An International Journal of Comparative Immunology
Guide for Authors
Types of contributions
1. Original research papers (Full-length, Short Communications and Technical Reports).
2. Review
articles (Mini-reviews and full-length Review Articles, and Book Reviews
3. Scientific meeting Reports
Original research
papers: These should report the results of original research. The material should not have been previously published elsewhere,
except in a preliminary form. Full-length papers should conform to the traditional format with headings for Introduction,
Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion section.
A Short Communication is a concise but complete description of a limited
investigation, which will not be included in a later paper. Short Communications should be as completely documented, both by reference
to the literature and description of the experimental procedures employed, as a regular paper. They should not occupy more than 6 printed
pages with figures, tables and references (about 12 manuscript pages including no more than a total of 4 figures and tables) and should
contain an Abstract of not more than 200 words. Headings should be Introduction, Materials and Methods with the Results and Discussion
combined. The maximum total text word count in these sections is 3000.
A Technical Report is a description of: (A) a new
gene or its expressed sequence (mRNA) that is comprehensive at least with regard to the coding sequence or the complete mature expressed
protein, with annotation (leader/signal sequence, start, stops, and other features), comparison to other species (e.g. by cladogram,
percent similarity of gene and deduced amino acid), evidence of deposition into a publicly available gene bank (e.g. GenBank with accession
number); or (B) a new monoclonal antibody that convincingly shows specificity for a new target molecule or allows significant improvement
of existing procedures or diagnostics (ELISA, flow cytometry, Western blotting, tissue sections); or (C) availability of a functional
recombinant cytokine or chemokine with clear evidence that it has biological activity commensurate with the native molecule. A Technical
Report should not occupy more than 4 printed pages including text with no headings and of not more than 1500 words, no more than 3 figures
and tables, an Abstract of not more than 200 words, and References.
Reviews: Mini-reviews and opinions should
cover subjects in specialised areas of veterinary immunology which are either topical, or of emerging importance, or in need of an update.
They should not exceed 3000 words and be easy to read. Articles containing provocative opinions and hypotheses not yet firmly supported
by experimental evidence should be suitable, provided that any biases expressed are acknowledged by the authors.
Review Articles
in a traditional, more comprehensive style are also published in the journal. Authors wishing to submit these, or Mini-reviews/opinions
are asked to first submit a title plus abstract for advice on suitability to the Review Articles Editor Dirk Werling Dwerling@RVC.AC.UK.
Book Reviews will be included in the journal on a range of relevant books which are not more than 2 years old.
Meeting
Reports These will be considered for publication. The decision to publish rests purely with the Editors-in-Chief. The subject
matter should be within the aims and scope of the journal. Reports may be very brief summaries of recognised International Committee
recommendations and decisions, or longer reports of relevant scientific meetings. Special issues containing full papers presented at
a conference/workshop will also be considered.
Submission of manuscripts Submission to Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology
now proceeds online via Elsevier Editorial System - http://ees.elsevier.com/vetimm. Authors will be guided step-by-step
through uploading files directly from their computers. Authors should select a set of classifications for their papers from a given list,
as well as a category designation (Original Research Paper, Short Communication, and so on). Electronic PDF proofs will be automatically
generated from uploaded files, and used for subsequent reviewing.
Authors should send queries concerning the submission process or
journal procedures to AuthorSupport@elsevier.com. Authors can check the status of their manuscript within the review procedure
using Elsevier Editorial System.
Authors submitting hard copy papers will be asked to resubmit using Elsevier Editorial System.
Submission of an article is understood to imply that the article is original and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. Submission
also implies that all authors have approved the paper for release and are in agreement with its content. Upon acceptance of the article
by the journal, the author(s) will be asked to transfer the copyright of the article to the Publisher. This transfer will ensure the
widest possible dissemination of information.
All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (1)
the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, (2) drafting the article or revising
it critically for important intellectual content, (3) final approval of the version to be submitted.
Acknowledgements
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship as defined above should be listed in an acknowledgements section. Examples
of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department chair who
provided only general support. Authors should disclose whether they had any writing assistance and identify the entity that paid for
this assistance.
Conflict of interest
At the end of the text, under a subheading "Conflict of interest statement" all
authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organisations that could inappropriately influence
(bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert
testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding.
