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JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY


!!! Important information for NIH authors !!!



Guide for Authors



The Journal of Structural Biology (J. Struct. Biol., JSB) publishes papers dealing with the structural analysis of biological matter at all levels of organization and the functional connotations of such observations. The field covered by the journal extends from individual macromolecules to cells and tissues with emphasis on the supramolecular (e.g. complexes and machines) and subcellular (e.g., membranes, compartments, cytoskeleton) levels of the structural hierarchy.

Novel applications of and methodological innovations in electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, probe microscopy, and light microscopy as well as aspects of computational biology image processing, bioinformatics and structural prediction, and other biophysical techniques yielding structural information are of interest to the journal. In the context of structural cell biology, papers dealing with cellular architecture and dynamics are particularly welcomed. We see biomineralization as an important emerging area.

Preference will be given to research that correlates structural results with functional, biochemical, biophysical, immunological, or genetic data on the system under study. Purely descriptive contributions should deal with the discovery of novel structural entities of biological significance or novel insights from innovative imaging modalities. A limited number of reviews (usually invited) will be published to keep the reader abreast of recent progress in the various fields of structural biology and advances in methodology.

Submission of manuscripts. It is a condition of publication that all manuscripts must be written in clear and grammatical English and be submitted to the Journal of Structural Biology Web site at http://ees.elsevier.com/jsb. Minimal exceptions will be allowed. If you are unable to provide an electronic version, please contact the Editorial Office prior to submission (e-mail: jsb@elsevier.com; telephone: (619) 699-6750; or fax: (619) 699-6700).

Language Services. Authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission please visit External link http://www.elsevier.com/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 External link http://www.elsevier.com/termsandconditions

Each manuscript must also be accompanied by a cover letter outlining the basic findings of the paper and their significance.

Authors should suggest at least four competent reviewers in their field and may also suggest individuals whom they wish to have excluded from the review process. Please indicate in your cover letter if you prefer a particular Editor-in-Chief or Associate Editor to handle your submission.

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.

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to sign a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (for more information on this and copyright see External link http://www.elsevier.com/copyright). 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 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 External link 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. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases: please consult External link http://www.elsevier.com/permissions.

Funding body agreements and policies Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors who publish in Elsevier journals to comply with potential manuscript archiving requirements as specified as conditions of their grant awards. To learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit External link http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies.

Crystallization Notes, Technical Notes and Structure Reports. In addition to regular full-length papers reporting crystal structures and novel methods and/or mechanisms of crystallization, the Journal of Structural Biology publishes three kinds of short communications - Crystallization Notes, Technical Notes and Structure Reports.

The primary consideration for eligibility as a Crystallization Note is that the observations reported should have sufficient significance and originality to merit publication separate from the structure. That significance/originality should be described in the letter of submission. At least one of the following criteria must apply:
i. significant novelty in crystallization method or expression strategy;
ii. crystals of a membrane protein or large macromolecular complex;
iii. 2D crystals (planar or helical/tubular) for EM analysis;
iv. other significant novelty.
For studies in which expression and crystallization have resulted from application of standard procedures, this information is more appropriately reported in the Materials and Methods section of the paper describing structure.

A Technical Note is similar to a Crystallization Note in format and length and gives a succinct description of a major methodological innovation in a domain other than crystallization.

Structure Reports concisely document macromolecular crystal structures, including those emanating from structural genomics. Where no biological role is yet determined, these reports can be presented without such connections. In addition to appropriate quality of the reported structure, it is essential that the procedures used to prepare the protein and to determine the structure should be repeatable with the information provided. The manuscript should begin by describing the source of the protein, the means used to screen for or devise crystallization conditions, and the crystallization procedures and conditions and should include a table with the information listed in Table A.

A Crystallization Note, Technical Note or Structure Report should consist of an abstract, a single passage of text that should not be divided into sections labeled Introduction, Results, etc., but which may include declarative subtitles, and a brief References section, and should not exceed four printed pages (Crystallization Note or Technical Note) or five printed pages (Structure Report) including figures (1 page ~ 900 words/5000 characters). For a paper submitted in one of these three categories, the letter of submission should include a calculation of its length (Number of column-inches for Figures + word count).

For 3D crystals, crystal quality should be demonstrated with a crystal photograph as well as the diffraction data used to determine the unit cell parameters and space group symmetry. These data may be given in the form of a table summarizing the data collection statistics and/or precession photographs or pseudo-precession photographs generated from the diffraction data. These data will be reviewed but not necessarily included in the final publication. 2D crystals or helical filaments suitable for analysis by electron microscopy and/or electron crystallography should be documented by optical or computed diffractograms of electron diffractograms and, when possible, by filtered 2D projection images.

