Letters in Applied Microbiology

Published on behalf of the Society for Applied Microbiology

Edited by:
J.-Y. Maillard

Print ISSN: 0266-8254
Online ISSN: 1472-765X
Frequency: Monthly
Current Volume: 48 / 2009
ISI Journal Citation Reports® Ranking: 2008: 83/144 Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology; 61/91 Microbiology
Impact Factor: 1.679

TopAuthor Guidelines

Did you know... Letters in Applied Microbiology has no page charges?

Please note that these author guidelines have been updated recently. It is recommended that all authors check the guidelines thoroughly even if they have previously submitted an article to this journal.

...Quick Links...

Manuscript submission:
http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/appliedmicrobiology
Editorial Office:
lam@wiley.com
Production Office:
lam-proofs@wiley.com
Electronic Graphics:
http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/illustration.asp
Exclusive Licence form:
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/lam_caf.pdf
Colourwork Agreement form:
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/SN_Sub2000_F_CoW.pdf

The preparation and presentation of manuscripts
Manuscripts should be drafted as concisely as possible. As space in Letters is at a premium, individual papers have a limit of approximately 4000 words, including figures and tables (N.B. a half page figure is equivalent to 450 words). The Editors reserve the right to require authors to reduce the length of their manuscript. Manuscripts will not be reviewed unless the English is of a publishable standard. By submission of a manuscript to the journal, all authors warrant that they have the authority to publish the material and that the paper, or one substantially the same, has neither been published previously, nor is being considered for publication elsewhere. Submissions may be subject to testing for textual similarity via plagiarism detection software or related applications.

Format of papers
Manuscripts should be prepared using a word-processor. Text must be double-spaced, and the right hand margin justification should be switched off. Similarly, artificial word breaks at the end of lines must be avoided. A margin of at least 2.5 cm should be left around the text. The pages of the manuscript must be numbered consecutively. Do not use the carriage return (enter) at the end of lines within a paragraph. Turn the hyphenation option off.
The first page should show: (a) the title; (b) name(s) of author(s) and place(s) where the work was done; (c) an abbreviated running headline not exceeding 35 letters and spaces; (d) the name, complete mailing address, email address, telephone and fax numbers of the author to whom all correspondence should be addressed and who will check the proofs.

Submissions
Authors are invited to suggest at least three reviewers. It is not appropriate for reviewers to be members or former members of the authors' organization(s), or to have been associated with them. Conversely, authors may identify, with appropriate justification, reviewers or institutions that they would prefer were not approached. Authors are advised that Editors reserve the right to select reviewers of their choice.
Authors are advised to submit their manuscripts online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/appliedmicrobiology . If you experience difficulties submitting your manuscript online you should first contact the Managing Editor lam@wiley.com. A helpline for technical support is accessible on the online submission site. Save your complete manuscript as a Word document (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) file. The file will be converted to a PDF when uploaded. All original files that you upload will be available and can be accessed by the Editorial Office if necessary.

1. Full-length papers
The paper should have as its aim the development of concepts as well as the recording of facts. The manuscript should be prepared for a wide readership. As far as possible the paper should present the results of a substantial programme of research. Sequential publication of numbered papers will not be permitted.
The paper will have the following sections:
(a) ABSTRACT: A brief summary of about 150-200 words, should give the major findings of the investigation under the following headings: Aims; Methods and Results; Conclusions; Significance and Impact of Study. A list of between five and eight keywords should be added;
(b) INTRODUCTION: A balance must be struck between the pure and applied aspects of the subject;
(c) MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ensure that the work can be repeated according to the details provided. By submission of a manuscript, the authors consent that biological material, including plasmids, viruses and microbial strains, unobtainable from national collections will be made available to members of the scientific community for non-commercial purposes subject to national and international regulations governing the supply of biological material. In the case of a new diagnostic PCR, you should consider the need for an internal amplification control (JAM 2004 96(2):221; available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2672.2003.02188.x/full );
(d) RESULTS: Well-prepared tables and figures must be a cardinal feature of the 'Results' section because they convey the major observations to readers who scan a paper. Information provided in tables and figures should not be repeated in the text, but focus attention on the importance of the principal findings of the study;
(e) DISCUSSION: This must not recapitulate the results and authors must avoid the temptation of preparing a combined 'Results and Discussion' section;
(f) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; and
(g) REFERENCES: Citation of references having three or more names should be cited in the text as Jones et al. (1992) at the first and subsequent times of quoting the reference unless this causes confusion, e.g. Jones, Brown and Green (1992) and Jones, Green and Smith (1992) would have to be quoted in full. A series of references should be given in ascending date order (Green and Smith 1946; Jones et al. 1956). Different publications having the same author(s) and year will be distinguished by, for example, 1992a, 1992b. This also applies to the Bibliography. Papers or other publications having no obvious author(s) should usually be cited as 'Anon.' with the year in the text and bibliography. References to papers not freely available to the public without charge are not acceptable. Web sites should be quoted in the text with an access date.

