Please note that Methods is an 'invitation only' journal, as each thematic issue has guest editors who invite specific authors to submit suitable high quality papers.


The articles in the topic-oriented issues of this journal present new methods applicable to a number of disciplines. Issues are devoted to specific approaches or techniques and describe their theoretical bases. Emphasis is placed on clear descriptions of protocols that allow applications of these methods in any modern laboratory. Issues are organized by expert guest editors and consist of invited articles. Unsolicited manuscripts will not be accepted.

Manuscripts are accepted with the understanding that the same work has not been published, that it is not 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; further, that any person cited as a source of personal communications has approved such citation. Written authorization may be required at the Editor's discretion. Articles and any other material published in Methods represent the opinions of the author(s) and should not be construed to reflect the opinions of the Editor(s) and the 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. 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's Rights Department, Oxford, UK: phone (+44) 1865 843830, fax (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail permissions@elsevier.com. Requests may also be completed online via the Elsevier homepage (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions).

If an author uses material from his/her own published work, permission must still be obtained from the publisher.

The source of the data must always be credited, e.g., in a footnote to a table, in a figure legend.

All new and revised manuscripts should be submitted through the online submission and review Web site at http://ees.elsevier.com/ymeth. Authors are requested to submit the text, tables, and artwork in electronic form (e.g., Word or RTF format) to this address in appropriate files (cover letter, reviewer recommendations, title page with author identifiers, manuscript without author identifiers, tables, figures, and author bios). In an accompanying letter, authors should state that the manuscript, or parts of it, have not been and will not be submitted elsewhere for publication. Submission items include a cover letter, the manuscript (including title page, abstract, manuscript text, references, tables, and figures). Revised manuscripts should also be accompanied by a unique file (separate from the covering letter) with responses to reviewers' comments.

Preparation of Manuscript. Manuscripts should be concise and consistent in style, spelling, and use of abbreviations. The original copy must be typewritten, double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides. Pages should be numbered consecutively and should include Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Description of Method, Concluding Remarks, and References.

The Title Page (p. 1) should contain the article title, authors' names and complete affiliations, footnotes to the title, and the address for manuscript correspondence (including e-mail address and telephone and fax numbers).

In creating a title for an article, please omit words such as the, a, an, novel, improved, simple, efficient, convenient, new. Each is felt to be redundant and actually slows down the reader who is scanning the article titles and wants to know more about the method itself. Please substitute informative words that will give readers a more complete idea of the usefulness of your paper with regard to the limitations of their equipment or sample type.

The Abstract (p. 2) must be a single paragraph that summarizes the main findings of the paper in less than 250 words. The abstract should be intelligible to nonspecialists and hence should avoid specialized terms and abbreviations or symbols that require definition. After the abstract a list of up to 10 keywords that will be useful for indexing or searching should be included.

Names of chemical or organic substances should follow the recommendations of the IUPAC-IUBMB Joint Combined Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature (JCBN).

Authors should draw attention to any particular hazards that may be involved in carrying out the methods 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. Because the value of a method is entirely dependent on the availability of all materials, sources for critical reagents and instruments must be clearly identified.

In reports of experiments involving recombinant DNA molecules, constructed in vitro and subsequently inserted into cells, reference must be made to the appropriate NIH guidelines and/or other pertinent regulations or, if comparable documents exist in the country where the work was done, these may be referenced. Significant deviations from the recommended practices should be described. In those circumstances where the host system has been certified as disabled by the NIH Program Advisory Committee on Recombinant DNA, that certification should be noted.

References should be cited in the text by Arabic numerals in square brackets and listed at the end of the paper in consecutive order. Only articles that have been published or are in press should be included in the references. Abbreviations of journal titles should follow the style used in the most recent Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index. Unpublished results or personal communications should be cited as such in the text. Please use the following style, noting capitalization and punctuation:

[1] U. Lehmann, H. Kreipe, Methods 25 (2001) 409-418.

[2] E.C. Conley, The Ion Channel FactsBooks, Academic Press, San Diego, 2001.

[3] T. Kealey, in: Packer, L. (Ed.), Methods in Enzymology, vol. 190, Academic Press, New York, 1990, pp. 338-345.

Figures. Number figures consecutively with Arabic numerals. Each figure should have a descriptive legend. Legends should be typed together on a separate sheet, double-spaced. Please visit our Web site at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions for detailed instructions on preparing electronic artwork.

Color Figures. Color Figures. Color figures will be published free of charge. 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 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) and in color in the printed version. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Tables should be numbered 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 typed directly above and with essential footnotes below. Footnotes to tables should be placed at the bottom of the table and linked to the body of the table with the corresponding lowercase superscript letters.

Equations, if included, should be numbered, using Arabic numbers enclosed in parentheses, in sequence throughout the article. In the text, they should be referred to as Eq. (1), Eqs. (3)?(5).

Footnotes should be designated in text by superscript numbers and typed on a separate sheet following the References.

PDF proofs will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author. To avoid delay in publication, only necessary changes should be made, and corrections should be returned promptly.

E-Offprints. 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.

Author inquiries. Visit http://www.elsevier.com/authors for the facility to track accepted articles and set up e-mail alerts to inform you when an article's status has changed. The Elsevier site also provides detailed artwork guidelines, 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.

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