JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

AUTHOR INFORMATION PACK

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Description
Audience
Impact Factor
Abstracting and Indexing
Editorial Board
Guide for Authors

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ISSN: 0022-2836

DESCRIPTION
.

The Journal of Molecular Biology provides high quality, comprehensive and broad coverage in all
areas of molecular biology. The journal publishes original scientific research papers that provide
mechanistic and functional insights and report a significant advance to the field. The journal
encourages the submission of multidisciplinary studies that use complementary experimental and
computational approaches to address challenging biological questions.
Research areas include but are not limited to:
Biomolecular interactions, signaling networks, systems biology Cell cycle, cell growth, cell
differentiation Cell death, autophagy Cell signaling and regulation Chemical biology Computational
biology, in combination with experimental studies DNA replication, repair, and recombination
Development, regenerative biology, mechanistic and functional studies of stem cells Epigenetics,
chromatin structure and function Gene expression Membrane processes, cell surface proteins and
cell-cell interactions Methodological advances, both experimental and theoretical, including databases
Microbiology, virology, and interactions with the host or environment Microbiota mechanistic and
functional studies Nuclear organization Post-translational modifications, proteomics Processing and
function of biologically important macromolecules and complexes Molecular basis of disease RNA
processing, structure and functions of non-coding RNAs, transcription Sorting, spatiotemporal
organization, trafficking Structural biology Synthetic biology Translation, protein folding, chaperones,
protein degradation and quality control !!! Important information for NIH authors !!!

AUDIENCE
.

Molecular biologists, biochemists, structural biochemists, geneticists, virologists and cell

biologistsSponsored Articles: Journal of Molecular Biology offers authors or their institutions the option
to sponsor non-subscriber access to their articles on Elsevier's electronic publishing platforms. For
more information please click http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors/yjmbihere.

IMPACT FACTOR
.

2014: 4.333 Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports 2015

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ABSTRACTING AND INDEXING

.

BIOSIS
Biochemistry and Biophysics Citation Index
Biological and Agricultural Index
Biotechnology Citation Index
Chemical Abstracts
Immunology Abstracts
MEDLINE
EMBASE
FSTA (Food Science and Technology Abstracts)
Genetics Abstracts
Reference Update
Research Alert
SCISEARCH
Science Citation Index
Excerpta Medica
Biological Abstracts
Current Contents (Life Sciences, Clinical Medicine)
Biostatistica
Scopus
EMBiology

EDITORIAL BOARD
.

Editor-in-Chief:
Peter Wright, The Scripps Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 N. Torrey
Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, U.S.A.
Senior Scientific Editor:
Marina Ostankovitch, Elsevier Inc., 600 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA 02139, U.S.A.
Scientific Editor:
Hlne Hodak, Elsevier Inc., 600 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA 02139, U.S.A.
Founding Editor:
Sir John Kendrew
Consulting Editor:
Sydney Brenner
Associate Editors:
Sheena Radford, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Michael Sternberg, Imperial College London, London, UK
Michael Summers, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Moshe Yaniv, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Editorial Board Members:
F. Allain, Eidgenssische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zrich, Zrich, Switzerland
J.M. Berger, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
P. C. Bevilacqua, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
J.U. Bowie, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California, USA
C.L. Brooks III, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
J. Buchner, Technische Universitt Mnchen, Garching, Germany
M. Carmo-Fonseca, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
J. Clarke, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
E.O. Freed, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Frederick, Maryland, USA
Y. Fujiyoshi, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
R.L. Gonzalez, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
M. Gottesman, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
P. R. Griffin, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, Florida, USA
M. Guss, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
I.B. Holland, Universit Paris-Sud (Paris XI), Orsay, France
B. Honig, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

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G. Hummer, Max Planck Institut (MPI) fr Biophysik, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

U. Jenal, Universitt Basel, Basel, Switzerland
J.E. Johnson, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
C.G. Kalodimos, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
A. Kapanidis, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
A. Keating, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
S. Khorasanizadeh, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, Orlando, Florida, USA
S. Koide, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
S. Kowalczykowski, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA
R. Kriwacki, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
K. Luger, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
S. Marqusee, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
A. Maxwell, John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK
J. H. Naismith, University of St. Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland, UK
E. Nogales, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
A.G. Palmer III, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
A. Panchenko, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
B. Poolman, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Haren, Netherlands
A.M. Pyle, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
D. P. Raleigh, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA
M. K. Rosen, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
G.E. Schulz, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitt Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
J. R. Sellers, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
K. Severinov, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
F. Shao, National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing (NIBS), Beijing, China
Y. Shi, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
I. Shimada, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
S. Sidhu, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
A. Skerra, Technische Universitt Mnchen, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
T. Smith, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, Texas, USA
I. Stagljar, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
D.J. Taatjes, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
D.S. Tawfik, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
S.A. Teichmann, EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute & Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton,
Cambridge, UK
R. Wetzel, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
S. A. Woodson, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
T. Yeates, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California, USA
M. Zhang, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Guest Editors:
Emil Alexov, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA
Frederic Allain, Inst. of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, Eidgenssische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zrich,
Zrich, Switzerland
James M. Berger, Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California,
USA
Michael Betenbaugh, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore,
Maryland, USA
Charles Brooks III, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Johannes Buchner, Inst. fr Organische Chemie und Biochemie, Technische Universitt Mnchen, Garching,
Germany
Srinivasan Chandrasegaran, Dept. of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Ye-Guang Chen, Dept. of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Jane Clarke, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
nal Coskun, DZD-Paul Langerhans Institute, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
Sarah Coulthurst, Division of Molecular Microbiology of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland,
UK
Michelle Debatisse, Institut Curie, Paris, France
David Draper, Dept. of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Stuart J Edelstein, Dept. of Biochemistry, Universit de Genve, Genve 4, Switzerland
Elena Ezhkova, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA
Peter Fraser, Nuclear Dynamics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, England, UK
Eric Freed, Lab. of Cancer and Developmental Biology, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Frederick, Maryland, USA
Michael Gale (Jr.), Dept. of Immunology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington,
USA
Rachelle Gaudet, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

