Official Journal of the Japanese Society of Child Neurology

Submissions considered for publication to Brain & Development are received on the understanding that they have not been accepted for publication elsewhere and that all of the authors agree to the submission.

Submission of manuscripts
Brain & Development now proceeds totally online via an online submission system. In case you do not have an internet connection, please contact the Editor-in-Chief for alternative instructions. By accessing the online submission via Elsevier Editorial System, http://ees.elsevier.com/bradev 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 Central Editorial Office: Makiko Kaga, Editor-in-Chief: bradev@ncnp.go.jp.

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.

In general, manuscripts should be prepared according to the guidelines produced by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors: Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. JAMA 1997;269:927-934.

Language
Only English articles will be accepted. Authors whose native language is not English should enlist the help of colleagues who are proficient in scientific English.

Ethics
For all manuscripts dealing with experimental work involving human subjects, specify that informed consent was obtained following a full explanation of the procedure(s) undertaken. Patients should be referred to by number; do not use real names, initials or hospital numbers. Also, the design of special scientific research in human diseases or of animal experiments should be approved by the ethical committee of the institution or conform to guidelines on animal care and use currently applied in the country of origin. This must be stated at an appropriate point in the article.

Patient details
Unless you have written permission from the patient (or, where applicable, the next of kin), personal details of patients included in any part of the article and in any supplementary materials (including all illustrations and videos) must be removed before submission. For further information see http://www.elsevier.com/patientphotographs.

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 years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work. This must be stated on covering letter or at the end of the text under a subheading ?Conflict of interest statement.? See also http://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest.

Funding Body Agreements and Policies
Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors whose articles appear in journals published by Elsevier, 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.

Referee recommendations and negative preference
To help ensure that papers are reviewed by the most suitable referees, authors may provide a list of three potential referees (including names, addresses, fax and e-mail) who do not have conflict of interest in the research being submitted. The Editors reserve the right to choose different referees from the ones suggested. You may also suggest reviewers you do not want to review your manuscript, but please state your reasons for doing so.

Article Types

Original Articles
These may describe original clinical or laboratory research. The main text of original articles should generally be in the format of: Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials/Subjects, Methods, Results and Discussion. Authors are reminded that articles should be clear and concise and non-standard abbreviations avoided. Please provide approximately 250 words structured abstract and 3-9 keywords separately. Up to 30 references are recommended.

Reviews
Reviews may concern either clinical or laboratory scientific topics. Relatively brief reviews of between 2,500 and 3,000 words are particularly welcome. Longer reviews are acceptable when justified by topic and comprehensiveness.

Rapid Communications
These should deal with scientific material of top priority deserving rapid publication, and should be less than 2,000 words, with a total of no more than 4 tables and figures plus up to 15 references. These papers will appear in the next available issue after acceptance.

Case Reports
A case report should describe a new disease, or confirmation of a rare or new disease; a new insight into pathogenesis, etiology, diagnosis, or treatment; or a new finding associated with a currently known disease. A report of special scientific investigation, even in a single patient, will be regarded as an original article. The length should ordinarily be less than 1,000 words, with no more than a total of 3 tables and figures and 10 references. This can be exceeded only when justified by extensive special studies.

Letters to the Editor
These should be up to 300 words in length, and should be submitted in response to material published in the journal to make small clinical points or to introduce a point of view. They can be accompanied by up to 5 references but no illustrations. Letters do not carry an abstract.

Proceedings of Meetings
Full manuscripts or abstracts of papers presented at scientific meetings shall be considered for publication as Proceedings in the form either of a supplementary volume, a special issue, or as a section in an issue. Publication will be at the discretion of the editors. Printing costs should be borne by the contributor.

As an approximate guide to authors judging the length of their paper, the following estimation may be used: 3 typewritten A4 pages = 1 printed page; 3 'average' figures + legends = 1 printed page; 3 'average' tables = 1 printed page; 35 references = 1 printed page.

Manuscript format
The manuscript should be set out with the following sections beginning on a new page:

(i) Title page (title taking up to 80 spaces; full names and affiliations of all cited authors with the surname in uppercase letters; corresponding author's name, full mailing address, fax number, and email address; present address of authors where appropriate);
(ii) Structured abstract and 3-9 key words;
(iii) Text and acknowledgments;
(iv) References;
(v) Figure legends;
(vi) Tables with their legends.


