All reviews and illustrations must be received by the deadline specified in your invitation letter, as your article will be published as part of a themed section. Please note that your review might be published online, in advance of the cover date for the issue, depending on date of manuscript submission and the speed of the editorial and production process. Please follow these instructions carefully, as our editorial policy differs in important respects from that of primary research journals.

Please contact your Content Development Manager (CDM), April Nishimura, if you have any questions; email a.nishimura@elsevier.com.

The review
The aim of the manuscript is to review recent articles, with particular emphasis on those articles published in the past two years. In addition to describing recent trends, you are encouraged to give your subjective opinion of the topics discussed, although you should not concentrate unduly on your own research. Your review should be approximately 2000 words (not including references or reference notes), with approximately 50 references and, as such, the review is intended to be a concise view of the field as it is at the moment, rather than a comprehensive overview. Our audience ranges from student to professor, so articles must be accessible to a wide readership. Please avoid jargon, but do not oversimplify: be accurate and precise throughout. Occasionally, unpublished data can be referred to, but only when essential and should never be used to substantiate any significant point.

Please ensure that the document is typed in the following order in a single document including tables, boxes and figure legends (12 pt, double-spaced) with numbered pages.

1. Title
The title should be short and enticing (eight words or fewer), and should not contain abbreviations. Please feel free to suggest your own title. You should include a truncated form of the title (∼4 words) that will be used at the top of each page of your article.

2. Author(s)
Please provide the names of all authors in full, including first name. No more than five authors should be listed (only those who contributed to the actual writing of the manuscript, rather than members of the laboratory contributing to primary work). Anyone else who contributed to the article can be thanked in the acknowledgements section.

3. Addresses
Include full addresses for all authors, including e-mail addresses, and nominate a corresponding author (usually the invited author).

4. Summary of recent advances
All reviews should be prefaced by a summary of 100-120 words. The summary is important: it should contain sufficient information for the reader to be able to appreciate the relevance of the full article when read alone. Summaries are used by abstracting services and many users of these services read only the summary. It should include background information and specific examples of recent advances, rather than promises that a particular subject “will be discussed” - the scope of the review should instead appear at the end of the introduction. References should not be included and abbreviations should be avoided as far as possible.

5. Introduction
The introduction should be accessible to a wide variety of scientists by avoiding the use of jargon and concepts not familiar to non-specialists. It should outline the time period covered and the scope of the review, including the importance of and rationale behind your article. The introduction should include only a few background references.

6. Main text of review Use concise, logical subheadings to provide clear links between the different sections and guide the reader through your review. Please write all abbreviations in full on first use, and use the abbreviation thereafter. Any algebra should be >14pt, with variables in italics and vectors in bold.

7. Conclusions
The conclusions section should summarise the topics discussed and describe future directions, including the author's opinions, as appropriate.

8. Acknowledgements
In addition to any acknowledgement of help in the production of the manuscript, funding bodies should also be mentioned (please give full names rather than abbreviations), together with any relevant grant numbers.

9. Ethics in Publishing: General Statement
Ethics
The Editor(s) and Publisher of this Journal believe that there are fundamental principles underlying scholarly or professional publishing. While this may not amount to a formal ′code of conduct′, these fundamental principles with respect to the authors' paper are that the paper should: i) be the authors' own original work, which has not been previously published elsewhere, ii) reflect the authors' own research and analysis and do so in a truthful and complete manner, iii) properly credit the meaningful contributions of co-authors and co-researchers, iv) not be submitted to more than one journal for consideration, and v) be appropriately placed in the context of prior and existing research. Of equal importance are ethical guidelines dealing with research methods and research funding, including issues dealing with informed consent, research subject privacy rights, conflicts of interest, and sources of funding. While it may not be possible to draft a ′code′ that applies adequately to all instances and circumstances, we believe it useful to outline our expectations of authors and procedures that the Journal will employ in the event of questions concerning author conduct.