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Ruben Gonzalez, Dept. of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
Dirk Grlich, Dept. of Cellular Logistics, Max Planck Institut (MPI) fr Biophysikalische Chemie, Gttingen,
Germany
Max Gottesman, Inst. of Cancer Research, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
Gerald W. Hart, Dept. of Biological Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland,
USA
Stephen High, Fac. of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, England, UK
Barry Holland, Inst. de Genetique et Microbiologie, Universit Paris-Sud (Paris XI), Orsay, France
James Hurley, Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
Franoise Jacob-Dubuisson, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Center for Infection and Immunity, CNRS, INSERM, Lille,
France
John Johnson, Dept. of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
Charalampos Kalodimos, Dept. of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology & Biophysics, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Jonathan Karn, Dept. Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio,
USA
Amy Keating, Dept. of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Sepideh Khorasanizadeh, Metabolic Signaling & Disease Program Diabetes & Obesity Res. Ctr., SanfordBurnham Medical Research Institute, Orlando, Florida, USA
Shohei Koide, Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Sharon Krag, Dept. of Biochemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Richard Kriwacki, Dept. of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Timothy Lu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biological Engineering, Synthetic Biology Center,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Eric Martens, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, USA
Andreas Martin, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
Daniel Minr, University of California San FranciscoFresno, San Francisco, California, USA
Dejana Mokranjac, Dept. of Physiological Chemistry, University of Munich, Munich, Germany
Walter Neupert, Max Planck Institut (MPI) fr Biochemie, Martinsried, Germany
Eva Nogales, Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
Lori Passmore, Lab. of Molecular Biology (LMB), Medical Research Council (MRC), Cambridge, UK
Ardem Patapoutian, Dept. of Cell Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
Anna Marie Pyle, Dept. of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Sheena Radford, Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Daniel Raleigh, Dept. of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA
David Relman, 154T, Veterans Administration Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, USA
Benoit Roux, Inst. of Molecular Pediatric Sciences, Gordon Ctr. for Integrative Science, University of Chicago,
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Julio Sampaio, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Dresden, Germany
Karin Sauer, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, USA
Tamar Schlick, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), New York University, New York, New York, USA
Georg Schulz, Inst. fr Organische Chemie und Biochemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitt Freiburg, Freiburg,
Germany
James Sellers, Lab. of Molecular Physiology, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Bethesda,
Maryland, USA
Yang Shi, Division of Newborn Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Kai Simons, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Dresden, Germany
Justin Sonnenburg, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford,
California, USA
Evi Soutoglou, BP 10142, Institut de Gntique et de Biologie Molculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France
Christian Spahn, Charit - Universittsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Igor Stagljar, Dept. of Molecular Genetics; Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
Nicola Stanley-Wall, Division of Molecular Microbiology of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee,
Scotland, UK
Michael Sternberg, Centre for Bioinformatics, Imperial College London, London, UK
Michael Summers, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC),
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Jonathan Weissman, University of California at San Francisco, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), San
Francisco, California, USA
Daniel Wilson, Gene Ctr. and Dept. of Biochemistry, Ludwig Maximilian Universitt Mnchen, Munchen, Germany
Moshe Yaniv, Dept. of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Marat Yusupov, Universit de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

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GUIDE FOR AUTHORS

.

INTRODUCTION
The Journal of Molecular Biology provides high quality, comprehensive and broad coverage in all areas
of molecular biology. The journal publishes original scientific research papers that provide functional
and mechanistic insights and report a significant advance to the field. The journal encourages the
submission of multidisciplinary studies that use complementary experimental and computational
approaches to address challenging biological questions.
In addition to research Communications and Articles, the journal welcomes submission of Methods
Notes Databases/ Web Servers, Brevia, Perspectives and Reviews
Research areas include but are not limited to: DNA replication, repair and recombination, gene
expression, epigenetics and chromatin structure and function,RNA processing, functions of non
coding RNAs, transcription Structure, chemistry, processing and function of biologically important
macromolecules and complexes Biomolecular interactions, systems biology Computational biology
Translation, protein folding, processing and degradation Sorting, spatiotemporal organization,
trafficking, signal transduction and intracellular signaling Membrane processes, cell surface proteins
and cell-cell interactions Molecular basis of disease Methodological advances, both experimental and
theoretical, including databases
The Journal will not, as a rule, publish papers which fall outside the areas defined above.

