An International Journal devoted to the Physics and Chemistry of Biological Phenomena
Guide for Authors
An International Journal Devoted to the Physics and Chemistry of Biological Phenomena
Biophysical
Chemistry publishes original research and authoritative reviews at the interface of physics, chemistry and biology. The journal focuses
on experimental and theoretical topics relevant to the understanding of biological macromolecules and biological systems in terms of
the principles and methods of physics and chemistry. Papers dealing with appropriate model systems, theoretical treatments and simulations,
and new methodologies and their interpretation, as well as the interactions, structures and functions of individual biological molecules
and of supramolecular structures, are welcome.
Most work is published in the form of original research papers covering the areas outlined
above. Urgent work of more topical interest may appear as Letters - short articles, no longer than 10 double-spaced manuscript
pages (text and figures/tables included). Manuscripts considered as Letters must report findings of unusual significance and timeliness.
Review of Letters will be completed within 2 weeks and publication will be offered only to manuscripts requiring at most minor revisions. Critical reviews are published by invitation of the Editors, but unsolicited submissions are also welcome. A modest fee will be
paid to the senior author upon publication of an invited review. For more details please contact one of the Editors. Occasional Special
Issues are dedicated to specific topics, commemorations or conference proceedings, at the discretion of the Editors.
Submission
information
Submission of a paper to Biophysical Chemistry is understood to imply that this is original and unpublished
and has neither been published in part nor is being considered elsewhere, and that all authors agree to the submission. All papers are
peer reviewed, but the Editors reserve the right to return manuscripts promptly if, in their judgement, the work does not fall within
the remit of the journal.
All manuscripts must be written in English, and typed with double or triple spacing with a wide margin.
Authors should remember that the journal is international, and widely read by those whose first language is not English. Clarity and
precision are usually best achieved by the use of short words and simple sentences. Manuscripts that do not meet an acceptable level
of clarity will be returned for editing prior to full review.
Submission and reviewing for all types of manuscripts to Biophysical
Chemistry proceeds totally online via our Elsevier Editorial System (EES) Website at: http://ees.elsevier.com/biophyschem/
By using EES, our authors will benefit from the considerably shorter time required to reach an editorial decision about publication.
When submitting via the EES website, you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files and data, among
others a submission letter and the names and addresses (including e-mail) of at least three possible referees. The last stage
of submitting your manuscript is selecting one of our Editors (see information below) you wish to handle your manuscript. Various formats
are allowed for the initial submission, including PDF files. The final revision must be as a Word or other suitable word processor document.
When a Word or equivalent document is uploaded as the initial submission, the system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof,
which is then used for reviewing. All correspondence, including the editor's request for revision and final decision, will be by e-mail.
Only in exceptional circumstances will other forms of submission be permitted. If submission via the web-site is not possible, submit
one paper copy plus diskette to or send a single electronic file (with embedded figures and tables) to one of our Editors:
Principal
Editor:
A. Cooper
Department of Chemistry,
Joseph Black Building,
University of Glasgow,
G12 8QQ Scotland,
UK
Tel: +44 141 330 5278
Fax: +44 141 330 2910
E-mail:alanc@chem.gla.ac.uk
Editor:
E. Di Cera
Washington University School of Medicine
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Physics
Box 8231
St Louis
MO 63110,
USA
Tel.: (+1) 314 362 4185;
Fax: (+1) 314 747 5354;
E-mail: enrico@wustl.edu
Manuscript preparation
Authors should their manuscript in double-spaced typing on pages of uniform size, with a margin of 2.5 cm and paginated. The manuscript
is to be preceded by a page bearing the name, full postal address, fax and telephone numbers, and e-mail address of the corresponding
author. Proofs will be sent to this address unless specified otherwise. The number of pages in the manuscript, and the number of tables
and illustrations should also be indicated. Words or letters in the text, which are to be printed in italics, should be underlined.
To facilitate the review process, and as prompted by EES, authors should supply a cover letter including a list of at least three suggested
referees (name, address, email) suitably qualified to comment on the manuscript. Authors may also, if they wish, specify individuals
who should not be approached as referees.
