Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters publishes research results of outstanding
significance and timeliness in the fields of medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, bioorganic chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, and
related disciplines. Articles are in the form of communications reporting experimental or theoretical results of special interest.
Manuscript submission
Online submission: Authors should submit their manuscript to the appropriate regional editor
(see below) via the online submission page of this journal at http://ees.elsevier.com/bmcl. Authors will be guided stepwise
through the creation and uploading of the various files. 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, these source files are needed for further processing after acceptance. All correspondence,
including notification of the editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail and via the author's home page. A printed
copy of the manuscript is not required at any stage of the process.
The following items should be supplied:
• Manuscript.
It is not necessary to embed graphics in the text, but if you do so please note that separate graphic files will always be required for
proof production when a manuscript is accepted for publication. Graphics should be submitted as separate, high-resolution artwork files.
These will be automatically incorporated into the single PDF that the system creates for review.
• Graphical abstract
for the contents list (submitted as a separate document).
• Cover letter (i) highlighting the novelty, significance,
and urgency of the submitted work that merits rapid publication; (ii) providing details of other relevant information, e.g., submitted
or in press manuscripts.
• Names of potential referees.
Manuscripts should be addressed to the appropriate regional
editor:
Submissions from Japan and other Asian countries:
Professor Masakatsu Shibasaki, Japanese Regional Editor,
Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The
University of Tokyo, Japan
Submissions from Europe:
Professor Stephen
Neidle, Cancer Research UK Professorial Fellow and Professor of Chemical Biology, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, UK
Submissions from USA, Canada, and all others:
Professor Dale L. Boger, Editor-in-Chief,
The Scripps Research Institute,
La Jolla, CA, USA
All manuscripts will be centrally handled by the journal editorial office, which will forward manuscripts to the
regional editors:
Editorial Office Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters
525 B Street, Suite 1900
San
Diego, CA 92101-4495, USA
Facsimile: (1) 619-699-6801
E-mail: bmcl-eo@elsevier.com
Authors who are unable
to submit their paper online should contact the editorial office prior to submission at the above address.
Language: Articles
must be written in clear, concise, grammatical English. Any author who is not fluent in idiomatic English is urged to gain assistance
with manuscript preparation. Reviewers are not expected to correct grammatical errors and any deficiency in this area may detract from
the scientific content of the paper.
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
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Journal policy: 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 publisher. Authors accept full responsibility for the factual accuracy of the data presented and should obtain any authorization
necessary for publication. As such the contents of the papers are the sole responsibility of the authors and publication shall not imply
the concurrence of the editors or publisher.
All papers are submitted to referees who advise the editor on the
matter of acceptance
in accordance with the high standards required, on the understanding that the subject matter has not been previously published and is
not under consideration elsewhere. Referees will be asked to distinguish contributions meeting the above requirements and having an element
of novelty, timeliness, and urgency that merits publication in the journal. We ask referees to help in the selection of articles that
have this breadth and suggest that papers covering narrower aspects of the field be sent to journals specializing in those areas. Referees'
names are not disclosed, but their views are forwarded by the editor to the authors for consideration. Authors are encouraged to suggest
names of several experts in the field when papers are first submitted or at any time in the evaluation process.
Copyright guidelines:
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/locate/authorsrights).
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, which can be obtained at http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights see under "Copyright
information".
Manuscript preparation
General requirements: The article including artwork can be no longer than
four printed pages and the approximate maximum word count per page is 700 words. Pages must be numbered. The corresponding author's full
mailing address, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail address should be included. The manuscript should be compiled in the following order:
Graphical Abstract,
Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Text, Acknowledgments,
References and notes, Tables, Legends, Figures, and
Schemes.
Templates: Templates are provided to allow authors to view
their paper in a style close to the final printed form.
Their use is optional. All manuscripts will be fully typeset from the author's electronic files. It should be noted that due to defined
typesetting standards and the complex requirements of electronic publishing, the publisher will not always be able to exactly match the
layout the author has submitted. In particular, in the finished journal article, figures and tables are usually placed at the top or
bottom of pages. The template is only intended to be used in assisting with the preparation and submission of manuscripts.
