The Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology,
which is published on behalf of the International
Society for Heart Research by Elsevier, publishes original
full papers and short communications in English dealing with cellular, subcellular,
and molecular studies of the heart and cardiovascular system. Papers are published on molecular biology and genetic aspects of the heart
and circulatory system; genetically engineered mammalian models of cardiovascular disease; physiology, biochemistry and biophysics of
cardiac and vascular smooth muscle; cardiovascular patho-physiology and cardiac and smooth muscle electrophysiology; experimental aspects
of human heart disease that report altered molecular and cellular properties of the heart and
cardiovascular system. Review articles,
editorials
and rapid communications are also accepted.
Journal Categories
Regular Articles
To accelerate publication,
preference is given to
manuscripts no longer than approximately 6,000 words containing 6-8 Figures and/or Tables.
Regular articles are
reviewed on average within 23
days of receipt by the editorial office.
Rapid Communication
To provide for the rapid publication
of data of special interest (including preliminary data and novel methods), short papers may be submitted for review within seven days
of receipt by the editorial office. Rapid Communication manuscripts should not exceed 2,000 words plus no more than 15 references. Results
and Discussion sections may be combined.
No more than 2 Figures and/or Tables should
be included. A brief letter to the Editor explaining
the general importance of the results and why rapid
publication is desired must accompany the manuscript.
Decisions on Rapid Communications
may be
on a 'yes-no' basis and detailed referee's opinion
may not be obtained.
Review Articles
Review Articles may be requested
by the Editor, but authors are encouraged to submit Review Articles after consultation with the Associate Editor for Special Issues and
Review Articles (Donald Bers). All such articles are subject to normal review process for regular articles. Review Articles should generally
be no longer than 6,000 words and should include an abstract.
The following items are required for submission and
should be uploaded as individual files: abstract,
cover letter and manuscript.
Authors should also
upload any potentially overlapping
work, either in preparation, already published, or in
press. Acceptable file formats
include Word,
WordPerfect, RTF, laTeX2e, TIFF, GIF, JPEG, EPS,
Postscript, PICT, and PDF.
Revised manuscripts must include a file
containing
the point-by-point response to reviewer comments.
Changes within the text of revised manuscripts must
be indicated with underlining
or italics. the text of
revised manuscripts must be uploaded as Word or
WordPerfect file so word processible documents are
available
to the publishers upon acceptance.
Questions regarding submission should be directed
to the editorial office:
Journal of Molecular
and Cellular Cardiology
Elsevier
525 B Street, Suite 1900
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: (619) 699-6791
Fax: (619) 699-6859
Email: jmcc@elsevier.com
Authors are encouraged to select carefully the best
way to present data-stated in text, plotted
in
Figures, or listed in Tables. Repetition of the same
data in different presentations should be avoided.
Manuscripts that are overly
long or overdocumented
may be subject to condensation and delay, even after
acceptance. Authors are responsible for providing a
manuscript
written in clear English. Delay, or even
rejection, may result when papers are poorly written.
Where appropriate, authors should obtain
the
help of someone expert in scientific English so as to
perfect the presentation of the study. Copy editors,
where expert in English
language and usage, can
misrepresent data and misstate ideas; thus, authors
must be responsible for submitting a clear and accurate
manuscript.
The international character of the journal and the
absence of page-charges make it impossible to
return typescripts and figures to authors,
regardless
of the disposition of the article.
Language Editing
International Science Editing and Asia Science Editing can provide
English language and copyediting services to authors who want to publish in scientific, technical and medical journals and need assistance
before they submit their article or, before it is accepted for publication. Authors can contact these services directly: International
Science Editing http://www.internationalscienceediting.com and Asia Science Editing http://www.asiascienceediting.com
or, for more information about language editing services, please contact authorsupport@elsevier.com who will be happy
to deal with any questions.
Terms of Submission
Manuscripts are accepted for review with the understanding that no substantial
portion of the study has been published or is under consideration for publication elsewhere, and that its submission for publication
has been approved by all of the authors and by the institution where the work was carried out. Manuscripts that do not meet the general
criteria or standards for publication in Developmental Biology will be immediately returned to the authors, without detailed review.
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright, see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright).
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.
If revisions are requested, the
revised manuscript must be submitted within three months of the request; otherwise it is regarded as a new submission.
