JPRAS Open

Journal scope

JPRAS Open is an official journal of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS). It is an international, open access journal dedicated to publishing case reports, short communications, and full-length articles. JPRAS Open will provide the most current source of information and references in plastic, reconstructive & aesthetic surgery. The Journal is based on the continued need to improve surgical care by providing highlights in general reconstructive surgery; cleft lip, palate and craniofacial surgery; head and neck surgery; skin cancer; breast surgery; hand surgery; lower limb trauma; burns; and aesthetic surgery. The Journal will provide authors with fast publication times. JPRAS Open publishes case reports, short communications and original articles.

Editorial policy

Original contributions are welcomed from any country, but the prose used in manuscripts must conform to acceptable English usage. The text must be clear, logical and concise. In assessing a manuscript for publication the Editor will also consider its originality, educational value and validity. Recommendations regarding major rearrangements or corrections may be offered to help authors re-write their submission in a way that is acceptable to the journal. The Editor reserves the right to make editorial and literary changes and accepted articles may be subject to further copy-editing to conform to journal style.

Duplicate/Prior/Overlapping Publication or Submission
Manuscripts are accepted for review with the stipulation that they are submitted solely to JPRAS Open. Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint, see policy page here) 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and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere including electronically in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright-holder. Authors should disclose prior publication as an abstract or an electronic preprint in the Cover Letter.

Language editing services

Authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission please visit https://www.elsevier.com/languagepolishing for more information. Use of an English-language editing service is not mandatory, and will not guarantee acceptance or preference for publication. Elsevier neither endorses nor takes responsibility for any products, goods or services offered by outside vendors through our services or in any advertising. For more information, please refer to our Terms & Conditions: https://www.elsevier.com/termsandconditions.

Online submission

All material should be submitted through the online submission and review system https://www.editorialmanager.com/JPRASO. All text, including references, figure legends and tables should be prepared in a single file. Illustrations should be supplied as separate files.
JPRAS Open is an Open Access journal. Authors are expected to carefully consider the Article Processing Charge (APC) before submitting and will be required to sign a declaration to confirm that fees will be payable on acceptance. For more information please see the below section on 'Open Access'.

Authorship

All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following:
(1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data
(2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content
(3) final approval of the version to be submitted.

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.

Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship as defined above should be listed in an acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department chair who provided only general support. Authors should disclose whether they had any writing assistance and identify the entity that paid for this assistance.

Informed consent and patient details

Studies on patients or volunteers (including organ/tissue donors) require informed consent, which should be documented in the paper. Appropriate consents, permissions and releases must be obtained where an author wishes to include case details or other personal information or images of patients and any other individuals in an Elsevier publication. Written consents must be retained by the author, but copies should not be provided to the journal.

Only if specifically requested by the journal in exceptional circumstances (for example if a legal issue arises) the author must provide copies of the consents or evidence that such consents have been obtained. For more information, please review the Elsevier Policy on the Use of Images or Personal Information of Patients or other Individuals.

Unless the author has written permission from the patient (or, where applicable, the next of kin), the personal details of any patient included in any part of the article and in any supplementary materials (including all illustrations and videos) must be removed before submission.

Conflict of interest

Authors
At the end of the text, under a subheading 'Conflict of interest statement', all authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organisations 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. If the authors have no conflicts of interest, they should state 'none'.
Reviewers
Reviewers must disclose to the Editor any conflicts of interest that could bias their opinions of the manuscript, and they should disqualify themselves from reviewing specific manuscripts if they believe it to be appropriate. Reviewers must state explicitly whether conflicts do or do not exist. Reviewers must not use knowledge of the work, before its publication, to further their own interests.

Role of the funding source
All sources of funding should be declared as an acknowledgement at the end of the text. Authors should declare the role of study sponsors, if any, in the study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; and in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. If the study sponsors had no such involvement, the authors should so state.

Standardized reporting guidelines
JPRA Open is committed to standardized reporting of clinical trials, meta-analyses, and other studies as follows:

• Case reports, cohort studies, and patient series: Authors should adhere to the STROBE guidelines (http://www.strobe-statement.org/) and indicate this in the manuscript.
• Diagnostic measure research: Authors should adhere to STARD guidelines (http://www.stard-statement.org) and indicate in the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript that they have done so.
• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses: Authors should adhere to the PRISMA guidelines (http://www.prisma-statement.org) and indicate in the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript that they have done so.
• Meta-analyses will follow the PRISMA guidelines, be hypothesis driven to address a specific aspect of a topic, include sufficient (ideally at least 10) Level I and II evidence studies that can be supplemented with comparative Level III studies, and not include Level IV studies. The result should clarify the issue addressed.
• A repeat meta-analysis should follow the original study by at least 5 years, analyze at least 50% more data, and follow the above guidelines.
• A worthy systematic review will follow the PRISMA guidelines, be hypothesis driven, focus on a specific aspect of a topic, and may include low level evidence. The results should clarify the issue addressed.
• Randomized clinical trials: Authors should adhere to CONSORT guidelines (https://www.goodreports.org/reporting-checklists/consort/) and indicate in the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript that they have done so.
• JPRA Open has adopted the proposal from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE: see https://www.icmje.org) which require, as a condition of consideration for publication of clinical trials, registration in a public trials registry. Trials must register at or before the onset of patient enrolment. The clinical trial registration number (ISRCTN) should be included at the end of the article summary. For this purpose, a clinical trial is defined as any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention or comparison groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome. Studies designed for other purposes, such as to study pharmacokinetics or major toxicity (e.g. phase I trials) would be exempt. Further information can be found at http://icmje.org