Layout of references
The Harvard system should be used. Names with the prefixes de, do van, von, etc. will be placed in alphabetical order of the first letter of the prefix, e.g. von Braun would appear under 'V'. Where italics are intended, words must either be typed in roman and underlined or printed in italics from a word processor. Abbreviate journal titles according to Index Medicus (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/terms_cond.html). The following is an example of order and style to be used in the manuscript:
Laverick, M.A., Wyn-Jones, A.P. and Carter, M.J. (2004) Quantitative RT-PCR for the enumeration of noroviruses (Norwalk-like viruses) in water and sewage. Lett Appl Microbiol 39, 127-135.
Garner, J.S. and Favero, M.S. (1985) Guidelines for Handwashing and Hospital Environment Control. US Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control HHS No. 99-117. Washington DC: Government Printing Office.
Fricker, C.R. (1995) Detection of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in water. In Protozoan Parasites in Water ed. Betts, W.B., Casemore, D., Fricker, C.R., Smith, H.V. and Watkins, J. pp.91-96. London: The Royal Society of Chemistry.
Personal communications should be cited in the text with initials and family name of all individuals.

English usage
Numbers in text: one to nine in full; 10 and above as numerals. Use 'z' spelling where possible, except analyse, dialyse, hydrolyse, etc.; sulfur, sulfate, etc.

Headings
The hierarchy of the headings used is:
First Order
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Second Order
Sample preparation
Third Order
The media. First paragraph runs on; second and subsequent paragraphs indented.

Abbreviations and units
The Journal uses SI units: g l-1 not g/l; d, h, min, s (time units) but week and year in full; mol l-1 (not M or N); probability is P; centrifugation conditions relative to gravity (g). Please refer to the Biochemical Journal 'Instructions to Authors' www.biochemj.org/bj/bji2a.htm.

Microbial nomenclature
The Latin binomial name of micro-organisms, plants and animals (other than farm animals) must be given at first mention in the text; thereafter the generic name will be abbreviated in such a way that confusion is avoided when dealing with several genera all beginning with the same letter, viz. Pseudomonas, Proteus, Pediococcus, etc. (see list of abbreviations below). Subspecies are italized (Corynebacterium diphtheriae subsp. mitis; groups and types are printed in Roman and designated by capital letters or Arabic figures (e.g. Staphylococcus aureus group A).
Common names will not have an initial capital letter nor will they be underlined in the manuscript, viz. pseudomonad, salmonellas. The specific name will be given in full in the captions to tables and figures. Major ranks are written in Roman with an initial capital (e.g. Enterobacteriaceae) .
The nomenclature used when describing the species of Salmonella should accord with the system proposed by Le Minor and Popoff (http://www.bacterio.cict.fr/). Specifically, at the first citation of a serotype the genus name is given followed by the word 'serotype' and then the serotype name. Names of serotypes should be in Roman type with the first letter capitalized (for example Salmonella serotype Typhimurium). Subsequently the name should by written with the genus (abbreviated) followed directly by the serotype name (for example Salm. Typhimurium).
Here is a list of abbreviations currently in use for common generic names:
Acet., Acetobacter; Ac., Acinetobacter; Act., Actinomyces; Aer., Aeromonas; Ag., Agrobacterium; Alc., Alcaligenes; Alt., Alteromonas;
B., Bacillus; Bact., Bacteroides; Bord., Bordetella; Bran., Branhamella; Br., Brucella;
Camp., Campylobacter; Cit., Citrobacter; Cl., Clostridium; Coryne., Corynebacterium; Cyt., Cytophaga;
Des., Desulfomonas or Desulfovibrio (spell out if both appear in same paper);
Edw., Edwardsiella; Ent., Enterobacter or Enterococcus (spell out if both appear in same paper); Erw., Erwinia; E., Escherichia; Eu., Eubacterium;
Fl., Flavobacterium; Fus., Fusobacterium;
G., Gemella;
H., Haemophilus;
Kl., Klebsiella; Lact., Lactobacillus;
L., Lactococcus; Leg., Legionella; Leuc., Leuconostoc; L., Listeria;
Meth., Methanobacterium or Methanococcus (spell out if both appear in same paper); Mic., Microbacterium; M., Micrococcus; Mor., Moraxella; Myco., Mycobacterium; Myc., Mycoplasma;
N., Neisseria; Nit., Nitrobacter or Nitrosomonas (spell out if both appear in same paper); Noc., Nocardia;
Past., Pasteurella; Ped., Pediococcus; Ple., Plesiomonas; Pr., Proteus; Ps., Pseudomonas;
Rh., Rhizobium; R., Ruminococcus;
Salm., Salmonella; Ser., Serratia; Sh., Shigella; Staph., Staphylococcus; Strep., Streptococcus; S., Streptomyces;
T., Thiobacillus;
V., Vibrio;
X., Xanthomonas;
Y., Yersinia.
For plant pathogenic bacteria, authors may need to refer to the list of pathovars compiled by the International Society for Plant Pathology: Young, J.M., Bull, C.T., De Boer, S.H., Firrao, G., Gardan, L., Saddler, G.E., Stead, D.E. and Takikawa, Y. Names of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria Published Since 1995. Report of the Taxonomy of Bacterial Plant Pathogens Committee of the International Society of Plant Pathology. Available at http://www.isppweb.org/names_bacterial_new2004.asp
In this, many species names not included in the Approved Lists (www-sv.cict.fr/bacterio) are reduced to the rank of pathovar so that the original names are retained in a trinomial form. Where the pathovar name is cited it may subsequently be abbreviated as follows: Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola becomes P. s. phaseolicola. Reference to the two lists avoids the need for citing past authors who named or renamed pathogens but, for completeness or clarity, synonyms suggested by more recent work may have to be considered.

