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Carbohydrate Polymers

Introduction



Aims and scope. The Aims and Scope of Carbohydrate Polymers must be complied with in order for submissions to be considered for review and possible publication.

Carbohydrate Polymers is a major journal within the field of glycoscience, and covers the study and exploitation of polysaccharides which have current or potential application in areas such as bioenergy, bioplastics, biomaterials, biorefining, chemistry, drug delivery, food, health, nanotechnology, packaging, paper, pharmaceuticals, medicine, oil recovery, textiles, tissue engineering and wood, and other aspects of glycoscience.

The role of the well-characterized carbohydrate polymer must be the major proportion of the work reported, not a peripheral one. At least one named carbohydrate polymer must be cited and be the main focus of the paper and its title. Research must be innovative and advance scientific knowledge.

Characterization. For all polysaccharides or their derivatives, including those obtained from a supplier, essential structural information which will affect their behavior in the subsequent work should be given, along with a description of how that information was ascertained. Editors are unlikely to send papers for formal review if the glycan is not adequately characterized. Please read the guidelines Characterization of carbohydrates and related products carefully as it contains all relevant information.

Hypothesis. Nearly all scientific papers benefit from inclusion of a statement of hypothesis. Such statements should be clear, concise, and declarative. The statement should describe the one or more key hypotheses that the work described in the manuscript was intended to confirm or refute. Inclusion of a hypothesis statement makes it simple to contrast the hypothesis with the most relevant previous literature and point out what the authors feel is distinct about the current hypothesis (novelty). It also permits the authors to describe why they feel it would be important to prove the hypothesis correct (significance).


Topics of interest to the journal:
  • structure-property relationships
  • analytical methods
  • enzymatic and physical modifications
  • biosynthesis
  • natural functions
  • interactions with other materials
  • Glycogen

Topics not of interest to the journal:

  • biological, physiological and pharmacological aspects of non-carbohydrate molecules attached to, or mixed with, carbohydrate polymers, unless the polysaccharide has a relevant and specific role;
  • materials science of biocomposites where there is no mention of any specific carbohydrate polymer, or the role of the carbohydrate polymer is not the major proportion of the study;
  • polyalkanoates, polylactic acid, or lignin;
  • routine studies of extraction yields without characterization of the extracted polysaccharide under the different conditions;
  • studies of complexation of a drug with a single cyclodextrin;
  • production and isolation of enzymes which act on polysaccharides (studies on the mode of action of an enzyme on a polysaccharide are within the journal scope);
  • carbohydrate oligomers where the degree of polymerization is equal or less than four;
  • treatments of cotton fabrics and cellulose-based paper where the research is largely not about the component cellulose itself;
  • use of carbohydrate polymers as a support material (e.g. in enzyme immobilization, chromatography, etc.) where there is no specific involvement of the chemistry of the carbohydrate polymer.
  • Bibliometric reviews

Types of paper

Original full-length research papers should contain material that has not been previously published elsewhere, except in a preliminary form. These papers should not exceed 8000 words of text (excluding references) and generally not more than 15 figures/tables in total. The same information should not be repeated in a figure and a table.
Review papers will be accepted in areas of topical interest and will normally emphasize literature published over the previous five years. They should not exceed 18,000 words (excluding references) and should contain no more than 20 figures/tables in total. The same information should not be repeated in a figure and a table.

This journal (as do all high impact journals) places a very high bar on acceptance of reviews. A review is not the authors own work but is a representation from the author(s) point of view of recent high quality work in an important field and is intended to provide an all-encompassing and in-depth presentation of the recent impactful developments, the opportunities, the failures, the challenges, the interfaces with other disciplines (and how these interfaces affect the science) in the field. Also, review manuscripts should be of the highest quality on initial submission and should not need considerable reworking or language improvements.

Contact details for submission

Contributors must submit their articles electronically via the Elsevier Editorial System https://www.editorialmanager.com/carbpol/default.aspx. This is the only method of submission, and facilitates processing of your article.

