The Tetrahedron Journal for Research at the Interface of Chemistry and Biology

Summary of Instructions to Authors

Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry seeks to publish research results of outstanding significance and timeliness and review articles in the fields of medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, bioorganic chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, and related disciplines.

Articles should describe original research of high quality and timeliness.

Reviews of topical importance and current relevance are specially commissioned in appropriate fields. Authors wishing to submit a non-solicited review article are requested to first contact the Editor-in-Chief, Professor C.-H. Wong.

Perspectives briefly review (in 1-4 printed pages) specific subjects that already have or are likely to have major impact in areas related to chemical biology and drug discovery. Authors of perspectives are those who have made the original contribution or have extended the original research to new breakthroughs. Perspectives are generally specially commissioned by the editors; however, suggestions for topics and authors are welcomed. Individuals interested in contributing should contact the Editor-in-Chief, Professor C.-H. Wong.

Symposia-in-Print comprise collections of original research papers (including experimental sections) covering specific topics. Topics for forthcoming symposia are announced in the journal from time to time. A guest editor will invite authors active in the field to submit papers, which are then reviewed and processed for publication by the guest editor under the usual refereeing system. Opportunity is also provided for other active investigators to submit contributions.

Manuscript submission

Online submission: Authors should submit their manuscripts to the appropriate regional editor (see below) via the online submission page of this journal at http://ees.elsevier.com/bmc. Authors will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. The system automatically converts source files to a single Adobe Acrobat PDF version of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Please note that even though manuscript source files are converted to PDF at submission for the review process, these source files are needed for further processing after acceptance. All correspondence, including notification of the editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail and via the author's home page. A printed copy of the manuscript is not required at any stage of the process.

The following items should be supplied at first submission:

• Manuscript. It is not necessary to embed graphics in the text, but if you do so please note that separate graphic files will always be required for proof production when a manuscript is accepted for publication. Graphics should be submitted as separate, high-resolution artwork files. These will be automatically incorporated into the single PDF that the system creates for review.
• Graphical abstract for the contents list (submitted as a separate document).
• Cover letter: (i) highlighting the novelty, significance, and urgency of the submitted work, which merits rapid publication; (ii) providing details of other relevant information, e.g., submitted or in press manuscripts.
• Names of potential referees.• Compound Characterization Checklist.

Manuscripts should be addressed to the appropriate regional editor:

Submissions from Japan and other Asian countries:
Professor Yuichi Hashimoto, Institute of Molecular & Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Submissions from Europe:
Professor H. Waldmann, Department of Chemical Biology, Max-Planck-Institut fur Molekulare Physiologie, Dortmund, Germany

Submissions from USA, Canada, and all others:
Professor K. Janda, Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, Maildrop: BCC 582, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA

All manuscripts will be centrally handled by the journal editorial office, which will forward manuscripts to the regional editors:

Editorial Office
Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry
525 B Street, Suite 1900
San Diego, CA 92101-4495, USA
Fax: (1) 619-699-6801
E-mail: bmc-eo@elsevier.com

Authors who are unable to submit their paper online should contact the editorial office prior to submission at the above address.

Language: Articles must be written in clear, concise, grammatical English. Any author who is not fluent in idiomatic English is urged to gain assistance with manuscript preparation. Reviewers are not expected to correct grammatical errors and any deficiency in this area may detract from the scientific content of the paper.

Language editing: International Science Editing and Asia Science Editing can provide English language and copyediting services to authors who want to publish in scientific, technical, and medical journals and need assistance before they submit their article or before it is accepted for publication. Authors can contact these services directly: International Science Editing (http://www.internationalscienceediting.com) and Asia Science Editing (http://www.asiascienceediting.com) or, for more information about language editing services, authors may contact authorsupport@elsevier.com who will be happy to deal with any questions. Please note Elsevier neither endorses nor takes responsibility for any products, goods, or services offered by outside vendors through our services or in any advertising. For more information please refer to our terms and conditions ( http://www.elsevier.com/termsandconditions).

