A step by step guide to the electronic submission process is available at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authors.authors/howtosubmitpaper
The Guide for Authors set out below gives detailed instructions to authors who wish to submit their work to JSV.



OVERVIEW

SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Essential Title Page Information
Corresponding author
Original material
Previously rejected material
Ethical permission and conflicts of interest

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
General
Structure
Manuscript Length
Abstract
Keywords
Abbreviations and acronyms
Symbols
Text Layout
Acknowledgments
Appendices
Units
Maths
Numbering of equations, figures and tables
Text references to equations, figures and tables
Reference list
Submission of Figures and Tables
Supplementary notes about Figures
Colour Costs and Queries
Free Online Colour
Supplementary Material

AFTER ACCEPTANCE
Notification
Copyright
Retained Author Rights
PDF Proofs
Funding Body Agreements and Policies
Pre-publication assistance for authors
Author Benefits
Author Rights
Online Paper Tracking
Author Enquiries
Useful Links

ETHIC ISSUES
Conflicts of interest
Ethics of human and animal experimentation
Ethics in Publishing

[End of content list]

OVERVIEW

It is a condition of publication that all manuscripts must be written in clear and grammatical English and be submitted to the Journal of Sound and Vibration web site at http://ees.elsevier.com/jsv. Authors are requested to transmit the text and art of the manuscript in electronic form to this address. Each manuscript must also be accompanied by a cover letter outlining the basic findings of the paper and their significance. Prior to submitting their paper, authors should read the full set of instructions further down this page for more information.

Submission language: English (Link to the Oxford English Dictionary http://dictionary.oed.com/entrance.dtl)

Language Services
Authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission are invited to visit http://www.elsevier.com/locate/languagepolishing or our customer support site at http://epsupport.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

Scope of the Journal: The Journal of Sound and Vibration (JSV) is an independent journal devoted to the prompt publication of original papers, both theoretical and experimental, that provide new information on any aspect of sound or vibration. There is an emphasis on fundamental work that has potential for practical application.
JSV was founded and operates on the premise that the subject of sound and vibration requires a journal that publishes papers of a high technical standard across the various subdisciplines, thus facilitating awareness of techniques and discoveries in one area that may be applicable in others. For more detail on subject categories represented in JSV, visit http://www.elsevier.com/framework_products/promis_misc/jsvcategories_1.doc.
The Editors reserve the right to return without review manuscripts whose subject area or level of treatment appears unsuitable for JSV.

Types of contributions: Original research papers, rapid communications, review articles, discussions of previously published articles in JSV and book reviews. Authors are advised that papers whose contribution is not concerned with fundamental issues in sound and vibration are not normally accepted; such material should be directed to more appropriate publications (see "Guiding principle" below).

Guiding principle: Papers published in JSV should contain new results, of potentially wider application than the specific situation reported; otherwise they should contain new insights of value to the acoustics and vibration community (for example by synthesizing material from traditionally separate fields), or provide authoritative reviews of progress in a defined area. Each paper submitted for publication is normally subject to review and criticism by two independent, anonymous referees, and authors are provided with copies of these reviews so that they can make revisions and improvements to their manuscripts before publication. For more information about how the peer review process is conducted for this journal, please take a look at the 'Peer review policy statement' here . The normal time limit for the submission of an author's revised manuscript is six months; revised manuscripts received after this time may be considered as new submissions and subject to full re-review.

Authors should aim to produce a manuscript that can be reviewed on its own, without assuming that earlier or later parts will be published. The Editors strongly encourage authors considering the submission of multiple papers (eg: Part I, Part II, etc.) to instead combine them into one paper - in such cases this is a common recommendation of the reviewer(s). Alternatively, authors may choose to submit the respective parts sequentially, once the outcome of the review of the earlier manuscript is known. Authors in any doubt should contact the editor to whom the submission will be made.

Rapid Communications: These are short articles that are fast-tracked through the production system. They will
- Introduce new perspectives or novel results
- Be likely to stimulate follow-up work
- Be accepted/rejected on a fast-track basis*
- Contain a maximum of 10 journal pages, including the Abstract and any figures
- Ideally, be published online within 12 weeks of submission
(*Normal peer review procedures will operate, but on a shorter timescale. Two positive reviews are required for acceptance.)