Editorial policy
The Journal aims to publish novel and significant research in the general areas of molecular genetics
and structural biology. Acceptance of papers for publication in the Journal is at the discretion of the
Editors. All manuscripts are reviewed initially by the Editorial Board and only those papers that meet
the scientific and editorial standards of the Journal will be sent for outside review. Authors should
indicate a suitable Editor to whom the paper could be allocated. However, the Journal reserves the
right to reallocate manuscripts to the most appropriate Editor.
In general, Editors will seek advice from two or more expert reviewers about the scientific content,
biological significance, and clarity of presentation of papers. Authors are required to suggest the
names, affiliations, and contact information for up to six individuals who could serve as referees and
indicate their specific areas of scientific expertise. Suggested referees should be established scientists
with expertise in the field of the paper. Members of the Editorial Board of JMB must not be suggested
as referees as well as people who have a potential conflict of interest, such as recent collaborators,
close colleagues at your academic institution, personal friends or family members. If a revision of
the manuscript is required, authors will be provided with the comments of the reviewers and specific
instructions from the Editor handling the manuscript.
Many acceptable papers require minor revision or condensation. It is in the mutual interest of both the
authors and the journal that amended manuscripts are returned promptly. A paper requiring major
revision will retain its original date of receipt only if it is received by the Editor within 60 days of the
date of return to the author. Extensions to the 60 days limit may be granted at the discretion of the
Editor. Papers requiring minor revision must be returned to the Editor within 30 days.
As soon as the paper has been reviewed, the corresponding author will receive a decision letter
from the Editor. Revised manuscripts and correspondence concerning such manuscripts should be
addressed to the Editor at the address indicated on the decision letter.
The Journal of Molecular Biology discourages authors from submitting multiple manuscripts on closely
related topics. Submission of two or more related manuscripts intended for simultaneous publication
will be permitted only under exceptional circumstances. Authors wishing to submit related manuscripts
must obtain prior permission from the Editors.
The Board will editorially reject papers, without outside review, if in their opinion the paper falls
outside the scope of papers normally published by JMB, if the paper lacks originality, or if the paper
fails to meet expected technical standards. The following specific points are brought to the attention
of authors:

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(a) Originality. The Board will reject those papers that it considers to provide only slight or incremental
advances over previously published material.
(b) Methodology papers. Papers that deal only with new methods and do not contain important new
results discovered by means of these methods will be accepted only when the general applicability
and interest of the method are immediately obvious and clearly documented in the manuscript.
Improvements on existing methods will in general be viewed as appropriate to more specialized
journals unless it can be shown that they lead to important new insights that were not accessible
with current technologies.
(c) Sequences. Papers describing new members of a gene family will not ordinarily be accepted unless
they contain results of particular importance for studies of evolution or of the function of the gene. In
general, papers describing the cloning and sequencing of new genes will be acceptable only if there
is experimental evidence for the function of the gene.
(d) Structural studies. Communications describing preliminary crystallographic data (crystallization
conditions and diffraction pattern and space group) will not, in general, be accepted. Papers of
this type will be considered only if, in the judgment of the Editorial Board, they contain results of
exceptional interest and importance. Low-resolution structural studies will be acceptable only if they
have clear biological implications and exhibit features of special interest. Papers describing structures
of mutant proteins are appropriate if the mutations have been successfully designed to provide new
insights into structural principles or biological function. Similar criteria apply to structures of proteins
from variant species. In the particular case of unliganded antibody Fab fragments, papers would not
normally be acceptable unless they provide novel structural or biological insight.
(e) Modeled structures. Papers describing modeled structures will in general be considered only if
they provide novel and important biological insights. The reliability of the model must be clearly
documented, including evidence that the expected accuracy level of the model is consistent with the
application that is described. This could be based, for example, on the known success rate of the
modeling procedure at specified levels of sequence identity, or the application of model validation
procedures. Validation of the model through experimental tests is always desirable.
(f) Theory and computer simulation. Papers reporting theoretical studies should have direct
applicability to experimental work in a field normally represented in papers published in JMB or
should address issues of current interest to the broader biological community. As a general rule, all
theory papers should deal directly with experimental data; the papers should provide predictions
that are testable experimentally or provide an interpretation of experimental observations. Papers
describing computer simulations are generally acceptable only if they provide new insights of high
biological significance or lead to novel interpretations of experimental data. As is the case for modeled
structures, evidence must be provided that the accuracy level of the method is consistent with the
application that is described. This might involve, for example, control simulations on systems that
have been well-characterized experimentally.
(g) Database papers. Papers describing biological or molecular databases will be considered if they
report important new results discovered by means of that database, or if the database permits novel
integration of biological information that will be of general applicability and lead to important new
insights. The biological principles used in the construction of the database must be clearly documented
in the paper.

Sharing of reagents and data

To allow others to build on work published in JMB, the Editors strongly encourage authors to share
reagents (e.g., cloned DNAs; antibodies; bacterial, animal, or plant cells; viruses), data, algorithms,
computer codes, and detailed scientific protocols with their colleagues in the scientific community.
Authors are also encouraged to deposit as much of their data as possible in publicly accessible
databases to facilitate the free exchange of scientific information.