Journal policy: 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), 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 in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the publisher. Authors accept full responsibility for the factual accuracy of the data presented and should obtain any authorization necessary for publication. As such the contents of the papers are the sole responsibility of the authors and publication shall not imply the concurrence of the editors or publisher.

All papers are submitted to referees who advise the editor on the matter of acceptance in accordance with the high standards required, on the understanding that the subject matter has not been previously published and is not under consideration elsewhere. Referees will be asked to distinguish contributions meeting the above requirements and having an element of novelty, timeliness, and urgency that merits publication in the journal. We ask referees to help in the selection of articles that have this breadth and suggest that papers covering narrower aspects of the field be sent to journals specializing in those areas. Referee names are not disclosed, but their views are forwarded by the editor to the authors for consideration. Authors are encouraged to suggest names of several experts in the field when papers are first submitted or at any time in the evaluation process.

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/locate/authorsrights). This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. A letter will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript. A form facilitating transfer of copyright will be provided. If material from other copyrighted works is 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, which can be obtained at http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights; see under "Copyright information".

Manuscript preparation

General requirements: The corresponding author's full mailing address, including mail codes, phone number, fax number, and e-mail address should be included. Authors are asked to provide four keywords, which will be used for indexing purposes. The manuscript should be compiled in the following order: Graphical Abstract, Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Experimental, References and Notes, Tables, Legends, Figures, and Schemes.

Graphical abstracts: Authors must supply a graphical abstract at the time the paper is first submitted. The abstract should summarise the contents of the paper in a concise, pictorial form designed to capture the attention of a wide readership and for compilation of databases. Carefully drawn chemical structures that serve to illustrate the theme of the paper are desired. Authors may also provide appropriate text, not exceeding 30 words. The content of the graphical abstract will be typeset and should be kept within an area of 5 cm by 17 cm. Authors must supply the graphic separately as an electronic file. For examples of graphical abstracts, please consult a recent issue of the journal or visit the journal home page on ScienceDirect at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09680896 and click 'Sample Issue Online'.

Title: The title should be brief, specific, and rich in informative words; it should not contain any literature references or compound numbers.

Authors and affiliations: Where possible, supply given names, middle Initials, and family names for complete identification. Use superscript lowercase letters to indicate different addresses, which should be as detailed as possible and must include the country name. The corresponding author should be indicated with an asterisk, and contact details (fax, e-mail) should be placed in a footnote. Information relating to other authors (e.g., present addresses) should be placed in footnotes indicated by the appropriate symbols (see below).

Abstracts: Authors must include a short abstract of approximately four to six lines that states briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results, and major conclusion(s). References and compound numbers should not be mentioned in the abstract unless full details are given.

Text should be subdivided in the simplest possible way consistent with clarity. Headings and subheadings should reflect the relative importance of the sections, and all headings should be numbered. In the introductory section of the manuscript, the author should strive to define the significance of the work and the justification for its publication. Any background discussion should be brief and restricted to pertinent material. Ensure that all tables, figures, and schemes are cited in the text in numerical order. The preferred position for chemical structures should be indicated. Trade names should have an initial capital letter. All measurements and data should be given in SI units where possible, or in other internationally accepted units. Abbreviations should be used consistently throughout the text, and all nonstandard abbreviations should be defined on first usage. Authors are requested to draw attention to hazardous materials or procedures by adding the word CAUTION followed by a brief descriptive phrase and literature references if appropriate.

Reviews: When submitting a review article, authors should include biographical information for each author as well as a black-and-white photograph. Each biography should be one paragraph (approximately 150-200 words) and should include date and place of birth, universities attended, degrees obtained, principal professional posts held, present title, a line or two about the major research interests, and anything else professionally relevant that is of special interest.

Experimental section: Authors should be as concise as possible in experimental descriptions. The Experimental section must contain all the information necessary to guarantee reproducibility. An introductory paragraph containing information concerning solvents, sources of less common starting materials, special equipment, etc., should be provided. The procedures should be written in the past tense and include the weight, mmol, volume, etc., in parentheses after the names of the substances or solvents. General reaction conditions should be given only once. The title of an experiment should include the chemical name and compound number of the product prepared; subsequently, this compound should be identified by its number. Details of the workup procedure must be included. Physical and spectroscopic data, including NMR, high-resolution mass analysis, and elemental analysis, can be included in the experimental section or presented in tables.