Role of the funding source
All sources of
funding should be declared as an acknowledgement at the end of the text. Authors should declare the role of study sponsors, if any, in
the study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; and in the decision to submit
the manuscript for publication. If the study sponsors had no such involvement, the authors should so state.
Ethics
Circumstances
relating to animal experimentation must meet the International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals as issued
by the Council for the International Organizations of Medical Sciences. They are obtainable from: Executive Secretary C.I.O.M.S., c/o
WHO, Via Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, or at the following URL: http://www.cioms.ch/frame_1985_texts_of_guidelines.htm.
Unnecessary cruelty in animal experimentation is not acceptable to the Editors of Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology.
Sequence data submitted to a publicly accessible database must quote an accession number in the text (Methods section). Patents should
also be referenced in the text, if appropriate.
Preparation of manuscripts
1. Manuscripts should be written in English.
Authors whose native language is not English are strongly advised to have their manuscripts checked by an English-speaking colleague
prior to submission.
Language Editing: Elsevier's Authors Home
provides details of some companies who can provide English language and copyediting services to authors who need assistance before they submit their article or before it is accepted for publication. Authors should contact these services directly. For
more information about language editing services, please email authorsupport@elsevier.com.
Please note that 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 & conditions http://www.elsevier.com/termsandconditions.
2. Manuscripts should have numbered lines, with wide margins and double spacing throughout, i.e. also for abstracts, footnotes
and references. Every page of the manuscript, including the title page, references, tables, etc., should be numbered. However,
in the text no reference should be made to page numbers; if necessary one may refer to sections. Avoid excessive usage of italics to
emphasize part of the text.
3. Manuscripts in general should be organized in the following order: Title (should be clear, descriptive
and not too long) Name(s) of author(s) Complete postal address(es) of affiliations Full telephone, Fax No. and e-mail address
of the corresponding author Present address(es) of author(s) if applicable Complete correspondence address including e-mail address
to which the proofs should be sent Abstract Keywords (indexing terms), normally 3-6 items. Please refer to last index (Vol. 100/3-4). Introduction Material
studied, area descriptions, methods, techniques Results Discussion Conclusion Acknowledgements and any additional information
concerning research grants, etc. References Tables Figure captions Tables (separate file(s)) Figures (separate file(s)).
4. Titles and subtitles should not be run within the text. They should be typed on a separate line, without indentation. Use lower-case
letter type.
5. SI units should be used.
6. Elsevier reserves the privilege of returning to the author for revision accepted
manuscripts and illustrations which are not in the proper form given in this guide.
7. A number of standard accepted abbreviations
can be used in the body of a manuscript without further explanation (see list below), but must be explained if used in the Title or Abstract.
Non-standard abbreviations should be explained when first used in the Abstract, and again when first used in the body of a manuscript,
and should also be explained in an abbreviations list to follow the list of keywords.
List of standard abbreviations:
Ab
Antibody
Ag
Antigen
AIDS
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
APC
Antigen-presenting cell
BCG
Bacillus Calmette Guerin
BSA
Bovine
serum albumin
C
Complement
CFU
Colony-forming unit
ConA
Concanavalin
A
cpm
Counts per minute
CSF
Colony-stimulating factor
CTL
Cytotoxic
T lymphoctye
DMSO
Dimethylsulfoxide
EDTA
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
ELISA
Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent assay
Fab
Monovalent antigen-binding fragment
F(ab1)2
Divalent
antigen-binding fragment
FBS
Fetal bovine serum
FCS
Fetal calf serum
FcΓR
Receptor
for the FcΓ part of the IgG
FITC
Fluorescein Isothiocyanate
H chain
Heavy chain
of Ig
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus
HLA
Human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen
IFN
Interferon
Ig
Immunoglobulin
IL
Interleukin
i.d.
Intradermal
i.m.
Intramuscular
i.p.
Intraperitoneal
IU
International unit
i.v.