Review process

A peer review system is used to ensure high quality of papers accepted for publication. The Editors will reject papers without formal review when it is deemed that the paper is
  1. on a topic outside the scope of the Journal,
  2. lacking technical merit or lacking appropriate characterization,
  3. missing a hypothesis,
  4. containing data which are non-reproducible (standard deviations are a 'must'),
  5. of narrow regional scope and significance,
  6. lacking novelty, does not advance scientific knowledge
  7. or is
  8. poorly written.

Previous publication of a paper on a particular topic does not guarantee publication of subsequent papers in that area, as the Aims and Scope of the journal are regularly updated. Please see the Current Aims and Scope before you submit.

Revisions
Any revised papers returned later than three months after being sent to authors with the reviewers' comments will be treated as a new submission. When submitting a revised paper authors must list all of the reviewer's comments and indicate how they have responded to the comment, and where in the paper they have made appropriate revisions. All modifications in the paper must be shown in red. Authors must submit two versions of the revised manuscript, one with changes marked and one clean version with no changes marked which will be used by production should your manuscript be accepted.

Resubmitted Manuscripts

It is the author's choice to resubmit a rejected manuscript to the journal. The expectation of the journal and its editors is that any resubmission will be the result of significant rewriting and perhaps additional experimentation as required to address all prior reviewer and editor concerns. Authors resubmitting previously rejected manuscripts are required to; 1) identify the manuscript as a resubmitted manuscript in the cover letter to the editor, including identification of the prior title and manuscript number, 2) address all reviewer concerns from the final reviews of the previous, rejected manuscript, and 3) include a "Response to Reviewers" document that includes those reviews from the previous version and your responses to those reviews; clearly identify what are reviewer comments and what are your responses, often the use of color is a convenient way to do so.

Before you begin

Ethics in publishing

Please see our information on Ethics in publishing.

Studies in humans and animals

If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. The manuscript should be in line with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and aim for the inclusion of representative human populations (sex, age and ethnicity) as per those recommendations. The terms sex and gender should be used correctly.

The author should ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and have been approved by the appropriate institutional committee(s). This statement should contain the date and reference number of the ethical approval(s) obtained. Authors should also include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

The journal will not accept manuscripts that contain data derived from unethically sourced organs or tissue, including from executed prisoners or prisoners of conscience, consistent with recommendations by Global Rights Compliance on Mitigating Human Rights Risks in Transplantation Medicine. For all studies that use human organs or tissues authors must provide sufficient evidence that they were procured in line with WHO Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ Transplantation. The source of the organs or tissues used in clinical research must be transparent and traceable. Authors of manuscripts describing organ transplantation must additionally declare within the manuscript:

  1. that autonomous consent free from coercion was obtained from the donor(s) or their next of kin; and
  2. that organs/tissues were not sourced from executed prisoners or prisoners of conscience.

All animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and should be carried out in accordance with the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 and associated guidelines, EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments, or the National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the authors should clearly indicate in the manuscript that such guidelines have been followed. The sex of animals must be indicated, and where appropriate, the influence (or association) of sex on the results of the study.


• Plagiarism and Ethical Concerns
By submitting this manuscript, the authors agree that text, equations, or figures from previously published articles or books have been clearly identified in full and their origin clearly explained in the adjacent text, with appropriate references given at the end of the paper. . As a general rule, permission should be sought from the rights holder to reproduce any substantial part of a copyrighted work. This includes any text, illustrations, charts, tables, photographs, or other material from previously published sources.

Duplication of text is rarely justified, even with diligent referencing. Exceptions may be made for descriptions of standard experimental techniques, or other standard methods used by the author in the investigation; but an appropriate citation is mandatory. Authors who duplicate material from their own published work in a new article, without clearly identifying the repeated material and its source as outlined above, are self-plagiarizing.

