International Journal for Parasitology

Sponsored by the external link Australian Society for Parasitology

ASP society logo
International Journal for Parasitology
ISSN: 0020-7519
Imprint: ELSEVIER

Facts & Figures
Impact Factor: 3.822
5-Year Impact Factor: 3.938
Issues per year: 14

Guide for Authors





The journal publishes the results of high quality original research in all aspects of basic and applied parasitology, ranging from parasites and host-parasite relationships of intrinsic biological interest to those of social and economic importance in human and veterinary medicine and agriculture. Original research includes the development of new concepts and techniques, as well as experimental and observational science. Because of its breadth of discipline coverage, the aims and significance of all contributions should be made clear to readers who are not expert in the particular subject of papers. In applied parasitology, it will tend to favour contributions of broader significance to the subject rather than narrow, highly specialised applications.
The journal does not normally publish case reports.

Types of paper

There are two types of papers, structured as follows:


Original Research Papers


Title page. Contains the title, authors' names, addresses, name and contact details of the corresponding author.


Abstract. The second page contains an Abstract of not more than 300 words in a single paragraph. At the foot of this page a list of up to 8 Index Keywords should be provided.


Text. (see sections above) In addition to major headings two forms of subheadings are used: (a) the numbered italicised side subheading referring to several paragraphs; (b) the italicised paragraph subheading at the beginning of a single paragraph used only in Materials and methods.


′Succinctus′


The journal offers an avenue for publishing short, succinct papers that describe highly significant research findings but with less content than a "research article". Articles will be limited to 4,000 words and not more than three display items (figures or tables). The article must not be preliminary but will describe significant and substantial new findings, be complete in itself and not be published at a later date in greater detail. The typescript should be marked ′Succinctus′ on the top left-hand corner of the title page. The first page should show title, author and address details. A short Abstract of not more than 100 words in the same style as for full papers plus up to six Keywords should follow. The text of the paper is next, written with a minimum number of paragraphs and unstructured (i.e. no headings). Text describing the methods should be included in the manuscript body and/or figure legends; the methodology should be succinct but contain sufficient information and/or suitable references to allow readers to replicate the work. Not more than 25 essential references should be cited. Other instructions are the same as those for full papers.


Contact details for submission

General enquiries prior to submission should be directed to the Editorial Office: editor@IJP.org.au

Page charges

This journal has no page charges.



Ethics in publishing

For information on Ethics in publishing and Ethical guidelines for journal publication see http://www.elsevier.com/publishingethics and http://www.elsevier.com/ethicalguidelines.

Policy and ethics

Care of experimental animals. It is the responsibility of authors to ensure that their practices conform with their national animal ethics guidelines. Submitted papers must contain precise details on the care and use of animals and of experimental procedures, especially interventions such as surgery and tissue sampling, and methods of euthanasia. Referees are asked to indicate whether there is any reason to consider that experimental animals were not well treated or care not taken to avoid distress, and papers may ultimately be rejected on such grounds.

Conflict of interest

All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict 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. See also http://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest.

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), 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.

Submission declaration and verification

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, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. To verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection software iThenticate. See also http://www.elsevier.com/editors/plagdetect.

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.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (for more information on this and copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright). Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. 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.
Authors whose articles are published in the International Journal for Parasitology will be asked to transfer copyright for that article to the Australian Society for Parasitology, Inc. If there are any issues or conflicts of interest which might prevent the author transferring copyright, they should inform the Editor when submitting the manuscript.
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 (please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions). 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: please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions.

Retained author rights

As an author you (or your employer or institution) retain certain rights; for details you are referred to: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights.

Role of the funding source

You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated. Please see http://www.elsevier.com/funding.

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.

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.

Language and language services

Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission please visit external link http://webshop.elsevier.com/languageservices or our customer support site at external link http://support.elsevier.com for more information.

Submission

Submission to this journal proceeds totally online and you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of your files. The system automatically converts source files to a single PDF file of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Please note that 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 correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail removing the need for a paper trail. Submitted manuscripts are first reviewed by a specialist editor to assess significance and general suitability for the journal. Approximately half of all submissions progress to peer review.

The final pdf should be no larger than 5 MB.
If file size cannot be reduced to less than 10 MB, the author should contact the IJP Editorial Office for instructions (editor@IJP.org.au).