Ethics
The results of human and/or animal studies will only be accepted for publication in JPRAS Open if it is made clear that investigations were carried out to a high ethical standard. Formal and documented ethical approval from an appropriately constituted research ethics committee should be obtained for all studies involving people, medical records, and anonymised human tissues. All such studies should conform to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (June 1964) and subsequent amendments (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/) and manuscripts should include a statement that the research protocol was approved by the local Ethical Committee or equivalent.
Animal experiments require full compliance with local, national, ethical, and regulatory principles, and local licensing arrangements and the journal will not accept papers for publication if doubts exist over the standards of care and humanity shown to experimental animals. For this reason a clear statement of the care principles used should be included in the text.
Guidelines on publication ethics adhered to by this journal can be found on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) website at http://www.publicationethics.org and https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/

Patient Consent
It is the responsibility of the author to ensure that appropriate consents, permissions and releases must be obtained where authors wish to include case details or other personal information or images of patients and any other individuals in their submission to JPRAS Open in order to comply with all applicable laws and regulations concerning the privacy and/or security of personal information, including, but not limited to, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA") and other U.S. federal and state laws relating to privacy and security of personally identifiable information, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 and member state implementing legislation, Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, India's Information Technology Act and related Privacy Rules, (together "Data Protection and Privacy Laws"). Please refer to Elsevier?s Patient Consent policy here: https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/patient-consent

Manuscripts describing research involving human subjects should indicate that written informed consent was obtained from the parents or guardians of the children who served as subjects of the investigation and, when appropriate, assent from the subjects themselves. In the event that either the Editors or the reviewers question the propriety of the human investigation with respect to the risk to the subjects or to the means by which informed consent was obtained, JPRAS Open may request more detailed information about the safeguards employed and the procedures used to obtain informed consent. Copies of the minutes of the committees that reviewed and approved the research also may be requested. Authors should verify compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) prior to submission.

Covering letter
Manuscripts must be accompanied by a covering letter stating that the current "Guide for Authors" has been read, thereby indicating compliance with those instructions and acceptance of the conditions posed. The letter should state that the authors have seen and agreed to the submitted version of the paper, and bear responsibility for it; that all who have been acknowledged as contributors or as providers of personal communications have agreed to their inclusion; that the material is original; and that it has been neither published elsewhere nor submitted for publication simultaneously. In addition the letter should state that if accepted, the paper will not be published elsewhere in the same or similar form, in English or in any other language, without written consent of the copyright holder.

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.

Preparation of manuscripts

Failure to submit papers in accordance with these instructions will result in the return of the manuscript for correction before it is sent out for review. All copy must be typed double spaced, including text, bibliographies, figure legends and tables. Use a standard, easy-to-read word processor font such as Times New Roman or Arial. All pages should be numbered in the bottom right corner or bottom centre. Papers should be set out as follows: title page, summary, keywords, text, acknowledgements, references, figure legends, tables.

Main article types
• Original Articles should generally be no more than 3000 words in length, with 40 references and 16 figures/illustrated images/ tables. Please note that composite figures count as individual items.
• Review papers should be no more than 4000 words, with 80 references and 16 figures/illustrated imaged/tables. Please note that composite figures count as individual items.

Other article types
• Case reports and short communications should be presented as briefly as possible. Succinct articles are more likely to be accepted for publication. Case reports should be no more than 1200 words, with a maximum of 10 references and four tables/figures. Short Communications should be no more than 800 words, with a maximum of 5 references and two tables/figures.
• Letters to Editor/ Communications When discussing a prior JPRAS Open manuscript, please cite the specific article in the main body of your letter and add it to the Reference List at the end of your manuscript. We request that you use a unique title for your Letter to the Editor:

• Letter is in response to a published manuscript, please begin your title as follows: Letter to the Editor Regarding (insert the referred to article title here)
• If you have been invited to respond to a Letter to the Editor, please start your title with: In Reply to the Letter to the Editor Regarding (insert referred to article title here)
• If the letter is not in response to a particular article, the title should be Letter to the Editor: (Article title of the author's choosing).

Title page
The title page should give the following:
(1) title of the article
(2) initials and name of each author
(3) name and address of the department or institution to which the work should be attributed
(4) the name, address, telephone, fax and e-mail details of the author responsible for editorial correspondence
(5) details of any meeting at which the work was presented, wholly or in part.

Summary and keywords
The article summary should consist of no more than 300 words. The journal does not demand structured abstracts, but the summary should briefly describe the background and purposes of the study, the subjects studied and the methods used, the main findings (including specific data and statistical analysis) and the conclusions. Please bear in mind that the summary will be visible through all the major abstracting services (such as MEDLINE and Scopus) and should therefore be an accurate and concise outline of the paper. Four to six keywords should be provided at the end of the summary.