Conflicts of Interest
The Publisher now requires authors to declare any conflicts of interest that relate to papers accepted for publication in this Journal. A conflict of interest may exist when an author or the author's institution has a financial or other relationship with other people or organizations that may inappropriately influence the author′s work. A conflict can be actual or potential and full disclosure to the Journal is the safest course. All submissions to the Journal must include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. The Journal may use such information as a basis for editorial decisions and may publish such disclosures if they are believed to be important to readers in judging the manuscript. A decision may be made by the Journal not to publish on the basis of the declared conflict. For more information, please refer to: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors/conflictsofinterest

10. References and annotations
The reference list should not be exhaustive - simply alert the reader to the 50 most innovative recent papers and key reviews. References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited in the text, followed by those that are only cited in the figure legends or tables. Please ensure that each item in the reference list has its own number, avoiding joint references (for example, references [32a,32b] should be listed and cited as [32,33] and subsequent references numbered accordingly). Papers accepted as ′in press′ can be included (but see below). It is possible that the review will be published in advance of the cover date. Please contact your CDM for exact dates if you are concerned about the timing of the publication.

• Style

The format for Current Opinion journals is available in Endnote 4.0. Each reference should be typed EXACTLY as shown in the following examples:

JOURNAL
de Alba E, Antoro J, Rico MA, Jimenez MA: De novo design of a monomeric three-stranded anti-parallel β-sheet. Protein Sci 1999, 8:854-865.
BOOK
Archer MD, Barber J (Eds): Molecular to Global Photosynthesis. Imperial College Press; 2004.CHAPTER IN BOOK
Barber J, Kuhlbrandt W: Photosynthesis and photoconversion. In Molecular to Global Photosynthesis. Edited by Archer M, Barber J. Imperial College Press; 2004:3-89.

• Number of authors

If more than eleven authors are credited for an article, please list only the first ten, then add et al. Please DO NOT shorten the list of authors before the cut-off of ten. Journal names should be abbreviated in accordance with Index Medicus.

• Online journal references

When citing online journal references, please adhere to the convention described above, inserting the digital object identifier (DOI) after the year.

• In-text citation

When citing references in the text, please use [square brackets] rather than (parentheses) or superscript^1,2to denote the citations. Please also ensure the citations are numbered and NOT Harvard referencing style (i.e. [Moore 1965; Myrdal 1957]).

• Annotations

The majority of the references (please aim to cite approximately 50) should come from the period under review (i.e. the past two years) and, in general, at least 10% of these should be selected and annotated as being papers of special interest (•) or outstanding interest (••). Annotated references MUST be from the past two years, and the annotation should provide a brief description of the major findings and the importance of the study. This is an essential part of each review and is very popular with our readers. For example:

••30. Wong FS, Karttunen J, Dumont C, Wen L, Visintin I, Pilip IM, Shastri N, Pamer EG, Janeway CA Jr: Identification of an MHC class I-restricted autoantigen in type 1 diabetes by screening an organ-specific cDNA library. Nat Med 1999, 5:1026-1031. Using class I tetramers, the authors demonstrate that insulin-specific CD8⁺ T cells account for a large proportion of infiltrated T cells in the islets of prediabetic NOD mice. This is the first study to use peptide multimers to decipher the mechanism of autoimmunity.

• Exclude from reference list

Unpublished data (including papers in preparation, papers submitted for publication and personal communications), conference abstracts, PhD theses, websites/URLs and computer programs/databases should not be mentioned in the reference list. If you feel that the citation is crucial to the review, please mention it in the text only (see below). Please keep in mind that citations should be restricted to sources freely available to most readers. (If a submitted paper is accepted for publication before we go to press, then this information can be added in an ′Update′ section). These references should be presented in the text as follows (please list the first author only, including initials and surname):

1. Personal communications: (SW Churchill et al., personal communication [or unpublished if referring to the author′s own work]) 2. Submitted papers/unpublished data: (IMN Author et al., unpublished) 3. Abstracts (give full information but not title): (A Early et al., abstract 54, 3rd International Meeting of Cellular Immunology, Washington DC, September 1998) or (A Early, abstract in Soc Neurosci Abstr 1998, 4:154). 4. PhD theses: (R Arthur Goode, PhD thesis, University of Hawaii, 1988) 5. Websites: (Biological Biochemical Image Database; URL: http://bbid.grc.nia.nih.gov/) 4. Computer program/database: (Actin database, University of Harvard). (unless the program/database details have been published, in which case cite as a normal reference. For example, Nicholls A, Bharadwaj R, Honig B: GRASP: a graphical representation and analysis of surface properties. Biophys J 1993, 64:166-170.) Note that personal communications must be authorised by those involved. You are responsible for obtaining permission to use personal communications.