Required Information:
Name, affiliation, email, telephone and fax numbers and mail address information for one corresponding author.
This must be the same person nominated as corresponding author on the manuscript title page and this person must submit the manuscript on-line.
The corresponding author, through the web access, is responsible for actions with respect to each paper. E-mail prompts will be delivered only to the corresponding author. Articles can also be tracked by the corresponding author via the online system.
Name and affiliations of all other authors.
Cover letter is mandatory for all submissions and should address the novelty, significance of the work.
Note: Current Opinions and Invited Reviews are by invitation only).

Order of files


Manuscript should contain (in order) Title, Authors and addresses, Corresponding Author and address, Abstract, Keywords. In numbered sections: 1. Introduction; 2. Materials and methods; 3. Results; 4. Discussion; then Acknowledgements; References; Legends to Figures. Tables with their legends (in separate or combined files, numbered, in order). Figures (in separate files); preferred formats: JPEG, EPS or PDF. Supplementary and multimedia files.


Format


The preferred format for the text is Microsoft Word. The title page, abstract and text should be formatted with line numbers. The manuscript should be formatted to A4 size paper, in English, double spaced and with 2 cm margins.


Further journal requirements


During submission you will also have to:


Confirm that all authors have read the manuscript and accept responsibility for its contents.
Agree to an ′ Ethics in Publishing′ document.


Referees

Please submit, with the manuscript, the names, addresses and e-mail addresses of three potential referees. Note that the editor retains the sole right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers are used.

Additional information

Statistical Analysis


Authors should seek advice on data analysis prior to submission. A commentary (Morrison, D.A., 2002. How to improve statistical analysis in parasitology research publications. Int. J. Parasitol. 32, 1065-1070) may also be consulted. Papers may be sent to referees with particular expertise in statistics and modelling.



Use of wordprocessing software

It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the wordprocessor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the wordprocessor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier: http://www.elsevier.com/guidepublication). Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics will be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text. See also the section on Electronic artwork.
To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your wordprocessor.

Article structure

Subdivision - numbered sections
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.

Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Material and methods
Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.

A Theory section should extend, not repeat, the background to the article already dealt with in the Introduction and lay the foundation for further work. In contrast, a Calculation section represents a practical development from a theoretical basis.

Results
Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate, however it is not a standard format for this journal; reasons for using the combined format must be provided in the submission cover letter. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

Appendices
This journal does not publish appendices. Information should be included within the manuscript text or provided as supplementary material. If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent section, Eq. (B.1) and so on.

Essential title page information

Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
Author names and affiliations. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
Present/permanent 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. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Graphical abstract

Authors should supply a thumbnail image for all types of manuscripts. Articles accepted for publication will be featured via a copy of the article abstract together with a thumbnail image to direct people to the manuscript. An image that serves to illustrate the theme of the paper is desired. It can be a figure from the paper or a related image that typifies the content of the paper. Authors must supply the thumbnail image separately as an electronic file. The maximum final dimensions of the thumbnail image will be 5 cm x 5 cm. Please consider readability after reduction, especially if using one of the figures from the article itself.

Highlights

Highlights are mandatory for this journal. They consist of a short collection of bullet points that convey the core findings of the article and should be submitted in a separate file in the online submission system. Please use 'Highlights' in the file name and include 3 to 5 bullet points (maximum 85 characters, including spaces, per bullet point). See http://www.elsevier.com/highlights for examples.

Keywords

Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, using UK spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, "and", "of"). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

Abbreviations

Avoid the use of abbreviations, but if necessary, authors should use the list (click here to see list) as a guide to those terms that need not be given in full, or define each abbreviation on first use.

Acknowledgements

Authors should provide confirmation of consent from persons acknowledged in manuscripts eg. personal communications. This can be provided in a covering letter or by e-mail to the editorial office.

Units

Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other units are mentioned, please give their equivalent in SI.

Database linking

Elsevier aims at connecting online articles with external databases which are useful in their respective research communities. If your article contains relevant unique identifiers or accession numbers (bioinformatics) linking to information on entities (genes, proteins, diseases, etc.) or structures deposited in public databases, then please indicate those entities according to the standard explained below.
Authors should explicitly mention the database abbreviation (as mentioned below) together with the actual database number, bearing in mind that an error in a letter or number can result in a dead link in the online version of the article.
Please use the following format: Database ID: xxxx
Links can be provided in your online article to the following databases (examples of citations are given in parentheses):
external link ASTM: ASTM Standards Database (ASTM ID: G63)
external link CCDC: Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC ID: AI631510)
external link GenBank: Genetic sequence database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) (GenBank ID: BA123456)
external link GEO: Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO ID: GSE27196; GEO ID: GPL5366; GEO ID: GSM9853)
external link MI: EMBL-EBI OLS Molecular Interaction Ontology (MI ID: 0218)
external link MINT: Molecular INTeractions database (MINT ID: 6166710)
external link NCBI Taxonomy: NCBI Taxonomy Browser (NCBI Taxonomy ID: 48184)
external link NCT: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT ID: NCT00222573)
external link OMIM: Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM ID: 601240)
external link PDB: Worldwide Protein Data Bank (PDB ID: 1TUP)
external link TAIR: The Arabidopsis Information Resource database (TAIR ID: AT1G01020)
external link UniProt: Universal Protein Resource Knowledgebase (UniProt ID: Q9H0H5)

Math formulae

Present simple formulae in the line of normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

Footnotes

Footnotes should only be used in tables.
Table footnotes
Indicate each footnote in a table with a superscript lowercase letter.

Artwork

Electronic artwork
General points
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Save text in illustrations as 'graphics' or enclose the font.
• Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times, Symbol.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.
• Submit each figure as a separate file.

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website:
http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalised, 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: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as 'graphics'.
TIFF: Color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required.
If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is'.
Please do not:
• Supply files that are optimised for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Color artwork
Illustrations of all kinds should be listed together under ′ Legend to Figures′ numbered consecutively and their positions indicated in the text. Figures should be high quality, of an adequate size to ensure clarity, and letters and numbers should be at least 4 mm in height. Magnification should be indicated by inclusion of a scale bar in the figure and its value should be indicated on the figure or in the legend. Each figure should be obvious from its file name. If images have been altered, describe the nature of changes made and software used. This information should be included in the ′ Materials and methods′ section of the manuscript.


In general, figures will be printed and appear on electronic versions of papers in black and white. Where appropriate, colour figures can be provided on the electronic version, but black and white in the printed version. In this instance, authors are required to submit both colour and high quality black and white versions of figures. Authors should note that the figure legend will be the same in both versions. While there is no charge for colour in electronic versions, there generally is a fee for printed colour figures. Please contact the Editorial Office for the current policy.

Figure captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A 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.

Tables

Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Avoid 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.

References

Correct references are the responsibility of the author. Please ensure that all references cited in the text are included in the reference list.


References in the text start with the name of the author(s), followed by the publication date in brackets, e.g. 'Combes (2001) has shown the importance of ...', or '... has been described (Combes, 2001; Kumar et al., 2004) ...', using date order. More than one paper from the same author in the same year must be identified by the letters a, b, c, etc., placed after the year of publication. In the text, when referring to a work by two authors, use (Sangster and Dobson, 2002) or for more than two authors, the name of the first author should be given followed by et al. There is an output style available for EndNote. Please refer to the EndNote website or contact the Editorial Office for a copy of this style file.


The references in the reference list should be in alphabetical order. References to journal articles should contain names and initials of all author(s), year of publication, article title, abbreviation of the name of the journal, volume number and page numbers.


Unpublished data, personal communications and papers ′ in preparation′ or ′ submitted′ , abstracts (whether published or not) and theses should not be listed in the references (but may be incorporated at the appropriate place in the text); work "in press" may be listed only if it has been accepted for publication. Personal communications must be accompanied by a letter or e-mail from the named person(s) giving permission to quote such information. References to books should also include the title (of series and volume), initials and names of the editor(s) and publisher and place of publication.


Examples:

Combes, C., 2001. Parasitism. The ecology and evolution of intimate interactions. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.


Kumar, N., Cha, G., Pineda, F., Maciel, J., Haddad, D., Bhattacharyya, M.K., Nagayasu, E., 2004. Molecular complexity of sexual development and gene regulation in Plasmodium falciparum. Int. J. Parasitol. 34, 1451-1458.