It should
be noted that use of the journal templates is not a requirement and their adoption will neither speed nor delay publication. Elsevier
can handle most major word processing packages and in general most formatting applied by authors for style and layout is replaced when
the article is being typeset.
These templates contain a large number of macros. To ensure successful PDF conversion during online
submission, it is important that the author save a new document based on the template, rather than saving the template itself. To use
the template, the author should save the final document as a Word file with a '.doc' extension (rather than the '.dot' extension).
Graphical abstracts:
Authors must supply a graphical abstract at the time the paper is first submitted. The abstract should summarize the contents of the
paper in a concise, pictorial form designed to capture the attention of a wide readership and for compilation of databases. Carefully
drawn chemical structures that serve to illustrate the theme of the paper are desired. Authors may also provide appropriate text, not
exceeding 30 words.The content of the graphical abstract will be typeset and should be kept within an area of 5 cm by 17 cm. Authors
must supply the graphic separately as an electronic file.
For examples of graphical abstracts, please consult a recent issue of the
journal or visit the journal page on ScienceDirect at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0960894X and click 'Sample
Issue Online'.
Title: The title should be brief, specific, and rich in informative words; it should not contain any literature
references or compound numbers.
Authors and affiliations: Where possible, supply given names, middle initials, and family
names for complete identification. Use superscript lowercase letters to indicate different addresses, which should be as detailed as
possible, and must include the country name. The corresponding author should be indicated with an asterisk, and contact details (fax,
e-mail) may be placed in a footnote. Information relating to other authors (e.g., present addresses) should be placed in footnotes indicated
by the appropriate symbols (see below).
Abstracts: Authors must include a short abstract that states briefly the purpose of
the research, the principal results, and major conclusions. References should not be mentioned in the abstract unless full details are
given.
Text: Text should either not be subdivided or done so in the simplest possible way consistent with clarity. Headings
should be used sparingly. Common headings such as 'Introduction' and 'Results and discussion' should not be used, as the text within
these sections should be self explanatory. As such, the publisher recommends that only the 'Acknowledgments' and 'References and notes'
headings be used. In the introductory section of the communication, the author should strive to define the significance of the work and
the justification for its
rapid publication. Ensure that all tables, figures, and schemes are cited in the text in numerical order. The
preferred position for chemical structures should be indicated. Trade names should have an initial capital letter, and trademark protection
should be acknowledged in the standard fashion. All measurements
and data should be given in SI units where possible, or other internationally
accepted units. Authors are requested to draw attention to hazardous materials or procedures by adding the word CAUTION followed by a
brief descriptive phrase and literature references if appropriate. The experimental information should be as concise as possible, while
containing all the information necessary to guarantee reproducibility.
Abbreviations: Standard ACS abbreviations should be
used throughout the manuscript and are employed without periods. The preferred forms for some of the more commonly used abbreviations
are mp, bp, °C, K, min, h, mL, μL, g, mg, μg, cm, mm, nm, mol, mmol, μmol, M, mM, μM, ppm, HPLC, TLC, GC, 1H
NMR, GC-MS, HRMS, FABHRMS, UV, IR, EPR, ESR, DNase, ED50, ID50, IC50, LD50, im, ip, iv, mRNA,
RNase, rRNA, tRNA, cpm, Ci, dpm, Vmax, Km, k, t1/2. All non-standard
abbreviations should be defined following the first use of the abbreviation. For a detailed listing of standard abbreviations, see The
ACS Style Guide; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1997
References and notes: In the text, references should
be indicated by superscript Arabic numerals which run consecutively through the paper and appear after any punctuation. Please ensure
that all references are cited in the text and vice versa. The reference list should preferably contain only literature references though
other information (e.g., experimental details) can be placed in this section. Preferably, each reference should contain only one literature
citation. Authors are expected to check the original source reference for accuracy. Journal
titles should be abbreviated according to
American Chemical Society guidelines (The ACS Style Guide; Dodd, J. S., Ed.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1997).
A list of currently accepted journal abbreviations may be found at http://elsevier.com/locate/bmcl.
Formatting for common
references is shown below.