Acknowledgments: An acknowledgment section may be included. It should be placed after the manuscript text and before the references.

Abbreviations: Standard ACS abbreviations should be used throughout the manuscript and are employed without periods. The preferred forms for some of the more commonly used abbreviations are mp, bp, °C, K, min, h, mL, μL, g, mg, μg, cm, mm, nm, mol, mmol, μmol, M, mM, μM, ppm, HPLC, TLC, GC, ¹H NMR, GC-MS, HRMS, FABHRMS, UV, IR, EPR, ESR, DNase, ED₅₀, ID₅₀, IC₅₀, LD₅₀, im, ip, iv, mRNA, RNase, rRNA, tRNA, cpm, Ci, dpm, V _max, K _m, k, t _1/2. All non-standard abbreviations should be defined following the first use of the abbreviation. For a detailed listing of standard abbreviations, see The ACS Style Guide; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1997.

References and notes: In the text, references should be indicated by superscript Arabic numerals which run consecutively through the paper and appear after any punctuation. Please ensure that all references are cited in the text and vice versa. The reference list should preferably contain only literature references, although other information (e.g., experimental details) can be placed in this section. Preferably, each reference should contain only one literature citation. Authors are expected to check the original source reference for accuracy. Journal titles should be abbreviated according to American Chemical Society guidelines (The ACS Style Guide; Dodd, J. S., Ed.: American Chemical Society: Washington DC, 1997) A list of currently accepted journal abbreviations may be found the journal home page at www.elsevier.com/locate/bmc. Formatting for common references are shown below.

Scientific articles:
1. Barton, D. H. R.; Yadav-Bhatnagar, N.; Finet, J.-P.; Khamsi, J. Tetrahedron Lett. 1987, 28, 3111.

Books:
2. Doe, J. S.; Smith, J. In Medicinal Chemistry; Roe, P., Ed.; Pergamon Press: Oxford, 1990; Vol. 1, pp 301-383.

Patent/Chem. abstract:
3. Lyle, F. R. U.S. Patent 6,973,257, 1995; Chem. Abstr. 1995, 123, 2870.

Meeting abstract:
4. Prasad, A.; Jackson, P. Abstracts of Papers, Part 2, 212th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Orlando, FL, Aug 25-29, 1996; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1996; PMSE 189.

Footnotes: Footnotes should appear at the bottom of the appropriate page and be indicated by the following symbols: asterisk, dagger, double dagger, section sign, paragraph, parallels.

Tables: All tables should be cited in the text, and numbered in order of appearance with Arabic numerals. All table columns should have a brief explanatory heading and, where appropriate, units of measurement. Vertical lines should not be used. Footnotes to tables should be typed below the table and should be referred to by superscript letters. Each table should have a descriptive heading, which, together with the individual column headings, should make the table, as nearly as possible, self-explanatory. In setting up tabulations, authors are requested to keep in mind the column widths (8.4 cm and 17.7 cm), and to make the table conform to the limitations of these dimensions.

Legends: Legends for figures and schemes should be grouped together separately.

Artwork: Figures, schemes, and equations must be cited in the text and numbered in order of appearance with Arabic numerals. Other graphics, such as structures, do not need to be numbered, but please indicate in the text where these are to appear. All graphics (including chemical structures) must be provided at the actual size that they are to appear (single-column width is 8.4 cm, double-column width is 17.7 cm). Please arrange schematics so that they fill the column space (either single or double), so as not to leave a lot of unused white space. Please ensure that all illustrations within a paper are consistent in type, quality, and size. Legends should not be included as part of the graphic; instead all legends should be supplied at the end of the text.