Title
The title should be chosen for its information content such that it conveys
to the reader the particular nature of the contents of the paper.This should be followed by the name(s) of the author(s) and the name
and address where the work was carried out. If the address of an author at the time at which the paper will appear is not the laboratory
in which the work was carrled out, this may be stated in a footnote. Acknowledgements of financial support should not be made by a footnote
to the title or name of the author, but should be included in Acknowledgements at the end of the paper.
Papers should be divided
into sections, using headings (e.g., Abstract, Introduction, Experimental, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgements, References).
Abstract
All scientific papers (including notes) should have an abstract in English, on a separate sheet. It should consist
of a brief and factual account of the contents and conclusions of the paper, in addition to an indication of any new information which
it may contain and of its relevance. No references or uncommon abbreviations should be given in the abstract. The abstract of 100-150
words should contain all the pertinent details of the methods and the results obtained, and be written in such a way so that it will
address a wider audience.
Keywords
Authors are requested to select a maximum of six keywords (or short phrases) and include
them below the abstract. These will be used in the compilation of the volume cumulative index and will be printed on the title page of
the article. (Authors should note that American spelling is used and that plural terms are avoided where possible.) Important factors
of the investigation as a whole should be selected as keywords and general terms like, membrane, transport, etc., should be avoided.
In some cases, the general term can be used when qualified, e.g., membrane protein, K+ transport, etc. The key words should be chosen
so that the combination of these (as they will appear in the published index) will give the reader sufficient direct information as to
the relevance of a given article to his/her particular field. Example: Title: Computer simulation of T3/T7 phage infection using
lag times Keywords: Infection mechanism; Protein synthesis; DNA replication; Lag time; Computer simulation; (Phage T3, Phage
T7).
The submitted list may be amended by the editorial office to ensure that index entries are consistent throughout the cumulative
index. If words appear in parentheses, this indicates that these words are appropriate to the article, but are not of sufficient indexing
value; these words will not appear as individual index entries, but will be printed each time a keyword index entry appears.
Introduction
All scientific papers should have a short introduction. This should state clearly the reasons for the work and what is new in the paper,
with brief reference to previous work on the subject.
Formulae
Displayed formulae should be numbered. Vectors will be
printed in bold-face italics (heavy, slanting type), and should be indicated by a wavy underlining in the typescript. Special attention
should be paid to characters that can easily be misread, such as i (lowercase), I (cap), l (el), 1 (one), ' (prime), o (lower case),
O (cap.), 0 (zero), degree, u, v, (vee), Greek nu, V (cap), x, multiplication sign, X, z, Z, p, P, Greek rho, etc., and definition of
such characters should be given in the margin.
Tables
Considerable thought should be given to the layout of the tables,
so that the significance of the results can be grasped readily and quickly.
It should also be remembered that the length of a printed
page is always greater than its width. Vertical lines are not used to separate the columns of tables.
Tables should be typed using
double spacing on a separate page. Each table should have an arabic number and a title, which makes its general meaning understandable
without reference to the text. When tabulating data, units and symbols should be used in column headings only, and not within the columns
themselves. The appropriate places for the insertion of the tables should be indicated in the text of the manuscript. Table legends should
be typed with double or triple spacing.
Illustrations
Submit figures and illustrations in electronic format: To create
digital artwork, please consult the Elsevier Electronic Artwork web site;
http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions,
which contains appropriate instructions. Please note that Elsevier does allow the submission of MS Office files (Word, Powerpoint, Excel),
provided they meet certain conditions (see information given on above mentioned website). It is preferred to save files in JPEG or TIFF
format. Label figures as referenced in text and include a list of figure legends.
If electronic format is not available, submit as
laser-printed paper copies or glossy prints. On the back of each paper-copy illustration, indicate the first author's name and the figure
number.
The figures should be supplied separate from the main text. The line drawings should be original printer/plotter output or
drawn in black ink, with careful lettering, large enough (3-5 mm) to remain legible after reduction for printing. The photographs should
be high-contrast originals; any scale markers should be inserted on the photograph itself, not drawn below it. Each figure should have
a number and a caption; the captions themselves should be collected on a separate sheet. Text graphics such as chemical structures should
also be supplied on separate pages.