Nucleotide sequences
(1) Nucleotide sequence data should be deposited in the EMBL/GenBank/DDBJ Nucleotide Sequence Data Libraries and the accession number referenced in the manuscript;
(2) Sequence data should only be included if they are new (unpublished), complete (no unidentified nucleotides included) and if the sequence information itself provides important new biological insights of direct relevance to the question addressed in the manuscript. Generally sequences should not be submitted if the same gene has been reported in another species unless a comparison with related sequences contributes important new information;
(3) Presentation of nucleotide sequences should include clear indications of nucleotide numbers and points of interest, e.g. promoter sequences, ribosome binding sites, mutations, insertions, probe sequences, etc. In the case of comparisons, nucleotides which differ between the sequences should be readily visible to the reader, e.g. by the use of bold face, shading, boxing or by the use of a dash to represent identical nucleotides. The font size used in the manuscript should facilitate appropriate reduction of the figure.

Statistics
Tests must be presented clearly to allow a reader with access to the data to repeat them. It is not necessary to describe every statistical test fully, as long as it is clear from the context what was done. In particular, null hypotheses should be clearly stated.
Authors are urged to give consideration to the assumptions underlying any statistical tests used and to assure the reader that the assumptions are at least plausible. Authors should be prepared to use nonparametric tests if the assumptions do not seem to hold.

Tables
Tables must be prepared using the same word processing package as the manuscript text. They should not be embedded but be placed immediately following the main text. Do not submit tables separately. Tables must not include ruled vertical or horizontal lines with the exception of headers and a footer (see example). The use of explanatory footnotes is permissible and they should be marked by the following (shown in order of preference): *, †, ‡, §, , **, †† etc. For an example of LAM table style, click here.

Figures
Figures may be line drawings or photographs. They may be uploaded to the online submission site as separate files or included within the manuscript following the text and any tables. Do not embed figures in the text. All graphs, charts and diagrams must be submitted in a finished form and at their intended publication size. Authors are advised that poor quality figures may delay the publication of their paper. Symbols or keys representing data series in graphs and charts must not be shown on the figure itself but be included in the legend typed on a separate sheet. For an example of LAM figure style, click here.

Photographs. These must be of good quality and high contrast. The magnification must be indicated by adding a bar representing a stated length. Composite photographs can reduce the numbers that require publication. The Journal will not accept figures illustrating SDS-PAGE and agarose gels, with multiple lanes, where lane order has been rearranged using digital imaging software. The figure should also show sufficient of the gel to reveal reference markers (e.g. the sample origin and a tracker dye, or a lane of molecular mass markers). Captions should be set out in the same manner as that used for figures.

