Official Journal of the Society for Free Radical Biology and Medicine - An Affiliate Journal of the International Society for Free Radical Research (SFRR)

Free Radical Biology & Medicine
Editorial Office
Elsevier Inc.
525 B Street, Suite 1900
San Diego, CA 92101-4495, USA
Tel: +1(619) 699-6299
Fax: +1(619) 699-6859
frbm@elsevier.com


Free Radical Biology & Medicine is an international, interdisciplinary publication encompassing chemical, biochemical, physiological, pathological, pharmacological, toxicological, and medical approaches to research on free radicals and oxidative biology. The journal welcomes original contributions dealing with all aspects of free radical and oxidant research including both in vitro and in vivo studies.


Publications


Original Contributions: Peer-reviewed, high-quality, concise research investigations that represent new and significant contributions to science.
Review Articles: Reviews of major areas or subareas in free radical biology. These articles are peer-reviewed. Letters suggesting topics or authors for reviews or forums or inquiring about the suitability of particular topics should be addressed to Dr. Henry Forman at the address listed above.
Hypothesis Papers: Current state-of-the-art reviews of significant frontier areas of free radicals in biology and medicine that present a new and novel hypothesis with broad implications for further research.
Letters to the Editor: Comments on papers published in the journal and on other matters of interest to free radical researchers.
Book Reviews: As solicited by the editors.
Announcements and Calendar: Notices of forthcoming meetings, courses, and other events relevant to free radical researchers.
The Radical View: Editorials and news of general interest.
Methods in Free Radical Biology & Medicine: By invitation only.


There are no page charges for FRBM.


Manuscript submission

Submission to this journal proceeds totally online. Via the submission site of this journal ( http://ees.elsevier.com/frbm) 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.


A submission letter should always accompany the submitted paper, providing the following information:


(a) The full name and address of the corresponding author (including telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address).
(b) Any known change of address within a period of six months after submission of the paper.
(c) The type of paper (Original Contribution, Review Article, or Hypothesis Paper).
(d) The full title of the submitted paper.
(e) The names and addresses of at least four potential reviewers (including telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address). If there are compelling reasons for excluding particular individuals as potential reviewers, details can be mentioned. However, the ultimate reviewer selection is at the Editors' discretion.


Copies of relevant papers that have been submitted elsewhere or are in press should be provided.


Revisions and Publication Dates


Papers requiring revision and/or condensation will be returned to the authors by the Editors, specifying the requested alterations and including the (anonymous) referee reports.


Policy

A manuscript is accepted for consideration for publication with the understanding that it has not been published elsewhere (except in abstract form or as part of a public lecture or academic thesis), that it is not concurrently under review elsewhere, 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, 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. Reference should be made to previously published abstracts, etc., in the introductory section.


When conducting scientific research using human tissue and which is intended for publication in FRBM, authors should follow procedures that are in accordance with ethical standards as formulated in the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 (revised 1983). When conducting experiments on animals, authors should adhere to the local or national requirements for the care and use of laboratory animals.


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 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 preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases: please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions.


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.


Preparation of papers


Authors should consult a recent issue of the journal to familiarize themselves with the conventions and layout of the articles.


Responsibility for the accuracy of the material in the manuscript, including bibliographic citations, lies entirely with the authors.


Full-length papers


The entire text, including figure and table legends and the reference list, should be double-spaced, leaving a left margin of approximately 3 cm (1 inch). All pages should be numbered consecutively.


Title Page. Page 1 should be concise, descriptive, and informative. It should include (1) the title of the article (80 spaces maximum); (2) the authors' full names (first name, middle initial(s), and surname); (3) affiliations (the name of department (if any), institution, city, and state or country where the work was done), indicating which authors are associated with which affiliations; (4) the name, address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address of the corresponding author.


Abstract and Keywords. Page 2 should include an abstract of no more than 200 words. The abstract should be self-explanatory and intelligible without reference to the body of the paper and with an emphasis on the new aspects of the study. Because abstracts are increasingly used by abstracting services that will cut off after a fixed number of words, it is important not to exceed the maximum number of words and to avoid bibliographic references and nonstandard abbreviations. Following the abstract, list keywords for indexing. These keywords should cover precisely the contents of the submitted paper and should give readers sufficient information as to the relevance of the paper to their particular field.