If an author is found to have plagiarized content from another author or submits a duplicate publication the paper will be rejected without review. In the circumstance that such ethical concerns arise after the publication of the article, authors must be aware that sanctions may apply, such as retraction of the article (along with the publication of a corrective notice with a direct link to the original article explaining the reason for the retraction). In addition, the scientific community at large, including the author's work place, may be notified about the case and the decision reached. Committing plagiarism or submitting a duplicate publication can have a negative impact on an author's scientific career.

Declaration of competing interest

Corresponding authors, on behalf of all the authors of a submission, must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. All authors, including those without competing interests to declare, should provide the relevant information to the corresponding author (which, where relevant, may specify they have nothing to declare). Corresponding authors should then use this tool to create a shared statement and upload to the submission system at the Attach Files step. Please do not convert the .docx template to another file type. Author signatures are not required.

Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing

The below guidance only refers to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyse and draw insights from data as part of the research process.

Where authors use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, authors should only use these technologies to improve readability and language. Applying the technology should be done with human oversight and control, and authors should carefully review and edit the result, as AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete or biased. AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author, or be cited as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans, as outlined in Elsevier’s AI policy for authors.

Authors should disclose in their manuscript the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by following the instructions below. A statement will appear in the published work. Please note that authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work.

Disclosure instructions
Authors must disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by adding a statement at the end of their manuscript in the core manuscript file, before the References list. The statement should be placed in a new section entitled ‘Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process’.

Statement: During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication.

This declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc. If there is nothing to disclose, there is no need to add a statement.

Preprints
Please note that preprints can be shared anywhere at any time, in line with Elsevier's sharing policy. Sharing your preprints e.g. on a preprint server will not count as prior publication (see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information).

Preprint posting on SSRN

In support of Open Science, this journal offers its authors a free preprint posting service. Preprints provide early registration and dissemination of your research, which facilitates early citations and collaboration.

During submission to Editorial Manager, you can choose to release your manuscript publicly as a preprint on the preprint server SSRN once it enters peer-review with the journal. Your choice will have no effect on the editorial process or outcome with the journal. Please note that the corresponding author is expected to seek approval from all co-authors before agreeing to release the manuscript publicly on SSRN.

You will be notified via email when your preprint is posted online and a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is assigned. Your preprint will remain globally available free to read whether the journal accepts or rejects your manuscript.

For more information about posting to SSRN, please consult the SSRN Terms of Use and FAQs.

Use of inclusive language

Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Content should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader; contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition; and use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, stereotypes, slang, reference to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions. We advise to seek gender neutrality by using plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default/wherever possible to avoid using "he, she," or "he/she." We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition unless they are relevant and valid. When coding terminology is used, we recommend to avoid offensive or exclusionary terms such as "master", "slave", "blacklist" and "whitelist". We suggest using alternatives that are more appropriate and (self-) explanatory such as "primary", "secondary", "blocklist" and "allowlist". These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help identify appropriate language but are by no means exhaustive or definitive.

Reporting sex- and gender-based analyses

Reporting guidance
For research involving or pertaining to humans, animals or eukaryotic cells, investigators should integrate sex and gender-based analyses (SGBA) into their research design according to funder/sponsor requirements and best practices within a field. Authors should address the sex and/or gender dimensions of their research in their article. In cases where they cannot, they should discuss this as a limitation to their research's generalizability. Importantly, authors should explicitly state what definitions of sex and/or gender they are applying to enhance the precision, rigor and reproducibility of their research and to avoid ambiguity or conflation of terms and the constructs to which they refer (see Definitions section below). Authors can refer to the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines and the SAGER guidelines checklist. These offer systematic approaches to the use and editorial review of sex and gender information in study design, data analysis, outcome reporting and research interpretation - however, please note there is no single, universally agreed-upon set of guidelines for defining sex and gender.

