Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics

Edited by:
A. Mäki-Tanila, G. Erhardt, I. Misztal, L.R. Schaeffer, H. Simianer, and J. van der Werf

Print ISSN: 0931-2668
Online ISSN: 1439-0388
Frequency: Bi-monthly
Current Volume: 127 / 2010
ISI Journal Citation Reports® Ranking: 2008: 21/45 Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Impact Factor: 1.077

TopAuthor Guidelines

Downloads:
Copyright Transfer Agreement;
Colour Work Agreement Form

Submission is now available online at ScholarOne Manuscripts (formerly known as Manuscript Central)!

1. General

The Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics publishes original articles, short communications and book reviews in the field of applied and theoretical animal breeding, animal genetics, and related fields. Articles are published in English. If you need assistance with English editing, please check our author resources page: http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/english_language.asp

2. Submission and acceptance of manuscripts

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically via the online submission site ScholarOne Manuscripts (formerly known as Manuscript Central). The use of an online submission and peer review site speeds up the decision-making process, enables immediate distribution and allows authors to track the status of their own manuscripts. If assistance is needed (or if for some reason online submission is not possible), the Editorial Office can be contacted and will readily provide any help users need to upload their manuscripts.

Editorial Office:
Minna Koivula
MTT, Agrifood Research Finland
Biotechnology and Food Research
Biometrical Genetics
FIN-31600 Jokioinen
Finland
E-mail: minna.koivula@mtt.fi

2.1. Online Submission
To submit a manuscript, please follow the instructions below.

Getting Started

1. Launch your web browser (Internet Explorer 6 or higher, Netscape 7 or higher, Safari 1.2.4, or Firefox 1.0.4 or higher) and go to the journal's ScholarOne Manuscripts homepage (http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jabg).
2. Log-in or click the "Create Account" option if you are a first-time user of Manuscript Central.
3. If you are creating a new account.
- After clicking on "Create Account", enter your name and e-mail information and click "Next". Your e-mail information is very important.
- Enter your institution and address information as appropriate, and then click "Next."
- Enter a user ID and password of your choice (we recommend using your e-mail address as your user ID), and then select your area of expertise. Click "Finish".

4. If you have an account, but have forgotten your log in details, go to Password Help on the journals online submission system (http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jabg) and enter your e-mail address. The system will send you an automatic user ID and a new temporary password.

5. Log-in and select "Author Center."

Submitting Your Manuscript

5. After you have logged in, click the "Submit a Manuscript" link in the menu bar.
6. Enter data and answer questions as appropriate. You may copy and paste directly from your manuscript and you may upload your pre-prepared covering letter.
7. Click the "Next" button on each screen to save your work and advance to the next screen.
8. You are required to upload your files.
- Click on the "Browse" button and locate the file on your computer.
- Select the designation of each file in the drop down next to the Browse button.
- When you have selected all files you wish to upload, click the "Upload Files" button.
9. Review your submission (in PDF format) before sending to the Journal. Click the "Submit" button when you are finished reviewing.

You may suspend a submission at any phase before clicking the "Submit" button and save it to submit later. After submission, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. You can also access ScholarOnly Manuscripts (formerly known as Manuscripts Central) any time to check the status of your manuscript. The Journal will inform you by e-mail once a decision has been made.

Manuscripts should be uploaded as Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) files (not write-protected) plus separate figure files. GIF, JPEG, PICT or Bitmap files are acceptable for submission, but only high-resolution TIF or EPS files are suitable for printing. The files will be automatically converted to a PDF document on upload and will be used for the review process. The text file must contain the entire manuscript including title page, abstract, text, references, tables, and figure legends, but no embedded figures. Figure tags should be included in the file. Manuscripts should be formatted as described in the Author Guidelines below.

Please note that any manuscripts uploaded as Word 2007 (.docx) will be automatically rejected. Please save any .docx file as .doc before uploading.

Revised manuscripts must be uploaded within 2 months of authors being notified of conditional acceptance pending satisfactory revision.

2.2. 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. (US Federal Government employees need to complete the Author Warranty sections, although copyright in such cases does not need to be assigned). 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 from here. Please return your completed form to: JBG Production Editor, Journal Content Management, Wiley-Blackwell, Wiley Services Singapore Pte Ltd, 600 North Bridge Road, #05-01 Parkview Square, Singapore 188778. Alternatively, a scanned version of the form can be emailed to JBG@wiley.com or faxed to +65 6295 6202.

