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Instructions to Authors (2008)

Genes & Development publishes high-quality research papers of general interest and biological significance in molecular and cell biology, and related areas. Genes & Development publishes two research manuscript formats: Research Papers and Research Communications, in addition to Review Articles and Perspectives. Research manuscripts must be submitted to the journal as either a Research Paper or Research Communication. Publication time from acceptance of manuscript is between one and three months. For papers accepted subject to revision, only one revised version will be considered; it must be submitted within 2 months of the provisional acceptance.

Scope of Papers

The journal accepts papers that present original research that has not been published previously. Submission to the journal implies that a paper is not being considered for another journal or book. Closely related papers that are in press elsewhere or that have been or will be submitted elsewhere must be included with the submitted manuscript. It is understood that researchers who submit papers to this journal are prepared to make available to qualified academic researchers materials needed to duplicate their research results (DNA, cell lines, antibodies, microbial strains, mice lines, etc.). All manuscripts must include a statement that the manuscript has been seen and approved by all authors. In addition, authors are required to declare any conflicts of interest or competing financial interests. The relevant form appears on our online submission system and must be filled out when submitting a manuscript (submit.genesdev.org).Authors should submit nucleic acid and protein sequences, and X-ray crystallographic data to the appropriate database.

Contributors from North and South America, Asia, and Australia must submit their papers to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory office (see address below). Contributors from Europe, Middle East, and Africa must submit their papers to the European office. Questions regarding papers should be directed to the Journals Office at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (516-422-4015).

Manuscript Preparation

Perspectives are short, commissioned reviews that, in most instances, highlight a research article(s) that appears in the same or recent issue of Genes & Development. Perspectives that are not tied to a research article are more narrow in scope than full-length Review articles. Perspectives occupy 3–5 journal pages and include a 25-75 word abstract, 1 or 2 figures and approximately 40 references.

Review articles occupy 5–8 journal pages (30,000–50,000 characters, including spaces), include an abstract of up to 100 words, multiple figures and/or tables, and references. Most Reviews are commissioned, but unsolicited contributions will be considered. All of the reviews are accepted subject to favorable review.

Research Papers will occupy up to 12 journal pages and have a manuscript length of not more than 63,000 characters (including spaces). Abstracts will be limited to 200 words. A manuscript of 28-32 typed, double-spaced pages (including Materials and Methods, References, Tables, and Figure legends) with a total of seven single-column (7.5 x 7.5 cm) figures and/or tables translates to 12 journal pages.

Research Communications are high-quality, complete yet shorter bodies of work that provide compelling, novel, and important conclusions, and are of interest to a broad range of researchers. Thus, Research Communications may be more restricted in breadth of analysis and cover a more defined area of a particular field. However, the high standards of excellence by which the longer Research Papers are judged will be applied to Research Communications. Research Communciations may have a total manuscript length of no more than 35,000 characters (including spaces), and thus may not exceed six printed pages. This count includes: title, author's names, affiliations, Abstract, key words, Results and Discussion, Materials and Methods, References, and Figure legends. Submit no more than five 3 x 3 inch (7.5 x 7.5 cm) figures and/or tables combined. (Note, multipart figures will be reduced to fit these dimensions.) If figures/tables are too large to be reduced to 3" x 3" (7.5 x 7.5 cm) size, you must either cut your text or submit fewer number of figures/tables. Please see G&D Worksheet for Sizing Research Communication Articles. Abstracts will be limited to 100 words or less. All research communications accepted must have the Results and Discussion combined. Materials and methods will remain a separate section. References will be limited to no more than 40.

The final version must meet the above guidelines. Manuscripts that do not conform to the appropriate format will be returned to the author.

Form Please observe the following order: Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Results, Discussion, Materials and Methods, Acknowledgments, References, Tables, Figure legends. The Title page should include: (a) title; (b) all authors' full names; (c) all affiliations clearly indicated; (d) a shortened version of the title for use as a running head (maximum 40 characters), and (e) up to six key words for use in indexing. Abstracts should summarize the aim of the report, the methodological approach, and the significance of the results. Methods should be detailed enough to allow qualified researchers to reproduce the results. PLEASE NOTE: All manuscripts must include page numbers.