Definitions
Sex generally refers to a set of biological attributes that are associated with physical and physiological features (e.g., chromosomal genotype, hormonal levels, internal and external anatomy). A binary sex categorization (male/female) is usually designated at birth (""sex assigned at birth""), most often based solely on the visible external anatomy of a newborn. Gender generally refers to socially constructed roles, behaviors, and identities of women, men and gender-diverse people that occur in a historical and cultural context and may vary across societies and over time. Gender influences how people view themselves and each other, how they behave and interact and how power is distributed in society. Sex and gender are often incorrectly portrayed as binary (female/male or woman/man) and unchanging whereas these constructs actually exist along a spectrum and include additional sex categorizations and gender identities such as people who are intersex/have differences of sex development (DSD) or identify as non-binary. Moreover, the terms ""sex"" and ""gender"" can be ambiguous—thus it is important for authors to define the manner in which they are used. In addition to this definition guidance and the SAGER guidelines, the resources on this page offer further insight around sex and gender in research studies.

Author contributions

For transparency, we require corresponding authors to provide co-author contributions to the manuscript using the relevant CRediT roles. The CRediT taxonomy includes 14 different roles describing each contributor’s specific contribution to the scholarly output. The roles are: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration; Resources; Software; Supervision; Validation; Visualization; Roles/Writing - original draft; and Writing - review & editing. Note that not all roles may apply to every manuscript, and authors may have contributed through multiple roles. More details and an example.

Changes to authorship

Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.

No additions, deletions or changes to authorship of a paper will be permitted after the article is accepted.

Article transfer service
This journal uses the Elsevier Article Transfer Service to find the best home for your manuscript. This means that if an editor feels your manuscript is more suitable for an alternative journal, you might be asked to consider transferring the manuscript to such a journal. The recommendation might be provided by a Journal Editor, a dedicated Scientific Managing Editor, a tool assisted recommendation, or a combination. If you agree, your manuscript will be transferred, though you will have the opportunity to make changes to the manuscript before the submission is complete. Please note that your manuscript will be independently reviewed by the new journal. More information.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see more information on this). 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. 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.

For gold open access articles: Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'License Agreement' (more information). Permitted third party reuse of gold open access articles is determined by the author's choice of user license.

Author rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work. More information.

Elsevier supports responsible sharing
Find out how you can share your research published in Elsevier journals.

Role of the funding source

You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement, it is recommended to state this.

Open access

Please visit our Open Access page for more information about open access publishing in this journal.

Elsevier Researcher Academy
Researcher Academy is a free e-learning platform designed to support early and mid-career researchers throughout their research journey. The "Learn" environment at Researcher Academy offers several interactive modules, webinars, downloadable guides and resources to guide you through the process of writing for research and going through peer review. Feel free to use these free resources to improve your submission and navigate the publication process with ease.

Language (usage and editing services)
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the Language Editing service available from Elsevier's Language Services.

Submission

Submission to this journal proceeds totally online and you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of your files. The system automatically converts source files to a single PDF file of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Please note that even though manuscript source files are converted to PDF files at submission for the review process, source files containing the accepted revisions 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 removing the need for a paper trail.

Reviewers

Authors are required to submit with their articles, the names, complete affiliations (spelled out), country and contact details (including current and valid (preferably business) e-mail address) of three potential reviewers. Email addresses and reviewer names will be checked for validity. Your potential reviewers must not be from your institute, and at least two should be from a different country. Authors must not suggest reviewers with whom they have collaborated within the past two years. Your submission will be rejected if these are not supplied. Names provided may be used for other submissions on the same topic. Reviewers must have specific expertise on the subject of your article and/or the techniques employed in your study. Briefly state the appropriate expertise of each reviewer. Do not select a referee only because they have expertise on polysaccharides, this is not specific enough. For each reviewer you suggest you must include details of two recent relevant research or review papers authored by the potential reviewer which have appeared in good quality scientific journals. Authors cited in your paper can be useful suggested reviewers, provided that they have published in the field over the last few years.

Preparation

Queries

For questions about the editorial process (including the status of manuscripts under review) or for technical support on submissions, please visit our Support Center.

Peer review

This journal operates a single anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final. Editors are not involved in decisions about papers which they have written themselves or have been written by family members or colleagues or which relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest. Any such submission is subject to all of the journal's usual procedures, with peer review handled independently of the relevant editor and their research groups. More information on types of peer review.

