Abstract
An abstract is a brief summarization of the main topics and conclusions of the corresponding paper.
The abstract is typically a mandatory item and the most-read part of the paper. The abstract is informative, not descriptive, and should be free of abbreviations, except for units of measure. Many journals will ask you to supply the abstract as text as part of the submission procedure. In this case, the abstract should also be present as part of the manuscript.
Annual Subscription Information
The numbers of volumes and issues, with specific frequency, page count, pricing and currency information that appears in the journal front matter.
Appendix
Supplementary data, generally appearing at the end of an article, that provides resources, reference information or data.
Article
A component which, when combined with issue information and other articles, comprises a single issue of a journal.
Articles in Press
Articles in Press are peer-reviewed papers available online (through Science Direct) that have been accepted for publication but have neither been corrected at proof stage nor published in a printed journal.
Artwork
Text, graphics, illustrations, either hand drawn or computer originated, colour or black and white, supplied individually or combined on art paper, board, C.D. or floppy disk.
Author Agreement
This is a statement to certify that all authors have seen and approved the manuscript being submitted. You warrant that the article is the authors’ original work, that the article has not been previously published and that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. On behalf of all co-authors, the corresponding author shall bear full responsibility for the submission.
Author Corrections
Corrections by the author on proofs that alters the original copy.
Author Feedback Program
The Author Feedback Program is a continuous research program monitoring the performance of Elsevier's primary journals. The program allows us to closely monitor author opinion and thus our own performance, by doing this and setting an appropriate course of actions we can ensure that the quality of the service the journal provides continues to meet the needs of the scientific community.
Author Query Form
Form sent by typesetters with the author proof requesting further information/clarification from the author.
B
Backmatter
Index, advertising, cumulative volume contents, and other journal, society, or editorial office information not considered to be of archival value.
C
Camera Ready Copy (CRC)
Pages supplied in print ready condition (i.e. no typesetting necessary).
Computer-aided production (CAP)
The process of moving, tracking, and databasing items from receipt by production, and in situations from authors, through all production steps to the points of print and electronic publication, including all relevant databasing concerns.
Conflict of Interest
A set of conditions in which professional judgment concerning a primary interest, such as the validity of research, may be influenced by a secondary interest, such as financial gain.
Copyediting
During copyediting, authors correct and prepare their manuscript for typesetting and printing. Copyediting includes correcting both grammatical and factual errors and approving photography or graphs.
Corresponding Author
The contact author responsible for the manuscript as it moves through the submission process. The Corresponding Author is responsible for making any edits or submitting revisions to the manuscript. The corresponding author’s country of origin will be the stated country of origin of the article, even if the co-authors live elsewhere.
Corresponding Author Address
The complete correct postal address of the corresponding author to be used for all production purposes.
Cover Letter
For many journals, manuscripts must be accompanied by a cover letter to the Editor from the Corresponding author. The letter should contain a statement that the manuscript has been seen and approved by all authors, and a statement confirming that the material has not been published previously.
D
DOI
A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a unique and persistent identification code for digital articles. It consists of two parts; a prefix assigned to each publisher by the DOI agency, plus a suffix assigned by the publisher. Each DOI has a corresponding URL, which is registered in a central DOI directory, acting as a routing system. For further information on the DOI, please access the website of the International DOI Foundation at http://www.doi.org
E
Edition
The entire number of copies of a publication issued at one time or from a single set or type. A single copy from this group is also known as an edition.
Editorial Manager
An off-the-shelf peer review/editorial submission tool from which Elsevier has developed its online submission system.
Electronic Warehouse
Receives items and issue files for all CAP-produced journals. The files are quality control checked and loaded into the system for archiving and re-purposing to customers.
Embase.com
The most comprehensive Biomedical and Pharmacological database in the world (www.embase.com)
Endnotes
A note placed at the end of an article, chapter or book that comments on or cites a reference for a designated part of the text.
F
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
Communication protocol dedicated to uploading and downloading files over the Internet.
First Author
The First Author is the author deemed primarily responsible for researching and preparing the manuscript. The First Author can also be the first name that appears in a published work written by several authors.
G
Global Rights Department
Responsible for granting permission to external parties to use Elsevier content. This department also works with Issue Managers, Product Managers, authors, and editors in chief to resolve problems related to copyright and short license transfer agreements.
H
I
Impact Factor
Impact factors are often considered to indicate the quality of articles published in a journal; the higher the impact factor, the higher the average number of citations an article receives, and hence the greater the perceived quality.
In calculating the factor, The Thompson Scientific (TS) records each citation a paper receives during the two calendar years after the year of publication. The latest data available is the 2003 impact factors, which indicate the average number of citations to papers published during 2001 and 2002.
Index
An alphabetized list of names, places, and subjects mentioned in a printed work, giving the page or pages on which each item appears.
Issue
A single copy of a periodical, or a distinct set of copies of an edition of a book distinguished from others of that edition by variations in the printed matter.
ISSN
International Standard Serial Number, a similar system to ISBN, used for magazines, serials and periodicals, including journals. Defined in ISO 3297-1986. The eight-digit number defines the title uniquely (if there is more than one publication with the same title, each will have a different ISSN). The last character is a check digit. The ISSN is shown on all Elsevier journals and in catalogues etc.
J
K
Keywords
Terms supplied by the author(s) that act as descriptive terms for use in a search strategy to retrieve an article.
Keywords are frequently included in the header information of a published journal article. These keywords are contained in the TS record for each article and are searchable. Authors who want to ensure their article is found by the target audiences must be sure to submit numerous, accurate and effective keywords.