Figures and legends Line drawings, graphs, charts, and chemical formulae should be professionally prepared and labeled. Indicate magnification with a bar scale. Authors submitting color figures as essential data for review with manuscripts undertake to pay the publication costs of four-color artwork. Price estimates are supplied upon acceptance of the paper.

For hard copies, label the back of each figure with the first author's name, figure number, and an indication of "top." Electronic copies MUST be labeled with the first authors name and the figure number in the top right hand corner of the figure; for example Smith_Fig1. Multipart figures should be submitted as one composite. Number figures consecutively in the order in which they are referred in the text. The figures sizes will be adjusted to fit the journal format; therefore, please keep labels, symbols, and other callout devices in proportion to the figure size and detail.

Figure legends should be brief and should not contain methods. Symbols indicted in the figure must be identified in the legend text. If figures are reprinted from another source, permission to reprint is required.

Tables Tabular data should be presented concisely and logically. Number tables consecutively according to the order cited in the text. Provide a title for each table. Use only horizontal rules and ensure that column headings are unambiguous in indicating columns to which they refer. Include table legends and footnotes where needed. If tables are reprinted from another source or if data included are from another source, permission to reprint is required.

References Only those articles that are published or in press will be included in the references. The reference list should be presented in alphabetical order. ALL authors' names should be included when there are 10 or fewer names. If more than 10 names, the reference should include the first 10 names, followed by et al. Unpublished data, submitted manuscripts, or personal communications should appear in the text and should include first initials and last names of authors. References are name/date citations in text. Please note: the G&D reference style has changed. Please observe the following reference style:

Pavio, A., Scharf, S., and Horn, G.T. 1975. Perceptual comparisons through the mind's eye. Mem. Cognit. 3: 635-647.

Strunk, W. and White, E.B. 1979. The elements of style. Macmillan, New York, NY.

Tymowska, J. 1991. Polyploidy and cytogenetic variation in frogs of the genus Xenopus. in Amphibian cytogenetics and evolution (ed, D.M. Green and S.K. Sessions), pp. 259-297. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

Supplemental Files

Manuscript Submission

Electronic Submission: Authors may submit manuscripts to our online system at http://submit.genesdev.org. Manuscripts submitted online do not require hardcopies unless the editorial office requests them. Questions regarding online manuscript submission should be directed to the USA Journals Office (516-422-4015 or genesdev@cshl.org).

Hard Copy Submission: Please submit five copies of the manuscript with original figures. All manuscript pages (including References, Tables, Figure legends) must be double-spaced and in a typeface of at least 11-point size. Label each page with the first author's name and page number. The cover letter should include: (a) the name, post and email addresses, and telephone and FAX number of the corresponding author; (b) a character count (including spaces) of the entire manuscript; (c) a statement that the manuscript has been seen and approved by all listed authors; (d) any specific requirements for art reproduction; and (e) the status of any permissions required. Any manuscript submitted by post must include a computer disk (CD) containing an electronic version of the manuscript and text and, preferably, as many figures and tables as possible. Please indicate the software programs used to generate the files.

Editorial Offices

Genes & Development
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
500 Sunnyside Boulevard
Woodbury, NY 11797-2924
Phone 516-422-4015; FAX 516-422-4093
email genesdev{at}cshl.org

Genes & Development
Center for Integrative Genomics
University of Lausanne
Le Génopode Building
1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Phone ++41 21 692 3939 FAX ++41 21 692 3935
email genesdev{at}unil.ch

Information Pertaining to Accepted Manuscripts ONLY

Please note we CANNOT accept Canvas, PowerPoint, SuperPaint, Corel Draw, Harvard Graphics, or Excel graphics because they are not compatible with our printer's output devices.

If you have created your artwork electronically, please send the electronic files saved according to the detailed instructions below.