To help authors provide actual size graphics, it is suggested that the following settings be used with CSC ChemDraw and ISIS Draw: font 10 pt Helvetica, chain angle 120°, bond spacing 18% of length, fixed length 10.08 pt (0.354 cm), bold width 1.4 pt (0.049 cm), line width 0.42 pt (0.015 cm), margin width 1.12 pt (0.040 cm), and hash spacing 1.75 pt (0.062 cm). Compound numbers should be in boldface. In order to accurately design schematics to print out at the proper width, the original drawing cannot exceed a column width of 8.4 cm (for single column) and 17.7 cm (for double column). Layout design is facilitated if authors submit their original artwork in the actual size to be published. Please save graphics as an Encapsulated PostScript file (EPS) or a Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), as well as the program the graphic was originally drawn in. For more details on the preparation and submission of artwork, please visit http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Color: Color figures should be supplied in electronic format as JPEG files (minimum 300 dots per inch).

- In print: Color figures may be printed in the journal at no charge to the author, provided that the editor considers the colour necessary to convey scientific information.
- On the Web: Any figure can appear free of charge in color in the Web version of your article (e.g., on ScienceDirect), regardless of whether or not this is reproduced in color in the printed version. Please note that if you do not opt for color in print, you should submit relevant figures in both color (for the Web) and black and white (for print).

Journal conventions

Nomenclature: It is the responsibility of the authors to provide correct nomenclature. Chemical names for drugs are preferred. If these are not practical, generic names, names approved by the U.S. Adopted Names Council, or those approved by the World Health Organization may be used. If a generic name is used, its chemical name or structure should be provided at the point of first citation. Authors will find the following as useful reference books for recommended nomenclature.

IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry; Rigaudy, J.; Klesney, S. P., Eds; Pergamon: Oxford, 1979.
Enzyme Nomenclature; Webb, E. C., Ed.; Academic Press; Orlando, 1992.
Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents; The Biochemistry Society; London, 1978.
The ACS Style Guide; Dodd, J. S., Ed.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1997.

X-ray crystallographic data: Prior to submission of the manuscript, the author should deposit crystallographic data for organic and metalorganic structures with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre. The data, without structure factors, should be sent by e-mail to deposit@ccdc.cam.ac.uk, as an ASCII file, preferably in CIF format. Hard copy data should be sent to CCDC, 12 Union Road, Cambridge CB2 1EZ. A checklist of data items for deposition can be obtained from the CCDC Home Page on the World Wide Web (http://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk) or by e-mail to: fileserv@ccdc.cam.ac.uk, with the one-line message, send me checklist. The data will be acknowledged, within three working days, with one CCDC deposition number per structure deposited. These numbers should be included with the following standard text in the manuscript: Crystallographic data (excluding structure factors) for the structures in this paper have been deposited with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre as supplementary publication nos. CCDC........Copies of the data can be obtained, free of charge, on application to CCDC, 12 Union Road, Cambridge CB2 1EZ, UK, (fax: +44-(0)1223-336033 or e-mail: deposit@ccdc.cam.ac.uk). Deposited data may be accessed by the journal and checked as part of the refereeing process. If data are revised prior to publication, a replacement file should be sent to CCDC.

Characterization of new compounds: All new compounds should be fully characterized with relevant spectroscopic data. Microanalyses should be included whenever possible. Under appropriate circumstances, high-resolution mass spectra may serve in lieu of microanalysis, if accompanied by suitable NMR criteria for sample homogeneity.
CHARACTERIZATION OF ALL NEW COMPOUNDS HAS TO BE SPECIFIED (GIVEN) IN A COMPOUND CHARACTERIZATION CHECKLIST.

Characterization of new compounds: All new compounds should be fully characterized with relevant spectroscopic data. Microanalyses should be included whenever possible. Under appropriate circumstances, high-resolution mass spectra may serve in lieu of microanalysis, if accompanied by suitable NMR criteria for sample homogeneity.