Text. After the abstract, Original Contributions should be organized in the following format: Introduction, Materials and Methods (or Experimental Procedures), Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, List of Abbreviations, References. Authors may insert a short Summary/Conclusions section following the Discussion section if they wish. In some cases, Results and Discussion sections may more appropriately be combined than separated (at the author's discretion). Every effort should be made to avoid jargon, to spell out all nonstandard abbreviations the first time they are mentioned, and to present the contents of the study as clearly and as concisely as possible.


Hypothesis Papers and Review Articles should be organized to provide a logical progression of ideas and concepts. In most instances, Hypothesis Papers should include an Introduction and a Summary or Conclusions section.


Review Articles should be organized in the following format: Contents (using main and second-order section headings), Introduction, Text, Conclusions or Summary, Acknowledgments (optional), Appendices (optional), List of Abbreviations, References.


Acknowledgments. Use this section to acknowledgment grant support and individuals who were of direct help in the preparation of the study.


References. Type references double-spaced and number them consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text, not alphabetically. Cite references in the text, tables, and legends in sequential, numerical order, placing the numbers in square brackets. References cited only in tables or figure legends should be numbered in accordance with a sequence established by the first mention in the text of the particular table or figure. Journal titles are to be abbreviated according to the List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Examples of reference style are as follows:


Journal:
[1] Smith, M. A.; Casadesus, G.; Joseph, J. A.; Perry, G. Amyloid-β and τ serve antioxidant functions in the aging and Alzheimer brain. Free Radic. Biol. Med. 33:1194-1199; 2002.


Book:
[2] Sen, C. K.; Packer, L.; Hänninen, O., eds. Handbook of oxidants and antioxidants in exercise. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 1999.


Chapter in edited book:
[3] Zuo, L.; Clanton, T. L. Detection of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in tissues using redox-sensitive fluorescent probes. In: Sen, C. K.; Packer, L., eds. Redox cell biology and genetics, part A. Methods in enzymology, volume 352. San Diego: Academic Press; 2002: 307-325.


Abstract:
[4] Freeman, B.; Aslan, M. Tissue oxidation and nitration reactions in a mouse model and humans with sickle cell disease (abstract). Free Radic. Biol. Med. 33:S298; 2002.


Manuscripts that have been accepted for publication may be cited as "in press" in the reference list using the estimated year of publication:
[5] Hoshino, N.; Kimura, T.; Yamaji, A.; Ando, T. Damage to the cytoplasmic membranes of Escherichia coli by catechin-copper (II) complexes. Free Radic. Biol. Med. In press; 1999.


Footnotes. Footnotes should be indicated by superscript Arabic numerals, but typed at the end of the reference list and keyed to the appropriate manuscript page. Footnotes should be used to list nonstandard abbreviations and their definitions, for references to unpublished work (including work submitted for publication), personal communications, proprietary names of trademarked drugs, and other material not appropriately referred to in the text or in the numbered reference list. Because footnotes tend to interrupt the natural flow of ideas in a manuscript, they should be kept to a minimum.


Tables. Tables should be used sparingly: they should be used only when the data cannot be presented clearly in the text. Each table and every column should be provided with an explanatory heading, with units of measure clearly indicated. The same data should not be reproduced in both tables and figures. Footnotes to a table should be indicated by superscript, lowercase letters. Tables and illustrations (along with their footnotes or captions) should be completely intelligible without reference to the text.


Figures. Figures should be used to illustrate experimental results clearly. Illustrations for reproduction should normally be about twice the final size required as figures are often reduced to a one-column width. Symbols, lettering, and lines should be sufficiently large and clear to be legible after reduction. Photographs of tissues, cells, or subcellular components should be included only when they are essential. Please visit our Web site at www.elsevier.com/locate/freeradbiomed for detailed instructions on preparing electronic artwork.