L
LaTeX
LaTeX is a document preparation system that offers programmable desktop publishing features and extensive facilities for automating most aspects of typesetting and desktop publishing, including numbering and cross-referencing, tables and figures, page layout, bibliographies, and much more. LaTeX is based on the idea that authors should be able to concentrate on writing within the logical structure of their document, rather than spending their time on the details of formatting.
Letter to the Editor
See Cover Letter.
M
Manuscript
The original text and images of an author’s work before it is typeset or peer reviewed. This can be in hardcopy (printout) or electronic (email or disk).
N
O
Offprints
An offprint is a printed version of an article that is identical to the original version of the article as it appears in published format. An ‘offprint’ is available immediately upon publication, and is an exact copy of an individual article only.
Offprint Order Form
A form containing item information and pricing that is used by corresponding authors to order set quantities of offprints of their items.
Online Publication Date
The date the Article in Press was first made available online. Upon completion of the printed publication, the Online Publication Date will be replaced by the date of the published article.
OPAC
An Online Public Access Catalog, or OPAC, is a computerized online catalog of the materials held in a library. Since the mid-1980s, it has replaced the card catalog in most libraries.
P
Page Charges
Fees assessed and charged to authors for certain journals as a condition of publication. These charges are generally calculated on a printed page basis, but can also be based on the number of manuscript pages.
PdxMD
A new, evidence-based electronic information system providing original information and updated thinking on the latest in evaluation, diagnosis, management, outcomes and prevention. (www.pdxmd.com)
Peer Review
Before a journal article is published, it must undergo scrutiny by peers within an author’s research area, who will check the paper for suitability for the submitted journal (the aims and scope will tell you which topics are accepted by the journal).
The journal editor will make the final decision, based strongly on feedback from the peer reviewers.
Permissions
As an author, you may want to cite references, statistics, graphs or pictures you have found in other publications. Whenever you choose to do so, the original publisher must grant permission. Elsevier provides forms and extensive information on www.elsevier.com about obtaining permissions.
Portable Document Format (PDF)
A file format developed by Adobe Systems for representing documents in a manner that is independent of the original application software, hardware, and operating system used to create those documents. PDF is an open standard, and all platforms may write applications that can read or write PDFs royalty-free.
Plagiarism
A piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being one’s own work.
Post-publication Offprints
Author offprint orders received after an issue has been released for manufacturing.
Preprints
Articles presented, printed and distributed in partial or preliminary form in advance of official publication.
Production Time
Average time it takes for an article to go through the process of copy-editing, typesetting, proof review and correction, as well as printing and distribution of the issue.
Proof
Once a manuscript has been typeset, the author will often receive a ‘proof’, which should be an exact copy of the manuscript in the format and layout of the proposed final publication. A proof also allows authors to check for any possible errors made when typesetting (always check formulae); and these proof corrections will be incorporated into the article before publication.
Publication Item Identifier
A unique identifier used by the electronic warehouse as the primary reference identifier for an item. The PII contains the journal ISSN, year of receipt of the item in production, the sequence order of when the item is received by production, and an algorithmically generated check digit.
Publication Item Type
A designation assigned to categorize the kind of article for databasing requirements and data re-purposing.
Publication Time
Time it takes, in practice, for an article to go through the refereeing and production processes.
Publisher
Responsible for the overall financial and editorial concerns for a large group of journals and publications, usually in a specific subject field.
Q
R
References
In journal publication, a reference takes many forms. It can be a note in a publication referring the reader to another passage or source, and is also the name for the passage or source so referred to.
A work frequently used as a source can become know as a reference on the topic. In addition, a mark or footnote used to direct a reader elsewhere for additional information is also called a reference.
Reprints
A ‘reprint’, in publishing terms, would refer to a second- or third-run printing (or a special edition) of the entire journal.
Review Article
An article written by an author who has been specially invited to provide a summary of a specific field, time period or subject matter.
Revision Notes
When an author re-submits a paper that has been revised, he must include a document that provides a detailed account of how he has responded to editorial and peer review comments and other guidance he may have received. Where suggestions have not been followed, an author must explain and justify his decision. This should include specific reference by section / page / paragraph number to alterations in the text.
S
Science Direct
Elsevier's leading full-text platform, ScienceDirect, now offers over a quarter of the world’s STM (Science, Technical and Medical) articles integrated with a growing range of authoritative books, including reference works, handbooks and book series. (www.sciencedirect.com)
Scirus
The most comprehensive science-specific search engine on the Internet. (www.scirus.com )
Scopus
The world’s biggest bibliographic database, which offers powerful and innovative search and browse facilities. (www.scopus.com)
Special Issue
Journal issue containing papers relating all to a specific event or subject, e.g. congress proceedings, celebratory Festschrifts or topical issues.
T
Title Page
This should carry the complete title of the manuscript, initial(s) and surname(s) of all authors. The affiliation and address of each author should be cross-referenced to the appropriate name.
Turnaround Time
The period of time agreed with typesetters, printers and Elsevier in which a specified task should be completed.
U
Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
A website address.
V
Volume
A series of issues of a periodical, usually covering one calendar year.
W
Word Count
Word Count is the statistics of your manuscript regarding the number of pages, words, characters, paragraphs and lines.
X
XML
System of rules for identifying the individual parts of a document and then applying specific definitions and instructions to each of these parts.
Y
Z
Misc.
Status terms
When tracking your submitted manuscript through the publication process, you will note different status terms at each phase:
Status Terms - Submitted to Journal
Submission successfully completed but has not yet been assigned to an Editor
Status Terms - With Editor
Editor is processing the submission
Status Terms - Under Review
Reviewers have been invited, but all reviews are not yet completed
Status Terms - Required Reviews Complete
Sufficient reviews have been received to enable the Editor to make a decision
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