Submission of manuscripts
The acceptance of articles for publication is on the understanding that they are subject to editorial revision, and on the condition that they are contributed solely to this journal, and have not been and will not be published in whole or in part in any other journal or book.

Online Submission:

Submission to this journal is online. Use the following guidelines to prepare your article. Via the "Author Gateway" page of this journal ( http://ees.elsevier.com/mce/) 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. Although manuscript source files are converted to a PDF at the time of submission (for the review process) the 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 Journal's web site.

There are no submission fees, page charges, or obligatory reprint orders (see Reprints).

The above represents a very brief outline of this form of submission. The details are presented below in "Guide for Authors." Types of papers
(a) Full-length original research papers.
(b) Rapid Papers. These articles will be short, complete and essentially final reports. The Managing Editors will rapidly evaluate the submission on a yes/no basis and, if appropriate, immediately pass on to the Publisher. The overriding criterion for inclusion in this section is that a paper must be of sufficient immediate importance to the work of other investigators to justify urgent publication.
(c) At the Cutting Edge. These articles (2000 word equivalents maximum) will be brief essays on rapidly developing areas in contemporary endocrinology. Inferences from data presented in abstract form, or as personal communications, are welcome as pointers to the directions in which a particular field is evolving. Preferably, the essay includes at least one explanatory figure.
(d) Critical, short review articles. These contributions should preferably be sponsored by a member of the Editorial Board and will be published with the shortest possible delay at the discretion of the Editors.
(e) Book reviews.

Rapid Papers will usually be maximally 4 printed pages long (including figures, tables and references) and can be submitted to any of the Managing Editors. A page of the journal that contains nothing but text has about 750-800 words, but adequate allowance must be made for the space taken up by tables, illustrations, etc. Please note that, because of the speed of publication, the letter you send to the Managing Editor that accompanies your submitted manuscript should:

(a) provide information on reprints and address of receipt for these. For all articles 25 reprints will be made available free of charge but extra copies may be ordered (minimum order 100) in which case the address where the invoice should be sent should be supplied;
(b) provide a statement that the copyright of the article is transferred to the Publisher in the event of its acceptance to ensure the widest possible dissemination of the information. Should this transfer not be possible, could you please state the reasons.

At the Cutting Edge and Review articles should be addressed to one of our Review Editors, B. Chilton or A. Cato.

At the Cutting Edge essays will be published 6-8 weeks after acceptance. Because of the speed of publication, the letter you send to the Review Editor together with the submitted manuscript should be accompanied by the same information and statement as required for Rapid Papers. Contributions in the form of short review articles will be reviewed by the Review Editor and one or two members of the Editorial Board. The speed of publication will be enhanced when the review is sponsored by a member of the Editorial Board. All other forms of communication: book reviews, announcements and comments about topics relevant to the aims and scope of the Journal should be directed to one of the Managing Editors.

Language Editing:

Prior to submission, authors for whom English is not their first language may find it helpful to use a language and copyediting service such as that available through http://www.elsevier.com.locate/languagepolishing or may contact authorsupport@elsevier.com for more information. 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/termsconditions.

Instructions to contributors:
Author Checklist can be found in this Word file: Author Checklist