Sequence data
Papers dealing with amino acid sequences of proteins or with nucleotide sequences must carry a
statement that the data have been deposited with an appropriate data bank, e.g., the European
Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) or GenBank Data Libraries. The data base accession number
must be given at the end of the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript under the separate

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heading 'Accession numbers'. For example: Coordinates and structure factors have been deposited in
the Protein Data Bank with accession number 2XYZ. Lengthy nucleotide sequences will be published
only if, in the judgement of the Editorial Board, these results are of general interest and importance.

Structural data
For papers describing structures of biological macromolecules, the atomic coordinates and the
related experimental data (structure factor amplitudes/intensities and/or NMR restraints) must be
deposited at a member site of the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (http://www.wwpdb.org): RCSB
PDB (http://www.pdb.org), MSD-EBI (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/pdbe/), PDBj (http://www.pdbj.org),
or BMRB (http://www.bmrb.wisc.edu). Manuscripts must carry a statement that coordinates and
structure factors (or NMR restraints) have been deposited in the Protein Data Bank. The accession
number(s) must be cited in the manuscript at the end of the Materials and Methods section. Authors
must agree to release the atomic coordinates and experimental data immediately upon publication.
For papers reporting structures determined by electron microscopy, the 3D map must be deposited at
either the EMBL-EBI or RCSB EMDB site (http://www.emdatabank.org). The fitted atomic coordinates
must be deposited at a member site of the Worldwide Protein Databank (see links above). The
database accession numbers must be cited in the manuscript and authors must agree to release the
atomic coordinates and experimental data immediately upon publication.
It is increasingly common for coordinates to be deposited in the Protein Data Bank without an
associated publication. Before submission to JMB, authors are expected to search the Protein Data
Bank for related structures using one or more alignment programs and report the outcome. Prior
deposition of related coordinates, without an associated publication, does not necessarily preclude
publication in JMB. The primary criteria for publication of a structure in JMB are that it provides novel
structural insights or important new functional and biological insights that are likely to be of general
interest.
You can enrich your online articles by providing 3D molecular models (optional) in PDB, PSE or
MOL/MOL2 format, which will be visualized using the interactive viewer embedded within the article.
Using the viewer, it will be possible to zoom into the model, rotate and pan the model, and
change display settings. Submitted models will also be available for downloading from your online
article on ScienceDirect. Each molecular model will have to be uploaded to the online submission
system separately, via the 3D molecular models submission category. For more information see:
www.elsevier.com/3DMolecularModels.

NMR assignments
NMR assignment data must be deposited in the BioMagResBank (BMRB; http://www.bmrb.wisc.edu).
The accession number(s) must be cited in the manuscript at the end of the Materials and Methods
section. Tables listing resonance assignments will not be published in the Journal but may be deposited
as Supplemental data that will be actively linked to the online version of the paper. Supplemental
data must be included with the manuscript submitted for review (see below for full instructions)

Cell lines
In keeping with NIH guidelines, the Journal considers it to be good practice for cultured cell lines to
be authenticated. A description of the methods used to authenticate cells should be included in the
Materials and Methods section. Authors are expected to check that cell lines used in their experiments
are free from mycoplasma infections.

Types of paper
The Journal of Molecular Biology will publish full Articles, Communications, Reviews,
Perspectives, Brevia, Methods Notes, Databases/ Web Servers..
Articles should normally be no longer than 15 printed pages with no more than 10 figures and four
tables.
Communications are brief papers that make a specific well-documented point. In general, a
Communication should include no more than four figures and tables. The text will be continuous, with
technical and methodological detail printed in the legend to the tables and figures.

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Reviews are scholarly and balanced accounts of progress in fields of interest to the general reader.
Reviews should be no longer than 12 printed pages and with no more than 12 figures and tables.
Authorship is normally by invitation: an Editor should be consulted in advance by anyone wishing to
submit an unsolicited Review.
Perspectives are brief reviews that present a sharply focused view of a rapidly advancing area
of research. Authorship is normally by invitation: the Editor-in-Chief or Scientific Editor should be
consulted in advance by anyone wishing to submit an unsolicited Perspective.
Brevia are brief notes that report a specific well-documented result. Brevia are limited to a single
page, including references and captions, and contain only one figure or table. Details of methods
must be provided as Supplemental Material.
Methods Notes report novel methods of immediate and general interest and applicability. Methods
Notes are limited to 5 pages, including references and captions, with a maximum of 3 displayed items
(figures or tables). Additional details required to implement the new method must be provided as
Supplemental Material. Preliminary enquiries about the suitability of a submission to this section are
encouraged.
Databases and web servers are descriptions of new or updated databases and web servers
of broad interest to the general readership of the journal. The database/server must be freely
available to the academic community. The journal has set some limits on the length of the database/
server articles. The journal requires that database/server articles should have less than 5000 words
including title, abstract, legends, acknowledgements and references, less than 3 display items (figures
and/ or tables) that in total will occupy less than one and a half (1 1/2) printed pages, and less
than 50 references. Additional details required to implement the new method must be provided as
Supplemental Material. Normally, the title of the paper will start with the database/server name.
If the requirement to start with a name is not appropriate, please consult with the journal. On
submission, the authors must in their covering letter identify any previous publications reporting this
(or a closely-related) database/server and explain why this paper presents a substantial advance.
Related databases/servers must be reported and referenced in the article. Preliminary enquiries about
the suitability of a submission to this section are encouraged.

