The official journal of the International Society for Eye Research

It is hoped that this list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal's Editor for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.
Ensure that the following items are present:

•One author designated as corresponding Author:
•E-mail address of corresponding Author
•Full postal address of corresponding Author
•Telephone and fax numbers (with country code) of corresponding Author

•All necessary files have been uploaded

•Keywords
•All figure legends
•All tables (including title, description, footnotes)

Further considerations

•Manuscript has been "spellchecked"

•Abstract is in the correct format specified by this journal

•References are in the correct format specified by this journal

•All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa

•Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web)

•Colour figures are clearly marked as being intended for colour reproduction on the Web (free of charge) and in print, or to be reproduced in colour on the Web only (free of charge) with black-and-white version in print

If only colour on the Web is required, black-and-white versions of the figures are also supplied for printing purposes

For any further information please contact the Author Support Department at authorsupport@elsevier.com.



General

It is essential to provide the fax number and e-mail address of the designated corresponding Author when submitting a manuscript. Manuscripts must be written in grammatically correct 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 the manuscript is not presently or imminently under consideration for publication elsewhere; that the version submitted for publication has been approved by all designated authors (and tacitly or explicitly approved by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out); and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same or similar form, in any language, without the written consent of the Publisher. In general, persons designated as Authors must qualify for authorship, as specified in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals [see http://www.nejm.org/general/text/requirements/1.htm].

Upon acceptance of an article, Authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights). 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.

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 on-line via the Elsevier homepage ( http://www.elsevier.com/authors).

Should Authors be requested by the Editor to revise the text, the revised version should be submitted within eight weeks. After this period, the article will be regarded as a new submission.

Please submit, with the manuscript, the names and addresses of 5 potential referees.

US National Institutes of Health (NIH) voluntary posting (" Public Access") policy
Elsevier facilitates author posting in connection with the voluntary posting request of the NIH (referred to as the NIH "Public Access Policy", see http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/index.htm) by posting the peer-reviewed author's manuscript directly to PubMed Central on request from the author, after formal publication. Upon notification from Elsevier of acceptance, we will ask you to confirm via e-mail (by e-mailing us at NIHauthorrequest@elsevier.com) that your work has received NIH funding (with the NIH award number, as well as the name and e-mail address of the Prime Investigator) and that you intend to respond to the NIH request. Upon such confirmation, Elsevier will submit to PubMed Central on your behalf a version of your manuscript that will include peer-review comments, for posting 12 months after the formal publication date. This will ensure that you will have responded fully to the NIH request policy. There will be no need for you to post your manuscript directly to PubMed Central, and any such posting is prohibited. Individual modifications to this general policy may apply to some Elsevier journals and its society publishing partners.

On-line submission to the journal prior to acceptance

Submission to this journal proceeds totally on-line. Use the following guidelines to prepare your article. Via the following web page ( http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/yexer) you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files, text, tables and illustrations. Once the uploading is done, our system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for reviewing. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revisions, will be by e-mail.

Electronic format requirements for accepted articles

General points

Although the journal accepts most wordprocessing formats, MS Word or WordPerfect are preferred. Always keep a backup copy of the electronic file for reference and safety. Save your files using the default extension of the program used.

Wordprocessor documents

It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the wordprocessing program used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word-processor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. Do not embed "graphically designed" equations or tables, but prepare these using the word-processor's facility. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions). Do not import the figures into the text file but, instead, indicate their approximate locations directly in the electronic text. See also the section on Preparation of electronic illustrations.
To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the "spellchecker" function of your word-processor.

Presentation of manuscript

General

Please write your text in grammatically correct English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Italics are not to be used for expressions of Latin origin, for example, in vivo, et al., per se. Use decimal points (not commas); use a space for thousands (10 000 and above).

Language Polishing.
For authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission please visit http://www.elsevier.com/locate/languagepolishing or contact authorsupport@elsevier.com for more information. Please note Elsevier neither endorses nor takes responsibility for any products, goods or services offered by outside vendors through our services or in any advertising. For more information please refer to our Terms & Conditions: http://www.elsevier.com/termsandconditions.

Present tables and figure captions on separate pages at the end of the manuscript. If possible, consult a recent issue of the journal to become familiar with layout and conventions. Number all pages consecutively.

Provide the following data on the title page (in the order given).

Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.

Author names and affiliations. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please clarify the name, accordingly. Present the Authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the Author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name, and, if available, the e-mail address of each Author.

Corresponding Author. Clearly indicate who is willing to handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address.