Use of word processing software
It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word processor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier). Carbohydrate Polymers requires authors to include tables and figures in the body of the article at the appropriate position, not at the end of the article. See also the section on Electronic artwork.
To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor.

Pages must be numbered, and lines must be numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript.

Article structure

(The abstract is not included in section numbering; see specific instructions below.)

Subdivision - numbered sections
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections, starting with the Introduction. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.

Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results. Focus on a number of key references; do not overlook the earlier, seminal work.

Hypotheses
Nearly all scientific papers benefit from inclusion of a statement of hypothesis. Such statements should be clear, concise, and declarative. The statement should describe the one or more key hypotheses that the work described in the manuscript was intended to confirm or refute. Inclusion of a hypothesis statement makes it simple to contrast the hypothesis with the most relevant previous literature and point out what the authors feel is distinct about the current hypothesis (novelty). It also permits the authors to describe why they feel it would be important to prove the hypothesis correct (significance). Submissions must include a statement of hypothesis and authors will be asked to copy and paste this into the editorial system as part of the submission process. The hypothesis shall be stated in the introductory section, and the conclusion section shall include your conclusion about whether the hypothesis was confirmed or refuted, as well as describing any new hypotheses generated by the work described. Here is an example of a famous, excellent hypothesis statement; declarative, concise, clear, and testable:
"Equal volumes of gases, at the same temperature and pressure, contain equal numbers of molecules."
Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carlo Avogadro di Quareqa e di Carreto (Avogadro), 1811. Review articles do not require a hypothesis statement

Material and methods
Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods that are already published should be summarized, and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly from a previously published method, use quotation marks and also cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.

Characterization of carbohydrates and related products

All materials deriving from new and/or commercial polysaccharides must be characterized with a sufficient level of details to allow the work to be reproduced. Please refer to the guidelines in this document and read it carefully as it contains all relevant information. Please note: Editors may not send your paper for review if you do not adhere to these guidelines.

Results
A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and description of published literature.
Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them.

Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section. The Conclusion should not be a summary, but should illustrate the advances and claims of innovative aspects of the research work done.

Supplementary Material
Supplementary material such as applications, images and sound clips, can be published with your article to enhance it. Submitted supplementary items are published exactly as they are received (Excel or PowerPoint files will appear as such online). Please submit your material together with the article and supply a concise, descriptive caption for each supplementary file. If you wish to make changes to supplementary material during any stage of the process, please make sure to provide an updated file. Do not annotate any corrections on a previous version. Please switch off the 'Track Changes' option in Microsoft Office files as these will appear in the published version.

Essential title page information

Title. Concise, attractive and informative. The title should not exceed 180 characters excluding spaces and should make clear the focus of the paper and the fact that the focus is within the scope of the journal. Specifically name the carbohydrate polymer or group of carbohydrate polymers that is the main focus of the research. Because titles are used in information-retrieval systems, avoid abbreviations and formulae, avoid general terms when specific ones are available, avoid strings of names. If your paper is a review paper, please include the word "review".
Author names and affiliations. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. 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 the e-mail address of each author. Authors must provide and use an email address unique to themselves and not shared with another author registered in Editorial Manager, or a department. Institutional email addresses, rather than personal email addresses such as gmail, are strongly preferred for all authors who are affiliated to an institution; this is particularly important for the corresponding author.
Corresponding author. Carbohydrate Polymers allows only one corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of reviewing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that telephone numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required, and should be a maximum of 200 words in length. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. Numerical values for the most important findings should be reported. An abstract is often presented separately from the article in databases, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, vague terms and references should be avoided. Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Graphical abstract
A graphical abstract is mandatory for this journal. It should summarize the contents of the article in a concise, pictorial form designed to capture the attention of a wide readership online. Authors must provide images that clearly represent the work described in the article. Graphical abstracts should be submitted as a separate file in the online submission system. Image size: please provide an image with a minimum of 531 × 1328 pixels (h × w) or proportionally more. The image should be readable at a size of 5 × 13 cm using a regular screen resolution of 96 dpi. Preferred file types: TIFF, EPS, PDF or MS Office files. You can view Example Graphical Abstracts on our information site.