Discussion: Comments, of either a specific or a general nature, on work previously published in JSV should be submitted as Discussion items. The same length limitations and peer review procedures apply as for Rapid Communications. Discussion items do not require an abstract. Should the Discussion item be accepted, JSV policy is that the authors of the original article will be offered the opportunity to submit a response for publication. The timescale for authors to submit a response, to ensure publication within the same issue, is approximately 4-6 weeks.

Review Articles
The Editors wish to encourage publication of scholarly review articles in the Journal. Review articles are typically 20-40 journal pages in length (about 20,000 words), and may focus on any area of sound or vibration likely to interest JSV readers. They may be relatively broad in scope - thereby serving a tutorial function - or quite specialized, aimed at researchers in the chosen field.

For all topics prospective authors should consult one of the Editors before preparing a review, to ensure that the topic and approach are consistent with other such articles already in JSV or about to appear.

Book Reviews
Book reviews are by invitation only. Books for review should be submitted to the Book Reviews Editor, Dr. M.C.M. Wright, Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK. E-mail: mcmw@isvr.soton.ac.uk

SUBMISSION PROCEDURE
All authors are requested to submit via the electronic submission website http://ees.elsevier.com/jsv. See below for detailed submission instructions ( Manuscript Submission Requirements , Manuscript Preparation). Hardcopy or email submissions will not be accepted.
Please note that you must have an e-mail address in order to use the online submission system. Authors submit their article online by simply registering, logging-in, and submitting.
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, your edited source files will be needed for further processing after acceptance. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail, removing the need for a hard-copy paper trail.
Detailed instructions on the use of the online submission system are available at http://ees.elsevier.com/jsv Please read the "Hints" for information on how to register, and review the "Tutorial for Authors" for a run-through of the submission process. If you need any further help, please do not hesitate to contact our Author Support Department: authorsupport@elsevier.com

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

All manuscripts sent for review are required to meet the requirements set out below under
Manuscript Preparation concerning maths formatting, Figures, and other details. Please consult a recent journal paper for style if possible.

Essential Title Page information:
Title - this should be 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 indicate clearly which is the family name to be used for identifying the author. 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.
Present/permanent address - if an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, a "Present address"' (or "Permanent address") may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address.

Corresponding author: Clearly indicate the author who is willing to handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, and also post-publication (in the event of discussion). 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. The last two items must be given for all co-authors.

Original material: 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 copyright-holder.You will be asked to agree to these conditions when you submit your manuscript online.

Previously rejected material: If the submitted manuscript, or parts of it, have been previously submitted in similar form (either to JSV or elsewhere), details should be given. Failure to do so is considered unethical. On the other hand, any paper that has been rejected by another journal will be considered on its merits by JSV provided its prior history is revealed at the submission stage. Authors are requested to supply a statement for all manuscripts (whether they are based on material previously rejected by JSV or by another journal), making it clear how the new submission differs from the previously rejected one.
Resubmission of a manuscript rejected by JSV is not permitted within 6 months of the last submission (unless resubmission is invited by the editors). Evidence of significant change is required before the manuscript will be considered for re-review.

Ethical permission and conflicts of interest: If the submitted work reports results obtained using human or animal subjects, the covering letter should supply details of the ethical permission under which the study was performed. Any potential conflict of interest should also be made clear in the covering letter. Please see{...ETHIC ISSUES...}for further information.

Detailed instructions on manuscript preparation (including text, equations, references, figures, and tables) can be found below. The editor reserves the right to return without review manuscripts that do not conform to these instructions.

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MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION:

General:
Editors reserve the right to adjust style to certain standards of uniformity. For the main text (including Abstract), a minimum font size of 11 pt and a minimum line spacing of 18 pt are appropriate. Authors should adopt a consistent hierarchy of headings to assist the typesetter; this can be done in LaTeX using Elsevier's document class 'elsart'. Authors using other software should try to follow JSV style, as far as is reasonably possible.