Electronic submission. We would like to receive your artwork in electronic form. Please save line art (vector graphics) in encapsulated PostScript (EPS) format. Photographic images should be saved as Tagged Image Format Files (TIFF). Please indicate any form of file compression used (e.g. Zip). Detailed information on the submission of electronic artwork can be found at: http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/illustration.asp

Colour figures. Online-only colour in figures is free of charge, however it is essential in these cases that the figure legends apply equally well to both printed greyscale and online colour versions, and do not specifically refer to the colour. Alternatively you can opt to pay for colour in the print and online versions. If your paper is accepted and you have opted for colour in print and online, we will need a completed Colour Work Agreement Form. This form can be downloaded as a PDF from http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/SN_Sub2000_F_CoW.pdf and should be sent to the Editorial Office on acceptance.

Footnotes
Not permitted other than on the first page of a manuscript where they are used to show the author's change of address and the address for correspondence.

Experimental hazards
Chemical or microbiological hazards that may be involved in the experiments must be explained. Authors should provide a description of the relevant safety precautions adopted or cite an accepted 'Code of Practice'.

Ethics of experimentation
The Journal will only accept manuscripts in which there is evidence of the ethical use of animals or harmful substances. The care and use of experimental animals must comply with all relevant local animal welfare laws, guidelines and policies, and a statement of such compliance should be provided to the Journal Editor. Where possible, alternative procedures that replace the use of animals, either partially or completely, for example in vitro biological systems, should be used. Where this is not possible, the minimum number of animals should be used and pain and suffering reduced, consistent with attaining the scientific objectives of the study. All reasonable steps must be taken to ensure the humane treatment of animals, so as to minimize discomfort, distress and pain. Animals in pain or moribund should be painlessly killed according to local euthanasia regulations.

Gnotobiotic animals
The terminology for describing the environmental status of animals in gnotobiotic experiments has established itself by usage. Germ-free implies freedom from any detectable microorganisms or viruses and it is limited by the tests used to detect contaminants. Conventional animals have a full complement of associated microbes. Open conventional animals are housed in a standard animal house. Isolator conventional animals are maintained in isolators and associated with full flora. Ex-germ-free animals are those with an associated flora which have become conventional.

Supporting information
Authors wishing to submit supporting information material (such as multimedia adjuncts, large data sets, extra colour illustrations, bibliographies or any other material for which there is insufficient space in the print edition of the Journal) must do so at the time of first submission. This supporting information is an integral part of the article and will be reviewed accordingly. The availability of supporting information should be indicated in the main manuscript by a paragraph, to appear after the References, headed 'Supporting information' and providing titles of figures and tables.

2. Review Articles
Preparation of manuscript
These will present a substantial survey with an adequate historical perspective of the literature on some facet of applied microbiology. Your manuscript should not be simply a review of past work or be concentrated largely on unpublished results from your or colleagues' laboratory. We would prefer to see a distillation of early and present work within the field to show progress and explain the present interest and relevance. It is essential at the planning stage to realize that there is a limit to the number of pages available.
The final manuscript must not exceed 4000 words with double-spaced typing, including references. The Tables and Figures must be considered as part of the text and the pages available for text reduced accordingly. References can make a heavy demand on the pages available to you, and it is suggested that you select key references only.

Manuscript presentation
The headings in these review articles are of the author's choice. The first page of the manuscript must give only (a) the title; (b) name(s) of author(s) and address; (c) an abbreviated title to be used for the running title not exceeding 35 letters and spaces; (d) the name, postal and e-mail address of the author to whom all correspondence should be addressed and who will check the proofs.
A short SUMMARY of 150-200 words must be included, as well as an INTRODUCTION, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION (possibly referring to future prospects) sections. References must be chosen carefully as their number is limited by the size limitation of the review article.

3. Letters to the Editor
The Chief Editor will consider letters which will provide further debate on a particular topic arising from the publication of a paper. Author(s) of the paper will be sent an edited copy of the letter and they will have the right of reply. Both letters will be published in the Journal.

4. Notes to the editor

The Chief Editor will consider notes which will provide further confirmatory information on a particular topic, or a novel aspect of a methodology (e.g. detection) or a micro-organism (e.g. virulence factor) for which results are preliminary but the impact for Applied Microbiology deemed to be important and requires rapid publishing. Notes should be concise (2000 words; including references), with no headings and present results in 1 table or 1 figure only. The abstract should be a brief summary of the work under the following four headings: Aims; Methods and Results; Conclusions; Significance and Impact of the Study.