Keywords

Immediately after the abstract, provide a minimum of 3 and maximum of 6 keywords, using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

Abbreviations

Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field or approved by scientific societies by ensuring that each abbreviation is defined at their first mention. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article. Abbreviations, except for very common terms (e.g. DNA, NMR), should not be used in the title of the paper.

Use the standard abbreviations for monosaccharide names e.g. Glc for glucose, GalA for galacturonic acid (or GalpA, if the ring size is specified), etc., including the ring size when necessary: Glcp, Araf, etc. Rules for mono- and polysaccharide nomenclature and that are not explicitly mentioned in this Guide for Authors must in any case adhere to IUPAC guidelines (rules available at https://doi.org/10.1016/S0008-6215(97)83449-0)

Acknowledgements
Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).

Formatting of funding sources
List funding sources in this standard way to facilitate compliance to funder's requirements:

Funding: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA [grant number zzzz]; and the United States Institutes of Peace [grant number aaaa].

It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions on the program or type of grants and awards. When funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding.

If no funding has been provided for the research, it is recommended to include the following sentence:

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Units and other conventions
Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other units are mentioned, please give their equivalent in SI.Please refer to the detailed guidelines in Characterization of carbohydrates and related products for more information.

Math formulae
Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

Footnotes
Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article. Many word processors can build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Otherwise, please indicate the position of footnotes in the text and list the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.

Artwork

Electronic artwork
General points
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.
• Aim to use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or use fonts that look similar.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version.
A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website:
https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats
If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is' in the native document format.
Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'Save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts.
TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.
Please do not:
• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colors;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately small to display the content.

Color artwork
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF) 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 online (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) in addition to color reproduction in print. Further information on the preparation of electronic artwork.

Captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

Tables and Figures
Data used in tables and figures must be legible and relevant to the stated aims of your paper and related to a specific point. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Avoid vertical rules. Please ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Do not exceed a total of 15 tables/figures; any additional figures or tables can be included in the supplementary data.
Carbohydrate Polymers requires authors to include tables and figures in the body of the article at the appropriate position, not at the end of the article

The following suggestions must be followed for the presentation of:
NMR spectra.

  • The area of the spectra relevant for discussion should be provided in the manuscript, while the full size can be reported in the Supplementary Material.
  • Pairs of 2D spectra (as 1H-1H COSY and 1H-1H TOCSY or 1H-1H COSY and 1H-1H NOESY, or 1H-13C HSQC and 1H-13C HMBC) must be drawn overlapped in the same figure, each with a different color, and all (or most of all) cross-peaks labeled.
  • The color associated to each spectrum must be reported in the legend.
  • To improve clarity, a suitable expansion of the spectrum or a combination of different panels can fit the whole width of the page.
  • The lateral monodimensional spectrum should be omitted to maximize the space available for presenting the spectra.
  • Cross peak notation should be simple. For instance and considering a HMBC spectrum, the label B6A1 is more information-dense and space saving than BH6/AC1 or H-6 of B/C-1 of A. Since it labels a density in the HMBC spectrum, B6 refers to H-6 of B (x-axis or F2) while A1 to C-1 of A (y-axis or F1 dimension).
  • For a HSQC spectrum, the density connecting H-6 of B to its C-6 can be directly labeled as B6.
  • Typically, scales and labels are better visible if typed in Arial, 7 pt (or more) in size.
  • Labels used to mark the cross-peaks of homonuclear 2D spectra can follow the same logic of the heteronuclear spectra.

To draw the structure of the polysaccharides, authors can make use of:

  • The symbolic nomenclature of glycans for a simple and effective representation of these molecules. The Symbolic Nomenclature is available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/glycans/snfg.html
  • The usual chemical drawing, taking care of showing the correct stereochemistry for all the sugar units and their glycosidic linkages.
  • The "in text" writing, here given for the repeating unit of a hypothetical polysaccharide, e.g: →3)-β-D-Glcp-(1→4)-α-D-GalpA-(1→5)- α-L-Araf-(1→

Of note, regardless the type of representation chosen, glycans must be written starting from the non-reducing end placed at the left-hand side of the page, like reported in the example.

