusionary terms such as "master", "slave", "blacklist" and "whitelist". We suggest using alternatives that are more appropriate and (self-) explanatory such as "primary", "secondary", "blocklist" and "allowlist". These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help identify appropriate language but are by no means exhaustive or definitive.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see more information on this). An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.

Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases.

For gold open access articles: Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'License Agreement' (more information). Permitted third party reuse of gold open access articles is determined by the author's choice of user license.

Author rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work. More information.

Page Charges

Members of the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation will not be charged a publication fee (must be either listed as first or corresponding author). Non-members will be billed a publication page charge of $40 per printed page, regardless of article type. This is not a submission fee; rather it is a page charge that is required only if your manuscript is accepted for publication.

Abbreviations and Nomenclature

Should conform to the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 10th ed. Abbreviations should be kept to a minimum in the text and should be defined at first usage. If a term is used fewer than 3 times in an article, do not abbreviate it. Periods are not used after abbreviations (e.g., mm, mL). Generic names are preferred for drugs. Use of SI (Système International) units is preferred but not required.

Elsevier supports responsible sharing
Find out how you can share your research published in Elsevier journals.

Publishing options

The AJMS offers authors a choice in publishing their work. Your publication choice will have no effect on the peer review process or acceptance of submitted articles.

Articles Available Through Open Access

• Articles are freely available to both subscribers and the wider public with permitted reuse.
• An Open Access publication fee is payable by authors or their research funder. (https://www.elsevier.com/about/open-science/open-access)

Articles Available Through Subscription

• Articles are made available to subscribers to the journal through Elsevier, as well as developing countries and patient groups through our access programs
• No Open Access publication fee payable by authors

All articles published Open Access will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download. Please visit our Open Access page for more information.

General Guidelines

1. Please refer to Article Type descriptions for the proper set-up of the article type being submitted.
2. Manuscripts should be formatted U.S. letter (8 1/2 inch x 11 inch size paper) with 1-inch margins - left, right, top and bottom).
3. Manuscript text should be Calibri, font size 12 point.
4. Manuscript pages should be numbered (bottom right corner).
5. Each new section of the manuscript should start on a new page.
6. The entire manuscript should be double-spaced. There should be 2 spaces between every new paragraph.
7. The manuscript should contain a Title Page. The title page should include the title; the authors full names and highest degrees; the authors' affiliations, listed as Division, Department Institution, City, State, Country (as applicable) and should represent where the actual work described was done (a 'Present address' may be indicated as a footnote to the author's name); and the full contact information of the corresponding author.
8. References should be formatted in AMA style. The first three authors of each reference, followed by "et al" if there are more than three authors. Author names should be in bold font, and Journal abbreviations should be in italic font.
9. In-text reference citations should be superscript font and placed after punctuation, without brackets or parenthesis.
10. Tables and/or figures should not be included within the text document; instead, they should be uploaded as separate files. Figure legends, however, should be included within the manuscript file, on its own page following the References. When uploading figures online, in the Description area, please number each.
11. Authors are asked to provide the names, contact information, and expertise for potential qualified reviewers. Suggestions must be senior Associate Professors or above. Reviewers in training will not be considered. Inappropriate reviewers will invariably delay the review process and may result in the return of the manuscript to the authors pending such information. Reviewers should not be from the same institution as any of the authors, nor should they be affiliated with the authors in their research or professional efforts. U.S. reviewer names are preferred. Institutional email addresses should also be provided for reviewers.

Article types

The journal publishes the following types of articles:

Clinical/Translational Investigation
Investigation articles are reports of quality original clinical or translational science research. A structured abstract of less than 250 words is required, and the text that follows should be divided into headed subsections that include an introduction; methods with statistical considerations; results; discussion; and conclusions. Word count (excluding title page, abstract, references, and tables/figures) should not exceed 5,000 words. Note that basic science articles without significant translational impact will be given low priority. Priority will not be given to manuscripts that focus on database analysis and/or bioinformatics without the evaluation of one or more targets in a relevant model or studies using cell lines without corroborating results in human primary cells and, preferably, in relevant animal models.