Scientific articles:
1. Barton, D. H. R.; Yadav-Bhatnagar, N.; Finet, J.-P.; Khamsi, J. Tetrahedron Lett.1987,28, 3111.
Books with editor:
2. Doe, J. S.; Smith, J. J. In Medicinal
Chemistry; Roe, P., Small, J. K., Eds.; Pergamon: Oxford, 1990; Vol. 1, pp 301 383.
Books without editor:
3. Doe, J. S.;
Smith, J. J. Bioorganic Chemistry; Pergamon: Oxford, 1990, Chapter 6.
Theses:
4. Doe, J. S. Ph.D. Thesis, University
of California at San Diego, January 2000.
Patent/Chem. Abstract:
5. Lyle, F. R. U.S. Patent 6,973,257, 1995; Chem.
Abstr.1995, 123, 2870.
Abstract of meeting papers:
6. Doe, J. S. Abstract of Papers, 195th National
Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Anaheim, CA; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1995; Abstract 3028.
Material presented
orally:
7. Doe, J. S. Presented at the 195th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Anaheim, CA, March 1995; paper 205.
Footnotes: Footnotes should appear at the bottom of the appropriate page and be indicated by the following symbols: asterisk,
dagger, double dagger,section sign, paragraph symbol, parallels.
Tables: All tables should be cited in the text, and numbered
in order of appearance with Arabic numerals. All table columns should have a brief explanatory heading and, where appropriate, units
of measurement. Vertical lines should not be used. Footnotes to tables should be typed below the table and should be referred to by superscript
letters.
Artwork: Figures, schemes, and equations must be cited in the text and numbered in order of appearance with Arabic
numerals. Other graphics, such as structures, do not need to be numbered, but please indicate in the text where these are to appear.
All graphics (including chemical structures) must be provided at the actual size that they are to appear (single-column width is 8.4
cm, double-column width is 17.7 cm). Please arrange schematics so that they fill the column space (either single or double), so as not
to leave a lot of unused white space. Please ensure that all illustrations within a
paper are consistent in type, quality and size. Captions
should not be included as part of the graphic; instead all captions should be supplied at the end of the text. Reagents and conditions
(unless incorporated into the actual schematic) should also be provided as text. All graphics must be labeled with the figure or scheme
number, and the corresponding author's name.
To help authors provide actual size graphics, it is suggested that the following settings
be used with CSC ChemDraw and ISIS Draw: Font 10 pt Helvetica, chain angle 120°, bond spacing 18% of length, fixed length 10.08 pt
(0.354 cm), bold width 1.4 pt (0.049 cm), line width 0.42 pt (0.015 cm), margin width 1.12 pt (0.040 cm), and hash spacing 1.75 pt (0.062
cm). Compound numbers should be in boldface. In order to accurately design schematics to print out at the proper width, the original
drawing cannot exceed a column width of 8.4 cm (for single column) and 17.7 cm (for double column). Layout design is facilitated if
authors submit their original artwork in the actual size to be published. Please save graphics as an Encapsulated PostScript file (EPS)
or a Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), as well as
the program the graphic was originally drawn in. For more details on the preparation
and submission of artwork, please visit http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
Color: Color figures should
be supplied in electronic format as JPEG files (minimum 300 dots per inch).
In print: Color figures may be printed in the
journal at no charge to the author, provided that the editor considers the color necessary to convey scientific information.
On
the web: Any figure can appear free of charge in color in the web version of your article (e.g., on ScienceDirect), regardless of
whether it is reproduced in color in the printed version. Please note that if you do not opt for color in print, you should submit relevant
figures in both color (for the web) and black and white (for print).
Journal conventions
Nomenclature: It is the
responsibility of the authors to provide correct nomenclature. Chemical names for drugs are preferred. If these are not practical, generic
names, names approved by the U.S. Adopted Names Council, or those approved by the World Health Organization may be used. If a generic
name is used, its chemical name or structure should be provided at the point of first citation. Authors will find the following as useful
reference books for recommended nomenclature:
IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry; Rigaudy, J., Klesney, S. P., Eds.;
Pergamon: Oxford, 1979.
Enzyme Nomenclature; Webb, E. C., Ed.; Academic: Orlando, 1992.
Biochemical Nomenclature
and Related Documents; The Biochemistry Society: London, 1978.
