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Introduction



Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal (CSBJ) is an online gold open access journal publishing research articles and reviews after full peer review. All articles are published, without barriers to access, immediately upon acceptance.

CSBJ is composed of the following Sections:

  • CSBJ: General Section
  • CSBJ: The Smart Hospital Section
  • CSBJ: Nanoscience & Advanced Materials Section
  • CSBJ: Quantum Biology & Biophotonics Section

CSBJ: General Section

CSBJ: General Section places a strong emphasis on functional and mechanistic understanding of how molecular components in a biological process work together through the application of computational methods. Structural data may provide such insights, but they are not a pre-requisite for publication in this section. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Structure and function of proteins, nucleic acids, and other macromolecules Structure
  • Structure and function of multi-component complexes
  • Protein folding, processing, and degradation
  • Enzymology
  • Computational and structural studies of plant systems
  • Microbial Informatics
  • Genomics
  • Proteomics
  • Metabolomics
  • Algorithms and Hypothesis in Bioinformatics
  • Mathematical and Theoretical Biology
  • Computational Chemistry and Drug Discovery
  • Microscopy and Molecular Imaging
  • Nanotechnology
  • Systems and Synthetic Biology

While all general topics related to Computational and Structural Biology are welcomed under this section, the editors reserve the right to pre-screen submissions based on the suitability of the topic of a submission and, therefore, the right as whether a manuscript will be processed/reviewed or not. Even though experimental validation is not required for publication, reliability and significance of biological discovery are validated and enriched by experimental studies.

CSBJ: The Smart Hospital Section

CSBJ: Smart Hospital Section

CSBJ: The Smart Hospital Section places a strong emphasis on new digital and automated technologies transforming health and care systems. Clinical and piloting data may provide practical insights on implementing digital and automated technologies in real-world smart hospital setting, but they are not a pre-requisite for publication in this section. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Integration of Artificial Intelligence systems (big data, machine learning, autonomous systems, conversational agents, etc.) within health and care facilities such as hospitals, primary care centres and care homes.
  • Robotics in health and care systems
  • Augmented and Virtual Reality for surgical systems
  • Automation of hospital value chains including screening, prognosis, diagnosis, treatment, and surgical management and distribution of medicines
  • Hospital and clinical information systems
  • Networked medical devices
  • Interoperability and harmonisation of health/medical data
  • Clinical tools for patient care and personalised health monitoring
  • Digital platforms for operational health and care settings
  • Digital services for remote medical care
  • Individualised, integrated, and real-time monitoring
  • Integrated medicine management and hospital logistics
  • Security frameworks applicable to smart hospital systems
  • Regulatory framework, ethics, and policies applicable to smart hospital systems

CSBJ: Nanoscience and Advanced Materials

CSBJ: Nanoscience and Advanced Materials

CSBJ: Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Section places a strong emphasis on advancing the scientific knowledge and technological innovation at the crossroads of nanoscience, materials science, chemistry, physics, and biomedical engineering. This section serves as a platform for researchers, academicians, and industry professionals to disseminate their cutting-edge research, breakthrough discoveries, and transformative advancements in the realm of nanomaterials and advanced materials.

The section welcomes submissions covering a wide spectrum of topics within the overarching domains of nanoscience and advanced materials, enhancing our understanding of the nanoscale world and its transformative applications. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

Nanotechnology Applications:

  • Nanocatalysis and Nanofabrication
  • Nanodevices and Nanoelectronics
  • Nanophotonics and Nanomaterials
  • Nanosensing and Nanotoxicology
  • Biomedical Nanotechnology
  • Delivery Systems and Nanotheranostics
  • Agricultural Applications of Nanoscience and Advanced Materials
  • Environmental Nanotechnology

Advanced Materials and Design:

  • Bio-Inspired Materials
  • Sustainable Nano-Enabled Products & Processes
  • Green chemistry approaches to materials design
  • Safe by Design (Nano)material Strategies
  • Smart and Functional Materials
  • Hybrid Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing
  • Technology of Nanometre-Scale Objects
  • Advanced and Smart (composite) Materials

Data and Modeling:

  • Predictive Toxicogenomics and Systems Biology Modelling
  • Predictive Nano(chem)informatics Modelling (Physics-based and Data-driven)
  • Dual Use of Nano(chem)informatics Tools
  • Biokinetics and PBPK Modelling for Nanomaterials
  • Multiscale Simulations of (Nano)materials
  • Nanomaterials and Advanced Materials Data Management
  • Emerging Digital Platforms for Data Management and Modelling
  • Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Image Analysis for Nanoscience and Advanced Materials

Risk Management and Governance:

  • Exposure Assessment
  • Hazard Assessment along the materials' Life Cycle Analysis
  • Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment for (nano)material
  • Knowledge Graphs and Adverse Outcome Pathways
  • Risk Assessment and Management Solutions
  • Governance in Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials

