An International Journal

Mathematical Biosciences publishes carefully selected mathematical papers of both research and expository type devoted to the formulation, analysis, and numerical solution of mathematical models in the biosciences. Manuscripts are received with the understanding that their contents are original and are not being submitted for publication elsewhere. Submission also implies that all authors have approved the paper for release and are in agreement with its content. Manuscripts are usually sent out for two independent reviews.

Authors are requested to submit their papers electronically by using online manuscript submission available at http://ees.elsevier.com/mbs. This site will guide authors stepwise through the submission process. Authors can upload their articles as LaTeX, Microsoft (MS) Word, or WordPerfect files. It is also possible to submit an article in PostScript or Adobe Acrobat PDF format, but if the article is accepted, the original source files will be needed. If you submit a word processing file, the system generates an Adobe Acrobat PDF version of the article, which is used for the reviewing process. Authors, reviewers, and editors send and receive all correspondence by e-mail and no paper correspondence is necessary.

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright, see http://www.elsevier.com). 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 after acceptance.

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: contact Elsevier Global Rights Department, P.O. Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; phone: (+44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail: permissions@elsevier.com. Requests may also be completed online via the Elsevier home page ( http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions).

US National Institutes of Health (NIH) voluntary posting (" Public Access") policy. Elsevier facilitates author response to the NIH voluntary posting request (referred to as the NIH "Public Access Policy"; see http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/index.htm) by posting the author's peer-reviewed manuscript directly to PubMed Central on request from the author, 12 months after formal publication. Upon notification from Elsevier of acceptance, we will ask you to confirm via e-mail (by e-mailing us at NIHauthorrequest@elsevier.com) that your work has received NIH funding and that you intend to respond to the NIH policy request, along with your NIH award number to facilitate processing. Upon such confirmation, Elsevier will submit to PubMed Central on your behalf a version of your manuscript that will include peer-review comments, for posting 12 months after formal publication. This will ensure that you will have responded fully to the NIH request policy. There will be no need for you to post your manuscript directly with PubMed Central, and any such posting is prohibited.

Articles must be written in clear, concise, grammatical English.

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).

Organization. Whenever feasible, the main lines of the development should be given in the text, emphasizing the structure of the argument and its biological relevance. Detailed proofs should be put in appendices. An abstract of about 200 words or less should precede the main body of the text followed on the same page by a list of 3-6 keywords. Footnotes, reference lists, tabular material, and figure legends should be typed on separate sheets and follow the main body of the text. In the journal, footnotes will be placed at the foot of the page on which they are cited.

Form of manuscript. Double space all material. On the title page, include the full names, institutions, and locations of all the authors, and clearly indicate the name and mailing address of the corresponding author as well as the corresponding author's telephone number, facsimile number, and e-mail address if available. Keywords should reflect important facts of the manuscript; general terms for keywords should be avoided, e.g., cell, evolution. Indicate references to the literature in the text by full size Arabic numbers in brackets, i.e., [1], and cite in sequential, not alphabetical, order. Indicate footnotes to the text by superior numbers. Number all pages sequentially including title page, abstract, text, footnotes, references, tables, figure legends, and appendices.

References. The following reference style should be observed:

Journal: [1] C. Tuffley, M. Steel, Modeling the covarion hypothesis of nucleotide substitution, Math. Biosci. 147 (1998) 63-91.

Book: [5] R. Varga, Matra Iterative Analysis, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1962.

Edited Book: [23] R.M. May, C.H. Watts, The dynamics of predator-prey and resource-harvester systems, in: M.J. Crawley, (Ed.), The Population Biology of Predators, Parasites and Diseases, Blackwell, London, 1994, pp. 431-457.

Theses, Reports, and Other Unpublished Material: Style as a journal article with as much source information as possible.

Figures. Lettering and data points should be large enough so they can be read with ease when reduced to fit on the journal page (4 5/8 x 7 in.). For information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Proofs and Offprints. The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. 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. To avoid delay in publication, only necessary changes should be made, and corrections returned within 2 business days. Additional offprints can be ordered at prices shown on the offprint order form that accompanies the copyright form.