Pettersson, E.U., Ljunggren, E.L., Morrison, D.A., Mattsson, J.G., in press. Functional analysis and localisation of a delta-class glutathione S-transferase from Sarcoptes scabiei. Int. J. Parasitol.


Sangster, N.C., Dobson, R.J., 2002. Anthelmintic resistance. In: Lee, D.L. (Ed.), The biology of nematodes. Taylor and Francis, London and New York, pp. 531-567.

Citation in text
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.

Web references
As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references to published articles can be included in the reference list. Other web references such as software programs, databases and individual web pages, should have the reference details included at the appropriate place within the text.

References in a special issue
Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any references in the list (and any citations in the text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.

Journal abbreviations source
Journal names should be abbreviated according to the NLM catalogue: external link http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html.

Video data

Elsevier accepts video material and animation sequences to support and enhance your scientific research. Authors who have video or animation files that they wish to submit with their article are strongly encouraged to include these within the body of the article. This can be done in the same way as a figure or table by referring to the video or animation content and noting in the body text where it should be placed. All submitted files should be properly labeled so that they directly relate to the video file's content. In order to ensure that your video or animation material is directly usable, please provide the files in one of our recommended file formats with a preferred maximum size of 50 MB. Video and animation files supplied will be published online in the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: external link http://www.sciencedirect.com. Please supply 'stills' with your files: you can choose any frame from the video or animation or make a separate image. These will be used instead of standard icons and will personalize the link to your video data. For more detailed instructions please visit our video instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. Note: since video and animation cannot be embedded in the print version of the journal, please provide text for both the electronic and the print version for the portions of the article that refer to this content.

Supplementary data

For non-integrated supplementary files, a footnote should be typed on the title page of the manuscript: ′ Note: Supplementary data associated with this article′ . A copy of supplementary material should be submitted at the same time as the manuscript. Preferred formats are Microsoft Office for text or graphics and avi for movie files. Maximum size of files is 10 MB. If files cannot be reduced to 10MB, authors should contact the IJP Editorial Office (editor@IJP.org.au)

Submission checklist

The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.
Ensure that the following items are present:
One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
• E-mail address
• Full postal address
• Telephone and fax numbers
All necessary files have been uploaded, and contain:
• Keywords
• All figure captions
• All tables (including title, description, footnotes)
Further considerations
• Manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'
• References are in the correct format for this journal
• All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web)
• Color figures are clearly marked as being intended for color reproduction on the Web (free of charge) and in print, or to be reproduced in color on the Web (free of charge) and in black-and-white in print
• If only color on the Web is required, black-and-white versions of the figures are also supplied for printing purposes
For any further information please visit our customer support site at external link http://support.elsevier.com.



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. The correct format for citing a DOI is shown as follows (example taken from a document in the journal Physics Letters B):
doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2010.09.059
When you use the DOI to create URL hyperlinks to documents on the web, the DOIs are guaranteed never to change.

Proofs

One set of page proofs (as PDF files) 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) or, a link will be provided in the e-mail so that authors can download the files themselves. Elsevier now provides authors with PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 (or higher) available free from external link http://get.adobe.com/reader. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs (also given online). The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site: external link http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/tech-specs.html.
If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return them 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 – please let us have all your corrections within 48 hours. It is important to ensure that all 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.

Offprints

The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication. 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.

Additional information

Submission of sequence data to databases


Novel nucleotide or protein sequence data must be deposited in the GenBank™ , EMBL or DDBJ databases and an accession number obtained before the paper can be accepted for publication. Submission to any one of the collaborating databanks is sufficient to ensure entry in all. The accession number should be included as a footnote on the title page of the manuscript: 'Note: Nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper are available in the GenBank™ , EMBL and DDBJ databases under the accession number(s)'. If requested the database will withhold release of data until publication. The usual method for submitting sequence data is by the World Wide Web to either GenBank (via BankIt: external link http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BankIt/), EMBL (via WebIn: external link http://www.ebi.ac.uk/subs/allsubs.html) or to DDBJ (via SAKURA: external link http://sakura.ddbj.nig.ac.jp/). Special types of submissions, such as genomes, bulk submissions, segmented sets, and population/phylogenetic/mutation studies, can be more easily prepared with the Sequin programme (available from the above Web sites). Authors are encouraged by the databases to update their entries as the need arises.