Review Article
Review articles are reviews of diseases or related topics of interest to a general medical readership, but focused on medical conditions in adults related to internal medicine and its subspecialties. An unstructured abstract of less than 150 words is required, and the text that follows should be divided into headed subsections that should include an introduction (noting the clinical importance of the topic); material content; summary; and conclusions. Word count (excluding title page, abstract, references, and tables/figures) should be between 5,000 and 10,000 words. References should be limited to 100 or less.

Short Review
Short Review articles are similar to the 'Review Article', but shorter. Occasionally, a clinical case may be used to introduce the subject but should not represent more than 20% of the review, which should be comprehensive and stand on its own independent of the case. In general, these papers present a more detailed review of a clinically-relevant topic with detailed explanation of recent discoveries, for example, and their implications for clinical application. Word count (excluding title page, abstract, references, and tables/figures) should be 2,500-5,000 words, with appropriate support of figures and/or tables. An unstructured abstract of less than 150 words is required, and the text that should include a discussion based upon literature review, and a brief conclusion emphasizing key aspect(s) of the presentation.

The Science of Medical Education
The Science of Medical Education articles are short, structured reports designed to disseminate descriptions of exciting new ideas and innovations relating to medical education, while strongly supported by appropriate investigation. Such reports might include, but not be limited to, novel methods for teaching and evaluation, innovative curricular design, and investigations of learner/teacher characteristics and abilities impacting education. However, it is important that these reports include a careful study of the impact of these interventions. Educators are encouraged to include reflective discussion of their work and to interpret results based on the available literature. The report should be organized into 4 sections without an abstract: 1) background/setting; 2) reason the project was performed; 3) description of the project including results; 4) what was learned from the undertaking. Word count (excluding title page, references, and tables/figures) should be limited to 1,000 words, authors to 5, and references to 10. A limited number of tables or figures may be included.

Letter to the Editor
There are two types of Letters to the Editor. Research Letters represent submissions that discuss clinical or basic investigations generated to address a clear hypothesis that is tested using traditional scientific methods. Because of the nature of this section, presentations are expected to be succinct while containing sufficient information to evaluate the appropriateness of the methodology/analysis and results. Submissions should be limited to 1,000 words or less, 5-10 references, and only 1 or 2 figures or tables. No abstract is required. The second type of letters, Letters to the Editor, represent concise communications that are appropriate for the Journal's scope, that address a topic of interest to its readers, or that re-analyze an article previously published in the AJMS. Like Research Letters to the Editor, submissions should be limited to 1,000 words or less, 5-10 references, and only 1 or 2 figures or tables. No abstract is required.

Online Images in the Medical Sciences
Submissions for this section are for online publication and will contain 1 or more images (no more than 3) with a short case presentation containing a description of the image (without separate figure legend) and a discussion of the relationship of the image(s) to the clinical case. The goal of this series is to display an important or unique pictorial representation of a disease, e.g.: imaging study, tissue histology, or procedure. Note that this section is limited to clearly focused and impressive images that, if not novel, clearly improve understanding of a given condition. When relevant (e.g., cancer diagnosis), images depicting tissue histology should be included. Note that on occasion, the editor may select submissions for publication in print. Word count (excluding title page and references) should be limited to 500 words, and the number of references and authors are limited to 3. No abstract is required.

Submitting your article

Submissions are made online only. Authors will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various file types (text, tables, figures). The system automatically converts source files to a single PDF file of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Even though manuscript source files are converted to PDF files at submission for the review process, these source files are needed for further processing after acceptance. All correspondences, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, take place by e-mail removing the need for a paper trail. Please submit all articles via www.editorialmanager.com/maj. Manuscript document should include the following (and in this order): 1) Cover Letter, 2) Title Page, 3) Abstract (if applicable, see article types as some do not require Abstracts), 4) Manuscript Text, 5) References, 6) Figure Legends (if applicable).