1. For final publication purposes, we can only accept electronic art as an EPS or TIFF file in CMYK color mode, at least 300 dpi. To aid authors in submitting your digital files in the correct format, we have a digital art analysis program associated with our online submission system called Digital expert. Your digital files will be analyzed by Digital Expert upon submission of a revised manuscript. (For reviewing purposes, other file types are acceptable, as outlined above under manuscript submission.)

2. UPON FINAL ACCEPTANCE, AUTHORS MUST PROVIDE A GOOD CAMERA-READY COPY QUALITY PRINT WITH THEIR ELECTRONIC FILE for cases when electronic versions of the art fail, and as an additional check for the quality of the electronic version for publication. Always include a printout of the art at the same size it is saved on the disk. Do not enlarge or reduce the printout. This is important in case the electronic file can not be read and to make sure that the file on the disk is the same as the print provided. This printout is also used to size the artwork. If the art is in color, please provide a high quality color print so the print may be used as a guide to match the colors. Also, please note that our printer will not accept electronic artwork unless it is accompanied by high-quality reflective art as well. Both electronic and reflective art need to match each other exactly.

3. Please make sure that your files are properly labeled by first author's name/figure number (for example, Smith_Fig1, Smith_Fig5) and that printouts are properly labeled and correspond to the file name. Also indicate the programs used to generate the artwork.

4. Send only final electronic art files. DO NOT EMBED FIGURES WITHIN THE MANUSCRIPT TEXT FILES.

5. For color artwork, if more than one color is used, please choose colors that are far enough apart on the color spectrum to preserve maximum color distinction (e.g., black and some blues, as well as red and some oranges, can be difficult to distinguish when artwork is scaled for the journal page). Please also avoid using very light colors, such as pale yellow, since these tend to fade out and reproduce poorly.

6. Use Helvetica typeface in point sizes no smaller than 8 pt and no larger than 10 pt, except for the main callouts (e.g. A, B, C), which should be 12 pt.

7. Make sure that the weight of all rules used in artwork is 1/2-point or heavier. Lighter-weight lines will not be picked up.

Generating Electronic Artwork from Original Glossy Prints

All photographs need to be scanned at a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Photographs should be saved as a TIFF file (not EPS) in Photoshop. If the figure is in color, make sure it is converted to CMYK (not RGB or Pantone) and follow specifications below for color art. If the artwork that contains the photograph also contains line art (even one or two text characters), you need to follow the specifications below for combo art. When in doubt with halftone art, please follow the specs for combo art.

All line art figures need to be scanned at a resolution of at least 800 dpi in bitmap mode (there are no halftone dots in line art). Line art should be saved as EPS files. If the line art is in color, make sure it is converted to CMYK (not RGB or Pantone) and follow specifications below for color art.

All combo art (which includes within the artwork both halftones/grayscale and line art) must be 800 dpi in grayscale mode and saved as TIFF files.

All color art should be scanned or produced at 300 dpi in CMYK mode and saved as TIFF files. Always save your color scans into the CMYK color space. Never submit color electronic files in RGB mode.

A Word About Electronic Art Submission:

Printers print in CMYK. Most authors submit their files in RGB. When these files are converted to printing industry standards, the colors often change completely. This is why it is very important for the artwork to be created as CMYK and for a hard copy of the artwork to be submitted for comparison. In the event that we cannot use the electronic file, a film from the hard copy image will be created. As noted elsewhere above, our printer will not accept a digital art file unless it is also accompanied by high-quality reflective art that matches exactly.

It should be stressed again that electronic figures must be submitted using either Illustrator or Photoshop. We hope the other graphics programs will eventually support printing industry standards as well.

Proofs. Proofs are considered the final form of the paper and correction can be made only in the case of factual errors. If additional information must be added at this stage, it should be in the form of "Note added in proof," subject to the approval of the editors. An e-proof will be emailed to the corresponding author once the manuscript goes into production.

Reprints. A reprint order form will be included with the proofs.

To help defray the cost of publication, a charge of $30 per page will be made for publication in Genes & Development. Authors unable to meet these charges should include a letter of explanation upon acceptance for publication; inability to meet these charges will have no effect on acceptance and publication of submitted papers.

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Copyright © 2008 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.