Manuscripts should be submitted online only to enable prompt forwarding to referees and to hasten selection and processing of papers. The following order should be maintained;
The title page - should contain the title of the article (not exceeding 85 characters, including spaces), author's initials, names, hospital and academic affiliations. Also, as a footnote, the corresponding author's full address (including telephone, fax, and e-mail) must be given.
A summary - not exceeding 150 words should be included at the beginning of the article. This summary should mention the essential information contained in this article, plus the author's conclusions.
Keywords - A list of 3-6 key (indexing) words should appear above the abstract. Terms indicating the origin of the material studied should usually be used as sub-keywords, i.e. within parentheses - e.g. (Rat testis), (Sertoli cell). A keyword consisting of more than one separate work will appear in the index under the first work unless specifically requested to be otherwise.
The text - should be typewritten, with single spacing, and with liberal margins on all four sides. Please number the pages of your manuscript. If a dot-matrix printer is used to generate the manuscript, the typeface must be of a near-letter quality. The journal will essentially follow the rules defined in `Information for Contributors' for Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (available from BBA Editorial Office, P.O. Box 1345, 1000 BH Amsterdam). Unfamiliar terms, arbitrary abbreviations, and trade names should be defined when first used. Unnecessary abbreviations and symbols should be avoided. For drugs, generic names should be used; trade names may be mentioned in parentheses the first time the name of the drug appears in the text. All items that should appear in italics (e.g. species and gene names) should be clearly identified by underlining. Also, super- and subscripts must clearly be above or below the typeline.
The tables - should be given a short informative title and should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals. Each table plus its caption should be submitted on a separate sheet.
The figures - should be submitted as sharp original drawings, or as well-contrasting, unmounted photographs on glossy paper. The lettering on the figures must be proportional to the size of the figure, to ensure legibility after reduction. The following symbols can be typeset and should be used in preference to non-standard forms: ˘ ˘ ♦ • [] ˘ ˘ ◊ ⊗ ⊕ * * + x
Figures should be prepared suitably for either one column width (82 mm) or the entire page width (173 mm). The maximum height is 232 mm. Each figure must have the name of the (first) author written on the back in pencil, as well as an arrow indicating the top. All figures should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals. Illustrations should be submitted in black and white unless color reproduction is requested. Color prints should be submitted in actual size and authors will be responsible for the additional costs.
References In the text, references should be cited by author and year (Harvard System). More than one paper from the same author in the same year must be identified separately, by the letters a, b, c, etc., placed after the year of publication. In the text, when referring to a work by more than two authors, the name of the first author should be given followed by et al. In the list, references should be assembled in alphabetical order on a separate sheet. Unpublished data, personal communications and papers in preparation or `submitted' 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 from the named person(s) giving permission to quote such information. Abstracts (whether published or not), theses and similar material are not to be quoted in the list. If necessary, they can be referred to in the text in parentheses and without serial number, or be presented in footnotes. Periodicals, books and edited books should accord with the following examples:
Petty, K.J., 1995. Tissue- and cell- specific distribution of proteins that interact with the human thyroid hormone receptor-ß. Mol. Cell. Endocrinol. 108, 131-142.
Berry, M.N., Barritt, G.J., Edwards, A.M., 1991. Isolated Hepatocytes: Preparation, Properties and Applications (Laboratory Techniques in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, vol 21), pp. 201-214, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Koesling, D., Bohme, E., Schultz, G., 1993. Guanylyl cyclases as effectors of hormone and neurotransmitter receptors. In: Hucho, F. (ed.), Neurotransmitter Receptors. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 325-328.
If a publication is in press, the reference should be made as complete as possible, stating the name of the journal and adding `in press'. Abbreviations of journal titles should conform to those adopted by the List of Serial Title World Abbreviations, ISDS International Centre, 20, rue Bachaumont, 75002 Paris, France (ISBN 2-904938-02-8).
Acknowledgements should be given at the end of the text part, on a separate sheet.


Figures:

Figures must be self-explanatory, titled, cited in order in the text, and numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. On separate pages, type figure titles with their (brief) legends. Figures should not be embedded in text. Several figures may be grouped into a plate on one page. Lettering on micrographs should be clearly legible. Letters 2 mm high are recommended. Limit the field of micrographs to structures specifically discussed in the report. Symbols and areas of special interest should not be close to the edges. Use a scale bar to give figure magnification in the legends and on the figures (micrometer scale). Symbols (minimum 3 mm height) used on micrographs must be explained in the figure legends. For detailed artwork instructions, see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

Colour Figures:

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 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. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions [Please note: Because of technical complications that can arise in converting colour figures to "grey scale" (for the printed version should you not opt for colour in print), please submit in addition usable black-and-white files corresponding to all the colour illustrations.

Supplementary material:

Electronic supplementary material is now accepted 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 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 is provided in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit our Corporate Website at http://www.elsevier.com/authors .

Instructions regarding GenBank/DNA Sequence Linking:
DNA sequences and GenBank Accesion numbers: Many Elsevier journals cite "gene accession numbers" in their running text and footnotes. Gene accession numbers refer to genes or DNA sequences about which further information can be found in the database at the National Center for Biotechnical Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine. Elsevier authors wishing to enable other scientists to use the accession numbers cited in their papers via links to these sources, should type this information in the following manner:
For each and every accession number cited in an article, authors should type the accession number in bold, underlined text. Letters in the accession number should always be capitalised. (See Example 1 below). This combination of letters and format will enable Elsevier's typesetters to recognize the relevant texts as accession numbers and add the required link to GenBank's sequences.