Present/permanent address. If an Author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a "Present address" (or "Permanent address") may be indicated as a footnote to that Author's name. The address at which the Author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

Abstract. A concise and factual abstract is required (maximum length 500 words). The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separate from the article, so it must be able to stand alone.

References should therefore be avoided, but if essential, they must be cited in full, without reference to the reference list.

Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Keywords. Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 8 keywords, avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, "and", "of"). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

Abbreviations. Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field at their first occurrence in the article: in the abstract but also in the main text after it. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

N.B. Acknowledgements. Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise.

Arrangement of the article

Introduction. State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Materials and methods. Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.

Results. Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion. This should explore the significance of the results of the work and not repeat them.

Acknowledgements. Place acknowledgements, including information on grants received, before the references, in a separate section, and not as a footnote on the title page.

References. See separate section, below.

Figure legends, tables, figures, schemes. Present these, in this order, at the end of the article. They are described in more detail below. High-resolution graphics files must always be provided separate from the main text file (see Preparation of illustrations).

Footnotes. Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article, using superscript Arabic numbers. Many word-processors build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Should this not be the case, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes themselves on a separate sheet at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.

Tables. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Avoid vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.

Table footnotes. Indicate each footnote in a table with a superscript lowercase letter.

Nomenclature and units. Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other quantities are mentioned, give their equivalent in SI. You are urged to consult IUB: Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents http://www.chem.qmw.ac.uk/iubmb/ for further information.

DNA sequences and GenBank Accession numbers. Many Elsevier journals cite "gene accession numbers" in their running text and footnotes. Gene accession numbers refer to genes or DNA sequences about which further information can be found in the databases at the National Center for Biotechnical Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine. Elsevier Authors wishing to enable other scientists to use the accession numbers cited in their papers via links to these sources, should type this information in the following manner:

For each and every accession number cited in an article, Authors should type the accession number in bold, underlined text. Letters in the accession number should always be capitalised. (See Example below). This combination of letters and format will enable Elsevier's typesetters to recognise the relevant texts as accession numbers and add the required link to GenBank's sequences.

Example: "GenBank accession nos. (AI631510, AI631511, AI632198, and BF223228), a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE675048), and a T-cell lymphoma (GenBank accession no. AA361117)".

Authors are encouraged to check accession numbers used very carefully. An error in a letter or number can result in a dead link. In the final version of the printed article, the accession number text will not appear bold or underlined. In the final version of the electronic copy, the accession number text will be linked to the appropriate source in the NCBI databases enabling readers to go directly to that source from the article.

Preparation of supplementary data. Elsevier now accepts electronic supplementary material (e-components) to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the Author additional possibilities to publish 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. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data is provided 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 our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

This journal offers electronic submission services and supplementary data files can be uploaded via http://ees.elsevier.com/yexer. Policy and ethics. The work described in your article must have been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans; http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm, EC Directive 86/609/EEC for animal experiments; http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/ leg/en/s23000.htm, and The Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: http://www.nejm.org/general/text/requirements/1.htm. This must be stated at an appropriate point in the article.

References

Responsibility for the accuracy of bibliographic citations lies entirely with the Authors.

Citations in the text: Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either "Unpublished results" or "Personal communication" Citation of a reference as "in press" implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Citing and listing of Web references. As a minimum, the full URL should be given. Any further information, if known (Author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

Text: All citations in the text should refer to:
1. Single Author: the Author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication;
3. Two Authors: both Authors' names and the year of publication;
3. Three or more Authors: first Author's name followed by "et al." and the year of publication.
Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically). Groups of references should be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically.

Examples: "as demonstrated (Allan, 1996a, 1996b, 1999; Allan and Jones, 1995). Kramer et al. (2000) have recently shown ...."

List: References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same Author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters "a", "b", "c", etc., placed after the year of publication.

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication:

Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J.A.J., Lupton, R.A., 2000. The art of writing a scientific article. J. Sci. Commun. 163, 51-59.

Reference to a book:

Strunk Jr., W., White, E.B., 1979. The Elements of Style, third ed. Macmillan, New York.

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:

Mettam, G.R., Adams, L.B., 1999. How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: Jones, B.S., Smith , R.Z. (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age. E-Publishing Inc., New York, pp. 281-304.

Journal names should be abbreviated according to Index Medicus journal abbreviations: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/ serials/lji.html

Letter to the Editor Short (not more than four printed pages, approximately 4,000 words) communications on current research or remarks on recently published papers may be submitted as Letter to the Editor. Letters will be reviewed and published promptly.