Minireviews. JSB will publish minireviews describing emerging concepts, important methodological advances, and research hypotheses on topics related to the journal's sphere of interest (see above). Including graphics, a minreview should be approximately four pages. Minireviews will be subject to the same review process as regular papers. Topics, including a summary of 1-2 paragraphs, may be proposed to either editor.

Paper of the Year.The Journal of Structural Biology Paper of the Year Award is conferred annually and consists of a cash prize of $1000 and an award certificate. The recipient should be a young scientist (graduate student or postdoctoral fellow) who has been first author or co-first author of a paper that appeared in JSB in the preceding three years or who had that status (graduate student or fellow) at the time the published work was done. Nominations can be made by any reader. A nomination, not exceeding 300 words, should consist of a statement of the particular merit of the paper and should be sent by e-mail to jsb@elsevier.com. The cutoff date for nominations in any year is 31 December. An unsuccessful nomination will remain eligible in the following years, subject to the three-year limitation.

Form of manuscript. Manuscripts should be written in clear, concise, and grammatical English.

Title page. The title page (page 1) should contain the article title, author(s) name(s) and affiliation(s), and the name, complete mailing address, and telephone and fax numbers of the person to whom correspondence should be sent.
Abstract. The abstract (page 2) should be a single paragraph not exceeding 200 words. It should be a synopsis of the work reported-including materials, methods, and results-and should be comprehensible to readers before they have read the paper. Abbreviations and reference citations should be avoided.
Keywords. Keywords should be listed immediately after the abstract.
Abbreviations should be restricted to SI symbols and those recommended by the IUPAC. Abbreviations should be defined in parentheses after their first mention in the text. Standard units of measurements and chemical symbols of elements may be used without definition in the body of the paper.
Acknowledgments should be included at the end of the text and not in footnotes. Personal acknowledgments should precede those of institutions and agencies.
Footnotes should be avoided, but if they must be used they should be numbered consecutively and placed (double-spaced) on a separate page at the end of the manuscript.

References should be arranged in alphabetical order according to the first author's surname and typed double-spaced on a separate page at the end of the manuscript. They should be referred to in the text by the authors' surnames and the date of publication, e.g., Doe and Jones (1990), Jones et al. (1991), or (Doe, 1990; Jones, 1991). Abbreviations of journal titles should follow Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index. Please note the following examples:

Matthews, R.E.F., 1991. Plant Virology, 3rd ed. Academic Press, San Diego.

Veselská, R., Janisch, R., 2001. Reaction of the skin fibroblast cytoskeleton to micromanipulation interventions. J. Struct. Biol. 136, 110–118.

Villiger, W., 1990. Lowicryl resins, in: Hayat, M.A. (Ed.), Colloidal Gold: Principles, Methods, and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, Vol. 3, pp. 59–71.

Figures. When creating your figures, use font sizes and line weights that will reproduce clearly and accurately when figures are sized to the appropriate column width. The minimum line weight is 0.5 point. Thinner lines well not reproduce well. Eliminate all excess white space from the borders of each figure. Do not include figure legends or other extraneous text in a graphic file. Please visit our Web site at External link http://www.elsevier.com/artwork for detailed instructions on preparing electronic artwork. Figure legends should be provided as text, placed after the reference section in the main manuscript file. Number figures consecutively with Arabic numerals.

Color figures. Two pages of color will be published free of charge in each article. Additional color pages in the same article will be charged to the author. Authors are encouraged to prepare color figures such that multiple figures may be consolidated on a single page. To minimize the costs to the author, multiple color figures may appear out of numerical sequence. If your manuscript is accepted, and to better service your needs regarding printed color, please indicate which figures you'd like printed in color on the Color Reproduction Agreement form you'll receive later.

Free color on the Web. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures, then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. For color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see External link http://www.elsevier.com/artwork.

Please note: Because of technical complications that can arise in converting color figures to "gray scale" (for the printed version should you not opt for color in print), please submit in addition usable black-and-white files corresponding to all the color illustrations.

Tables. Each table must have a short descriptive heading typed double-spaced over the table. Footnotes to tables should be identified by superscript lowercase letters and typed below the table. Tables should be planned to fit the proportions of the printed page.