CSBJ: Quantum Biology and Biophotonics

CSBJ: Quantum Biology and Biophotonics

CSBJ: Quantum Biology and Biophotonics Section places a strong transdisciplinary emphasis on understanding biological systems that potentially harness quantum-mechanical processes. This section also focuses on the development and application of optics and photonic tools, methods, and technologies to address questions in quantum biology and its implications for biomedical and health sciences. Studies based on experimental approaches, computational simulations, and theoretical developments that are focused on this emphasis are welcome but are not a prerequisite for publication in this section. Specific areas of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Quantum effects in biological systems that include photosynthesis, enzymology, vision, animal migration, cell biology, brain science, olfaction, chromoprotein, weak magnetic effect and spin-dependent chemical reaction, chiral-induced spin selectivity, to name a few.
  • Quantum science and technology for biology.
  • Measurement techniques to study quantum biology.
  • Theory and computational methods to study quantum biology and biophotonics.
  • Implications of quantum biology for biomedical and health sciences.
  • Phototherapeutics
  • Biophotonics instrumentation, sensors, and point-of-care devices
  • Optical Imaging and Analysis
  • Optical materials, properties, and Material Interactions
  • Optogenetics and other optical methods of manipulating cellular behaviour
  • Optical microscopy, spectroscopy, tomography, and bioimaging
  • Microfluidic optical devices
  • Methods to investigate cellular energetics
  • Mathematical modeling of light propagation in biological materials and tissue response
  • Data processing methods, machine learning, and artificial intelligence as applied in biophotonics.
  • Computational methods relevant to understanding and interpreting optical measurements.

Types of article

The journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence, and enables the rapid publication of papers under the following categories:
  • Research Articles
  • Review Articles
  • Mini Reviews
  • Innovation Reports
  • Short Communications
  • Method Articles
  • Database Articles
  • Software/Web server Articles
  • Perspectives
  • Editorials

The page limits mentioned below should be considered as a guideline but not as a strict rule. Note that our measure of 1 printed page is the text that is singled spaced with Times New Roman and Font size 12.

Research Articles:
Research Articles are not limited in length, but the editors recommend that in most cases they should be no longer than 25 printed pages with no more than 10 figures and 5 tables. Typical chapters in the Research Articles: Introduction, Material and methods, Theory/calculation, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Supplementary Information and Appendices

Review Articles: Review Articles deal with topics of high current interest in any area of digital transformation and sustainability. Rather than an assembly of detailed information with a complete literature survey, a critically selected treatment of the material is desired; unsolved problems and possible developments should also be discussed. These are the criteria for consideration:

  • We would like to ask you to approach it as a critical overview of the field, with a strong focus on current challenges and the bottlenecks to future major advances.
  • The review must represent a fair and unbiased coverage of the most recent advances and relevant approaches and research groups working in the field and accommodate different points of view. You may feel free to highlight areas that deserve more attention from the scientific community.
  • We strongly encourage the use of summary illustrations which may serve as an easy reference to readers to understand the messages relayed in the review.
  • We would encourage you to include a 'summary and outlook' paragraph at the end of your review that proposes the direction you personally consider the field should take and the prospects for useful applications you might expect to see in the near future and beyond.

Review Articles are not limited in length, but the editors recommend that in most cases they should be no longer than 20 printed pages with no more than 10 figures and 5 tables, but this can greatly vary. We would like to discourage listing too many References, but only cite directly relevant literature. A primary research result used in a review should reference the original research article, not another review.

Mini Reviews:
A Minireview (up to 10 printed pages) should present current topics in a concise review style. Minireviews offer the flexibility to treat topics at a time, and in a suitable manner, when a Review would still be premature or inappropriate.

Innovation Reports: Innovation Reports are summary of the research projects, innovation projects or collaborative initiatives linking academia and industry. Innovation Reports may also serve as dissemination of outcomes resulting from the initiatives funded by grants or supported by national/international funding agencies. Innovation Reports are not limited in length, but the editors recommend that in most cases they should be no longer than 30 printed pages with no more than 15 figures and 10 tables. Preliminary enquiries about the suitability of a submission to this section are encouraged.

Short Communications: Short Communications (up to 10 printed pages) are short notes on experimental and/or theoretical studies in all areas of focus of CSBJ. The results must be of general interest or at least contribute to the development of an important area of research. The essential findings presented in a Short Communication or significant parts of them may not already have appeared in print or in electronic online systems (for example, in online resources, in reviews, proceedings, or preprints).

Method articles:
Method articles should report novel techniques or significant advances in existing techniques that are relevant to CSBJ's core subject areas. These should be highly significant, useful and contain an example of utility. New applications of existing technologies are discouraged. Method articles are limited to 8 pages, including references and captions, with a maximum of 5 displayed items (figures or tables). Additional details required to implement the new method must be provided as Supplemental Material.