Contact details for submission

Please submit your manuscript for the Journal of Molecular Biology via the web site at http://
ees.elsevier.com/jmb. If you are unable to provide an electronic version of your paper, please contact
the Editorial Office prior to submission (email: [email protected]). All correspondence regarding
manuscripts should be sent to [email protected].
At the time of submission, authors will be asked to choose one of the following subject areas to which
their manuscript is best suited.
DNA replication, repair and recombination, gene expression, epigenetics and chromatin structure and
function, RNA processing, functions of non coding RNAs, transcription Structure, chemistry, processing
and function of biologically important macromolecules and complexes Biomolecular interactions,
systems biology Computational biology Translation, protein folding, processing and degradation
Sorting, spatiotemporal organization, trafficking, signal transduction and intracellular signalling
Membrane processes, cell surface proteins and cell-cell interactions Methodological advances, both
experimental and theoretical, including databases
Authors are encouraged to recommend an associate editor and one or more board members to handle
their paper.
Authors are asked to suggest 6 expert referees. Where appropriate, authors should suggest 2 to 3
referees who are expert in the methodology as well as 2 to 3 referees who are expert on the biological
system. Authors should avoid suggesting as referees people who, within the past 3 years, they have
had a collaborative relationship, have mentored, or have been mentored by.
In rare instances, authors may also request that conflicted individuals be excluded from the review
process. However, the editors reserve the right to choose as referees individuals who in their opinion
are best qualified to review the paper.
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A PDF file comprising all text and figures is acceptable for initial submission. When submitting a
revised manuscript, separate electronic files are required. Each manuscript is to be accompanied by
an electronic cover letter outlining the basic findings of the paper and their significance. PDFs of all
related manuscripts under consideration for publication must also be included with the submitted
manuscript.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Ethics in publishing
Please see our information pages on Ethics in publishing and Ethical guidelines for journal publication.

Declaration of interest
All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial,
personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the
submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work. More
information.

Submission declaration and verification

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except
in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic
preprint, see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' section of our ethics policy for more
information), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is
approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was
carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or
in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. To
verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection service CrossCheck.

Changes to authorship
Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their
manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any
addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only
before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such
a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason
for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they
agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors,
this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.
Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of
authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication
of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue,
any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see
more information on this). An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of
the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version
of this agreement.
Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal
circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution
outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. If
excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission
from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for
use by authors in these cases.
For open access articles: Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete an
'Exclusive License Agreement' (more information). Permitted third party reuse of open access articles
is determined by the author's choice of user license.
Author rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work. More
information.

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Funding body agreements and policies

Elsevier has established a number of agreements with funding bodies which allow authors to comply
with their funder's open access policies. Some funding bodies will reimburse the author for the Open
Access Publication Fee. Details of existing agreements are available online.

Open access
This journal offers authors a choice in publishing their research:
Open access
Articles are freely available to both subscribers and the wider public with permitted reuse.
An open access publication fee is payable by authors or on their behalf, e.g. by their research funder
or institution.
Subscription
Articles are made available to subscribers as well as developing countries and patient groups through
our universal access programs.
No open access publication fee payable by authors.
Regardless of how you choose to publish your article, the journal will apply the same peer review
criteria and acceptance standards.
For open access articles, permitted third party (re)use is defined by the following Creative Commons
user licenses:
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)
Lets others distribute and copy the article, create extracts, abstracts, and other revised versions,
adaptations or derivative works of or from an article (such as a translation), include in a collective
work (such as an anthology), text or data mine the article, even for commercial purposes, as long
as they credit the author(s), do not represent the author as endorsing their adaptation of the article,
and do not modify the article in such a way as to damage the author's honor or reputation.
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
For non-commercial purposes, lets others distribute and copy the article, and to include in a collective
work (such as an anthology), as long as they credit the author(s) and provided they do not alter or
modify the article.
The open access publication fee for this journal is USD 2150, excluding taxes. Learn more about
Elsevier's pricing policy: https://www.elsevier.com/openaccesspricing.
Green open access
Authors can share their research in a variety of different ways and Elsevier has a number of
green open access options available. We recommend authors see our green open access page for
further information. Authors can also self-archive their manuscripts immediately and enable public
access from their institution's repository after an embargo period. This is the version that has been
accepted for publication and which typically includes author-incorporated changes suggested during
submission, peer review and in editor-author communications. Embargo period: For subscription
articles, an appropriate amount of time is needed for journals to deliver value to subscribing customers
before an article becomes freely available to the public. This is the embargo period and it begins from
the date the article is formally published online in its final and fully citable form.
This journal has an embargo period of 12 months.
Elsevier Publishing Campus
The Elsevier Publishing Campus (www.publishingcampus.com) is an online platform offering free
lectures, interactive training and professional advice to support you in publishing your research. The
College of Skills training offers modules on how to prepare, write and structure your article and
explains how editors will look at your paper when it is submitted for publication. Use these resources,
and more, to ensure that your submission will be the best that you can make it.
Language (usage and editing services)
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of
these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible
grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the English
Language Editing service available from Elsevier's WebShop.

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Submission
Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article
details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in
the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word, LaTeX) are required to typeset your article for
final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for
revision, is sent by e-mail.

PREPARATION
Use of word processing software
It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text
should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting
codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word
processor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts,
superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each
individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns.
The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see
also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier). Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics
will be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text. See also the section on Electronic
artwork.
To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check'
functions of your word processor.

Article structure
Manuscripts should be submitted as a word processing file, with one inch margins and double spaced
lines.

Subdivision
The conventions used in current issues of the Journal for headings, references etc. should be used in
preparing manuscripts. Articles, Methods Notes and Databases/ Web Servers are divided into
sections in the following order: Introduction; Results; Discussion; Materials and Methods.
Other section headings (e.g., Theory, Results and Discussion) may be used if this improves the clarity
of presentation. Communications should not be divided into sections but should include topic headings
where appropriate.

Essential title page information

Title. The title should convey the concept and the importance of the paper to non-specialist
readers. Titles may occupy no more than three lines of type. Each line should contain no more
than 50 characters, including spaces. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid
abbreviations and formulae where possible.
Author names and affiliations. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name),
please indicate this clearly. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was
done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after
the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each
affiliation, including the country name, and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing
and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that telephone and fax numbers (with country
and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal
address.
Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was
done, or was visiting at the time, a "Present address" (or "Permanent address") may be indicated
as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be
retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.
All pages should be numbered serially.

Abstract
The abstract must be concise (limit of 250 words) and factual. It should convey the concept and the
importance of the paper to non-specialist readers. The abstract should state briefly the background of
the question, the principal results and conclude on a clear description of the conceptual advance and
significance of the work. Detailed descriptions of the study or of the findings should not be included
in the abstract. An abstract is required for all papers; the abstract for Brevia should be limited to 100
words whereas the abstract of Methods Notes, Databases and Servers should be limited to 150 words.
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An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so must be able to stand alone. Also, nonstandard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their
first mention in the abstract itself.

Graphical abstract
A Graphical abstract is required for this journal and should summarize the contents of the article in
a concise, pictorial form designed to capture the attention of a wide readership online. Authors must
provide images that clearly represent the work described in the article. A Graphical abstract should
as much as possible provide a visual indication of the context of the results depicted and should
contain simple labels. Specifications: the maximum size of the image should be 200 x 500 pixels with
a minimum resolution of 300 dpi, using Arial font with a size of 10-16 points; Preferred file types:
TIFF, EPS, PDF or MS Office files. Preparation Guidelines: a Graphical Abstract should be one image
and should not contain multiple panels; visualize one process or make one point clear; for ease of
browsing, images should have a clear start and end, preferably 'reading' from top to bottom or left
to right. No additional text, outline or synopsis should be included. Any text or label must be part of
the image file. Graphical abstracts should be submitted as a separate file in the online submission
system. Graphical Abstracts can be uploaded in EES by selecting "Graphical Abstract" from the dropdown list when uploading files.
The graphical abstract will be displayed in online search result lists, the Contents List and the online
article, but will not appear in the article PDF file or print.

Highlights
Highlights are required for this journal. Specifications: include 3 to 5 bullet points (max. 85 characters
per bullet point including spaces); only the core results of the paper should be covered. The first
bullet point should state the background or context of the question. One to three bullet points should
describe the principal results. The last bullet point should conclude on a clear description of the
conceptual advance and significance of the work. Highlights should be submitted as a separate file in
EES by selecting 'Highlights' from the drop-down list when uploading files. Highlights will be displayed
in online search result lists, the contents List and in the online article, but will not appear in the article
PDF file or print.

Keywords
Authors should supply five keywords after the Abstract. Keywords should not be words from the title.

Abbreviations
Define non-standard abbreviations in a footnote to be placed on the first page of the article.
Abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their first mention there, as
well as in the footnote. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature
survey or a summary of the results.

Results
Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results
and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published
literature.

Materials and methods

Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be
indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.

Accession numbers
Accession numbers must be cited immediately following the Materials and Methods section. Accession
numbers are unique identifiers in bioinformatics allocated to nucleotide and protein sequences to
allow tracking of different versions of that sequence record and the associated sequence in a data
repository [e.g., databases at the National Center for Biotechnical Information (NCBI) at the National
Library of Medicine ('GenBank') and the Worldwide Protein Data Bank]. There are different types of
accession numbers in use based on the type of sequence cited, each of which uses a different coding.
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Authors should explicitly mention the type of accession number together with the actual number,
bearing in mind that an error in a letter or number can result in a dead link in the online version of
the article. Please use the following format: accession number type ID: xxxx (e.g., MMDB ID: 12345;
PDB ID: 1TUP). Note that in the final version of the electronic copy, accession numbers will be linked
to the appropriate database, enabling readers to go directly to that source from the article.
For each and every accession number cited in an article, authors should type the accession number
in bold, underlined text. Letters in the accession number should always be capitalised.
Example 1: "GenBank accession nos. AI631510, AI631511, AI632198 , and BF223228 , a B-cell
tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE675048 , and a T-cell lymphoma
(GenBank accession no. AA361117 )".

Glossary
Please supply, as a separate list, the definitions of field-specific terms used in your article.

Acknowledgements
Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do
not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those
individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance
or proof reading the article, etc.).