Page formatting

The page size configuration should be U.S. letter: 8.5 x 11 inches with 1-inch margins. The text of the manuscript should be typed using Calibri, 12-point font. All text should be double-spaced. There should be 2 spaces between every new paragraph. All pages should be numbered (bottom right corner), including the title page. Each section should begin on a new page.

1. Cover Letter. The cover letter is to be uploaded separately from the manuscript document. Cover letter should include: (1) full title of the paper; (2) clear statement that the paper has not been submitted elsewhere and is not under review by another journal, has not been published previously, ex-cept in abstract form; (3) any possible conflicts of interest; and (4) a statement to the effect of "all the authors are aware of and approve the manuscript as submitted to this journal".
2. Title page. The title should be concise and informative, limited to 15 words. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems, so avoid abbreviations and formulas. The title should then be followed by a list of author names (first, last), highest level of degrees. Below the author names should be the authors' affiliations and addresses (where the actual work was done). Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name, along with the e-mail address of each author. Below this information should be the Corresponding Author name and complete contact information (to include institution, mailing address, telephone number and email address). If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. The Title Page should also include a Short Title (7 words or less), Conflict of Interest Statement, a Source of Funding Statement and 3-5 key terms useful in information retrieval [terms from common directories (e.g., MeSH) should be used when possible].
3. Abstract. The abstract should start on a new page. Abstract may be unstructured (less than 150 words) or structured (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions (less than 250 words); see Article Types above for requirements. The abstract should provide the context or background for the research and should state its purpose, basic procedures (selection of study subjects or laboratory animals, observational and analytical methods), main findings (giving specific effect sizes and their statistical significance, if possible), and principal conclusions. It should emphasize new and important aspects of the study or observations. Abbreviations should be used sparingly. Only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be used, and should be defined upon first usage in the abstract. If the same abbreviation is used again in the main text, it should be re-defined there.

References

References should start on a new page and should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Identify references in text, tables, and legends by superscript Arabic numerals. Avoid using abstracts as references.

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication and a copy of the title page of the relevant article must be submitted.

Authors should obtain written permission and confirmation of accuracy from the source for references that are unpublished observations, articles in press, and personal communications. The permission document should be submitted with the manuscript.

Reference Style
Text: Indicate references by number(s) superscripted in text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.

Example: '..... as demonstrated.^3,6 Barnaby and Jones⁸ obtained a different result ....'

List: Number the references in the list in the order in which they appear in the text, then additional references for Tables, and then for Figures, consecutively.

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication:
1. Paivio A, Jansen B, Becker LJ. Comparisons through the mind's eye. Cognition 1975;37:635-47.

Reference to a book:
2. Strunk Jr W, White EB. The elements of style. 3rd ed. New York: MacMillan; 1979 [chapter 4].

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
3. Adams MJ, Briscoe BE, Sinha SK. Interface friction and energy dissipation in soft solid pro-cessing applications. In: Dowson D, Taylor CM, Childs THC, Godet M, Dalmas G, editors. Dissi-pative processes in tribology. Dowson D, editor. Tirbology series, vol. 27. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 1994. p. 223-34.

Reference to a URL:
4. Health Care Financing Administration. 1996 statistics at a glance, http://www.hcfa.gov/stats/stathili.htm; 1996 [accessed 13.03.12].

Reference to a dataset:
5. Oguro M, Imahiro S, Saito S, et al. Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions, Mendeley Data, v1; 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/xwj98nb39r.1.

Artwork

Electronic Artwork
Sharp photographic images, no larger than 8 x 10 inches, are preferred, color is encouraged. Photo-micrographs should have internal scale markers; symbols, arrows or letters used should contrast with the background. If photographs of people are used, the subjects must be unidentifiable or the sub-jects must have provided written permission to use the photograph. This permission document should also be submitted with the manuscript. If a figure has been previously published, acknowledge the original source and upload the written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. Permission is required irrespective of authorship or publisher, except for documents in the public domain.

General Points

• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.
• Aim to use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or use fonts that look similar.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the printed version.
• Submit each illustration as a separate file; in the description area, please number each illustration.
• A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.