Biological data: Biological test methods must be referenced or described in sufficient detail to permit the experiments to be repeated by others. Standard compounds and established drugs/agents should be tested in the same system for comparison. Statistical limits (statistical significance) for the biological data are usually required. If statistical limits cannot be provided, the number of determinations and an indication of the variability and reliability of the results should be given. References to statistical methods of calculation should be included. Doses and concentrations should be expressed in molar quantities when comparisons of potencies are made with compounds having substantial differences in molecular weights. For inactive agents, the highest concentration or dose level tested should be indicated. Detailed descriptions of biological methods should be placed in the Experimental section.

Structural data: Atomic coordinates for structures of biological macromolecules determined by X-ray, NMR, or other methods should be deposited with the RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB). It is the responsibility of the author to obtain a file name for the macromolecule; the file name must be referenced in the manuscript. Deposition (deposit.pdb.org) and release information are available at http://deposit.pdb.org/depoinfo/depofaq.html. Manuscripts will be sent out for review only after receiving a written statement from the author that the coordinates will be deposited. If a manuscript is accepted for publication and the PDB file name has not yet been obtained, it must be added in the proof prior to publication. Upon written request by the author the PDB will refer requests for coordinates to the originating author, but one year after publication, they will be made generally available upon request. Please address all inquiries about depositing to the PDB.

GenBank/DNA sequence linking: Authors wishing to enable other scientists to use the accession numbers cited in their papers via links to these sources, should type this information in the following manner:

For each and every accession number cited in an article, authors should type the accession number in bold, underlined text. Letters in the accession number should always be capitalized (see example below.) This combination of letters and format will enable the typesetter to recognize the relevant texts as accession numbers and add the required link to GenBank's sequences.

Example: GenBank accession nos. AI631510 , AI631511 , AI632198 , and BF223228 ), a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE675048 ), and a T-cell lymphoma (GenBank accession no. AA361117 ).

Authors are encouraged to check accession numbers used very carefully. An error in a letter or number can result in a dead link.

In the final version of the printed article, the accession number text will not appear bold or underlined. In the final version of the electronic copy, the accession number text will be linked to the appropriate source in the NCBI databases, enabling readers to go directly to that source from the article.

Software: Software used as part of computer-aided drug/agent design (e.g., molecular modeling, QSAR, conformational analysis, molecular dynamics) should be readily available from accepted sources and the authors may specify where the software can be obtained. Assurance of the quality of the parameters employed for the relevant potential functions should be detailed in the manuscript.

Supplementary material: Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, 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: www.sciencedirect.com.

To ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please provide data in one of our recommended file formats. Supplementary data must be saved in files separate from those for the manuscript and figures, and all file names must be supplied. Supplementary files should either be referred to from within the text of your manuscript in the same way as for figures or tables, or their presence be indicated by adding a paragraph entitled 'Supplementary data' at the end of the manuscript, detailing which data are supplied. In addition, authors should also provide a concise and descriptive caption for each file.

When supplying supplementary data, authors must state whether the data files are either (i) for online publication or (ii) to be used as an aid for the refereeing of the paper only. All supplementary data will be subject to peer review. For more detailed instructions, please visit http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Proofs

Proofs will be despatched via e-mail and should be returned with corrections as quickly as possible, normally within 48 hours of receipt. Authors should ensure that corrections are returned in one communication and are complete, as subsequent corrections will not be possible. Any amendments will be incorporated and the final article will then be published online as an Article in Press on ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com).

Articles in Press take full advantage of the enhanced ScienceDirect functionality, including the ability to be cited. This is possible due the innovative use of the DOI article identifier, which enables the citation of a paper before volume, issue and page numbers are allocated. The Article in Press will be removed once the paper has been assigned to an issue and the issue has been compiled.

Offprints

The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail or, alternatively, with twenty-five 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.

Page charges

None.

Author benefits

Contributors to Elsevier journals are entitled to a 30% discount on all Elsevier books.

Other inquiries

Visit http://www.elsevier.com/authors for the facility to track accepted articles and set up e-mail alerts to inform you of when an article's status has changed. The Elsevier site also provides detailed artwork guidelines, copyright information, frequently asked questions, and more. Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are provided after registration of an article for publication.