Mechanisms of Ageing and Development is a multidisciplinary journal aimed at revealing the molecular, biochemical, and biological mechanisms that underlie the process of ageing and the development of age-associated disease. Emphasis is placed on investigations that delineate the contribution of (1) oxidative damage and/or cellular metabolism; (2) genetic stability; (3) telomere integrity; (4) mitochondrial function; (5) genetic programs. Not of interest are (1) studies on age changes that are purely descriptive and which do not address underlying mechanisms; (2) psychological or social case studies and reports. Manuscripts in basic research areas relevant to the aims and scope are welcomed.

Types of articles
Articles will be published in the following categories:
1. Research papers, including a Summary of 100-200 words, usually subdivided into sections, e.g. Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion.
2. Short Communication: Short scientific notes, such as useful methods with special application in the science of ageing, brief extensions of previously published work or novel findings that need quick publication, will typically be reviewed within a month. These should not exceed 1,000 words (2-3 printed pages) with a short abstract of about 100 words. The text should be continuous and not be subdivided in different sections as the regular articles.
3. Reviews or mini-reviews on existing topics in the science of ageing are typically solicited, or submitted after consultation of one of the editors.
4. Progress Papers illuminating a novel development with potentially high relevance to the science of ageing, are also usually solicited but can be submitted after consulting an editor.
5. Opinion Papers are meant to stimulate discussion on selected topics that are of great interest to the science of ageing. Their format consists of a short challenging paper, followed by some solicited responses form other experts in the field. The responses are not coordinated, in the sense that once they have been received, no changes are made on the basis of the other responses. The opinion papers are by invitation only.

There is also an "Advances in Ageing", where meeting reports, opinions or other contributions to elucidate recent developments in the field are published.



Submission
Submission to this journal proceeds totally online. Use the following guidelines to prepare your article. Via the homepage of this journal ( http://www.elsevier.com/locate/mechagedev) you 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 homepage, removing the need for a hard-copy paper trail. The above represents a very brief outline of this form of submission. It can be advantageous to print this "Guide for Authors" section from the site for reference in the subsequent stages of article preparation.

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.

General arrangement of papers
Papers should be in English and double-spaced. The article should start with an abstract of approximately 100-200 words. A list of 3-6 key words necessary for correct indexing and subsequent retrieval must be submitted with the manuscript. In the event that key words are not supplied editorial discretion will be exercised in introducing appropriate words.

Preparation of text
Each manuscript should have a separate title page which includes only the title, authors' full names and complete addresses of academic or professional affiliations; the author to whom proofs and correspondence should be addressed should be indicated by an asterisk and a telephone/fax number and e-mail address included.

Preparation of illustrations
A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: http://ww.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

Colour illustrations
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge that these figures will appear in colour on the Web (e.g. ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. Please indicate your preference for colour in print or on the Web only.

Tables
Should be typed with double line spacing and should have a heading.

References
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. In the text refer to the name of the author(s) (without initial) followed by the year of publication. 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. 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 by 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. Please follow the examples below when arranging your references. Examples: a. For periodicals
Paivio. A., Jansen, B., Becker, L.J., 1975. Comparisons through the mind's eye. Cognition 37, 635-647.
b. For edited symposia, special issues, etc. published in a periodical.
Benzie, J.A.H., Ballment, E., Frusher, S., 1993. Genetic structure of Penaeusmonodon in Australia: concordant results from mtDNA and allozymes. In: Gall, G.A.F., Chen, H. (Eds.), Genetics in Aquaculture IV. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium, 29 April-3 May 1991, Wuhan, China. Aquaculture, 111, 89-93.
c. For books
Strunk Jr.,W., White, E.B., 1979. The Elements of Style, 3rd ed. MacMillan, New York.
d. For multi-author books
Gurman, A.S., Kniskern, D.P., 1981. Family therapy outcome research: knowns and unknowns. In: Gurman, A.S., Kniskern, D.P. (Eds.). Handbook of Family Therapy. Brunner/ Maazel, New York, pp. 742-775.
Abbreviate the titles of periodicals mentioned in the list of references according to the International List of Periodical Title Word Abbreviations. 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. Work accepted for publication but not yet published should be referred to as 'in press'. References concerning unpublished data and 'personal communications' should not be cited in the reference list but may be mentioned in the text.

Language Polishing
Only papers written in English are considered. Authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission, please visit http://www.elsevier.com/locate/languagepolishing or contact authorsupport@elsevier.com for more information. 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

Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, Authors will be asked to sign a "Journal Publishing Agreement" (for more information on this and copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright. Acceptance of this agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail (or letter) will be sent to the corresponding Author confirming receipt of the manuscript, together with a "Journal Publishing Agreement" form and a link to the online version of this agreement.

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: contact Elsevier's Rights Department, Oxford, UK: phone (+44) 1865 843830, fax (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail permissions@elsevier.com. Requests may also be completed online via the Elsevier homepage ( http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions).

Ethics
Manuscripts submitted for publication must contain a statement to the effect that all human studies have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. It should also be stated clearly in the text that all persons gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study. Details that might disclose the identity of the subjects under study should be omitted. Reports of animal experiments must state that the "Principles of laboratory animal care" (NIH publication No. 86-23, revised 1985) were followed, as well as specific national laws (e.g. the current version of the German Law on the Protection of Animals) where applicable. The Editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the above-mentioned requirements. The author will be held responsible for false statements or for failure to fulfil the above-mentioned requirements.

Proofs
One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding Author (if we do not have an email address then paper proofs will be sent by post.) Elsevier now sends PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 available free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs. The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat.acrrsystemreqs.html#70win

If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return 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. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your 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. Return corrections within 2 days of receipt of the proofs please. Should there be no corrections, please confirm this. 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 free e-offprints, in the form 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.

Additional paper offprints can be ordered by the authors. An order form with prices will be sent to the corresponding author.

Special Subject Repositories
Certain repositories such as PubMed Central ("PMC") are authorised under special arrangement with Elsevier to process and post certain articles such as those funded by the National Institutes of Health under its Public Access policy (see elsevier.com for more detail on our policy).
Articles accepted for publication in an Elsevier journal from authors who have indicated that the underlying research reported in their articles was supported by an NIH grant will be sent by Elsevier to PMC for public access posting 12 months after final publication. The version of the article provided by Elsevier will include peer-review comments incorporated by the author into the article. Because the NIH 'Public Access' policy is voluntary, authors may elect not to deposit such articles in PMC. If you wish to 'opt out' and not deposit to PMC, you may indicate this by sending an e-mail to NIHauthorrequest@elsevier.com

Author enquiries:
For enquiries relating to the submission of articles, please visit this journal's homepage at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/mechagedev. You can track accepted articles at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle and set up e-mail alerts to inform you of when an article's status has changed, as well as 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.

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

Disclaimer
Whilst every effort is made by the publishers and editorial board to see that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement appears in this journal, they wish to make it clear that the data and opinions appearing in the articles and advertisements herein are the sole responsibility of the contributor or advertiser concerned. Accordingly, the publishers, the editorial board and editors and their respective employees, officers and agents accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever for the consequences of any inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement.