Differentiation

Published on behalf of the International Society of Differentiation

Edited by:
Eero Lehtonen

Print ISSN: 0301-4681
Online ISSN: 1432-0436
Frequency: Ten times a year
Current Volume: 76 / 2008
ISI Journal Citation Reports® Ranking: 2007: 83/156 (Cell Biology); 16/37 (Developmental Biology)
Impact Factor: 2.899

TopAuthor Guidelines

1. Aims and Scope

Differentiation is a multidisciplinary journal that broadly covers the fields of cell differentiation and developmental biology. The journal provides insight into mechanisms of animal and plant development and cancer biology, covering all aspects from molecular and cellular to tissue and organismal level.

Focusing in the functional mechanisms of development, cell differentiation, plasticity and dedifferentiation, Differentiation prioritizes experimental studies. High quality manuscripts of a descriptive nature and those describing novel techniques are also encouraged. The Journal also publishes review articles of current interest.

Differentiation will consider original manuscripts in any area of cell biology, developmental biology and cancer biology, including:

• Cell differentiation, functional specialization

• Dedifferentiation, transdifferentiation, plasticity

• Embryonic patterning, organogenesis

• Carcinogenesis, cancer

• Cell proliferation, especially relating to cancer

• Cell and tissue interactions, epigenetic regulation

• Signal transduction in development and differentiation

• Transgenic and targeted mutagenesis models of differentiation

• Plant cell differentiation

• Stem cell biology

• Evolutionary aspects of cell differentiation

2. Submission of manuscripts

The preferred method for submitting your manuscript is electronically at http://ees.elsevier.com/diff. Files should be double-spaced with margins at least 1 inch wide on either side. Manuscripts must conform to the journal style and should be submitted in the final version containing all revisions. Color printing charges are explained below in Section 3.4, Illustrations and Tables.

The publisher cannot be held responsible for any damage or loss of the manuscript or its parts.

Evaluation of the papers is conducted by reviewers and the editors will make the final decision regarding acceptability for publication in Differentiation.

3. Requirements for manuscripts

3.1. Format

The manuscript should be organized as follows (each section beginning on a new page): title page, abstract (limited to 300 words), key words listed at the bottom of the abstract page, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references. The title page should contain the full names of authors, their affiliations, and the name, fax number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author. Tables and figure legends should be typed on separate pages. In anticipation of the online edition, present the main information in the first 60 characters of the figure legend. Each figure, table, and bibliographic entry must have a reference in the text. For all figures please include reproducible artwork (marked with the author's name, short title, figure number, print scale and print size).

Do not submit any files other than those for the current manuscript. Please include a list of the files, noting the file name, the computer program and its version number. Please do not import the figures into the text file. The text should be prepared using standard software (Microsoft Word, Word Perfect) or saved in rtf format; do not use automatic or manual hyphenation. Please do not include footnotes.

For guidance on how to style a paper, it is advisable to check a recent issue of the journal. The editor may alter manuscripts wherever necessary to make them conform to the stylistic and bibliographic conventions of the journal. Papers must be written in standard grammatical English. This is the responsibility of the author. Manuscripts may be rejected solely on linguistic grounds.

3.2. Length

Original articles should include an abstract (limited to 300 words) and should not exceed 30 typewritten pages, including illustrations, tables, and references. The number of illustrations and tables must be kept to a minimum. The author should bear in mind that Differentiation is a multi-disciplinary journal and that the abstract should not be a mere summary but should be comprehensible to those who are not familiar with the author's discipline. Furthermore, this abstract should state the significance of the work. General statements such as 'further work along these lines is in progress' should be avoided.

3.3. Units, abbreviations, and nomenclature

The S. I. system must be adhered to throughout the manuscript. Concentrations of chemical solutions are to be given in mol/l. All other concentrations should be given in % (volume or weight). Abbreviations of chemical, biological, medical, or other terms should only be employed when it is certain that they are internationally known. The full name must be given in brackets when the abbreviation is first used.

All biological, medical, chemical, or other terms should be used according to the most recent recommendations of the relevant international nomenclature. Enzymes should be given in I.U. (International Units), according to Enzyme Nomenclature (Elsevier Publishing Co., 1965).

3.4. Illustrations and tables

Figures should be saved in a neutral data format such as TIFF or EPS with a resolution of 400 dpi, and a printout should always be included. Please do not use Power Point, Harvard Graphics, or PC Paint and do not import graphics into Word. Photographs or drawings submitted for publication with the manuscript must be of high quality, distinct, and well-focused. Scanned figures (only in TIFF format) should have a resolution of 400 dpi (halftone) or 600 to 1200 dpi (line drawings) in relation to the reproduction size. For figures to be printed in black and white, please submit the data in black and white. Color photos can be reproduced in black and white (with a possible loss of contrast). Authors will be allowed one color page per article in Differentiation at no charge to allow a better communication of their results. Additional color pages will require a contribution from the authors of $550 for the first page and $280 for each additional page, plus VAT. Color print charges may be waived at the discretion of the editors. Color graphics should be created using the CMYK color palette (print colors), not RGB (monitor colors). There is a charge for alterations to figures when carried out by the publisher. Under no circumstances will photocopies of photographs be accepted.

