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Papers essentially of an advertising nature will not be accepted. All submissions will be independently refereed.

Submission of a paper implies that it has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and that if accepted it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the publisher. Original research papers; review articles; technical notes; short reports; news and announcements; book reviews; letters to the editors. General: Manuscripts must be typewritten, double-spaced with wide margins on one side of white paper. A font size of 12 or 10 pt is required. The title of the paper should unambiguously reflect its content. Where the title exceeds 70 characters, a suggestion for an abbreviated running title should be given. The corresponding author should be identified (include a Fax number and E-mail address). Full postal addresses must be given for all co-authors. The use of proprietary names should be avoided. Authors should consult a recent issue of the journal for style if possible. The Editors reserve the right to adjust style to certain standards of uniformity.

Language and Style: Manuscripts should be written in English in a clear and concise manner and follow the style of a current issue of Polymer Degradation and Stability. Authors whose native language is not English should have the spelling, grammar, and style checked by someone fully proficient in the English language.

Manuscripts which are not written in fluent English will be rejected automatically without refereeing.
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Paper Length: Generally, the size of the manuscript should be a minimum consistent with clarity.

Abstracts: Each paper should be provided with an abstract of 100-150 words, reporting concisely on the purpose and results of the paper.

Text: Follow this order when typing manuscripts: Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Main text, Acknowledgements, Appendix, References, Figure Captions and then Tables. Do not import the Figures or Tables into your text. The corresponding author should be identified with an asterisk and footnote. All other footnotes (except for table footnotes) should be identified with superscript Arabic numbers.

Units: The SI system should be used for all scientific and laboratory data; if, in certain instances, it is necessary to quote other units, these should be added in parentheses. Temperatures should be given in degrees Celsius. The unit billion (10⁹ in America, 10¹² in Europe) is ambiguous and should not be used.

Abbreviations for units should follow the suggestions of the British Standards publication BS 1991. The full stop should not be included in abbreviations, e.g. m (not m.), ppm (not p.p.m.), and should be used in preference to per cent and per. Where abbreviations are likely to cause ambiguity or may not be readily understood by an international readership, units should be put in full. Current recognised (IUPAC) chemical nomenclature should be used, although commonly accepted trivial names may be used where there is no risk of ambiguity.

References: All publications cited in the text should be presented in a list of references following the text of the manuscript. In the text refer to references by a number in square brackets on the line (e.g. Since Coskun[1]), and the full reference should be given in a numerical list at the end of the paper.

References should be given in the following form:
1. Coskun M, Demirelli K. Thermal degradation of sulphonylated polystrene. Polym Degrad Stab 1996;51(2):173-178.
2. Andrade JD, editor. Polymer surface dynamics. New York: Plenum Press, 1988.
3. Ratner BD, Yoon SC, Kaul A, Rahman R. In: Planck H, Syre I, Dauner M, Egbers G, editors. Progress in biomedical engineering, Vol. 3: Polyurethanes in biomedical engineering II. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1987. p. 213.
4. Tai D, Terazawa M, Chen CL, Kirk TK. Proceedings International Symposium Wood Pulping Chemistry 1983;4:144-149.

Illustrations: Photographs, charts and diagrams are all to be referred to as "Figure(s)" and should be numbered consecutively in the order to which they are referred. They should accompany the manuscript, but should not be included within the text. All figures are to have a caption.

Tables: Tables should be numbered consecutively and given a suitable caption. Footnotes to tables should be typed below the table and should be referred to by superscript lowercase letters. No vertical rules should be used. Tables should not duplicate results presented elsewhere in the manuscript, (e.g. in graphs). Proofs will be sent to the author (first named author if no corresponding author is identified of multi-authored papers) and should be returned within 48 hours of receipt. Corrections should be restricted to typesetting errors; any others may be charged to the author. Any queries should be answered in full. Please note that authors are urged to check their proofs carefully before return, since the inclusion of late corrections cannot be guaranteed. The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail or, alternatively, 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. All authors must sign the "Transfer of Copyright" agreement before the article can be published. This transfer agreement enables Elsevier Ltd to protect the copyrighted material for the authors, but does not relinquish the author's proprietary rights. The copyright transfer covers the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the article, including reprints, photographic reproductions, microfilm or any other reproductions of similar nature and translations. This includes the right to adapt the article for use in conjunction with computer systems and programs, including reproduction or publication in machine-readable form and incorporation in retrieval systems. Authors are responsible for obtaining from the copyright holder permission to reproduce any figures for which copyright exists.

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