2. Preparation
of Manuscripts
Papers should be typed double-spaced throughout the text, legends and tables; references must be triple- spaced. All
pages, including those on which tables and figures appear, should be numbered in sequence. Margins of about 3 cm should be allowed. Regular
papers, Brief and Rapid Communications should contain the following sections, each beginning on a separate page; Review Articles should
include a title page, abstract, acknowledgements if necessary and references:
Title Page including the title of the paper,
the
authors' names and affiliation and the name and
address of the person to whom proofs are to be sent.The title of the paper should
be brief; no longer than 100 characters in length, and should capture and communicate the key message of your research to a broader audience.
To aid this, abbreviations, unless familiar to a broad audience, should be avoided.
A Running Head of up to 50 characters should also
be included on the Title Page.
Abstract of not more than 250 words (avoid abbreviations) along with 5-15 Key Words for indexing.
As key words are indexed, such general or self-evident
words as 'heart' should be avoided.
Introduction, generally no more
than 1-2 pages stating the problem addressed in the paper with no
more than 10-15 references. This section may end
with a one-sentence
statement of the major finding
of the study.
Materials and Methods, which should include details as to sources of chemicals
and special apparatus,
must provide descriptions of general procedures in
sufficient detail to allow others to reproduce the
experiments.
Methodological details of individual
experiments may be included in Figure or Table
legends, referring to 'Materials and Methods' for
general procedures. Statistical methods must be described
in full, and standard error (?S.E.) must be distinguished
from standard deviation
(?S.D.). Results and Discussion are generally best presented as separate sections but may be combined. Brief, tightly focussed Discussions
are more useful than overly long Discussions.
Acknowledgements
References
As reference style the 'Vancouver'
system with
numbers in the text is used. In the text indicate references
by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text. The actual
authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given. In the References list number the references (numbers in
square brackets) in the list in the order in which they appear in the text. Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
[1] Kudo M, Wang Y, Wani MA, Xu M, Ayub A,
Ashraf M. Implantation of bone marrow stem cells
reduces the infarction and fibrosis in ischemic
mouse heart. J Mol Cell Cardiol 2003; 35: 1113-9.
Reference to a book:
[2] Strunk Jr W, White EB. The elements of style.
3rd ed New
York: Macmillan; 1979.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
[3] Mettam GR, Adams LB. How to prepare an electronic
version of
your article. In: Jones BS, Smith
RZ, editors. Introduction to the electronic age.
New York: E-Publishing Inc; 1999, p. 281-304.
Note
shortened form for last page number, e.g.,
1113-9, and that for more than 6 authors the first 6
should be listed followed by 'et al.'.
For further
details you are referred to "Uniform Requirements
for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals"
(J Am Med Assoc 1997;
277: 927-34), see also http:// www.nejm.org/general/text/requirements/1.htm
References to abstracts should be made only
when
essential, and then only if the abstract is from a readily
accessible periodical. When listed in the bibliography,
such references
should contain the word
(Abstract) after the title.
Digital Object Identifier
The Publisher assigns a unique digital
object identifier
(doi) to every article it publishes. The doi
appears on the title page of the article. It is assigned
after the article
has been accepted for publication
and persists throughout the lifetime of the article.
Due to its persistence, it can be used to query
The
Publisher for information on the article during the
production process, to find the article on the Internet
through various Web sites,
and to cite the article in
academic references. When using an Elsevier article
in a reference section, it is important to include the
article's doi in the reference as volume and page
information is not always available for articles
published online. Tables
should be titled, numbered in series, and provided with appropriate headings and explanations of
data. Where possible refer to Materials
and Methods
for explanations of experimental procedures. Figure Legends should contain brief titles followed
by explanations
that, where possible, should refer to
Materials and Methods for explanation of experimental
procedures.
3. Abbreviations and Units
While authors should avoid unfamiliar abbreviations,
a limited number of clearly defined abbreviations
may be used. Such abbreviations
must be defined
in a footnote that lists all abbreviations in the
manuscript; this footnote should be placed at the
point the first abbreviation
is used. When in doubt, avoid unfamiliar abbreviations.
Measurements should be expressed in metric units
wherever possible,
and along with physical and chemical
quantities should be abbreviated as recommended
in the Instructions to Authors of the current
volume
of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
4. Illustrations
Authors will normally be limited to four pages
of half-tones. The Publisher will not charge authors
for colour figures where its use is integral to
useful illustration of the data. For enquiries
on
the preparation of electronic artwork, consult
http://www.elsevier.com/locate/issn/0022-2828,
and
then click on Artwork Instructions.