Text
Headings should be appropriate to the nature of the paper. Research papers should usually be split into sections under the headings: Introduction, Materials/Patients and Methods, Results and Discussion. Other headings may be appropriate depending on the nature of the paper; the proper use of headings enhances clarity and readability. Normally only two categories of heading should be used, which should be clearly distinguished.
Drug/device names: Use generic names of drugs, suture materials and instruments whenever possible. Give the trade name in brackets after the generic or approved name, followed by manufacturer, city, state (if US), and country. Proprietary names should be capitalised.
Abbreviations should be avoided in the title and summary. Explain abbreviations when they first occur in the text.
Numbers: use SI units throughout. Spell out the numbers one to ten except when used for units of measurement (mass, time, length); for numbers over ten use numerals except when starting a sentence. Do not give percentages if the total number in the sample is less than 50. Percentages greater than ten should be rounded to the nearest whole number. Numerical data should be analysed by appropriate statistical methods. When evaluating a manuscript, the Editor and statistical referees will consider the design of the study, the presentation of the data, the analysis of the data and the interpretation of the results. The use of standard deviation and standard error should be clearly distinguished. The statistical test(s) used should be stated clearly in the 'Methods' section of the paper. Statistical significance should not be confused with clinical significance. In particular, 'negative' findings should be interpreted through the use of confidence intervals. Authors should beware of placing undue emphasis on secondary analyses, especially when they are suggested by an inspection of the data.

Tables
These should be double-spaced, and contain only horizontal rules. Format tables with tabs rather than spaces, or prepare them as tables in Microsoft Word. Do not submit tables as photographs. A short descriptive title should appear above each table and any footnotes, suitably identified, below. Care must be taken to ensure that all units are included. Ensure that each table is cited in the text.

Figures
Figures should be submitted online as separate files. The minimum resolution for high quality reproduction is 300 dpi. For detailed instructions on the preparation of electronic artwork, consult the Artwork Instructions to Authors: https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. Permission to reproduce illustrations from other sources should always be obtained before submission, and details included with the legend. The journal is published in full colour (in print and online) at no charge to authors, so colour photographs should be submitted wherever possible. Photographs must be in sharp focus with good contrast and should not be altered or retouched in any way. 'Before' and 'after' photographs of patients should be standardised in terms of size, position and lighting. Provide scale bars on photomicrographs rather than stating the magnification in the legend. Legends are required for figures and should be included as part of the manuscript. All figures should be numbered in a single sequence.

Patient confidentiality: where illustrations include individuals of whatever age who are recognizable or whose identity may be deduced from the context, written consent must be obtained for publication. All identifying features not considered relevant to the text should be obscured.

Supplementary data (including multimedia and video)
The journal accepts supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files allow the author to submit supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more, which will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data is provided in one of the recommended file formats (for detailed guidance on formats for supplementary files go to https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies-and-standards/author/artwork-and-media-instructions).

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.

References

Please ensure that you include all relevant references to previous articles in JPRAS Open. The accuracy of references is the responsibility of the authors. Limit citations to those that are essential to the study. It is not necessary or appropriate to quote each and every historical reference unless there is a specific point to be made. References derived from computer literature searches should not be cited unless they have been read and contribute specifically to the discussion.
References should be cited in the text in numerical order, not alphabetically, and be indicated in the text by superscript numbers, e.g. 1, 2 or 1-4. The reference list should be typed double-spaced and in numerical order. If there are more than six authors list only the first three followed by 'et al'. Journal titles should be abbreviated according to Index Medicus (see http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html). Internet resources should have their accessibility verified and all URLs should be checked again at proof stage.
Examples
Journal article: Frame JD, Frame JE. Modifying integra as a regeneration template in deep tissue planes. J Plast Reconstruct Aesthet Surg 2006;59;460-4.
Book chapter: Lister GD. Skin flaps. In Green DP, ed. Operative Hand Surgery. 3rd ed. New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1993: 1741-1823.
Book: Mathes SJ, Nahai F. Reconstructive Surgery: principles, anatomy, and technique. New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1997.
Internet resource: International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. https://www.icmje.org. [Accessibility verified March 21, 2008]
Dataset: 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.

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. If excerpts from other copyrighted works (e.g. illustrations and tables) 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: please see https://www.elsevier.com/permissions. Borrowed material should be acknowledged in the legends in this style: 'Reproduced with the permission of ... (publishers/journal) from (reference)'.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'License Agreement' (see more information on this). Permitted third party reuse of 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.

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 one independent expert reviewer 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.

Proofs

One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author, which they are requested to correct and return within 48 hours. Elsevier now sends PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 available free from Adobe. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs. The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site.
If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by fax, or scan the pages and e-mail, or by post.
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. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your 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, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail or, alternatively, 25 free paper offprints. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use. Additional paper offprints can be ordered by the authors. An order form with prices will be sent to the corresponding author.

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.

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.

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, 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. 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.