Example 1: "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 )".


Authors are encouraged to check accession numbers used very carefully. An error in a letter or number can result in a dead link.
In the final version of the printed article, the accession number text will not appear bold or underlined (see Example 2 below).


Example 2: "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)".


In the final version of the electronic copy, the accession number text will be linked to the appropriate source in the NCBI databases enabling readers to go directly to that source from the article.


Copyright:

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to Transfer copyright. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information.

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 pre-printed forms for use by authors in these cases: contact Elsevier 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).

Proofs Page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author for checking. Corrections to the proofs must be restricted too printers errors. Any substantial alterations, other than these may be charged to the author. Corrected proofs must be returned within 48 hours of receipt, otherwise the article may appear without the author's corrections to avoid delaying publication of the journal.
Please note that after the date of acceptance no further changes may be made to the manuscript.


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 peer-reviewed author's 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.

Page charge and reprints There will be no page charge and no manuscript processing fee. Upon acceptance of their papers, the authors will receive an order form which may be used to order reprints of their articles. Of each article, 25 reprints will be made available free of charge.
Electronic manuscripts Electronic manuscripts have the advantage that there is no need for the rekeying of text, thereby avoiding the possibility of introducing errors and resulting in reliable and fast delivery of proofs. For the initial submission of manuscripts for consideration, hardcopies are sufficient. For the rapid processing of papers electronic versions are essential. After final acceptance your disk plus two, final and exactly matching printed versions should be submitted together. It is important that the file saved is in the native format of the wordprocessor program used. Label the disk with the name of the computer and wordprocessor package used, your name, and the name of the file on the disk. Further information may be obtained from the Publisher.
Reproducibility of results and statistical tests Authors should state how many times experiments were repeated and whether mean or representative results are shown. Authors should be aware of the fact that, for example, triplicate samples from a single homogenate or from one cell culture do not represent three independent experiments, and that, for the purpose of statistical analysis, they must be assigned an n value of 1, not 3. Variability should be indicated statistically wherever possible as part of, but not in place of, a proper statistical analysis. If results are expressed as percentages, the absolute value corresponding to 100% must be stated. Avoid values with unjustified numbers of significant figures; in most cases three significant figures is consistent with the accuracy attained in experiments. The term `significant' should not be used unless statistical analysis supporting it was performed.
Results of statistical tests should be presented wherever possible as evidence for conclusions reached. Such information must be presented concisely to illuminate the results, but not to dominate them. The test used should be briefly described in the Materials and Methods section. Details of the diagnostic checks made for the assumptions of the statistical tests and for the validity of any transformation used should be stated clearly.
Ethical and related aspects The Managing Editors expect that all new and variant propagative material such as cell lines, DNA clones, hybridomas etc. described in the journal will be made available, upon written request and for their own use, to all qualified members of the scientific community who may wish to duplicate the published experiments. If delays in strain or vector distribution are anticipated or if they are available from sources other than the authors, this should be indicated. Authors should deposit important strains and material in publicly accessible culture collections or depositories and refer to the collections and accession numbers in the text. In the case of materials that have been distributed by individuals, authors should indicate the laboratory strain designations and the name and address of the donor as well as the original culture collection identification number, if any.
Papers describing experimental work with humans must include a statement that the Ethical Committee of the institution in which the work was done has approved it, and that the subjects gave informed consent to the work. Experiments with animals must have been done in accordance with the legal requirements of the relevant local or national authority. Procedures should be such that experimental animals do not suffer unnecessarily. Submission of a manuscript implies that the work described is complete and can be reproduced, that it has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that the corresponding author has ensured that its publication has been approved by all the authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities in the laboratories where the work was carried out, that all persons entitled to authorship have been so named, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form in either the same or another language, without the consent of the Editors and the Publisher. References should be made to previously published abstracts, etc. at the end of the Introduction or in footnotes.
The articles published in Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology represent the scientific findings and opinions of the authors. Whilst the Editors and the Publishers make every effort to ensure the accuracy of all published matter, they can accept no responsibility or liability, collectively or individually, for any erroneous, misleading or unintentionally damaging statements which may appear in the journal. Authors must draw attention to chemical or biological hazards that may be involved in materials and methods used in experiments.

Author enquiries:

For enquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission where available) please visit this journal's EES page. 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

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.