2.3. Supporting Information

Supporting Information, such as data sets or additional figures or tables, that will not be published in the print edition of the journal, but which will be viewable via the online edition, can be submitted.

It should be clearly stated at the time of submission that the Supporting Information is intended to be made available through the online edition. If the size or format of the Supporting Information is such that it cannot be accommodated on the journal's Web site, the author agrees to make the Supporting Information available free of charge on a permanent Web site, to which links will be set up from the journal's Web site. The author must advise Wiley-Blackwell if the URL of the Web site where the Supporting Information is located changes. The content of the Supporting Information must not be altered after the paper has been accepted for publication.

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, tables, etc. In order to protect reviewer anonymity, material posted on the authors Web site cannot be reviewed. The Supporting Information is an integral part of the article and will be reviewed accordingly.

3. Requirements for manuscripts

3.1. Format
The first page of the manuscript should indicate the name of the author(s), the official name of the institution(s) where the work was carried out and the corresponding author's complete mailing address (postal address, phone, fax, and e-mail address). Each original article should be divided into Summary, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and References. Summaries should not be longer than 1200 characters each.

The manuscript comprises the text, tables and captions of figures and tables. Please do not import the figures into the text file but upload them separately. Each figure, table, and bibliographical entry must have a reference in the text. Any corrections requested by the reviewer should already be integrated into the file.

When preparing your file, please use only standard fonts such as Times, Times New Roman or Arial for text, and Symbol font for Greek letters, to avoid inadvertent character substitutions. In particular, please do not use Japanese or other Asian fonts. Do not use automated or manual hyphenation. Please do not include footnotes.
Manuscripts must conform to the journal style. Manuscripts not complying with the submission format will be returned to the author(s).

Authors are encouraged to visit http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/journal.asp which details further information on the preparation and submission of articles and figures.

3.2. Length
Original papers should not exceed 20 typewritten pages, including illustrations, tables and references. Short Communications and Pictorial Reports that do not exceed 5 typewritten pages (10,000 characters) are preferably published.

3.3. Units, abbreviations and nomenclature
All specifications must be stated according to the S. I. system. Concentrations of chemical solutions are to be given in mol/l. All other concentrations should be given in % (volume or weight).

Any 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 stated in parentheses when the abbreviation is first used.

All medical, chemical, biological or other terms should be used according to the most recent recommendations of the respective international nomenclature. Enzymes should be given in I.U. (International Units), according to 'Enzyme Nomenclature' (Elsevier Publishing Co., 1965). In the case of commercially obtained substances or reagents, when they are first mentioned in the text, the name and address of the manufacturer or supplier should be given as a footnote, including the product name and name and address of the distributor. Products with a registered trademark should be marked with ®.

Bacterial names should be in accordance with the latest edition of Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology (The Williams and Wilkins Co., Baltimore). Viruses are to be given the classification and names recommended by the International Committee on the Nomenclature of Viruses. Names of micro-organisms and zoological names will be printed in italics and should be underlined in the manuscript.

3.4. Illustrations and tables
The number of illustrations and tables should be kept to a minimum. Do not repetitiously show the same data in both a table and a figure. In the case of figures or tables taken from already published material, their exact source must be stated.

Figures should be saved in a neutral data format such as TIFF, PDF or EPS. Powerpoint and Word graphics are unsuitable for reproduction. Please do not use any pixel-oriented programmes. Scanned figures (only in TIFF format) should have a resolution of 300 dpi (halftone) or 600 to 1200 dpi (line drawings) in relation to the reproduction size. Please submit the data for figures in black and white. However, colour photos can be reproduced in black and white (with a possible loss of contrast). Figures printed in colour are subject to an added charge. Our colour print charges and payment policy are explained on the Colour Work Agreement Form. Further prices will be quoted on demand. Colour graphics should be created using the CMYK colour palette (print colours), not RGB (monitor colours).

Numbering and lettering (maps, microscopic pictures) should be adjusted to fit within the column-width or the print area. 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). If artwork is to be scanned, line drawings should only be contour drawings without halftones (photo, shades of grey). Please do not use patterns for shading; rough hatching is possible.

Graphs with an x and y axis should not be enclosed in frames; use only 2-dimensional representations. 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 or tabs.

Detailed information on digital illustration standards is available at: http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/illustration.asp

Check your electronic artwork before submitting it: http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/eachecklist.asp

3.5. References
Each original paper should include bibliographical references, which should be restricted to the necessary minimum (no more than 30 references). The list of references should be arranged alphabetically by the first authors' surnames.

