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Brilliance has an obligation not only to create but also to communicate.
J.R. Platt
Instructions to Authors
You are submitting a manuscript for publication in the Journal
of Experimental Biosciences; Dr. Beason is the Editor-in-Chief. It is a condition
of publication that manuscripts must be written in clear,
grammatical English (see McMillan, pp. 126-160 (3rd ed.)
or 167-205 (4th ed.)).
Your drafts as well as your final paper are expected
to conform to the following specifications. Submit
all work in its final form (i.e., NOT handwritten, on a computer
disk, as an attachment, or in an e-mail message)--ONLY printed
documents will be accepted except in special circumstances that
must be approved by me in advance of the due date.
Please review my grading criteria and rubric for the final paper.
Style and Organization
- Text must be typed in a font size of 12 points;
use either Times or Times New Roman
- Print on 8.5 x 11 paper; do NOT submit electronically
in PDF format or e-mail
- Use double spacing throughout; do NOT use a two
column layout
Special Note: you may use "single spacing" for the text associated with figure legends and table headings and footnotes.
- Use one-inch margins
- Do NOT use "double-sided" pages
- Arrange sections in the following order and start each
section on a NEW page (do not "number" the sections):
- Title page with each of the following
on separate lines:
- title of paper
- author
(give your name ONLY as the author)
- team members (list as "TEAM:" followed by names)
- complete
name(s) of institution(s)
- submission date (use correct format for recording
date)
- Honor code pledge: "On my honor,
I have neither given nor received any unauthorized
aid on this paper" [full
signature]
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Materials and Methods (can incorporate materials into methods)
- Results with Figures and Tables
("place" Tables and Figures within
the text just after you refer to them -- NOTE: journal
editors usually do this task; I want you to include figures
and table within the Results section because it's easier
to read your paper)
- Discussion (followed by Acknowledgements)
- References (must cite following the format in Protein Expression & Purification)
- Number ALL pages consecutively, including abstract,
references, tables, figures and figure legends; the title
page is page 1 (this page is NOT numbered) and the abstract
is page 2, and so on...
- Put your INITIALS
at either the TOP RIGHT or TOP LEFT corner of EACH page
(except for the Title Page)
- Abbreviations must be given in ( ) immediately
AFTER the complete citation of the term within the text [e.g., adenosine deaminase (ADA)] . The
abbreviations of some important biochemical compounds,
e.g., ATP, NADH, DNA, and amino acids in proteins, need
not be defined.
Section Details
- Title (also see McMillan, pp. 52-55 (3rd ed.) or 69-72 (4th ed.))
*should be short and as informative as possible
*should NOT contain non-standard acronyms or abbreviations
*should NOT exceed two printed lines
- Abstract (also see McMillan, pp. 55-59 (3rd ed.) or 72-76 (4th ed.))
*is a SINGLE PARAGRAPH
*should succinctly and clearly describe the major findings reported in the manuscript--must contain SPECIFIC data
*must NOT exceed 250 words
*should NOT contain non-standard acronyms or abbreviations
*must STAND ALONE
*should NOT contain references
- Introduction (also see McMillan, pp. 59-61 (3rd ed.) or 76-78 (4th ed.))
*presents the purpose of the studies reported and their relationship to earlier work in the field
*should NOT be an exhaustive REVIEW of the literature
*generally, should NOT exceed TWO typed pages
- Materials and Methods (also see McMillan, pp. 61-66 (3rd ed.) or 78-83 (4th ed.))
*brief description but in sufficient detail to permit a reader to repeat the experiments without extensive reference to published studies
*truly new procedures should be described in detail
*well-established procedures, such as protein determination methods, should be cited ONLY by literature reference
procedures for measuring enzyme activity should be described in sufficient detail to permit a reader to repeat the experiments without extensive reference to published studies; for previously published assay methods, briefly describe the application of the method and cite the original report
*names of chemical or organic substances should follow the recommendations of the IUPAC-IUBMB Joint Combined Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature (JCBN); see IUBMB Nomenclature Home Page
- Results (also see McMillan, pp. 66-71 (3rd ed.) or 83-89 (4th ed.))
*give a straightforward report of the data
*only include data pertinent to overall GOAL of your study
*do NOT compare your findings with published studies
*do NOT discuss whether your findings are consistent with predictions
*do NOT speculate about your findings or their implications
*must include TEXT that DESCRIBES the data
*present results in figures and tables--use ( ) when referring to them in the text
*some results not requiring documentation can be given solely in the text
*if you use someone else's data, must state SOURCE of data
in the paper [cite it at the end of the figure legend and inside
the period: e.g., (Beason 2008).]
*number tables and figures with Arabic numerals in order of appearance
NOTE: tables and figures must STAND ALONE!
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS = ONE TABLE AND TWO FIGURES; you must include a purification table
- Discussion (also see McMillan, pp. 71-75 (3rd ed.) or 89-94 (4th ed.))
*concise (usually LESS than FOUR typed pages)
*focuses on the interpretation of the
results rather than a repetition of the Results section
- References (also see McMillan,
pp. 107-125 (3rd ed.) or 5-32, 149-153 (4th ed.))
*Cite in the text by number rather
than author and date; put the number for the reference in [
] after the relevant information; use one set of ( ) for multiple
references [eg., (3, 7) or (1-3)]
*Arrange the reference list in the order cited in the text
*Assign just one number for each reference--if you cite that
reference more than once, you use the same number
*Use the following
styles:
[1] R. Jayalakshmi, K. Sumathy, H. Balaram, Purification and
characterization of recombinant Plasmodium falciparum adenylosuccinate
synthetase expressed in Escherichia coli, Protein
Express. Purif. 25 (2002) 66-72.
[2] R. Hesketh, The Oncogene FactsBook, Academic Press, San
Diego, 1995.
[3] G.R. Mettam, L.B. Adams, How to prepare an electronic version
of your article, in: B.S. Jones, R.Z. Smith (Eds.) Introduction
to the Electronic Age, E-Publishing Inc., New York, 1999, pp.
281-304.
NOTE: full titles of papers must be given; ALL of the authors' names must be given
***Do not use TEXTBOOKS as references for your
paper***
BASIC knowledge found in 2 or more textbooks does not have to be cited.
Additional Guidelines for Tables and Figures
Tables (also see McMillan, pp. 30-50 (3rd ed.) or 45-67 (4th ed.))
- must have a short explanatory title
- each column MUST have a heading with the appropriate units
- necessary abbreviations should be defined under the table
- you must have a MINIMUM of ONE TABLE in your
paper
Figures (also see McMillan, pp. 30-50 (3rd ed.) or 45-67 (4th ed.))
- must have a descriptive title
- the legend must contain sufficient detail to make the figure easily understood
**identify symbols and curves in the legend, not on the figure - appropriately sized numbers, letters, and symbols should be used; the image will be reduced.
- orient the figure appropriately on the page (we read pages vertically, not horizontally)
- numbers, letters, and symbols used in multi-paneled figures must be consistent
- the abscissa and ordinate must be clearly labeled with appropriately sized type, and units of measurement must be given
- figures drawn by hand are NOT acceptable
- you must have a MINIMUM of TWO FIGURES in your
paper
SPECIAL NOTE: Digital image acquisition and processing tools make manipulation and idealization of raw images an easy task.
Copyright, Acknowledgements,
and Intended Use
Created by B. Beason (bbeason@rice.edu), Rice University, 17 March 2006
Updated 23 August 2016