Use of previously published illustrations requires
written permission of the original author
and copyright
holder, along with precise reference to the original
source.
5.Colour Figures:
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 sites) regardless of whether these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version.
For colour 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 http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions
[Please note: Because of technical complications that can arise in 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 files corresponding to all the colour
illustrations.
Authors should note that a request to revert from full colour to colour only in the electronic publication at the stage
of typesetting and proof correction, will require separate editorial agreement, with possible re-review if necessary, and may significantly
delay publication of your manuscript.
6. Additional points to note
The directives for preparing the paper in the style
of the
journal as set out in the Instructions to
Authors must be followed; i.e. ensure the document
is in the following order: Title; Authors;
Addresses;
Short title; Abstract; Introduction; Materials and
Methods; Results; Discussion; Acknowledgements;
References. Tables, Figure
legends and Footnotes
should be saved in a separate file.
Use two carriage returns to end headings and paragraphs.
Type text without
end of line hyphenation, except
for compound words.
Do not use lower case "l" for "1" (one) or "O" for
"0" (zero). (They have different
typesetting values.)
Footnotes, Abbreviations, Tables and Figure legends
should be saved in a separate file from the main text.
Be consistent
with punctuation and only insert a
single space between words and after punctuation.
Please include a list of any special characters
you
have had to use, e.g. Greek, maths.
Figures drawn using Aldus Freehand (Apple Macintosh)
are preferred. Figures should be saved as
Encapsulated Postscript (EPS) or TIFF files.
7. Supplementary material:
Electronic supplementary material is now accepted 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
peer reviewed, and should the article be accepted, 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 Corporate Website at http://www.elsevier.com/authors.
8. Copyright
Authors submitting a manuscript do so on the
understanding that if it is accepted for publication,
copyright in the article, including the right to reproduce
the article in all forms
and media, shall be assigned
exclusively to the publisher. The transfer of
copyright does not take effect until the manuscript is
accepted
for publication.
US National Institutes of Health (NIH) voluntary posting (" Public Access") policy
Elsevier facilitates
author response to the NIH voluntary posting request (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, 12 months 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 and that you intend to respond
to the NIH policy request, along with your NIH award number to facilitate processing. 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 formal
publication. 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 with PubMed Central, and any such posting is prohibited.
Exceptions: It is the policy of Elsevier that
authors
need not obtain permission in the following cases
only: (1) to use their original figures or tables in their
future works; (2)
to make copies of their papers for
use in their classroom teaching; and (3) to include
their papers as part of their dissertations.
9. Proofs
Authors have 48 hours to respond to proofs unless
otherwise requested. If no response occurs within
this time, the manuscript
will be published exactly
as the proof reads.
10. Offprints
The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a pdf offprint.
Should they wish, they may opt to receive 25 paper offprints instead.
.
11. Guiding principles for research involving human beings
and animals
The International Society for Heart Research endorses
the Recommendation from the Declaration of
Helsinki and the Guiding
Principles in the Care and
Use of Animals and insists that all investigations
involving man and all animal experimentation
reported in
the Journal of Molecular and Cellular
Cardiology be conducted in conformity with these
principles. Adherence to these principles
must be
documented and disclosed directly in the manuscript.
Papers in which evidence of the adherence to
these principles is not apparent
will be rejected.
12. Conflict of interest policy
All authors must disclose any relationship that may
be perceived as an actual
or possible conflict of interest
with the content of an accepted manuscript to be
published in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular
Cardiology. Such relationships may include but are
not limited to full or part-time employment in industry, stock ownership or options,
industry advisory committees, grants, honoraria or consulting fees. This should be included in the acknowledgment section of the manuscript.
13. Author enquiries:
For enquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission where available) please
visit this journal's homepage. You can track accepted articles at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle and set up e-mail
alerts to inform you of when an article's status has changed, as well as copyright information, frequently asked questions and more.
Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are provided after registration
of an article for publication
14. Disclaimer:
Whilst every effort is made by the publishers and editorial board to see that no
inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement appears in this journal, they wish to make it clear that the data and opinions appearing
in the articles and advertisements herein are the sole responsibility of the contributor or advertiser concerned. Accordingly, the publishers,
the editorial board and editors and their respective employees, officers and agents accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever
for the consequences of any inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement.