Footnotes
Footnotes should be used sparingly. Designate them throughout the article, using an asterisk (*).
Many wordprocessors build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Should this not be
the case, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes themselves separately
at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.

Artwork
Electronic artwork
General points
Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.
Aim to use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or
use fonts that look similar.
Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version.
Provide captions next to each illustration.
A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website:
http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats
If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then
please supply 'as is' in the native document format.
Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is
finalized, please 'Save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution
requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts.
TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of
500 dpi.
Please do not:
Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a
low number of pixels and limited set of colors;
Supply files that are too low in resolution;
Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
Composite figures. In general, no more than four sections should appear in a single figure. If more
than four sections are required, it is better to create several separate figures. Label individual sections
in composite figures clearly with lower case letters, using (a), (b), (c).

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Stereo pairs. Stereo pairs should be in divergent (wall-eye) view and should be supplied at the same
size as they are to appear in the Journal. Before submitting figures, authors should check carefully
that stereo figures are correct and give the proper stereo image.

Color artwork
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS or MS Office files) and with
the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures then
Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color on the Web (e.g.,
ScienceDirect and other sites) in addition to color reproduction in print. For further information on
the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
Figure captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions next to each figure. A caption should
comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the
illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

Tables
Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the
relevant text in the article, or on separate page(s) at the end. Number tables consecutively in
accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. Be
sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results
described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules.

References
Citation in text
Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice
versa). Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list,
but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should
follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication
date with either "Unpublished results" or "Personal communication". Citation of a reference as "in
press" implies that the item has been accepted for publication and a copy of the title page of the
relevant article must be submitted.
Web references
As a minimum, the full URL should be given. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names,
dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Reference to material which is
available on the Internet but has not been published elsewhere should be made in the text only and
should not be included in the reference list.
Reference management software
Most Elsevier journals have their reference template available in many of the most popular reference
management software products. These include all products that support Citation Style Language
styles, such as Mendeley and Zotero, as well as EndNote. Using the word processor plug-ins from
these products, authors only need to select the appropriate journal template when preparing their
article, after which citations and bibliographies will be automatically formatted in the journal's style.
If no template is yet available for this journal, please follow the format of the sample references and
citations as shown in this Guide.
Users of Mendeley Desktop can easily install the reference style for this journal by clicking the following
link:
http://open.mendeley.com/use-citation-style/journal-of-molecular-biology
When preparing your manuscript, you will then be able to select this style using the Mendeley plugins for Microsoft Word or LibreOffice.
Reference style
References should be listed at the end of the manuscript. They should be listed in the order in which
they appear in the text, tables, and figure legends and numbered sequentially. When cited in the
text, reference numbers should be superscripted. Only papers that have been published or accepted
should be cited in the reference list. The title of the article, the volume number, and first and last
pages should be cited. Journal titles should be abbreviated, e.g.,
1. Sanger, F. & Coulson, A. R. (1975). A rapid method for determining sequences in DNA by the primed
synthesis with DNA polymerase. J. Mol. Biol. 94, 441-448.
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2. Goto, Y., Calciano, L. J. & Fink, A. F. (1990). Acid-induced folding of proteins. Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. USA 87, 573-577. Articles in books should include the title of the article, the name of the book,
editor(s), edition number, first and last page numbers, the name and the location of the publisher, e.g.,
3. Hanks, S. K. & Hunter, T. (1995). The eukaryotic protein kinase superfamily. In The Protein Kinase
FactsBook: Protein-Serine Kinases (Hardie, G. & Hanks, S., eds), pp. 747, Academic Press, London.

Journal abbreviations source

SI units and the system of abbreviations and symbols formulated by the IUPAC-IUB Combined
Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature should be followed. When non-SI units are used, their
equivalent SI units should be given. Genetic names should be described according to the appropriate
conventions. Genus and species names should be written in full at first use and in italics (e.g.,
Escherichia coli, Caenorhabditis elegans).

Supplemental data
The acceptance of supplemental material is at the Editor's discretion. Supplemental information
must be submitted with the manuscript for review by the editor and referees. Manuscripts must be
complete and stand-alone. Supplemental material should complement the printed paper and may
include figures and figure legends, tables, supporting data, sequence alignments, primers, derivation
of equations, and videos. The availability of supplemental information will be indicated in the printed
paper and the supplemental data will be directly linked to the online version of the paper. Reference
to the supplemental information may be made at appropriate places in the text.
With the exception of videos, the supplemental information must be submitted electronically in the
form of a single PDF file. Very large tabulations of supporting data may be submitted as Microsoft
Excel files.
To ensure that the majority of potential users are able to access, view and playback the data, Elsevier
recommends the submission of material in the specified 'preferred' formats.
Audio
1 Format Extension Details MP3 MP3 MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 format required; highest possible quality
required; audio bit rate at least 128 kbps
Video
1 Format Extension Details MP4 MP4 Preferred video format; H.264+AAC, max target 720p MPG
MPG Acceptable video format; MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 format required; highest possible quality required
Apple QuickTime MOV Acceptable video format Microsoft Audio/ Video Interlaced AVI Acceptable video
format Compuserve GIF GIF Expected to be non-photographic animation-based data

Data in Brief
Authors have the option of converting any or all parts of their supplementary or additional raw data
into one or multiple Data in Brief articles, a new kind of article that houses and describes their data.
Data in Brief articles ensure that your data, which is normally buried in supplementary material,
is actively reviewed, curated, formatted, indexed, given a DOI and publicly available to all upon
publication. Authors are encouraged to submit their Data in Brief article as an additional item directly
alongside the revised version of their manuscript. If your research article is accepted, your Data in
Brief article will automatically be transferred over to Data in Brief where it will be editorially reviewed
and published in the new, open access journal, Data in Brief. Please note an open access fee is payable
for publication in Data in Brief. Full details can be found on the Data in Brief website. Please use this
template to write your Data in Brief.