Software articles, Web server articles and Database Articles: Software articles, Web server articles and Database Articles should provide an indispensable resource for the experimental practitioner seeking awareness of the disparate sources of data and analytical tools. Large-scale instrumentation and computerisation are reducing the time that needs to be spent in the laboratory. Instead, the rate-limiting step is the analysis and interpretation of data. An essential criterion for the publication of papers is that they provide practical guidance to the users of software and databases. Another prerequisite for publication is that the results described in the paper must be reproducible when peer reviewers or editors choose to run the software on the deposited dataset using the parameters provided. Enhancements to existing published open-source software will only be considered if those enhancements bring exceptional new capabilities. We recommend that that the articles under this category should have less than 15 printed pages, a maximum of 10 displayed items (figures or tables) and less than 50 references. Additional details required to implement the new method must be provided as Supplemental Material.

Perspectives:
The "Perspectives" article type aims to provide a platform for authors to express informed viewpoints, opinions, and analyses on current or emerging issues within the scope of the journal. Perspectives encourage a more speculative and narrative style, allowing authors to share their visionary insights, experiences, and expert opinions on relevant topics. Authors are encouraged to engage with current debates, challenge conventional wisdom, and present well-reasoned arguments. We recommended the authors to follow the basic structure and length of Minireview articles.

Contact details for submission

[email protected]

Before you begin

Ethics in publishing

Please see our information on Ethics in publishing.

Declaration of interest

All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential competing interests include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors must disclose any interests in two places: 1. A summary declaration of interest statement in the title page file (if double anonymized) or the manuscript file (if single anonymized). If there are no interests to declare then please state this: 'Declarations of interest: none'. 2. Detailed disclosures as part of a separate Declaration of Interest form, which forms part of the journal's official records. It is important for potential interests to be declared in both places and that the information matches. More information.

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.

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. To verify compliance, your article may be checked by Crossref Similarity Check and other originality or duplicate checking software.

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.
Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete an 'Exclusive License Agreement' where authors will retain copyright (for more information on this see https://www.elsevier.com/OAauthoragreement.). Permitted reuse of open access articles is determined by the author's choice of user license (see https://www.elsevier.com/openaccesslicenses).

Retained author rights

As an author you (or your employer or institution) retain certain rights, including copyright; for details you are referred to https://www.elsevier.com/OAauthoragreement.

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.

Funding body agreements and policies

Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors whose articles appear in journals published by Elsevier, to comply with potential manuscript archiving requirements as specified as conditions of their grant awards. To learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit https://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies.
Open access

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

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

Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word, LaTeX) are required to typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.

Referees

Please submit, with the manuscript, the names, addresses and e-mail addresses of three potential referees. Note that the editor retains the sole right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers are used.

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: https://www.elsevier.com/guidepublication). Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics will be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text. 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.

LaTeX

You are recommended to use the Elsevier article class elsarticle.cls (http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/elsarticle) to prepare your manuscript and BibTeX (http://www.bibtex.org) to generate your bibliography.

For detailed submission instructions, templates and other information on LaTeX, see https://www.elsevier.com/latex.

Your Paper Your Way

Nearly one in three researchers chose "preparing manuscripts" as the most frustrating work activity°

We know that you may submit your paper up to five times before it is accepted to be published and that you may spend about three hours per paper to format the references. Most journals require that you format your submission to the exact requirements listed in the Guide for Authors. Reviewers do not need this to evaluate the scientific content of your paper; in reality they are used to different styles as they review manuscripts for various titles. Journal style is often enforced upon the initial submission for legacy reasons.

We now differentiate the requirements for new and revised submissions.

As part of the Your Paper Your Way service, you may choose to submit your manuscript as a single file to be used in the refereeing process. This can be a PDF file or a Word document, in any format or lay-out that can be used by referees to evaluate your manuscript. It should contain high enough quality figures for refereeing. If you prefer to do so, you may still provide all or some of the source files at the initial submission.

Formatting requirements

For your initial submission, there are no strict formatting requirements but all manuscripts must contain the essential elements needed to evaluate your manuscript, for example Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials & Methods, Results, Conclusions, Artwork and Tables with Captions. Please divide the article into clearly defined sections.

We will not enforce strict requirements on reference formatting either. References can be in any style or format as long as the style is consistent. Author(s) name(s), journal title / book title, article title (where required), year of publication, volume & issue / book chapter and the pagination must be present. The reference style required by the journal will be applied to the published version by Elsevier.

If your article includes any Videos and/or other Supplementary material, this should be included in your initial submission for peer review purposes.

Only when your paper reaches final revision stage, will you be requested to deliver the "correct format" for acceptance and provide the items required for the publication of your article.