Please note that figures will generally be shrunk to fit within the column-width or the print area. This means that numbering and lettering must still be legible when reduced in size and that the magnification might not be the same as in the original microscopic pictures. If the exact scale is critical, scale bars should be used on the photograph and specified in the legend. If a figure is to be cropped, please mark the lines on a photocopy or tracing paper. Printouts should be made with a laser printer at the highest resolution (>600 dpi). Line drawings should only be contour drawings without halftones (shades of grey). Please do not use patterns; rough hatching is possible. Graphs with an x and y axis should not be enclosed in frames; only 2-dimensional representations, please. Do not forget the labels and units. Captions for the figures should give a precise description of the content and should not be repeated within the figure. Tables should be created using the table function. In the case of figures or tables taken from already published material, their source must be stated, and copyright waivers must be obtained.

3.5 References

References should be cited in parentheses by author and date in the text, e.g. (Colissimo and Katz, 2000) or in cases with more than 2 authors (Kurata et al, 2000). Multiple references should be made in chronological order. To avoid ambiguity, references which would otherwise be cited identically in the text should be differentiated with the letters a, b, etc.

The reference list should be alphabetical and contain the name(s) of the author(s), year, title of the article, volume number, and first and last page number. References with identical author(s) should be listed chronologically. References with the same first author but differing co-authors should be listed alphabetically. References should be presented as follows:

Journals: Gong, S-G., and Kiba, A. (1999) The role of msx-2 in anterior-posterior patterning of the mesoderm in Xenopus laevis. Differentiation 65:131-140.

Books: Diberardino, M.A. (1997) Genomic potential of differentiated cells. Columbia University Press, New York.

Articles in books: Elton, C.A., and Twichell, I.M. (2000) Differentiation of neural stem cells. In: Hong, T.T. (ed) Biology of stem cells. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 40-56.

Titles of publications should be abbreviated in accordance with the Chemical Abstracts'

List of Periodicals or given in full without abbreviation. References to unpublished observations, articles in preparation submitted for publication but not accepted etc., should be included in the text but not in the reference list.

Using Endnote:
Click here to access the journal Endnote output style to format your manuscript. From this page you can download the styles to your PC (zip format) or Macintosh (hqx format). Please refer to the Endnote manual on instructions on how to import the files.

4. Exclusive License

Publication in the journal is subject to the condition that the article (as a whole or in part) has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. In submitting the manuscript to the publisher, the author certifies that he has obtained permission from the copyright holder to reproduce in the Article material not owned by him. Please see the form for more details at http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/DIF_ELF07.pdf .

.

5. Online Open (Open Access)
OnlineOpen is a pay-to-publish service from Blackwell that offers authors whose papers are accepted for publication the opportunity to pay for their manuscript to become open access (i.e. free for all to view and download) via the Blackwell Synergy website. Each OnlineOpen article will be subject to a one-off fee of $2600 to be met by the Author in advance of publication. Upon online publication, the article (both full-text and PDF versions) will be available to all for viewing and download free of charge. The print version of the article will also be branded as OnlineOpen and will draw attention to the fact that the paper can be downloaded for free via the Blackwell Synergy service.

Any authors wishing to send their paper OnlineOpen will be required to complete the combined payment and copyright licence form. Please note this form is for use with OnlineOpen material ONLY. Please see the form for more details at http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/DIF_OOF07.pdf.

Once complete, this form should be returned with the rest of the manuscript materials at the time of acceptance or as soon as possible after that (preferably within 24 hours to avoid any delays in processing). Please see the form for more details.

6. Proof correction and offprints

You will receive proofs of your article that should be corrected and returned without delay. As changes to proofs are costly, we ask that you only correct typesetting errors.

Additional offprints can be ordered on the form attached to the proofs. Orders placed at a later date are subject to a higher charge. Offprints will be sent to the corresponding author for distribution unless otherwise noted on the order form.

7. Research materials

All authors agree that as a condition of publication in Differentiation they will make available all reagents such as DNA constructs, genetic strains of organisms, and monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies to the scientific community for research purposes.

NEW: 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. The author will receive an e-mail with a unique link that enables them to register and have their article automatically added to the system. Please ensure that a complete e-mail address is provided when submitting the manuscript. Visit www.blackwellpublishing.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.