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Plant, Cell & Environment

Edited by:
Keith Mott

Print ISSN: 0140-7791
Online ISSN: 1365-3040
Frequency: Monthly
Current Volume: 33 / 2010
ISI Journal Citation Reports® Ranking: 2008: 10/155 Plant Sciences
Impact Factor: 4.666

TopAuthor Guidelines

Instructions for Authors

Completed manuscripts should be submitted in electronic format by one of the following methods:

  1. Attach the file(s) to an email and send it to: PCE@biology.usu.edu
  2. Upload the file via the Manuscript Submission webpage http://pce.usu.edu

General
Manuscripts must be submitted exclusively to Plant, Cell and Environment and are accepted on the understanding that they have not been, nor will be, published elsewhere.

Images suitable for the cover of the journal are particularly welcomed and should be accompanied by a suggested caption. Free colour reproduction of the cover image and 25 free copies of the cover will be provided to the author supplying the photograph reproduced thereon.

Categories of papers
Plant, Cell and Environment will consider manuscripts in the following categories: Full Papers, Opinions, Technical Reports, and Reviews. Plant, Cell and Environment does not publish Short Communications or papers that report preliminary information in a brief format. Full papers are up to 8000 words in length and present the results of a completed research project. Opinions are intended to provide an opportunity to present a particular viewpoint on a matter of topical interest. Technical Reports should present new methods that are likely to be of interest to a broad readership, and should be no more than 4000 words. Plant, Cell and Environment will consider publishing unsolicited Reviews, but authors should contact the Editor-in-Chief in advance.

Guidelines on the submission of manuscripts
Manuscripts should be accompanied by a covering letter containing the following:

  1. The names of at least two suggested referees, one of whom must be a member of the Editorial Review board (click here for Editorial Contacts).
  2. A short paragraph (3-4 sentences) highlighting the importance of the work. This should explain the motivation for the work and summarise the findings.
  3. If the manuscript is a resubmission, a complete list of all changes made, keyed to the comments of the reviewers and Editor.

Manuscripts may be submitted in the following formats: Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, or Corel WordPerfect. Manuscripts submitted in Word or WordPerfect formats will be converted to PDF format and sent to the authors to check the accuracy of conversion. Only the PDF file will be used for peer review. Embed all tables, figures and other graphic elements into a single file wherever possible.

Manuscripts should be double-spaced with margins of at least 2.5 cm. All pages should be numbered consecutively including those containing acknowledgements, references, tables and figure legends. Line numbers are desirable. English spelling should conform to The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English.

Pre-submission English-language editing
Authors for whom English is a second language may choose to have their manuscript professionally edited before submission to improve the English. A list of independent suppliers of editing services can be found at www.authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/english_language.asp. All services are paid for and arranged by the author, and use of one of these services does not guarantee acceptance or preference for publication.

Manuscript format

The following format is designed for Full Papers, and should be modified appropriately for manuscripts in other categories. The manuscript should be arranged as follows, with the Introduction beginning on a separate page:

  1. Title page
    (i) Title: this should be concise and informative and a short running title should be provided.
    (ii) List of authors' preferred names.
    (iii) Institute or laboratory of origin.
    (iv) The name and address of the corresponding author, including an email address.
  2. Abstract
     This should provide a concise statement of the motivation for the work done, the scope of the work and the principal findings. The abstract should be less than 200 words.
  3. Keyword index
    This is to contain 'keywords' or phrases to enable retrieval and indexing by modern searching techniques. The list should not exceed 10 words.
  4. Introduction
    This should argue the case for your study, outlining only essential background, but should not include either the findings or the conclusions. It should not be a review of the subject area, but should finish with a clear statement of the question being addressed.
  5. Materials and methods
    This should provide sufficient details of the techniques used to allow them to be repeated.
  6. Results
    This should not include material appropriate to the Discussion section.
  7. Discussion
    This should highlight the significance of the results and place them in the context of other work. It should not introduce new material, be over-speculative, reiterate the results, or exceed 20% of the total length. The Results and Discussion sections may be amalgamated for short papers if desired, but, in this case, the final paragraph ought to provide a resume of the main conclusions.
  8. Acknowledgments
  9. References
    The reference list should be in alphabetical order and include the full title with the name of the journal given in full, thus:
    Atkin O.K., Botman B. & Lambers H. (1996) The relationship between the relative growth rate and nitrogen economy of alpine and lowland Poa species. Plant, Cell and Environment 19, 1324-1330.
    Schjoerring J.K. (1991) Ammonia emission from the foliage of growing plants. In Trace Gas Emissions by Plants (eds T. D. Sharkey, E. A. Holland & H. A. Mooney), pp. 267-292. Academic Press, San Diego.
    For more than 10 authors/editors, list first three plus et al.