Intravenous
KDD
Kilodalton (mol. mass)
KLH
Keyhole limpet hemocyanin
L chain
Light chain of Ig
LAK
Lymphokine-activated killer (cell)
LPS
Lipopolysaccharide
mAb
Monoclonal antibody
MHC
Major histocompatibility complex
MLR
Mixed
lymphocyte (leukocyte) reaction
MΦ
Macrophage
Mr
Relative molecular mass
n
Number in study or group
ND
Not determined
NK
Natural
killer (cell)
OD
Optical density (transmission through turbid suspensions)
OVA
Ovalbumin
p
Probability
PAGE
Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
PBL
Peripheral
blood lymphocytes
PBMC
Peripheral blood mononucleur cells
PCR
Polymerase chain recation
PBS
Phosphate-buffered
saline
PHA
Phytohemagglutinin
PKC
Protein kinase C
PMA
Phorbol
12-myristate 13-acetate
PMN
Polymorphonuclear (cell, leukocyte)
PPD
Purified protein
derivative of tuberculin
PWM
Pokeweed mitogen
r
Recombinant
R
Receptor
(e.g. IL-2R)
RBC
Red blood cells
RFLP
Restriction fragment length polymorphism
RIA
Radioimmunoassay
RNase
Ribonuclease
s.c.
Subcutaneous
SD
Standard deviation
SDS
Sodium dodecyl sulfate
SEM
Standard error
of the mean
SRBC
Sheep red blood cells
SV40
Simian virus 40
TCR
T
cell receptor
Th
T helper (cell)
TGF
Transforming growth factor
TNF
Tumor
necrosis factor
Ts
T suppressor (cell)
U
Unit
V region
Variable
region
1°, 2°, 3°
Primary, secondary, tertiary
2-D
Two dimensional
3-D
Three dimensional
Abstracts The abstract should be clear, descriptive and not longer
than 400 words.
Tables
1. Authors should take notice of the limitations set by the size and lay-out of the journal. Large
tables should be avoided. Reversing columns and rows will often reduce the dimensions of a table.
2. If many data are to be presented,
an attempt should be made to divide them over two or more tables.
3. Tables should be numbered according to their sequence in the
text. The text should include references to all tables.
4. Each table should occupy a separate page of the manuscript. Tables should
never be included in the text.
5. Each table should have a brief and self-explanatory title.
6. Column headings should be brief,
but sufficiently explanatory. Standard abbreviations of units of measurement should be added between parentheses.
7. Vertical lines
should not be used to separate columns. Leave some extra space between the columns instead.
8. Any explanation essential to the understanding
of the table should be given as a footnote at the bottom of the table.
Illustrations
1. All illustrations (line drawings
and photographs) should be submitted as separate files, preferably in TIFF or EPS format.
2. Illustrations should be numbered according
to their sequence in the text. References should be made in the text to each illustration.
3. Illustrations should be designed with
the format of the page of the journal in mind. Illustrations should be of such a size as to allow a reduction of 50%.
4. Lettering
should be big enough to allow a reduction of 50% without becoming illegible. Any lettering should be in English. Use the same kind of
lettering throughout and follow the style of the journal.
5. If a scale should be given, use bar scales on all illustrations instead
of numerical scales that must be changed with reduction.
6. Each illustration should have a caption. The captions to all illustrations
should be typed on a separate sheet of the manuscript.
7. Explanations should be given in the figure legend(s). Drawn text in the
illustrations should be kept to a minimum.
8. Photographs are only acceptable if they have good contrast and intensity.
9. If
you submit usable colour figures, Elsevier would ensure that these figures appeared free-of-charge in colour in the electronic version
of your accepted paper, regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. Colour illustrations
can only be included in print if the additional cost of reproduction is contributed by the author: you would receive information regarding
the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article.
Please note that because of technical complications which may arise
by converting colour figures to 'grey scale' (for the printed version, should you not opt for colour in print), you should submit in
addition usable black and white figures corresponding to all colour illustrations.
10. Advice on the preparation of illustrations
can be found at the following URL: http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions
Preparation of supplementary data
Elsevier now 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 free of charge online alongside the electronic version of your article
in Elsevier web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted
material is directly usable, please ensure that data are provided in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material
together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions
References
1. All publications cited in the text should be presented in a list of references following the text of the manuscript. The
manuscript should be carefully checked to ensure that the spelling of author's names and dates are exactly the same in the text as in
the reference list. 2. In the text refer to the author's name (without initial) and year of publication, followed – if necessary – by a short reference to appropriate pages. Examples: "Since Peterson (1988) has shown that..." "This is in agreement with results
obtained later (Kramer, 1989, pp. 12–16)". 3. If reference is made in the text to a publication written by more than two authors
the name of the first author should be used followed by "et al.". This indication, however, should never be used in the list of references.