Other accepted formats of "in text" writing are available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/glycans/snfg.html

References

Citation in text
All citations in the text should refer to:
1. Single author: the author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication (Smith, 2003);
2. Two authors: both authors' names and the year of publication (Smith & Jones, 2004);
3. Three, four or five authors: all authors names and year of publication (Smith, Jones, & Brown, 2005). For all subsequent citations of this work use et al. (Smith et al., 2005).
4. Six or more authors: first author's name followed by et al. and the year of publication (Black et al., 2007).
Citations may be made directly or parenthetically. Groups of references should be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically. Examples: "as demonstrated (Allan, 1996a, b, 1999; Allan & Jones, 1995; Allen et al., 1994). Kramer et al. (2000) have recently shown..."

Data references
This journal encourages you to cite underlying or relevant datasets in your manuscript by citing them in your text and including a data reference in your Reference List. Data references should include the following elements: author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier. Add [dataset] immediately before the reference so we can properly identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article.

Preprint references
Where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, the formal publication should be used as the reference. If there are preprints that are central to your work or that cover crucial developments in the topic, but are not yet formally published, these may be referenced. Preprints should be clearly marked as such, for example by including the word preprint, or the name of the preprint server, as part of the reference. The preprint DOI should also be provided.

Reference management software
Most Elsevier journals have their reference template available in many of the most popular reference management software products. These include all products that support Citation Style Language styles, such as Mendeley. Using citation plug-ins from these products, authors only need to select the appropriate journal template when preparing their article, after which citations and bibliographies will be automatically formatted in the journal's style. If no template is yet available for this journal, please follow the format of the sample references and citations as shown in this Guide. If you use reference management software, please ensure that you remove all field codes before submitting the electronic manuscript. More information on how to remove field codes from different reference management software.

Reference style
Text: Citations in the text should follow the referencing style used by the American Psychological Association.
List: references should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication.
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton, R. A. (2010). The art of writing a scientific article. Journal of Scientific Communications, 163, 51–59.
Reference to a book:
Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (2000). The elements of style. (4th ed.). New York: Longman, (Chapter 4).
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
Mettam, G. R., & Adams, L. B. (2009). How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In B. S. Jones, & R. Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the electronic age (pp. 281–304). New York: E-Publishing Inc.
[dataset] Oguro, M., Imahiro, S., Saito, S., Nakashizuka, T. (2015). Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions. Mendeley Data, v1. http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/xwj98nb39r.1.

Submission declaration and verification
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture or academic thesis, see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information), 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, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. Your article will be checked for plagiarism by the originality detection service Crossref Similarity Check. If the editors find an unacceptable level of similarity between your article and an existing paper in any journal, your article will be rejected, In cases of significant similarity, the Editors will consider further action, including contacting your institution and/or ethics committee.

Video

Elsevier accepts video material and animation sequences to support and enhance your scientific research. Authors who have video or animation files that they wish to submit with their article are strongly encouraged to include links to these within the body of the article. This can be done in the same way as a figure or table by referring to the video or animation content and noting in the body text where it should be placed. All submitted files should be properly labeled so that they directly relate to the video file's content. In order to ensure that your video or animation material is directly usable, please provide the file in one of our recommended file formats with a preferred maximum size of 150 MB per file, 1 GB in total. Video and animation files supplied will be published online in the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect. Please supply 'stills' with your files: you can choose any frame from the video or animation or make a separate image. These will be used instead of standard icons and will personalize the link to your video data. For more detailed instructions please visit our video instruction pages. Note: since video and animation cannot be embedded in the print version of the journal, please provide text for both the electronic and the print version for the portions of the article that refer to this content.