Formats

If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is' in the native document format. Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'Save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):

• EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts.
• TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.
• TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black and white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi.
• TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.

Please do NOT:

• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colors;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Color Artwork
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF) or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) in addition to color reproduction in print. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Figures
Submit each figure, as a separate document, not part of the manuscript. Number figures consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Ensure that each figure has a legend. Figure legends should be submitted on a separate page and included in the manuscript document (following the References), not attached to the figure. The caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. When uploading figures, in the description area, each should be numbered.

Tables
Submit each table, double-spaced, as a separate document, not part of the manuscript. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and supply a title for each. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Avoid horizontal and vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. When uploading tables, in the de-scription area, each should be numbered.

Supplementary Data
Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: https://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is di-rectly usable, please provide the data in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Revision Process

For manuscripts requiring revision for continued consideration, the corresponding author will receive an email with comments/suggestions from the reviewers/editors. The author should address each suggestion in sequence and comment in this sequence in a "Response to Reviewers" letter. For example,

"Reviewer 1, Comment 1: Clarification of recruitment process". We have added text on how patients were recruited into the study. Page 3, Para 2.

Or

"Reviewer 2, Comment 3: Additional data needed on subjects' concurrent diseases." Since this study was retrospective with study data collected from existing databases, we are unable to add information on concurrent diseases. We have added a statement in our Discussion (Page 15, Para 1) noting this limitation of our work and how differences among patients could have affected our results."

The revised manuscript, along with the "Response to Reviewers" letter, should then be uploaded as directed.

Authors should include both a plain and highlighted version of the revised manuscript. All highlighted text changes should be made in red. If responding to more than 1 set of reviewer comments, author should choose a 2nd color which to highlight changes made based on the 2nd reviewer's comments.

Data references
This journal encourages you to cite underlying or relevant datasets in your manuscript by citing them in your text and including a data reference in your Reference List. Data references should include the following elements: author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier. Add [dataset] immediately before the reference so we can properly identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article.

Preprint references
Where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, the formal publication should be used as the reference. If there are preprints that are central to your work or that cover crucial developments in the topic, but are not yet formally published, these may be referenced. Preprints should be clearly marked as such, for example by including the word preprint, or the name of the preprint server, as part of the reference. The preprint DOI should also be provided.

After acceptance

Use of the Digital Object Identifier

The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisher upon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly 'Articles in press' because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information. Example of a correctly given DOI (in URL format; here an article in the journal Physics Letters B: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2010.09.059. When using a DOI to create links to documents on the web, the DOIs are guaranteed never to change.

Online Proof Correction

Once accepted, corresponding authors will receive an e-mail with a link to the online proofing system, allowing annotation and correction of proofs online. The environment is similar to MS Word: in addition to editing text, authors can also comment on figures/tables and answer questions from the Copy Editor. Web-based proofing provides a faster and less error-prone process by allowing authors to directly type corrections, eliminating the potential introduction of errors.

If preferred, authors can still choose to annotate and upload edits on the PDF version. All instructions for proofing will be given in the e-mail Elsevier send to authors, including alternative methods to the online version and PDF.

Elsevier will do everything possible to get the article published quickly and accurately. 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. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to them in one communication. Please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is the responsibility of the author.

Offprints

The corresponding author will, at no cost, receive a customized Share Link providing 50 days free access to the final published version of the article on ScienceDirect. The Share Link can be used for sharing the article via any communication channel, including email and social media. For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication. Corresponding authors who have published their article gold open access do not receive a Share Link as their final published version of the article is available open access on ScienceDirect and can be shared through the article DOI link.

Author Inquiries

For inquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission) please visit this journal's homepage. For detailed instructions on the preparation of electronic artwork, please visit https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, will be provided by the publisher. Authors can track accepted articles at https://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle. Authors can also check Author FAQs at https://www.elsevier.com/authorFAQ and/or contact Customer Support via https://service.elsevier.com.