Guide for Authors

Impact Factor (2007): 3.444!!

Metabolic Engineering
Editorial Office
525 B Street, Suite 1900
San Diego, CA 92101-4495, USA
Telephone: (619) 699-6275
Fax: (619) 699-6211
E-mail: mbe@elsevier.com

Metabolic Engineering (MBE) is devoted to the publication of original research papers on the directed improvement of cellular properties or metabolite production through the modification or introduction of specific biochemical reactions. Experimental, computational, and modeling approaches to the elucidation of metabolic pathways and their manipulation by genetic, media, or other environmental means are presented. Efficient probing of metabolic pathways requires the application of appropriate methods from molecular biology and biochemistry, along with modeling and data analysis techniques from engineering. MBE provides a forum for communicating such interdisciplinary research, as well as relevant results in the constituent areas of biochemistry, molecular biology, applied microbiology, cellular physiology, cellular nutrition in health and disease, and biochemical engineering.

Articles accepted for publication in MBE will be published electronically as soon as author approval of the proofs has been received; the printed edition will be published quarterly. The printed version of all articles will be identical to that distributed electronically; no alterations between the publishing of the electronic and print versions will be permitted. All author alterations must be indicated on the proofs e-mailed to authors before the article is published electronically. The official publication date for each paper will be the date that it was published on ScienceDirect.

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 Metabolic Engineering Web site at http://ees.elsevier.com/mbe. Text and tables should be submitted as Word documents, and figures should be submitted as TIFF or EPS files (300 dpi). The accompanying cover letter, outlining the basic findings of the paper and their significance, should be addressed to the Editorial Office. Authors are asked to submit the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses of three to five potential reviewers within their cover letter. There are no submission fees or page charges.

Original papers only will be considered. Manuscripts are accepted for review with the understanding that the same work has not been published, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its submission for publication has been approved by all of the authors and by the institution where the work was carried out, and that all clearances have been received by the author by the time a manuscript is submitted for publication. It is further understood that any person cited as a source of personal communications has approved such citation; written authorization may be required at the discretion of the Editors. Articles and any other material published in Metabolic Engineering represent the opinions of the author and should not be construed to reflect the opinions of the Editors or Publisher.

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.

Preparation of Manuscripts

Manuscripts should be double-spaced (point size 12, vertical spacing 24). Number all pages consecutively, including references, footnotes, tables, and figure legends.

Research Notes, Letters to the Editor, and Priority Communications should be between 7 and a maximum of 14 double-spaced typewritten manuscript pages (including tables and figures). Accepted Research Notes will not receive publication priority over regular articles. All Research Notes should include an abstract of 60-100 words.

Letters to the Editor will be considered for priority publication under the following conditions: (a) Letters must be related to some statement made in a recently published article in this journal; (b) in cases of conflicting views on any topic, no more than one Letter from each author will be accepted.

The Editors will evaluate the suitability of an article for consideration as a Priority Communication according to the following criteria: (a) The article contains unique, exciting, and obviously novel results with a clear requirement for rapid publication; (b) articles may be of preliminary nature, but experimental details of the preparation and conditions must be fully documented such that the experiment can be repeated. Priority Communications should include an abstract of 60-100 words; Introduction, Methods, and Results, and Discussion sections; a maximum of 3 figures and/or tables in total; and a References section with only the most essential references included. Manuscripts submitted for publication as Priority Communications must be accompanied by a letter explaining why the material deserves rapid publication. Manuscripts accepted as Priority Communications will be printed as quickly after acceptance as possible. Manuscripts that are judged not to warrant priority publication may be considered for publication as Research Notes.

The title page (p. 1) should contain the article title, authors' names and complete affiliations, footnotes to the title, and the address and contact numbers (phone, fax, e-mail) of the person to whom correspondence should be sent.

An abstract (p. 2) consisting of a single paragraph of fewer than 150 words must be included. Keywords that will be useful or indexing or searching should be listed immediately after the abstract.

The introduction should be as concise as possible, without subheadings.

Materials and methods should be sufficiently detailed to enable the experiments to be reproduced. Authors should draw attention to any particular chemical or biological hazards that may be involved in carrying out the experiments described. Any relevant safety precautions should be described; if an accepted code of practice has been followed, a reference to the relevant standards should be given.

Results and Discussion may be combined and my be organized into subheadings.

Acknowledgments should be brief and precede the Reference section.

Equations. Type all equations and place the numbers for displayed formulas in parentheses at the right margin. References to equations should use the form "Eq. (3)" or simply "(3)".

References. Only articles that have been published or are in press should be included in the references. Unpublished results or personal communications should be cited as such within the text. Arrange references alphabetically according to the surname of the first author. Cite references in text by the author?s surname and the year of publication, e.g., Roe (1990); Roe et al. (1991); Roe and Jones (1993, p. 140). If a reference has more than two authors, the citation includes only the surname of the first author and the abbreviation "et al." Suffixes a, b., etc., should be used following the date to distinguish two or more works by the same author(s) in the same year, e.g. (Roe, 1990a, 1990b). The names of journals should be abbreviated according to the latest edition of the Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index. Note the following styles to be used:

Holleran, E.A., Karki, S., Holzbaur, E.L.F., 1998. The role of the dynactin complex in intracellular motility. In: Jeon, K.W. (Ed.), International Review of Cytology, Vol. 182. Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 69-109

Stephanopoulos, G.N., Aristidou, A.A., Nielsen, J., 1998. Metabolic Engineering: Principles and Methodologies. Academic Press, San Diego.

Thykaer, J., Christensen, B., Nielsen, J., 2002. Metabolic network analysis of an adipoyl-7-ADCA-producing strain of Penicillium chrysogenum: elucidation of adipate degradation. Metab. Eng. 4, 151-158.

Number tables consecutively with Arabic numerals in order of appearance in the text. Type each table double-spaced on a separate page, with a short descriptive title directly above the table and any footnotes (cited by superscript italic lowercase letters) directly below the table.

Figures. Number all illustrations with Arabic numerals in order of appearance in the text. Type all figure captions double-spaced consecutively on a separate sheet. Plan figures to fit the proportions of the printed page.

Color figures. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures, 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 or not 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 http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. 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.

Cover Art

The cover art for each monthly issue will generally be selected from the articles contained in that issue. The Editors welcome suggestions from authors for cover art in the transmittal letters that accompany the manuscripts when they are submitted. The cover art may be a figure from the paper or a complementary figure. A short legend should accompany the figure.

Proofs

PDF proofs will be e-mailed to the corresponding author. Authors will be charged for alterations in excess of 10% of the original composition cost. No changes to an article will be permitted once the article has been printed electronically.