Preparation of supplementary material. Elsevier now accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer additional possibilities for publishing supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips, and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com). To ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please provide the data in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. Please note, however, that supplementary material will not appear in the printed journal. Files can be stored on 3.5-inch diskette, ZIP disk, or CD (either MS-DOS or Macintosh). For more detailed instructions, please contact the Editorial Office (e-mail: jsb@elsevier.com; telephone:(619) 699-6389; or fax: (619) 699-6211).

Proofs. Proofs will be sent as PDF files to the author, with a reprint order form. Note that due to e-mail file size restrictions your figures will appear at a lower resolution than the final product. Authors will be charged for alterations in excess of 10% of the cost of composition.

Table A

Structure Reports

Structure Reports should include the following information (some of which have example values preceded by a colon) which may be presented in tabular form:

The PDB accession code for the structure.

Source of protein
The source of the original gene sequence and any coding identification.
Whether it is full length or a fragment(s).
Number of chains and their molecular weights.
If it is a fragment of a gene, how the boundaries were determined, and its relationship to the entire protein.
The organism in which the protein was expressed and the vector and/or promoter and resistance markers sufficient to allow another to repeat.

Crystal
Space group
Unit cell dimensions and angles

Resolution 1.75 Å

Refinement
Program : CNS 1.1
Refinement target : ENGH & HUBER

Data used in refinement.
Resolution range high (Å) : 1.75
Resolution range low (Å) : 29.46
Data cutoff (σ(F)) : 0.000
Outlier cutoff high (RMS(ABS(F))) : Null
Completeness (working+test) (%) : 98.6
Number of reflections : 59490

Fit to data used in refinement
Cross-validation method : Throughout
Free R value test set selection : Random
R value (working set) : 0.197
Free R value : 0.221
Free R value test set size (%) : 5.100
Free R value test set count : 3007
Estimated error of free R value : 0.004

Fit in the highest resolution bin
Total number of bins used : 6
Bin resolution range high (Å) : 1.75
Bin resolution range low (Å) : 1.86
Bin completeness (working+test) (%) : 92.40
Reflections in bin (working set) : 8758
Bin R value (working set) : 0.3450
Bin free R value : 0.3750
Bin free R value test set size (%) : 5.10
Bin free R value test set count : 467
Estimated error of bin free R value : 0.017

Number of non-hydrogen atoms used in refinement
Protein atoms : 4306
Nucleic acid atoms : 0
Heterogen atoms : 132
Solvent atoms : 367

B values
From Wilson Plot (Å2) : 25.90
Mean B value (overall, Å2) : 27.30

Rms deviations from ideal values
Bond lengths (Å) : 0.007
Bond angles (°) : 1.50
Dihedral angles (°) : 24.10
Improper angles (°) : 0.90

Isotropic thermal model : Restrained

Isotropic thermal factor restraints RMS SIGMA
Main-chain bond (Å2) : Null ; Null
Main-chain angle (Å2) : Null ; Null
Side-chain bond (Å2) : Null ; Null
Side-chain angle (Å2) : Null ; Null

Bulk solvent modeling
Method used : Flat Model
KSOL : 0.38
BSOL : 43.37

NCS model : Null

NCS restraints RMS SIGMA/WEIGHT
Group 1 positional (Å) : Null ; Null
Group 1 B factor (Å2) : Null ; Null

Temperature (Kelvin) : 100.0
pH : 8.60
Number of crystals used : 1

Synchrotron (Y/N) : N
Radiation source : Rotating anode
Beamline : Null
X-ray generator model : Rigaku
Monochromatic or laue (M/L) : M
Wavelenth or range (Å) : 1.5418
Monochromator : Osmic mirrors
Optics : Osmic mirrors

Detector type : Image plate
Detector manufacturer : Rigaku Raxis IV
Intensity-integration software : Denzo
Data scaling software : Scalepack

Number of unique reflections : 59657
Resolution range high (Å) : 1.750
Resolution range low (Å) : 29.460
Rejection criteria (σ(I)) : -3.000

Overall
Completeness for range (%) : 98.6
Data redundancy : Null
Rmerge (I) : Null
Rsym (I) : Null
I/σ(I) for the data set : Null

In the highest resolution shell
Highest resolution shell, range high (Å) : 1.75
Highest resolution shell, range low (Å) : 1.81
Completeness for shell (%) : 88.1
Data redundancy in shell : Null
Rmerge for shell (I) : Null
Rsym for shell (I) : Null
I/σ(I) for shell : Null
Diffraction protocol: Single wavelength
Method used to determine the structure: Molecular replacement
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