Database linking
Elsevier encourages authors to connect articles with external databases, giving readers access to
relevant databases that help to build a better understanding of the described research. Please refer
to relevant database identifiers using the following format in your article: Database: xxxx (e.g., TAIR:
AT1G01020; CCDC: 734053; PDB: 1XFN). More information and a full list of supported databases.

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AudioSlides
The journal encourages authors to create an AudioSlides presentation with their published article.
AudioSlides are brief, webinar-style presentations that are shown next to the online article on
ScienceDirect. This gives authors the opportunity to summarize their research in their own words
and to help readers understand what the paper is about. More information and examples are
available. Authors of this journal will automatically receive an invitation e-mail to create an AudioSlides
presentation after acceptance of their paper.

3D molecular models
You can enrich your online articles by providing 3D molecular models (optional) in PDB, PSE or
MOL/MOL2 format, which will be visualized using the interactive viewer embedded within the article.
Using the viewer, it will be possible to zoom into the model, rotate and pan the model, and change
display settings. Submitted models will also be available for downloading from your online article
on ScienceDirect. Each molecular model will have to be uploaded to the online submission system
separately, via the '3D molecular models' submission category. More information.

Interactive plots
This journal enables you to show an Interactive Plot with your article by simply submitting a data
file. Full instructions.

Interactive Network Viewer

This journal enables you to enrich your online article by including interactive network diagrams created
with the latest Cytoscape version. Each network will have to be exported from Cytoscape as a pair
of network (.cyjs) and visual style (.json) files. The recommended maximum file size of a dataset
is 150 MB or less.
Once the article is accepted, your ZIP datasets will appear as supplementary material on ScienceDirect
and will be visualized inside the Cytoscape application displayed alongside your article. Readers will
then be able to interactively explore your networks while reading the article. More information.
Submission checklist
It is hoped that this list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the
journal's Editor for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.
Ensure that the following items are present:
One Author designated as corresponding Author:
E-mail address
Full postal address
Telephone and fax numbers
All necessary files have been uploaded
Keywords
All figure captions
All tables (including title, description, footnotes)
Further considerations
Manuscript has been "spellchecked" and "grammar-checked"
References are in the correct format for this journal
All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa
Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web)
Color figures are clearly marked as being intended for color reproduction on the Web (free of charge)
and in print or to be reproduced in color on the Web (free of charge) and in black-and-white in print
If only color on the Web is required, black and white versions of the figures are also supplied for
printing purposes
For any further information please visit our customer support site at service.elsevier.com.

Additional information
Suggestions for cover illustrations.
Cover illustrations should illustrate a key point raised by the paper and be immediately recognizable.
The authors are encouraged to propose original covers that represent their work in a symbolic and
creative manner. Please consult the journal's Cover Gallery for recent examples.
The specifications required for the cover are: W 213 mm x H 286 mm. The resolution should be 300
dpi minimum in JPEG or GIF formats.

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A short descriptive legend should be supplied including any authorship references. The legend should
be no longer than a couple of sentences and usually supplies information about the general topic
rather than detailed information about the figure. If your cover is selected as the most appealing
among other suggested covers we receive, it could be chosen as the cover of the same issue as your
manuscript or one of the following issues.

AFTER ACCEPTANCE
Online proof correction
Corresponding authors will receive an e-mail with a link to our online proofing system, allowing
annotation and correction of proofs online. The environment is similar to MS Word: in addition to
editing text, you can also comment on figures/tables and answer questions from the Copy Editor.
Web-based proofing provides a faster and less error-prone process by allowing you to directly type
your corrections, eliminating the potential introduction of errors.
If preferred, you can still choose to annotate and upload your edits on the PDF version. All instructions
for proofing will be given in the e-mail we send to authors, including alternative methods to the online
version and PDF.
We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Please use this
proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and
figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this
stage with permission from the Editor. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back
to us in one communication. Please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent
corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.

Offprints
The corresponding author will, at no cost, receive a customized Share Link providing 50 days free
access to the final published version of the article on ScienceDirect. The Share Link can be used
for sharing the article via any communication channel, including email and social media. For an
extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the
article is accepted for publication. Both corresponding and co-authors may order offprints at any
time via Elsevier's Webshop. Corresponding authors who have published their article open access do
not receive a Share Link as their final published version of the article is available open access on
ScienceDirect and can be shared through the article DOI link.

AUTHOR INQUIRIES
Track your submitted article
Track your accepted article
You are also welcome to contact the Elsevier Contact Center.
Copyright 2014 Elsevier | http://www.elsevier.com

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