Submission of a manuscript implies that it contains original work and has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. It
also implies the transfer of the copyright from the author to the publisher. Authors should include permission to reproduce any previously
published material. Any potential conflict of interest should be disclosed in the cover letter. Authors are also requested to include
contact information (name, address, telephone, fax, and e-mail) for three potential peer reviewers, to be used at the Editor's discretion.
The review process requires 2 to 5 months.
Manuscript Submission
The Journal of Affective Disorders now proceeds
totally online via an electronic submission system. Mail submissions will no longer be accepted. By accessing the online submission system
through the Author Gateway, http://ees.elsevier.com/jad/, you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading
of the various files. When submitting a manuscript online, authors need to provide an electronic version of their manuscript and any
accompanying figures and tables.
The author should select from a list of scientific classifications, which will be used to help
the editors select reviewers with appropriate expertise, and an article type for their manuscript. Once the uploading is done, the system
automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for reviewing. All correspondence, including the Editor's decision
and request for revisions, will be processed through the system and will reach the corresponding author by e-mail.
Once a manuscript
has successfully been submitted via the online submission system authors may track the status of their manuscript using the online submission
system (details will be provided by e-mail). If your manuscript is accepted by the journal, subsequent tracking facilities are available
on Elsevier's Author Gateway, using the unique reference number provided by Elsevier and corresponding author name (details will be provided
by e-mail).
Authors may send queries concerning the submission process or journal procedures to the appropriate Editorial Office:
For Europe, Asia (except Japan), and Australasia: C. Katona, Kent Institute of Medicine and Health Sciences, Research and
Development Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7PD, UK; E-mail: journalad@kent.ac.uk.
For the American
Hemisphere, Africa, and Japan: H.S. Akiskal, University of California at San Diego, V.A. Psychiatry Service (116A), 3350 La Jolla
Village Dr., San Diego, CA 92161, USA; E-mail: hakiskal@ucsd.edu.
For further details on how to submit online, please
refer to the online EES Tutorial for authors or contact Elsevier's Author Support Team at authorsupport@elsevier.com.
Types of Papers
The Journal primarily publishes full-length Research Reports describing original work (4000-5000
words, excluding references and up to 6 tables/figures) Brief Reports (1500-2000 words, excluding references and a msximum
of 2 tables/figures) evidence-based Review Articles (up to 8000 words, excluding references and up to 10 tables/figures).
Reviews should be systematic and give details as to search strategy used. Rapid Communications (1500-2000 words, excluding
references and a maximum of 2 tables/figures). Preliminary Communications (up to 3000 words, excluding references and maximum
3 tables/figures). Books for review should be sent to the appropriate editorial office (see above).
At the discretion
of the accepting Editor-in-Chief, and/or based on reviewer feedback, authors may be allowed fewer or more than these guidelines.
Preparation of Manuscripts
Articles should be in English. The title page should appear as a separate sheet bearing title
(without article type), author names and affiliations, and a footnote with the corresponding author's full contact information, including
address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address (failure to include an e-mail address can delay processing of the manuscript).
Papers should be divided into sections headed by a caption (e.g., Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion). A structured abstract
of no more than 250 words should appear on a separate page with the following headings and order: Background, Methods, Results, Limitations,
Conclusions (which should contain a statement about the clinical relevance of the research). A list of three to six key words should
appear under the abstract.
Author Disclosure - NEW!!
Role of Funding Source. Authors are kindly requested
to briefly describe the role of the study sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data;
in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement,
authors should so state.
eg, Funding for this study was provided by NIMH Grant XXXXXXX; the NIMH had no further role in study
design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper
for publication.
The second aspect of the Journal's new policy concerns the Conflict of Interest. ALL authors are requested
to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or
organizations within three (3) years of beginning the work submitted that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence,
their work.
Examples of potential conflicts of interest which should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership
(except for personal investment purposes equal to the lesser of one percent (1%) or USD 5000), honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent
applications, registrations, and grants. If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should state that there are none.
eg,
Author Y owns shares in pharma company A. Author X and Z have consulted for pharma company B. All other authors declare that they have
no conflicts of interest.
Finally, before the references, the Journal will publish Acknowledgements, in a separate section,
and not as a footnote on the title page.
eg, We thank Mr A, who kindly provided the data necessary for our analysis, and Miss
B, who assisted with the preparation and proof-reading of the manuscript.