Authors using LaTeX are recommended to write their article using 'elsart', or alternatively the standard document class 'article'; in any case they should ensure that the document is double-spaced and that a separate set of tables and publication quality figures is placed at the end of the manuscript, in addition to the figures and tables imbedded in the text. The option to obtain double line spacing is called 'doublespacing' or 'reviewcopy'. If their LaTeX manuscript is suitable, proofs will be produced without rekeying the text. The Elsevier LaTeX package (including detailed instructions for LaTeX preparation) can be obtained from the Author Gateway's Quickguide: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/latex. It consists of the files: elsart.cls, guidelines for users of elsart, a template file for quick start, and the instruction booklet 'Preparing articles with LaTeX'.
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Structure:
Follow this order when assembling manuscripts: Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Nomenclature (in alphabetical order), Main Text, Acknowledgments, Appendix, References, Figure/Table Captions, Figures (one per page), Tables (one per page). Please ensure that the figures you supply are of adequate resolution - see Supplementary notes about Figures below. Collate your acknowledgments in a separate section at the end of the main text as noted above (rather than including them on the title page, as a footnote to the title, or elsewhere).
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Manuscript Length:
Shorter manuscripts generally get reviewed quicker. See Guidance on keeping manuscripts short

Abstract:
A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided; but if essential, they must be cited in full, rather than by number linked to the reference list. Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Keywords:
Please provide a maximum of six keywords (avoiding, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. Note: keywords are not intended for publication.
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Abbreviations and acronyms: Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field should be used, unless they are clearly defined on first introduction.
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Symbols:
Letter characters should be limited to the Latin and Greek alphabets. Authors wishing to present a table of nomenclature should do so on the second page of their manuscript. The following order should be used within this table: Latin characters should appear first, arranged a, A, b, B etc.; then Greek characters, similarly arranged; sub/superscripts, abbreviations, special functions etc. usually come as a separate final group. More detailed guidance is available here.

Text Layout:
Ensure that each new paragraph is clearly indicated by a preceding line space, rather than by indentation. If possible, consult a recent issue of the journal to become familiar with JSV layout and conventions. Use standard fonts (preferably Times or CMR). Number all manuscript pages consecutively, including Figures and Tables.
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Acknowledgments:
Collate acknowledgments in a separate section at the end of the article (before the Appendices and references) and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, either as a footnote to the title or otherwise. Funding sources may be acknowledged here, as well as individuals who provided help during the research and writing stages of the work.
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Appendices:
If there is only one appendix, use the simple heading Appendix followed by an appropriate title: for example, Appendix: Numerical simulation. If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as Appendix A, Appendix B, and so on, with appropriate titles for each. In either case, equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc., and likewise for subsequent appendices.

Units:
The international system of units (SI) should be used as far as possible. When quantities are expressed in other units, give their equivalent in SI. Unit symbols follow standard SI conventions: thus Roman (normal upright) type is used, with spaces after the number, and also separating unit symbols that are to be multiplied, e.g. 5 N m. Superscript powers, e.g. 30 mm2s-1, are preferred (rather than 30 mm2/s).
For more details, see http://www.aip.org/pt/guide/metric.html.
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Maths:
Mathematics is printed using Latin or Greek symbols. Formatting conventions used in JSV are listed below. In order to assist the copyeditors and typesetters as far as possible, authors are kindly asked to ensure that the mathematical symbols used follow JSV conventions. The Editors may request corrections of this nature before the manuscript can be accepted.
For additional guidance and examples, refer to STYLE or to any recent issue of JSV.
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• Use Roman (normal upright) type for: Differential operators (e.g. d in differential); i or j (square root of -1); exp or e (base of natural logarithms); Re or Im (real or imaginary part); log, ln, sin, cos, etc.; abbreviations such as c.c. (complex conjugate); multiletter symbols (e.g. TL for transmission loss)
• Use italic (sloping) type for: all scalar quantities represented by a single letter symbol (Latin-alphabet), except where noted above;
• Use upright bold for: vectors, matrices and tensors;
• Script (calligraphic) font may be used for operators, or for variables where the standard form of a Latin character has already been used.

Numbering of equations, figures and tables:
Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text). Figures should also be numbered consecutively (1, 2, 3 etc.); and when a figure is split into a number of parts, the parts are labelled (a), (b), etc. Tables should be numbered consecutively (1, 2, 3 etc.). They should not simply duplicate results presented elsewhere in the manuscript (for example, in graphs). No vertical rules should be used. Footnotes to tables should be placed below the table, and should be referred to by superscript letters in upright lowercase font (a, b, c, etc.); authors need to ensure that these remain legible (not less than 8 pt).