11. Figures
Please think carefully about how to illustrate your article; you are encouraged to include up to four additional elements in your review (i.e. a combination of Figures, Tables and Boxes). You should include at least one figure to summarise the main concepts discussed, and all figures should help to explain the concepts discussed in the text. All illustrations should be labelled as figures, and figures should be cited in the main text of the review in numerical order. The figure should have a title, and the legend should describe the figure in full, without further reference to the main text. All abbreviations used in the figure and not in the main text should be defined at the end of the figure legend. More detailed figure submission instructions are found on page 4.
Please note that it is the responsibility of the authors to obtain permission to reproduce copyrighted material (figures that have been published before) from the original authors and publishers (see also SUBMISSION)

12. Tables and boxes
You can include up to four additional elements to enhance your review (i.e. a combination of Figures, Tables and Boxes). Tables should be used to tabulate data discussed in further detail in the review. Boxes should be used for additional explanatory material that, although essential, interrupts the flow of the text. In addition, you can include a glossary box to describe/define terms or abbreviations used in your review. Tables and boxes should always be referred to in the main text of the article and should have an appropriate title. Please use the template in MS Word to create your tables. All such text boxes will be included in the main text word count, and must be cited in the text in numerical order.

13. Supplementary material
We have the facility to include additional or supplementary information (e.g. tables/figures/videos/audio) with articles. This supplementary material will be published online only and will not appear in the print issue. The supplementary material should appear as a ′stand alone′ document. Therefore, please supply a word file containing all of the relevant information (i.e. the text, tables and references should be in one document). For lengthy tables, excel files can be accepted. For more details, please contact the Journal Manager (JM), Pat Satrjeenpong (coneur@elsevier.com)

SUBMISSION

When you are invited to submit an article for this journal you will be sent a formal invitation which explains how to submit you article using Elsevier?s online Editorial System (EES). Should you have problems uploading your article or have any questions, please contact the Journal Manager. The Journal Manager will oversee the progress of your article up to publication.

It is essential to give a fax number and e-mail address when submitting a manuscript. Articles must be written in good English.

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher.

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/wps/find/authorsview.authors/authorsrights). 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.
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: contact Elsevier?s Rights Department, Oxford, UK: phone (+44) 1865 843830, fax (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail permissions@elsevier.com. Requests may also be completed online via the Elsevier homepage ( http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions).

What happens next?

Once you have submitted your article using EES, it will be checked for completeness by the Journal Manager and then passed on to the Section Editor. Your article will be reviewed by the appointed Section Editor(s). Section Editors are responsible for determining the scope, balance and scientific accuracy of all articles in their section and they will determine if your article is ready for publication or if revisions are required. If major changes are suggested, you might be required to resubmit the review.

As soon as the Section Editor has approved your article for publication the Journal Manager will arrange for the figures to be adjusted to meet our house style and for typesetting. A PDF file of your typeset article will be e-mailed to you for proof correction. You are requested to return the corrected proof as quickly as possible (preferably within 48 hours) to ensure speed of publication.

PREPARATION OF ELECTRONIC ILLUSTRATIONS

General points
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork
• Save text in illustrations as “graphics” or enclose the font
• Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Times, Symbol
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files
• Provide all illustrations as separate files
• Provide captions to illustrations separately
• Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version


A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.

Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalised, please “save as” or convert the images to one of the following formats (Note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as “graphics”
TIFF: Colour or greyscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi
TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (colour or greyscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required
DOC, XLS or PPT: If your electronic artwork is created in any of these Microsoft Office applications please supply “as is”

Please do not:
• Supply embedded graphics in your wordprocessor (spreadsheet, presentation) document
• Supply files that are optimised for screen use (like GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low
• Supply files that are too low in resolution
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content

Captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

Line drawings
The lettering and symbols, as well as other details, should have proportionate dimensions, so as not to become illegible or unclear after possible reduction; in general, the figures should be designed for a reduction factor of two to three. The degree of reduction will be determined by the Publisher. Illustrations will not be enlarged. Consider the page format of the journal when designing the illustrations.

Do not use any type of shading on computer-generated illustrations.

Photographs (halftones)
Remove non-essential areas of a photograph. Do not mount photographs unless they form part of a composite figure. Where necessary, insert a scale bar in the illustration (not below it), as opposed to giving a magnification factor in the caption.

Colour illustrations
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

PROOFS

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 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. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.

ELECTRONIC OFFPRINTS (e-offprints)
The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. 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.