Color Figures. Color figures may be included in the article in the printed issue, but generally this expense must be borne by the authors. However, if, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures, then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. For color 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 www.elsevier.com/locate/freeradbiomed [Please note: Because of technical complications that can arise in converting color figures to "gray scale" (for the printed version should you not opt for color in print), please submit in addition usable black-and-white files corresponding to all the color illustrations.] As only one figure caption may be used for both color and black and white versions of figures, please ensure that figure captions are meaningful for both versions, if applicable.


Figure Legends. Legends should be collated, typed double-spaced, numbered with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations, and submitted on a separate page. When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, each should be explained clearly in the legend. For photomicrographs, the internal scale markers should be defined and the method of staining should be given. The legends should permit the figures to be understood without reference to the text. If the figure has been previously published, a credit line should be included and a permission letter supplied by the author.


Nomenclature and Abbreviations. Stylistic details must be kept constant. For example, electron spin resonance is abbreviated either ESR or EPR (for electron paramagnetic resonance). Either can be used, but both should be given and stated as equivalent at the first mention. (This is the recommendation of the International EPR Society.) Formulas for radicals follow IUPAC recommendations and contain a superscripted (not centered) dot that precedes a charge, if any. Thus, superoxide is represented by O₂˙^-, not O₂ ^-, or some other permutation.


Other examples are HO˙ or ˙OH (not OH˙), RO˙, ROO˙/˙NO₂,˙CH₂OH, etc. In the text, names of radicals are preferred, rather than using formulas in the middle of sentences. For names of radicals, use alkoxyl, peroxyl, and hydroxyl and not alkoxy, peroxy, etc. (correct nomenclature requires the 'l' on the end of radicals, as in methyl, hydroxyl, etc.). Use tert, not t-, etc., for abbreviations. For example, CORRECT: tert-butoxyl, sec-peroxyl; INCORRECT: t-butoxy, s-peroxy.


Where possible, nomenclature and abbreviations should be in accordance with internationally agreed rules. When an enzyme or compound is first mentioned in the text, specification by its code number accompanied by its systematic name (as distinct from its trivial name) is requested by the Editors, but not checked for correctness.


Official names of drugs are preferred to trade names.


Standard three-letter codes for the common amino acids may be used freely and without definition, but the one-letter codes should be restricted to comparisons of long protein sequences. Similar considerations apply to nucleosides and nucleotides. Standard three-letter codes for carbohydrates and for purine and pyrimidine bases may also be used. All other abbreviations should be defined when they first appear in the text. If an extensive list of abbreviations is used, please provide an alphabetical list with definitions followed by the references at the end of the article.


Temperatures denoted by an unqualified degree symbol are assumed to be Celsius. For solution strengths, percentages should be expressed by the sign %, followed in cases of ambiguity by w/w, w/v, or v/v [e.g., 5% (w/v) means 5 g/100 ml].


All nonstandard abbreviations should be defined in a footnote.


Letters to the Editor
Letters dealing with published articles or matters of interest to free radical researchers are invited. They should be short (not more than 400 words), typed double-spaced, and include references where appropriate. Where a published article is involved, the original author(s) will be invited to submit a response.


Preparation of supplementary material


Supplementary files offer additional possibilities for publishing 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). 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. For more detailed instructions, please visit the journal homepage at www.elsevier.com/locate/freeradbiomed, click on "Artwork instructions," and then click on "Multimedia files".


Proofs


Authors of Original Contributions and Review Articles will be sent PDF proofs via e-mail. Because acceptance is based upon the submitted version of the paper, it is essential that no new material be inserted in the text at the time of proofreading; furthermore, no alteration to style or meaning will be permitted at this stage. Any new material that the authors wish to introduce for reasons of scientific accuracy will be checked by the Editors and a charge may be made for corrections. Authors are encouraged to return their proof corrections by e-mail.


Offprints


The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail or, alternatively, 25 free paper offprints. 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.


Abstracting


Free Radical Biology & Medicine is abstracted by all of the major services, including Index Medicus, Current Contents, Science Citation Index Biological Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts, Current Awareness in Biological Sciences, Excerpta Medica, CSA Life Sciences Collection, and Toxicology Abstracts.