Data visualization

Include interactive data visualizations in your publication and let your readers interact and engage more closely with your research. Follow the instructions here to find out about available data visualization options and how to include them with your article.

Research data

This journal requires and enables you to share data that supports your research publication where appropriate, and enables you to interlink the data with your published articles. Research data refers to the results of observations or experimentation that validate research findings, which may also include software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, methods and other useful materials related to the project.

Below are a number of ways in which you can associate data with your article or make a statement about the availability of your data when submitting your manuscript. When sharing data in one of these ways, you are expected to cite the data in your manuscript and reference list. Please refer to the "References" section for more information about data citation. For more information on depositing, sharing and using research data and other relevant research materials, visit the research data page.

Data linking
If you have made your research data available in a data repository, you can link your article directly to the dataset. Elsevier collaborates with a number of repositories to link articles on ScienceDirect with relevant repositories, giving readers access to underlying data that gives them a better understanding of the research described.

There are different ways to link your datasets to your article. When available, you can directly link your dataset to your article by providing the relevant information in the submission system. For more information, visit the database linking page.

For supported data repositories a repository banner will automatically appear next to your published article on ScienceDirect.

In addition, you can link to relevant data or entities through identifiers within the text of your manuscript, using the following format: Database: xxxx (e.g., TAIR: AT1G01020; CCDC: 734053; PDB: 1XFN).

Co-submission

This journal enables you to co-submit a data, methods or protocol article alongside your original research article. The Co-submission article describes either research data, methods or protocols related to your original research article and will be considered for publication in either Data in Brief or in MethodsX after peer review. When submitting your original research article, you may attach your Co-submission article as a Supplementary file. In case both your original research article and your Co-submission article get accepted for publication, they will be linked together on ScienceDirect.

Please note that Co-submission articles will only be considered for review if they follow the below submission templates:

Data statement
To foster transparency, we require you to state the availability of your data in your submission if your data is unavailable to access or unsuitable to post. This may also be a requirement of your funding body or institution. You will have the opportunity to provide a data statement during the submission process. The statement will appear with your published article on ScienceDirect. For more information, visit the Data Statement page..

Submission checklist

The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.
Ensure that the following items are present:
One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
• E-mail addresses for all authors
• Full postal address
• Phone numbers
All necessary files have been uploaded, and contain:
• Keywords
• All tables and figures (with captions) included in the body of the article

Further considerations
• Manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'
• References are in the correct format for this journal
• All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web)
• Color figures are clearly marked as being intended for color reproduction on the Web (free of charge) and in print, or to be reproduced in color on the Web (free of charge) and in black-and-white in print
• If only color on the Web is required, black-and-white versions of the figures are also supplied for printing purposes
For any further information please visit our customer support site at https://service.elsevier.com.

After acceptance

Online proof correction

To ensure a fast publication process of the article, we kindly ask authors to provide us with their proof corrections within two days. Corresponding authors will receive an e-mail with a link to our online proofing system, allowing annotation and correction of proofs online. The environment is similar to MS Word: in addition to editing text, you can also comment on figures/tables and answer questions from the Copy Editor. Web-based proofing provides a faster and less error-prone process by allowing you to directly type your corrections, eliminating the potential introduction of errors.
If preferred, you can still choose to annotate and upload your edits on the PDF version. All instructions for proofing will be given in the e-mail we send to authors, including alternative methods to the online version and PDF.
We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. 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. It is important to ensure that all 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.

Offprints

The corresponding author will, at no cost, receive a customized Share Link providing 50 days free access to the final published version of the article on ScienceDirect. The Share Link can be used for sharing the article via any communication channel, including email and social media. For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication. Corresponding authors who have published their article gold open access do not receive a Share Link as their final published version of the article is available open access on ScienceDirect and can be shared through the article DOI link.

Author inquiries



Visit the Elsevier Support Center to find the answers you need. Here you will find everything from Frequently Asked Questions to ways to get in touch.
You can also check the status of your submitted article or find out when your accepted article will be published.

Do not contact the editors - they do not have access to this information and will not be able to help you.