The submitting author is also required to make a brief
statement concerning each named author's contributions to the paper under the headingng Contributors. This statement is for editorial
purposes only and will not be published with the article.
eg, Author X designed the study and wrote the protocol. Author Y managed
the literature searches and analyses. Authors X and Z undertook the statistical analysis, and author W wrote the first draft of the manuscript.
All authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript.
NB. During the online submission process the author
will be prompted to upload these four mandatory author disclosures as separate items. They will be automatically incorporated
in the PDF builder of the online submission system. Please do not include in the main manuscripts.
References
References
should be cited in text by authors' names and year of publication (Harvard system). When referring to a work of more than two authors,
the name of the first author should be used with 'et al.'(examples: Brown, 1992; Brown and Bifulco, 1992; Brown et al., 1993, a, b).
All references cited in text should be listed at the end of the paper (double spaced) arranged in alphabetical order of first author.
More than one paper from the same author in the same year should be identified by the letter (a, b, c, etc.) after the year of publication.
The reference list should contain names and initials of all authors, year, title of paper referred to, abbreviated title of periodical
(per Index Medicus), volume, and inclusive page numbers. This Journal should be cited in the list of references as J. Affect. Disord.
Periodicals, books, and multi-author titles should accord with the following examples:
Bauer, M.S., Shea, N., McBride, L., Gavin,
C., 1997. Predictors of service utilization in veterans with bipolar disorder: a prospective study. J. Affect. Disord. 44, 159-168.
Gelenberg, A.J., Bassuk, E.L., Schoonover, S.C., 1991. The Practitioner's Guide to Psychoactive Drugs. Plenum Medical Book Company, New
York, NY.
Willner, P., 1995. Dopaminergie mechanisms in depression and mania. In: Bloom, F.E. and Kupfer, D.J. (Eds.), Psychopharmacology:
The Fourth Generation of Progress. Raven Press, NY, pp. 921-931.
Figures and Photographs
Figures and Photographs of good
quality should be submitted online as a separate file. Please use a lettering that remains clearly readable even after reduction to about
66%. For every figure or photograph, a legend should be provided. All authors wishing to use illustrations already published must first
obtain the permission of the author and publisher and/or copyright holders and give precise reference to the original work. This permission
must include the right to publish in electronic media.
Tables
Tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals
and must be cited in the text in sequence. Each table, with an appropriate brief legend, comprehensible without reference to the text,
should be typed on a separate page and uploaded online. Tables should be kept as simple as possible and wherever possible a graphical
representation used instead. Table titles should be complete but brief. Information other than that defining the data should be presented
as footnotes.
The Journal of Affective Disorders is now also included in a new initiative from Elsevier:
'Colourful e-Products'. Through this initiative, figures that appear in black & white in print can
appear in colour, online, in
ScienceDirect at http://www.sciencedirect.com.
There is no extra charge for authors who participate.
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. Because of technical complications which can arise by 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
versions of all the colour illustrations. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork/jad.
Copyright Transfer
Upon acceptance of an article, you will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright
see http://authors.elsevier.com/journal/jad. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information.
If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included in the submission, 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, Philadelphia, PA, USA: phone (+1) 215 238 7869, fax (+1) 215 238 2239, e-mail healthpermissions@elsevier.com.
One set of proofs in PDF format will be sent by email to the corresponding Author, to be checked for typesetting/editing.
No changes in, or additions to, the accepted (and subsequently edited) manuscript will be allowed at this stage. Proofreading is solely
your responsibility. A form with queries from the copyeditor may accompany your proofs. Please answer all queries and make any corrections
or additions required. The Publisher reserves the right to proceed with publication if corrections are not communicated. Return corrections
within 2 days of receipt of the proofs. Should there be no corrections, please confirm this.
Elsevier will do everything possible
to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. In order to do this we need your help. When you receive
the (PDF) proof of your article for correction, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication.
Subsequent corrections will not be possible, so please ensure your first sending is complete. Note that this does not mean you have any
less time to make your corrections, just that only one set of corrections will be accepted.
Reprints
Twenty-five reprints
are provided free of charge. Additional copies may be ordered via the reprint order form sent with the proofs. There are no page charges.
Author enquiries
For enquiries relating to the submission of articles please visit Elsevier's Author Gateway at http://authors.elsevier.com/journal/jad
. The Author Gateway also provides the facility to track accepted articles and set up e-mail alerts to inform you of when an article's
status has changed, as well as detailed artwork guidelines, 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