Focus on Molecules
These feature articles provide a brief overview of a specific molecule involved in ocular tissues of the visual system. In final printed form, this contribution should be no longer than two pages (front and back of one published page in Experimental Eye Research) and contain sufficient information to give a succinct review of the molecule, its structure, its role in the cell/tissue where it is expressed, the disease caused by its absence or mutation (if applicable), and potential areas of interest for future studies.

Each article should contain the following headings (the first four being numbered):
•Structure (including the accession number if a protein; EC number if an enzyme)
•Function
•Disease Involvement
•Future Studies
•References

Article Specification:
•The article should not exceed 1300 words in length including equivalent space for one figure (the latter occupying the equivalent space of up to 175 words). A colour diagram of predicted or determined structure is desirable and will be published without charge
•References to be limited to no more then four key citations.
•Please provide a word count on the first page of your manuscript.
•Please submit the final article on-line at http://ees.elsevier.com/yexer/. Please ensure you select the correct article type (Focus on Molecules) when uploading your article.

If you would like to submit an unsolicited Focus on Molecules article for consideration, or if you have any editorial queries, please contact the Focus on Molecules editor, Dr S. Fliesler, at:
Fliesler@buffalo.edu.

Reviews

Review articles should be succinct and pithy, hence the suggested length is 4000 words including space for tables, figures and references. If colour is necessary colour figures will be published without charge. For more information please consult the general guidelines for authors.

Please submit the final review on-line at http://ees.elsevier.com/yexer/. Please ensure you select the correct article type (Review) when uploading your article. Preparation of electronic illustrations

Submitting your artwork in an electronic format helps us to produce your work to the best possible standards, ensuring accuracy, clarity and a high level of detail.

General points

•Always upload high-quality e-files of your artwork.
•Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing in your artwork.
•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, especially if multi media files are uploaded.
•Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.

This journal offers electronic submission services and graphic files can be uploaded via http://ees.elsevier.com/yexer

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 word-processor (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.

Non-electronic illustrations

Upload all illustrations as high-quality e-files, suitable for reproduction (which may include reduction) without retouching. Number illustrations consecutively in the order in which they are referred to in the text. They should accompany the manuscript, but should not be included within the text. Clearly label all illustrations with the figure number.

Mark the appropriate position of a figure in the article.

Colour reproduction
On the Web: If you submit usable colour figures with your accepted article, then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites), regardless of whether they are reproduced in colour or black-and-white in the printed version of the article.
In the print journal: Effective for papers submitted after 1st March 2008, all color artwork in the printed issue will be billed at Euro 200 (approx. US$ 300) per figure, unless the corresponding author of the paper is a member of ISER in good standing. To be exempt from being charged for reproducing figures in colour in print, the corresponding author must state that he or she is a member of ISER, providing the relevant membership number for verification, when prompted during the online submission process in EES.
Important: Please indicate clearly which of the submitted colour figures are to be reproduced in colour or in black-and-white in the print journal. Should you not opt for colour in print, please submit in addition usable black-and-white prints corresponding to the colour illustrations in question; this is necessary because of technical complications that can arise when converting colour figures to 'grey scale'.
For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork.

Legends

Ensure that each illustration has a legend. Supply legends in a separate file, not attached to the figure. A legend 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

Please provide high-quality e-files. 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)

Please opload original source files. Remove non-essential areas of a photograph. Where necessary, insert a scale bar in the illustration (not below it), as opposed to giving a magnification factor in the caption.

Submit high-quality source files of figures close to the size expected in publication. Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other platforms). For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

When your manuscript is received by Production it is considered to be in its final form. Proofs are not to be regarded as "drafts".

One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding Author, to be checked for typesetting/editing. No changes in, or additions to, the accepted (and subsequently edited) manuscript will be allowed at this stage. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.

A form with queries from the Typesetter may accompany your proofs. Please answer all queries and make any corrections or additions required.

The Publisher reserves the right to proceed with publication if corrections are not communicated. Return corrections within 48 hours of receipt of the proofs. Should there be no corrections, please confirm this.

Elsevier will do everything possible to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. In order to do this we need your help. When you receive the (PDF) proof of your article for correction, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Subsequent corrections will not be possible, so please ensure your first sending is complete. Note that this does not mean you have any less time to make your corrections, just that only one set of corrections will be accepted.

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. Additional paper offprints can be ordered by the authors. An order form with prices will be sent to the corresponding author.

Last updated March 21, 2007