Article structure

Subdivision - numbered sections
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. 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.

Material and methods
Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.

Theory/calculation
A Theory section should extend, not repeat, the background to the article already dealt with in the Introduction and lay the foundation for further work. In contrast, a Calculation section represents a practical development from a theoretical basis.

Results
Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

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.

Appendices
If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.

Essential title page information

Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
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, if available, the e-mail address of each author.

Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that phone 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.

Highlights

Highlights are optional yet highly encouraged for this journal, as they increase the discoverability of your article via search engines. They consist of a short collection of bullet points that capture the novel results of your research as well as new methods that were used during the study (if any). Please have a look at the example Highlights.

Highlights should be submitted in a separate editable file in the online submission system. Please use 'Highlights' in the file name and include 3 to 5 bullet points (maximum 85 characters, including spaces, per bullet point).

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). 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 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 in a footnote to be placed on the first page of the article. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their first mention there, as well as in the footnote. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

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.).

Units
Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other units are mentioned, please give their equivalent in SI.

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, using superscript Arabic numbers. Many wordprocessors build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Should this not be the case, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.

Table footnotes- Indicate each footnote in a table with a superscript lowercase letter.

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.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the printed version.
• Submit each illustration as a separate file.


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.

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 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. Please indicate your preference for color: in print or on the Web only. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Please note: Because of technical complications which can arise by 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 versions of all the color illustrations.

Figure captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. 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

Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the relevant text in the article, or on separate page(s) at the end. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules and shading in table cells.

References

Citation in text

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Reference links

Increased discoverability of research and high quality peer review are ensured by online links to the sources cited. In order to allow us to create links to abstracting and indexing services, such as Scopus, CrossRef and PubMed, please ensure that data provided in the references are correct. Please note that incorrect surnames, journal/book titles, publication year and pagination may prevent link creation. When copying references, please be careful as they may already contain errors. Use of the DOI is encouraged.

Web references

As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

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.

References in a special issue

Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any references in the list (and any citations in the text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.

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
References are listed and numbered in the order that they appear in the text. In the text, citations should be indicated by the reference number in brackets. Multiple citations within a single set of brackets should be separated by commas. Where there are three or more sequential citations, they should be given as a range. Example: "... has been shown previously [1,4-6,22]." Make sure the parts of the manuscript are in the correct order before ordering the citations.

Since all references will be linked electronically to the papers they cite, proper formatting of the references is crucial. Please use the following style for the reference list:

Published Papers

1. Sanger F, Nicklen S, Coulson AR (1977) DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 74: 5463-5467.

2. [dataset] [5] Oguro M, Imahiro S, Saito S, Nakashizuka T. Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions, Mendeley Data, v1; 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/xwj98nb39r.1.

Please list the first five authors and then add "et al." if there are additional authors. Use of a DOI number to the full-text article is acceptable as an alternative to or in addition to traditional volume and page numbers.

Accepted Papers

Same as above, but "in press" appears instead of the page numbers. Example: Adv Clin Path. In press.

Electronic Journal Articles

1. Loker WM (1996) "Campesinos" and the crisis of modernization in Latin America. Jour Pol Ecol 3. Available: http://www.library.arizona.edu/ej/jpe/volume_3/ascii-lokeriso.txt. Accessed 2006 Aug 11.

Books
1. Bates B (1992) Bargaining for life: A social history of tuberculosis. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 435 p.

Book Chapters

1. Hansen B (1991) New York City epidemics and history for the public. In: Harden VA, Risse GB, editors. AIDS and the historian. Bethesda: National Institute of Health. pp. 21-28.

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.

Supplementary data

Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: https://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please provide the data in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Research Data

This journal encourages 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. To facilitate reproducibility and data reuse, this journal also encourages you to share your 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. If you are sharing data in one of these ways, you are encouraged 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).

Data statement
To foster transparency, we encourage you to state the availability of your data in your submission. This may be a requirement of your funding body or institution. If your data is unavailable to access or unsuitable to post, you will have the opportunity to indicate why during the submission process, for example by stating that the research data is confidential. 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 address
• Full postal address
• Phone numbers
All necessary files have been uploaded, and contain:
• Keywords
• All figure captions
• All tables (including title, description, footnotes)
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

Use of the Digital Object Identifier

The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisher upon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly 'Articles in press' because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information. Example of a correctly given DOI (in URL format; here an article in the journal Physics Letters B):
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2010.09.059
When you use a DOI to create links to documents on the web, the DOIs are guaranteed never to change.
Online proof correction

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 upload all of your corrections within 48 hours. 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. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.

Offprints

The corresponding author will be notified and receive a link to the published version of the open access article on ScienceDirect. This link is in the form of an article DOI link which can be shared via email and social networks. For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication.

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.