    References in the text should use the Harvard System and be given in full on first mention (e.g. Brown, Smith & Williams 1995), but subsequently abbreviated to (Brown et al. 1995). When different groups of multiple authors with the same first author occur, they should initially be cited thus: (Smith, Ford & Williams 1996a; Smith, Jones & Brown 1996b), and thereafter they would be cited as (Smith et al. 1996a, b). If the number of authors in a group is greater than three, they should always be cited thus: (Morris et al.1997).

    We recommend the use of a tool such as EndNote or Reference Manager for reference management and formatting.
    EndNote reference styles can be searched for here:
    http://www.endnote.com/support/enstyles.asp
    Reference Manager reference styles can be searched for here:
    http://www.refman.com/support/rmstyles.asp

  10. Tables
    Each table should be on a separate page, numbered, and accompanied by a title and explanatory caption at the top. Each table must be referred to in the text, and an indication of preferred position in the text should be given. Data must not be presented in both tabular and graphical form.
  11. Figure legends
     Legends should be typed on a separate sheet. Any explanatory material should be placed in the legend and not in the figure; enough detail should be given so that the figure can be understood without reference to the text. In the full-text online edition of the journal, figure legends may be truncated in abbreviated links to the full screen version. Therefore, the first 100 characters of any legend should inform the reader of key aspects of the figure.
  12. Figures
    If possible, all figures should be included at the end of the text file. Alternatively, figures may be submitted as separate files. Plant, Cell and Environment will publish one colour figure free of charge providing the colour is deemed necessary by the editor. A colour work agreement form must be included with all manuscripts containing colour and can be downloaded here. Please refer to the form for details of the pricing of additional colour figures.
  13. Supporting information
     Supporting web-only information is accepted by the journal. Guidelines and acceptable file formats may be found here.

Online production tracking is now available for your article through Blackwell's Author Services.
Author Services enables authors to track their article - once it has been accepted - through the production process to publication online and in print. Authors can check the status of their articles online and choose to receive automated e-mails at key stages of production so they don't need to contact the production editor to check on progress. Visit www.authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor for more details on online production tracking and for a wealth of resources including FAQs and tips on article preparation, submission and more.

Units
Authors should use the International System of Units (S.I., Systeme Internationale d'Unires) where practical.

Scientific names
The complete scientific name (genus, species, authority and cultivar, if appropriate) should be cited for every organism when first mentioned. Subsequently, the generic name may be abbreviated to initials except where intervening references to other genera would cause confusion. Common names of organisms, if used, must be accompanied by the correct scientific name on first mention. Latin names should be underlined.

Abbreviations
Chemical symbols may be used in the text, together with the widely accepted abbreviations of longer chemical terms. Other abbreviations may also be used but the full term should be given on first mention.


Mathematical formulae
Mathematical formulae should be indented and adequate spacing should be allowed above and below displayed equations. When a manuscript contains several mathematical equations, each principal equation should be identified by a number in parentheses (e.g., Eqn 1).

Offprints/Reprints
Corresponding authors will automatically receive a free PDF offprint by email.

Copyright Transfer Agreement

Authors will be required to sign an Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA) for all papers accepted for publication. Signature of the CTA is a condition of publication and papers will not be passed to the publisher for production unless a signed form has been received. Please note that signature of the Copyright Transfer Agreement does not affect ownership of copyright in the material. (Government employees need to complete the Author Warranty sections, although a licence does not need to be assigned in such cases.) After submission authors will retain the right to publish their paper in various medium/circumstances (please see the form for further details). To assist authors an appropriate form will be supplied by the editorial office. Alternatively, authors may like to download a copy of the form here.

OnlineOpen
OnlineOpen is available to authors of primary research articles who wish to make their article available to non-subscribers on publication, or whose funding agency requires grantees to archive the final version of their article. With OnlineOpen the author, the author's funding agency, or the author's institution pays a fee to ensure that the article is made available to non-subscribers upon publication via Wiley InterScience, as well as deposited in the funding agency's preferred archive. For the full list of terms and conditions, see http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/authorresources/onlineopen.html#OnlineOpen_Terms

Any authors wishing to send their paper OnlineOpen will be required to complete the payment form available from our website at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/authorresources/funded_access_order_form.pdf

Prior to acceptance there is no requirement to inform an Editorial Office that you intend to publish your paper OnlineOpen if you do not wish to. All OnlineOpen articles are treated in the same way as any other article. They go through the journal's standard peer-review process and will be accepted or rejected based on their own merit.

Read more about Online Open here.

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