In this list names of first author and co-authors should be mentioned. 4. References cited together in the text should be arranged
chronologically. The list of references should be arranged alphabetically on author's names, and chronologically per author. If an author's
name in the list is also mentioned with co-authors the following order should be used: publications of the single author, arranged according
to publication dates – publications of the same author with one co-author – publications of the author with more than one
co-author. Publications by the same author(s) in the same year should be listed as 1974a, 1974b, etc. 5. Use the following system
for arranging your references:
a. For periodicals Harp, J.A., Walters, T.E., Goff, J.P., 2004. Lymphocyte subsets and
adhesion molecule expression in milk and blood of periparturient dairy cattle. Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol. 102, 9-17.
b. For
edited symposia, special issues, etc., published in a periodical
Miller, L.C., Fox, J.M., 2004. Apoptosis and porcine reproductive
and respiratory syndrome virus. In: Murtaugh, M.P., Rowland, R.R.R. (Eds), Immunology and Immunopathology of Porcine Reproductive and
Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS). Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol. 102, 131-142.
c. For books
Gershwin, M., Naguwa, S., 2005.
Allergy and Immunology Secrets, Elsevier, 352 pp. d. For multi-author books
Butler, J.E., 1981. A concept of humoral
immunity among ruminants and an approach to its investigation. In: Butler, J.E., Nielson, K., Duncan, J.R. (Eds.), The Ruminant Immune
System, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 3-55.
6. Abbreviate the titles of periodicals mentioned in the list of references in accordance
with BIOSIS Serial Sources, published annually by BIOSIS. The correct abbreviation for this journal is Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol.
7. In the case of publications in any language other than English, the original title is to be retained. However, the titles of publications
in non-Latin alphabets should be transliterated, and a notation such as "(in Russian)" or "(in Greek, with English abstract)" should
be added. 8. Work accepted for publication but not yet published should be referred to as "in press". 9. References concerning
unpublished data and "personal communications" should not be cited in the reference list but may be mentioned in the text.
10. Web
references may be given. As a minimum, the full URL is necessary. Any further information, such as Author names, dates, reference to
a source publication and so on, should also be given.
11. Articles available online but without volume and page numbers may be referred
to by means of their Digital Object identifier (DOI) code.
Formulae 1. Give the meaning of all symbols immediately after
the equation in which they are first used. 2. For simple fractions use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line. 3. Equations
should be numbered serially at the right-hand side in parentheses. In general only equations explicitly referred to in the text need
be numbered. 4. The use of fractional powers instead of root signs is recommended. Also powers of e are often more conveniently
denoted by exp. 5. Levels of statistical significance which can be mentioned without further explanation are * P<0.05,
** P<0.01 and *** P<0.001. 6. In chemical formulae, valence of ions should be given as, e.g., Ca2+
not as Ca++. 7. Isotope numbers should precede the symbols, e.g., 18O. 8. The repeated writing of chemical
formulae in the text is to be avoided where reasonably possible; instead, the name of the compound should be given in full. Exceptions
may be made in the case of a very long name occurring very frequently or in the case of a compound are being described as the end product
of a gravimetric determination (e.g., phosphate as P2O5).
Footnotes 1. Footnotes should only be used
if absolutely essential. In most cases it should be possible to incorporate the information in normal text. 2. If used, they should
be numbered in the text, indicated by superscript numbers, and kept as short as possible.
Nomenclature 1. Authors and
editors are, by general agreement, obliged to accept the rules governing biological nomenclature, as laid down in theInternational
Code of Botanical Nomenclature, the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria, and the International Code of Zoological
Nomenclature. 2. All biotica (crops, plants, insects, birds, mammals, etc.) should be identified by their scientific names
when the English term is first used, with the exception of common domestic animals. 3. All biocides and other organic compounds
must be identified by their Geneva names when first used in the text. Active ingredients of all formulations should be likewise identified. 4.
For chemical nomenclature, the conventions of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the official recommendations
of the IUPAC-IUB Combined Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature should be followed.
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