Abstracts for original articles or reviews should be approximately 250 words long; case reports and communications may be shorter. The abstract should summarize the methods, results and conclusions of the article. An abstract is often presented separate from the article, so it must be able to stand alone.

References
References to literature must be indicated by Arabic numerals in square parentheses which run consecutively through the paper. Where a reference is cited more than once in the text the same number should be used each time. Reference style should follow the "Vancouver" style described in the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" (further information can be found at http://www.icmje.org.). The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus.

Digital Object Identifier
The digital object identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisher upon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly "Articles in press" because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information. The correct format for citing a DOI is shown as follows (example taken from a document in the journal Brain & Development):
doi:10.1016/j.braindev.2007.12.013

Exceptions:
(1) List all authors or editors, but if there are more than six, list first six plus et al. (2) Full first page number and shortened form for last page number of articles should be provided. (e.g. 51-9). Unpublished data and personal communications should be given in round parentheses in the text and not as references.

Japanese journals should appear with the full Japanese name in Roman letters, e.g. No To Hattatsu. To refer to a book or journal article written in Japanese, the phrase " (in Japanese)" should be added after the title of the book or article.

Examples of journals
[1] Okanishi T, Saito Y, Ohno K. Acute encephalitis with refractory, repetitive partial seizures (AERRPS). Brain Dev 2009;31:92-3.
[2] Barnerias C, Boddaert N, Pascale G, Isabelle D, Pannier LH, Dulac O, et al. Unusual magnetic resonance imaging features in Menkes disease. Brain Dev 2008;30:489-92.


Electronic publication ahead of print
[3] Gunji A, Inagaki M, Inoue Y, Takeshima Y, Kaga M. Event-related potentials of self-face recognition in children with pervasive developmental disorders. Brain Dev 2009, in press. Doi: 10.1016/j.braindev.2008.04.011.

Journal article in Japanese
[4] Ogawa A, Hamamoto K, Hirose S, Fujikawa M, Mitsudome A. Sympathetic skin response in patients with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (in Japanese). No To Hattatsu (Tokyo) 2007;39:347-50.

Examples of books and other monographs

Personal author(s)
[5] Aicardi J. Diseases of the Nervous System in Childhood. 3rd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc; 2009.

Editor(s), compiler(s)
[6] Dawna L. Armstrong, William Halliday, Cynthia Hawkings, Sachio Takashima, editor. Pediatric Neuropathology: A Text-Atlas. New York: Springer; 2007

Chapter in a book
[7] Sarnat HB. Cerebral plasticity in embryological development. In: Fukuyama Y, Suzuki Y, Kamoshita S, Casaer P, editors. Fetal and perinatal neurology. Basel: Karger; 1992. p. 118-31.

Japanese book
[8] Igarashi T, Ishii M, Takida J, Hiraiwa M, Mizuguchi M, Yokota S, editors. Evidence-based Pediatrics 2007-2008 (in Japanese). Tokyo: Chugai-Igakusha; 2007.

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.

Photographs of identifiable subjects must be accompanied by signed permission from patient or legal representative authorizing publication. Photographs in which faces or eyes should be covered with black bars if necessary. For further information see http://www.elsevier.com/patientphotographs.

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.

Please refer to the generic Elsevier artwork instructions: http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Colour reproduction
Brain & Development 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://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Preparation of supplementary data
Supplementary files supplied will be published online at no cost alongside the electronic version of your article. Supplementary files include, but are not limited to, supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, and sound clips. Please ensure that data are provided in one of our recommended file formats to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Copyright Transfer
Upon acceptance of an article, you will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/locate/copyright. 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. Requests for materials from other Elsevier publications may also be completed on-line via the Elsevier homepage http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions.

Retained author rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) retain certain rights; for details you are referred to: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights.

PDF Proofing
One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author (if we do not have an e-mail 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 (or higher) 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. Corrected proofs must be returned within 48 hours of receipt. If the Publisher has not received a reply after 15 days, the assumption will be made that there are no errors to correct, and the article will be published after in-house correction.

Reprints
A total of 50 reprints of each paper will be provided free of charge to the corresponding author. Additional copies can be ordered at prices shown on the reprint order form, and should be returned with the corrected proofs. Reprints ordered after the print run has been completed will be subject to a higher charge.