Proofs
The corresponding author will receive an email alert containing a link to a web site. A working email address must therefore be provided for the corresponding author. The proof can be downloaded as a PDF (portable document format) file from this site. Acrobat Reader will be required in order to read this file. This software may be downloaded (free of charge) from the following web site: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html This will enable the file to be opened, read on screen and printed out in order for any corrections to be added. Further instructions will be sent with the proofs. Hard copy proofs will be posted if no email address is available. Excessive changes made by the author in the proofs, excluding typesetter errors, will be charged separately.

Offprints
A PDF offprint of the online published article will be provided free of charge to the corresponding author, and may be distributed subject to the Publisher's terms and conditions. Paper offprints of the printed published article may be purchased if ordered via the method stipulated on the instructions that will accompany the proofs. Printed offprints are posted to the correspondence address given for the paper unless a different address is specified when ordered. Note that it is not uncommon for printed offprints to take up to eight weeks to arrive after publication of the journal.

Exclusive licence
Papers are accepted on the understanding that Letters is granted exclusive licence to publish them.

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 Exclusive Licence Form and an OnlineOpen form using the links below:

CAF: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/LAM_CAF.pdf

OOF: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/LAM_OOF.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.

Author material archive policy
Please note that unless specifically requested, Wiley-Blackwell will dispose of all hardcopy or electronic material submitted 2 months after publication. If you require the return of any material submitted, please inform the Editorial Office or Production Editor.

Abbreviations
These are some examples of common abbreviations used in Letters in Applied Microbiology:
A, Absorbance
approx. or c., approximately
at. wt., atomic weight
bp, base pairs
by vol, by volume (for greater than two component liquids)
cm2, per square centimetre
cpDNA, chloroplast DNA
D, attenuance (see http://www.chem.qmul.ac.uk/iubmb/newsletter/1996/news3.html
Da (kDa), daltons (kilodaltons)
edn, edition
ed., editor(s)
ergs. sq. mm-1, ergs per square millimetre
IU, International unit
kbp, kilobase pair
Mabs, monoclonal antibodies
MIC, minimal inhibitory concentration
mol 1-1, moles per litre
Mr,molecular mass
nm, nanometre
OD, optical density
OFAGE, orthogonal field alteration gel electrophoresis
ORF or orf, open reading frame
P, probability
PFG, pulsed field gradient
ppm, parts per million
recDNA, recombinant DNA
rev min-1, revolution per minute
SD, standard deviation
SE, standard error
subsp., subspecies
U, enzyme unit
UV, ultraviolet
vs, versus
v/v, volume per volume
w/v, weight per volume
w/w, weight per weight
There is no need to define common acronyms such as ATP, EDTA, ELISA, GLC, HPLC, RNA or SDS-PAGE.

Early View
Letters in Applied Microbiology is covered by Wiley Interscience's Early View service.
OnlineEarly articles are complete full-text articles published online in advance of their publication in a printed issue. Articles are therefore available as soon as they are ready, rather than having to wait for the next scheduled print issue. Early View articles are complete and final. They have been fully reviewed, revised and edited for publication, and the authors' final corrections have been incorporated. Because they are in final form, no changes can be made after online publication. The nature of Early View articles means that they do not yet have volume, issue or page numbers, so Early View articles cannot be cited in the traditional way. They are therefore given a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), which allows the article to be cited and tracked before it is allocated to an issue. After print publication, the DOI remains valid and can continue to be used to cite and access the article. More information about DOIs can be found at: http://www.doi.org/faq.html.

Disclaimer
Whilst every effort is made by the Publishers and Editorial Board to see that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement appears in this Journal, they wish to make it clear that the data and opinions appearing in the articles and advertisements herein are the sole responsibility of the contributor or advertiser concerned. Accordingly, the Publishers and Editors and their respective employees, officers and agents accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever for the consequences of any such inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement.

Exclusive Licence form: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/lam_caf.pdf
Colourwork Agreement form: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/SN_Sub2000_F_CoW.pdf

Note to NIH Grantees
Pursuant to NIH mandate, Wiley-Blackwell will post the accepted version of contributions authored by NIH grant-holders to PubMed Central upon acceptance. This accepted version will be made publicly available 12 months after publication. For further information, see www.wiley.com/go/nihmandate.