Examples:

Standard Journal Article
Schmid, M., Saitbekova, N., Gaillard, C., Dolf, G. (1999) Genetic diversity in Swiss cattle breeds. J. Anim. Breed. Genet.,116, 1-8.

Supplement
Jamieson, A. (1994) The effectivness of using co-dominant polymorphic allelic series for (1) checking pedigrees and (2) distinguishing full-sib pair members. Anim. Genet. 25(suppl. 1): 37-44.

Books
Weir, B. S. (1996) Genetic Data Analysis II. Sinauer, Sunderland, MA, USA.

Chapter in a book
Alderson, G.L.H. (1991) A system to maximize the maintenance of genetic variability in small populations. In: Alderson, L. (ed.), Genetic Conservation of Domestic Livestock, CAB International, Wallingford, pp. 18-29.

Proceedings Paper
Gama, L. T.; Delgado, J. V. (2000) Assessing the risk status of a breed. In: Proceedings of the 5th World Conference on Conservation of Animal Genetic Resources. Brasilia (Brazil), 20-25 November 2000. CDD 591.15 Copyright EMBRAPA, Brasilia, Brasil.

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

3.6. Laboratory animals
In the case of a research project in which experimental animals were involved, the authors are requested to give precise details about the animals in the interest of reproducibility of the findings (e.g. source, breeding, pathogen-free, conventional, weight) and their maintenance (standard diet, environment etc.). In addition, it is necessary to document that all procedures with animals were carried out in accordance with the appropriate humane methods.

4. Conditions for publication

Please read and sign the Copyright Transfer Agreement provided at: Copyright Transfer Agreement. This is essential to enable Blackwell Verlag GmbH to publish your article in printed and/or electronic format. If you have questions concerning this agreement, feel free to contact the responsible editor. The names of the co-ordinating journal editors can be found on our contact page (http://www.wiley.com/bw/editors.asp?ref=0931-2668).

Your manuscript cannot be published in the Journal if you do not sign and submit the Copyright Transfer Agreement.

5. Proof correction and offprints

The corresponding author will receive an e-mail alert containing a link to a web site. A working e-mail 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 can 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 proof. Hard copy proofs will be posted if no e-mail address is available. Changes in content should not be made without the prior approval of the editor; these revisions should be returned with the corrected proofs. Excessive charges made by the author in the proofs, excluding typesetting errors, will be charged separately.

The publisher must be able to reach you throughout the entire page proofing process to avoid delays in production. Authors will be provided with electronic offprints of their article. Paper offprints may be ordered at prices quoted on the order form which accompanies the proof. Note that this form should not be returned with your proofs but faxed to the number on the form. The cost is more if the order form arrives too late for the main print run.

6. Book reviews

Book reviews are occasionally published. Books submitted for review are assigned to specialists in the same field. The reviewer does not receive financial remuneration for a review, but keeps the copy of the book sent to him or her for review. The review should include the complete bibliographical data on the book being reviewed: author's surname and initials of prename(s). Title of the book, edition (if not the first edition), publisher, place of publication, year of publication, length in pages, number of figures and tables, type of binding (paperback, hardback), and retail price.7

7. Paper

The publisher's policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which have been manufactured from pulp which is processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free practices. Furthermore, the publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used has met acceptable environmental accreditation standards.

8. Author Material Archive Policy

Please note that unless specifically requested, Wiley-Blackwell will dispose of all hardcopy or electronic material submitted two months after publication. If you require the return of any material submitted, please inform the editorial office or production editor as soon as possible if you have not yet done so.

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

Checklist Online Manuscript Submission

• Complete manuscript file in a Word (or compatible) format, including text, references, and tables
• Text with page numbering and line numbering
• First page with institution, title, authors, corresponding address with phone, fax and e-mail
• For original papers: Summary, Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, and References
• High-resolution figures as *.TIF or *.EPS or *.JPG; numbered serially. Figures should be referred to in text using 'see above/below' or with abbreviated name of figure in parentheses, e.g. (Fig. 1)
• Keywords (different from terms in title)
• References listed in alphabetical order; cross-check all references in text and reference list
• Tables, numbered serially, referred to in text as (Table 1), etc.
• Captions for tables and figures
• Copyright Transfer Agreement
• Colour Work Agreement Form (if applicable)

Last update: Jan 2010