Text references to equations, figures and tables: Refer to equations as (for example) Eq. (1), or Eqs. (1) and (2). Refer to figures as (for example) Fig. 1, or Figs. 1 and 2. Refer to tables as (for example) Table 3.
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Reference list:
All publications cited in the text should be included in a numbered References list placed at the end of the manuscript, before the list of figure captions.
Citations in the main text (apart from the Abstract) are indicated with numbers in square brackets, in line with the text; for example, [7] or Doak [7]. Inclusion of the author(s) is optional, but the reference number(s) must always be given.
References cited in the Abstract must be cited again (by number) in the main text, so that the reference list provides a complete record.
References format: Number the list of references in the order in which they are cited in the text, beginning from the Introduction. Please note the following restrictions on citations in JSV:
• Submitted papers
Material that has not yet been accepted for publication may not be cited as a reference.
• Web-based sources
URLs may be cited in the reference list as backup information, but will be disallowed as the main support for key steps in the argument of a paper submitted to JSV.
• References in Special Issues
Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any entries in the reference list (and any citations in the text) that refer to other articles in the same Special Issue.
Reference format examples:
[1] H.Zeng, C.W.Bert, A differential quadrature analysis of vibration for rectangular stiffened plates. Journal of Sound and Vibration 241 (2001) 247-252. doi:10.1006/jsvi.2000.3295
[2] Lord Rayleigh, Theory of Sound (two volumes), Dover Publications, New York, 1877, re-issued 1945.
[3] P.Sas, Vibration testing: state of the art and challenges, in: M.D. Gilchrist (Ed.), Modern Practice in Stress and Vibration Analysis, A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, 1997, pp.65-74.
[4] R.S. Langley, The dynamic analysis of uncertain structures, Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Recent Advances in Structural Dynamics, Southampton, July 2000, pp. 1-20.
[5] Yu.I. Bobrovnitskii, Restoration of the vibrational field inside a structure through the measurements on a part of its surface, Proceedings of the 15th International Congress on Acoustics, Vol. 1, Trondheim, Norway, 1995, pp. 479-482.
[6] P.M.L. Ribeiro, Geometrical non-linear vibration of beams and plates by the hierarchical finite element method, PhD Thesis, University of Southampton, 1998.
[7] P.E. Doak, Notes on the theory of sound, University of Southampton, Institute of Sound and Vibration Research Memorandum ISAV 101, 1964.
[8] http://www.ecgcorp.com/velav/mainbar.html (Accessed 21 August 2006)
[9] A.B. Smith, Personal communication, 1999.
[10] Sysnoise rev. 5.5 User's Manual, LMS International, Leuven, Belgium, 2000.
[11] International Organization for Standardization ISO 2631-1, Mechanical vibration and shock - evaluation of human exposure to whole-body vibration - part 1: general requirements, 1997.
[12] P. Lueg, Process of silencing oscillations, U.S. Patent No. 2,043,416, 1936.

NB: Provide a full list of authors in reference list NOT et al.

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Submission of Figures and Tables:
These should be presented on separate pages at the end of the manuscript, preceded by a list of Figure captions and Table captions. Please upload each figure file individually. Elsevier's preferred file formats are EPS, TIFF and PDF. MS Office file formats are only allowed under certain conditions. Figures and tables must be added as separate files at the end, even if they are also embedded in the text file.

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Supplementary notes about Figures:
When preparing Figures, authors are reminded that the lettering and symbols, as well as other details, should have proportionate dimensions, so as not to become illegible or unclear after possible reduction. Fonts smaller than 11 pt (or subscripts smaller than 8 pt) should be avoided. Typically, a reduction factor of two to three will be applied. The degree of reduction will be determined by the Publisher. Illustrations will not generally be enlarged.
It will often be helpful to consider the page format of the journal when designing the layout of Figures. Gridlines should be avoided when constructing graphs.
Ensure that each figure has a caption. Multipart figures require a single caption that describes all the parts (see the example below). Each figure and table file should be uploaded with an editable text caption (including figure/table number) attached, unless such captions already appear in the main text with figures/tables embedded(see Structure ).
Captions should contain sufficient information to allow the reader to interpret the figure, including any legends/keys not already described in the figure itself. No titles should appear above or below the figure; use the caption for this purpose.
Where an author has chosen to split a figure into a number of parts, each part should be clearly labelled with a lower case letter (a), (b),.... The caption should be a single paragraph below the figure, mentioning each part of the figure in turn.

In the case of colour figures, there are two options open to authors: (1) Separate figure files are uploaded for (a) the online paper version (colour allowed at no cost), and (b) the print version (black and white figures required). This is the preferred option.
(2) A single set of figures is uploaded, including colour where required for the online version. In this case the captions, choice of colours, and system of line codes must be designed so they function adequately when reproduced in black/white in the print journal. Colour alone will not be enough to differentiate different lines on a graph; different line styles are also needed.

