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FREE RADICAL BIOLOGY & MEDICINE
Official Journal of the Society for Free Radical Biology and Medicine - An Affiliate Journal of the International Society for Free Radical Research (SFRR)

Guide for Authors

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. Articles may be of any length; however, unusually long articles should be discussed with the Editor-in-Chief (Dr. Kelvin J.A. Davies) before submission.
Serial Reviews: A collection of, normally invited, reviews on a specific topic.
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.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

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by the responsible authorities in the laboratories where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in either the same or another language, without the consent of the Editors and the Publisher.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.

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright, see External link http://www.elsevier.com/authors. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. A letter will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript. A form facilitating transfer of copyright will be provided after acceptance.

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: contact Elsevier Global Rights Department, P.O. Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; phone: (+44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail: permissions@elsevier.com.

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

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.

Manuscripts for publication in FRBM should be sent to the central editorial offices as indicated below:

Original Contributions, Hypothesis Papers, and Items for the Announcements and Calendar section to the attention of: Kelvin J. A. Davies, Los Angeles, CA, USA
or
Victor M. Darley-Usmar, Birmingham, AL, USA
or
Phyllis A. Dennery, Philadelphia, PA, USA
or
Henry Jay Forman, Merced, CA, USA
or
Matthew B. Grisham, Shreveport, LA, USA
or
Harry Ischiropoulos, Philadelphia, PA, USA
or
Balaraman Kalyanaraman, Milwaukee, WI, USA
or
Kevin Moore, London, UK
at
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
E-mail: frbm@elsevier.com

Review Articles, letters suggesting topics or authors for reviews or forums or inquiring about the suitability of particular topics, and items for the Announcements and Calendar section may be sent to Dr. Kelvin J.A. Davies (address above).

Letters to the Editor may be sent to Dr. Davies (address above).

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.

No Page Charges; 25 Free Offprints

There are no page charges for FRBM. Twenty-five offprints are provided free of charge to the corresponding author of each accepted article. An offprint order form and a price list are sent to the corresponding author so that extra offprints may be ordered.

Publication

For information concerning your accepted manuscript, proofs, etc., please contact the Issue Manager at Elsevier. (Contact details provided on letter of acknowledgment sent to author after receipt of the manuscript by the Publisher.) Always quote FRBM and the article number.

Ethics

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.

PREPARATION OF PAPERS

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

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 and carry a running title, in the upper right corner, starting with the title page of the manuscript. Every new paragraph should be clearly indented. Do not use right-hand justification as it alters word spacings.

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) acknowledgments of grant support and of individuals who were of direct help in the preparation of the study; (5) the name, address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address of the corresponding author and, if different, the author to whom the 25 free offprints are to be sent; and (6) running title (not more than 30 spaces).

Abstract and Keywords. Page 2 should include the title of the article, followed by the abstract, which should have 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 which 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. On a separate page, include a brief biography of each author (not to exceed 150 words total for all authors), focusing on educational background, research areas, honors, and personal interests.

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 *, †,‡, etc., but typed at the end of the reference list and keyed to the appropriate manuscript page. Footnotes should be used 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 External link http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions 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 External link http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions . [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, P450 is not typed P450; 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-, 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].

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.

Book Reviews

Authors are invited to submit suggestions for book reviews to any Editor.

Announcements and Calendar

The Editors welcome notices of meetings, conferences, and other events of interest to free radical researchers. All such items will be listed (free of charge) in the journal issues preceding the event and will be updated upon request.

PREPARATION OF SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

Elsevier now accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. 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. Please note, however, that supplementary material will not appear in the printed journal. For more detailed instructions, please visit External link http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION

Authors are requested to submit their manuscripts electronically. If you are unable to provide an electronic submission of your paper, please contact the Editorial Office at the address above.

PROOFREADING

Authors of Original Contributions and Review Articles will receive proofs. 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.

E-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.

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.
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