GenBank/DNA sequence linking. In order for automatic links to be made between papers and GenBank, authors should type the accession number in bold, underlined text. Letters in the accession number should always be capitalised. (See the example). When published they will appear in normal type.


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)′ .


Additionally, any multiple alignments of nucleotide or protein data must be submitted to a recognised database and must also receive a unique accession number. The accession number can appear in the text in the relevant section of the Results, as: ′ Alignment files are available by anonymous FTP from FTP.EBI.AC.UK in directory/pub/databases/embl/align or via the EMBLALIGN database via SRS at external link http://srs.ebi.ac.uk; under accession(s)′ . The usual method for submitting alignments is by the World Wide Web to the European Bioinformatics Institute (via Webin-Align: external link http://www.ebi.ac.uk). Microarray data, in MIAME-compliant format, should be submitted to ArrayExpress (external link http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress/) or GEO (external link http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/). Accession identifiers relating to the data should be provided in the manuscript text.


Policy on bioinformatics papers. In silico analysis: The following guidelines apply to papers that exclusively use in silico analysis or rely heavily on this approach for analysis and conclusions. Such papers should address a significant biological issue or issues. Bioinformatic data should be supported by novel or published biological data. Work would typically use information from a number of databases and even from a number of parasite or host species and use a number of analytical methods. Types of ′ metaanalysis′ are encouraged either across a wide range of parasites or, say, at a number of points in a metabolic or signalling pathway or an immune cascade. In silico analysis may be especially suitable for review articles.

Guidelines for the reporting of protein identifications using mass spectrometry: The following information should be provided for protein or peptide identifications using mass spectrometry:


1. The program, and version number, used to create peak lists and the parameters used in the creation of the list.
2. The program, and version number, of the program used for database searching. Parameters used for searching should be specified, including, but not limited to, precursor-ion mass tolerance, fragment-ion mass tolerance, modifications allowed for, missed cleavages and enzymes used in protein cleavage.
3. The name and version number of the sequence database used in searches. If a custom-made database is used then complete information on the origin of the sequences and database size should be disclosed. Given the dependence of scoring on database size, the use of a small database, or one excluding contaminants, should be justified. 4. A short description of the methods use to interpret the significance of search results, including any statistical analysis, confidence thresholds and other values specific to judging the certainty of the identification.
5. For large-scale experiments a false-positive determination should be reported. This may be the result of randomized database searches or other approaches.
6. Each protein identification should include the accession number, score generated by the search algorithm used, sequence coverage and the number of unique peptide sequences assigned in the protein identification.
7. Single peptide identifications should include an annotated MS/MS spectrum showing fragment assignments together with the peptide sequence, precursor mass, charge and error.
8. Identifications arising from peptide mass fingerprinting should include an annotated mass spectrum. The number of matched peaks, the number of unmatched peaks and the sequence coverage should also be reported along with all parameters and thresholds used to analyse the data. This includes mass accuracy, resolution, calibration methods, contaminant exclusions along with the scoring scheme used and measure of the false-positive rate.


Taxonomic publications. Taxonomic papers are considered only if they are of broad interest, going beyond purely morphological descriptions which are best suited to specialist journals. Examples of contributions of broader interest include description of new taxa which do not fit within accepted classifications, analyses which are of phylogenetic or biogeographic significance employing a range of analysis techniques or which include information on host-parasite relationships or deleterious effects on the host. Presentations which include description of new species should conform to a prescribed pattern as follows: where the new species name is written for the first time, ′ n.sp′ should succeed it. The name should be followed by: (1) a description, in telegraphic style, i.e. without articles and verbs, of the specific characters; accompanied by illustrations depicting the main differentiating characters; (2) a diagnosis, emphasising the characters of the new species or genus; (3) the details of type material, (host, location in host, geographic locality, collector, place of deposition and registration). Synopses (a brief summary of a small taxonomic group of parasites) and checklists (a list of parasites from particular hosts in particular localities) are acceptable, provided species named are critically evaluated, identifications are sound and the results are of broad scientific interest. Authors byshould comply with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.




Ecological Papers. Specimens upon which new host or locality records are based must be deposited in a museum or recognised collection to be available for further study and registration numbers must be cited.



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