An example figure incorporating the points above is shown here.
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Colour Costs and Queries:
For colour illustrations in the printed journal, a colour printing fee is charged to the author per colour page. Further information concerning colour illustrations and costs is available from Author Support at authorsupport@elsevier.ie, and at http://www.elsevier.com.artworkinstructions.
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Free Online Colour
If your accepted article includes colour figures, Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites). This offer applies regardless of whether or not these illustrations are to be reproduced in colour in the printed version. See the information about Illustrations at http://www.elsevier.com.artworkinstructions, and the advice about captions in Supplementary notes about Figures.
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Supplementary Material
Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material 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 are 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. Video files: please supply 'stills' with your files: you can choose any frame from the video or make a separate image. These will be used instead of standard icons and will personalize the link to your supplementary information. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at
http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
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AFTER ACCEPTANCE

Notification:

Authors will be notified of the acceptance of their paper by the editor. The Publisher will also send a notification of receipt of the paper in production.
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Copyright:

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete 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 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 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. Preprinted forms are available for use by authors in these cases: please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions
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Retained Author Rights:
As an author you (or your employer or institution) retain certain rights; for details you are referred to: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights
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PDF Proofs:

The corresponding author is responsible for checking and correcting proofs prior to publication. 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 departures from the final submitted version of the manuscript will normally be allowed at this stage.
Elsevier now sends PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 (or higher) 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.
Any queries raised by the typesetter should be answered in full. Please note that once your paper has been proofed we will publish the paper online in the articles in press section, in a form identical to the print version (except that colour used online will be replaced by black/white in print, unless colour printing has been arranged with the author).
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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 manuscript archiving requirements that may be specified as conditions of their grant awards. To learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies

Pre-publication assistance for authors:

Online Paper Tracking 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. Also accessible from here is information on copyright, frequently asked questions and more.
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Author enquiries All author enquiries during the production stage should be made to: support@elsevier.com

Useful links
• Register free to personalise Author Gateway features, by creating a profile
• Submission Checklist can be downloaded
• Track a paper
• E-mail alerts can be set up here, by creating a profile

Author Benefits:

If you are interested in submitting a book in this area, see
http://authors.elsevier.com/books

No page charges Publication in this journal is free of charge.

Free offprints The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF 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.

Author discount Contributors to Elsevier journals are entitled to a 30% discount on all Elsevier books. See http://www.elsevier.com/homepage/booksbutler for more information.
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Author Rights:
As an author you (or your employer or institution) may do the following:
- make copies (print or electronic) of the article for your own personal use, including for your own classroom teaching use
- make copies and distribute such copies (including through e-mail) of the article to research colleagues, for the personal use by such colleagues (but not commercially or systematically, e.g., via an e-mail list or list server)
- post a pre-print version of the article on Internet websites including electronic pre-print servers, and to retain indefinitely such version on such servers or sites
- post a revised personal version of the final text of the article (to reflect changes made in the peer review and editing process) on your personal or institutional website or server, with a link to the journal homepage (on http://www.elsevier.com)
- present the article at a meeting or conference and to distribute copies of the article to the delegates attending such a meeting
- for your employer, if the article is a 'work for hire', made within the scope of your employment, your employer may use all or part of the information in the article for other intra-company use (e.g., training)
- retain patent and trademark rights and rights to any processes or procedure described in the article
- include the article in full or in part in a thesis or dissertation (provided that this is not to be published commercially)
- use the article or any part thereof in a printed compilation of your works, such as collected writings or lecture notes (subsequent to publication of your article in the journal)
- prepare other derivative works, to extend the article into book-length form, or to otherwise re-use portions or excerpts in other works, with full acknowledgement of its original publication in the journal

ETHIC ISSUES

Conflicts of interest: All authors are required to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest, including financial, personal or other relationships with other persons or organizations, that could have inappropriately influenced or be perceived to have influenced their work. See also
http://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest

Ethics of human and animal experimentation:
If your article describes research results obtained using human or animal subjects, the research 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
or EC Directive 86/609/EEC for animal experiments
http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/s23000.htm
or 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.

Ethics in Publishing:
For general information on Ethics in Publishing and Ethical guidelines for journal publication see
http://www.elsevier.com/publishingethics and http://www.elsevier.com/ethicalguidelines.