Written permission from the original author and publisher must be obtained for the use of figures
already published. Its source must be indicated in the legend.
Free Colour Online
Colour illustrations will always be
processed without charges for appearance on the electronic version of the journal. In addition, they can be reproduced in print as well,
but this will be at the author's expense, the cost being determined by the number of pages and the number of colours needed.
Abbreviations,
symbols and terms
When it is advantageous to the reader, abbreviations or symbols may be used. Should there be any doubt about
a particular symbol or abbreviation, the full expression followed by the abbreviation (in parentheses) should be given the first time
it appears in the text. Abbreviations used in a figure should be explained ln the legend; those used in a table should be taken to use
correct terminology.
Quantities, symbols and units
The International System of Units (SI) must be used. Symbols for physical
quantities (SI, SI derived, used together with the SI) are recommended, for example, by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemsitry
(IUPAC) or by the International Organization for Standardization.
References
In the text, reference to other parts of
the paper should be made by section (or equation) number, not by page number.
References to the Literature:
References
should be numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text. The list of references at the end of the manuscript should be given
using double spacing on a separate sheet of the typescript. References should include the title of the work referred to. Footnotes should
not include bibliographic material. Authors should check whether every reference in the text appears in the list of references and vice
versa. Numerals for references should be given in square brackets [ ] in the text. Abbreviations for the titles of journals should be
according to the Bibliographic Guide for Editors and Authors, American Chemical Society, 1974. Expressions such as et al., idem and ibid.
should not be used in the list of references: details of each reference should be given in full.The following system should be used: Book: R. Zallen, The physics of amorphous solids (Wiley, New York, 1983). Journal articles: T.P.Burghardt, J.E. Lyke
and K. Ajtai, Fluorescence emission and anisotropy from rhodamine dimers, Biophys. Chem. 59 (1996) 119-131.
Paper in a contributed
volume: E. Stelzer and H. Ruf, in: Physical chemistry of transmembrane motion, ed. G. Spach, Studies in physical and theoretical
chemistry, vol. 24 (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1983) p. 37. Unpublished paper: D. Schallreuther, Ph.D. thesis, Universitat Konstanz
(1982)."Personal communication", "in preparation", "unpublished results", etc., should not be cited in the reference list but in the
text.
Supplementary Material
Biophysical Chemistry invites authors of articles submitted for publication to provide supplementary
material in electronic form. Supplementary material that does not appear in the print version of an article can be found online on ScienceDirect
(http://www.sciencedirect.com).
Supplementary material (even though
not printed) is an integral part of a journal article and therefore will be sent to the reviewers along with the manuscript. Because
this material will be mounted exactly as submitted by the author, we recommend that the material be presented in an electronic format
that is readily accessible to the community. To ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please provide the data 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. Please note, however, that supplementary material will not appear in the printed journal.
Copyright transfer
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 the 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 or a link to the online version of this agreement.
Subscribers may reproduce
tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of
the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations
and translations (please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions).
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: please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions.
Reprints
Twenty-five free reprints per contribution will be made available. Additional reprints may be ordered by filling in and returning to
the publisher the order form sent with the proof of the article.
Correspondence
All correspondence with the editors or
publishers should contain full reference to the paper concerned, i.e. the names of the authors, the full title, as well as the date of
submission and, if known and applicable, the manuscript number assigned during the reviewing process.
Authors can keep track on the
progress of their accepted article, and set up e-mail alerts informing them of changes to their manuscript's status, by using
the "Track your Papers" Tool on Elsevier's author Gateway at: http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle This site can also
be accessed for any other enquiries.
Funding body agreements and policies
Elsevier has established agreements and developed
policies to allow authors who publish in Elsevier journals to comply with potential manuscript archiving requirements as specified as conditions of their grant awards. To learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies
Contact details for questions arising after the acceptance of an article, especially
those relating to proofs, are provided when an article is accepted for publication.
For further information contact:
Elsevier
Ireland Ltd
Elsevier HouseBrookvale Plaza
East Park
Shannon
County Clare
Ireland
Fax: +353 61 709100;
Tel.:
+353 61 709600
E-mail: postmaster@elsevier.ie