The ACS Style Guide; Dodd, J. S., Ed.; American Chemical
Society: Washington, DC, 1997.
X-ray crystallographic data: Prior to submission of the manuscript, the author should deposit
crystallographic data for organic and metalorganic structures with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre. The data, without structure
factors, should be sent by e-mail to deposit@ccdc.cam ac.uk, as an ASCII file, preferably in CIF format. Hard-copy data
should be sent to CCDC, 12 Union Road, Cambridge CB2 1EZ, UK. A checklist of data items for deposition can be obtained from the CCDC
Home Page on the World Wide Web (http://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/) or by e-mail to fileserv@ccdc.cam.ac.uk, with
the one-line message, sendme checklist. The data will be acknowledged, within three working days, with one CCDC deposition number per
structure deposited. These numbers should be included with the following standard text in the manuscript: Crystallographic data (excluding
structure factors) for the structures in this paper have been deposited with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre as supplementary
publication numbers CCDC. . . Copies of the data can be obtained, free of charge, on application to CCDC, 12 Union Road, Cambridge CB2
1EZ, UK [fax: +44 (0)1223-336033 or e-mail: deposit@ccdc.cam.ac.uk]. Deposited data may be accessed by the journal and
checked as part of the refereeing process. If data are revised prior to publication, a replacement file should be sent to CCDC.
Biological
data: Biological test methods must be referenced or described in sufficient detail to permit the experiments to be repeated by others.
Standard compounds and established drugs should be tested in the same system for comparison. Statistical limits (statistical significance)
for the biological data are usually required. If statistical limits cannot be provided, the number of determinations and an indication
of the variability and reliability of the results should be given. Doses and concentrations should be expressed in molar quantities when
comparisons of potencies are made with compounds having substantial differences in molecular weights. For inactive agents, the highest
concentration or dose level tested should be indicated. For optically active substances, the optical purity should be clearly documented
(% ee, % de), especially for the less active or inactive enantiomers or diastereomers. In such instances, the optical purity must be
documented (% ee, % de) in a way that distinguishes or accommodates potential contamination by the most active enantiomer.
Structural
data: Atomic coordinates for structures of biological macromolecules determined by X-ray, NMR, or other methods should be deposited
with the RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB). It is the responsibility of the author to obtain a file name for the macromolecule; the file name
must be referenced in the manuscript. Deposition (deposit.pdb.org) and release information are available at http://deposit.pdb.org/depoinfo/depofaq.html.
Manuscripts will be sent out for review only after receiving a written statement from the author that the coordinates will be deposited.
If a manuscript is accepted for publication, and the PDB file name has not yet been obtained, it must be added prior to publication.
Upon written request by the author, the PDB will refer requests for coordinates to the originating author, but one year after publication,
they will be made generally available upon request. Please address all inquiries about depositing to the PDB.
GenBank/DNA sequence
linking: Authors wishing to enable other scientists to use the accession numbers cited in their papers via links to these sources,
should type this information in the following manner:
For each and every accession number cited in an article, authors should type
the accession number in bold, underlined text. Letters in the accession number should always be capitalized (see example below.) This
combination of letters and format will enable the typesetter to recognize the relevant texts as accession numbers and add the required
link to GenBank's sequences.
Example: GenBank accession nos. AI631510, AI631511, AI632198,
and BF223228), a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE675048), and a T-cell
lymphoma (GenBank accession no. AA361117).
Authors are encouraged to check accession numbers used very carefully. An
error in a letter or number can result in a dead link.
In the final version of the printed article, the accession number
text will not appear bold or underlined. In the final version of the electronic copy, the accession number text will be linked
to the appropriate source in the NCBI databases, enabling readers to go directly to that source from the article.
Software:
Software used as part of computer-aided drug design (e.g., molecular modeling, QSAR, conformational analysis, molecular dynamics) must
be specified and should be readily available from accepted sources or the authors may specify where specialized software can be obtained.
Assurance of the quality of the parameters employed for the relevant potential functions should be detailed in the manuscript.
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Corrections
If errors of consequence are in a published paper, a correction of the error should be sent to the editor for publication in the
journal.
Offprints
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