Print ISSN: 1559-2294; Online ISSN: 1559-2308

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The official journal of the Epigenetics Society.

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guidelines for authors

Editorial Policy

The citation of your article will be sent to PubMed within one week of acceptance so please ensure all information is correct.

Click here for more information.

Peer Review

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Open Access Policy

Landes Bioscience recognizes that some authors prefer that their research be freely available to all potential readers upon publication, and that certain funding agencies (NIH, Wellcome Trust, Howard Hughes Medical Institute) request open access of agency-funded research within one year of publication.

To address these requests, we provide the following options for our authors and readers:
1. One year after publication. ALL papers will become open access to ALL users throughout the world after having been published online for one year. If the paper is funded by a NIH or Wellcome Trust grant, authors may deposit a PDF of the final manuscript with the NIH for download at PubMed Central once the paper has been made freely availble at the journal's website.
2. Immediately upon publication. Papers can be open access immediately upon publication. Authors may purchase open access of their paper at the proof stage and the paper will be made freely available at our website. Again, if the paper is funded by a NIH or Wellcome Trust grant, authors may deposit a PDF of the final manuscript with the NIH for download at PubMed Central. The fee for open access is $750. If the author's institution subscribes to the journal the fee is discounted to $500.

Manuscript Submission

Pre-Submission Inquiries

Pre-submission inquiries are encouraged. These may include either an abstract or a full length manuscript as an email attachment (Microsoft Word). Pre-submission inquiries should be emailed to the Editor, Manel Esteller.

General Submission

Epigenetics utilizes an online submission and tracking system which is designed to provide a better, more efficient service to authors.

  • Authors can submit manuscripts online from anywhere in the world.
  • Authors can track their manuscript through the peer review process.
  • Author files are automatically converted into a PDF (Portable Document Format) file and submissions are acknowledged by email.
  • Editors and reviewers access the PDF files on the website.

Click here to submit a manuscript to Epigenetics: http://epi.msubmit.net/

All submissions must be accompanied by a completed copyright transfer form.
Fax to Nicole Todd at 512.637.6079

Non-Native Speakers of English

Authors who are not native speakers of English and submit manuscripts to international journals often receive negative comments from referees or editors about English-language usage. These problems can contribute to a decision to reject a paper. To help reduce the possibility of such problems, we strongly encourage such authors to take at least one or both of the following steps.

1. Have your manuscript reviewed for clarity by a colleague whose native language is English.

2. Use a service such as one of those listed below. An editor will improve the English to ensure that your meaning is clear and identify problems that require your review. Note that the use of such a service is at the author's own expense and risk and does not guarantee that the article will be accepted. Landes Bioscience accepts no responsibility for the interaction between the author and the service provider or for the quality of the work performed.

American Journal Experts

Inter-Biotec

Inter-Biotec also provides a free online writing course to help biomedical scientists whose first language is not English to write and publish their papers in English-language journals.

SPI Professional Editing Services

Write Science Right

Manuscript Preparation

Click here for more information.

Text should be prepared in MS Word, double-spaced, with page numbers throughout. Papers should be written as concisely as possible in clear, grammatical English and organized in the following manner:

1. Title page, including titles, authorÕs names, degrees and affilitations
2. 5-10 key words (for indexing purposes)
3. a list of abbreviations and acronyms used throughout the text
4. an abstract (150-250 words; depends upon type of paper, see below)
5. a running title of no more than 50 characters in length
6. Text (length depends upon type of paper, see below).
7. References
8. Tables (with descriptive titles and legends)
9. Figure legends

The citation of your article will be sent to PubMed within one week of acceptance so please ensure all information is correct.

Types of Papers

Original Research | Brief Communications | Methods and Technical Advances | Reviews | Addenda | Meeting Reports

Research Papers should include the following sections:

  1. Title Page: including the title, the names, affiliations and email addresses for all authors and a running title.
  2. Abstract: A single paragraph of fewer than 250 words. The primary goal of the abstract should be to make the general significance and conceptual advance of the work clearly accessible to a broad readership. References should not be cited in the abstract.
  3. Key words: Include 5-10 for indexing purposes.
  4. Introduction
  5. Results: Present results in logical sequence in tables and illustrations. In the text, explain, emphasize or summarize the most important observations. Units of measurement should be expressed in accordance with the International System of Units (SI Units).
  6. Discussion: Do not repeat in detail data given in the Results section. Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study. Relate observations to other relevant studies. On the basis of your findings (and others), discuss possible implications/conclusions. When stating a new hypothesis, clearly label it as such.
  7. Patients and Methods/Materials and Methods: Describe selection of patients or experimental animals, including controls. Do not use patient’s names or hospital numbers. Identify methods, apparatus (manufacturers name and address), and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. Provide references and brief descriptions of methods that have been published. When using new methods. Evaluate their advantages and limitations. Identify drugs and chemicals, including generic name, dosage, and route(s) of administration. Indicate whether the procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of Human Experimentation in your country, or are in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975.
  8. References: No more than 85. Click here to view our reference format.
  9. Tables: Tables should be numbered consecutively and include descriptive titles and legends.
  10. Figure legends

Brief Communications are aimed at publishing short, but important, breakthrough data not embedded within a complex story. The abstract should not be longer than 120 words. The paper should be structured as a research paper (see above) but without the headings and subheadings. No more than 50 references and no more than 4500 words altogether.

Methods and Technical Advances contain original research; however, they differ from Research Papers in that they describe new approaches, methods, or reagents rather than new understanding of a natural molecule or biological process. Papers may be submitted as either Technical or Research Papers, but the assignment to either category is the discretion of the Editors. All submissions will be peer reviewed.

Reviews should be recognized as scholarly by specialists in the field being covered, but should also be written with a view to informing readers who are not specialized in that particular field, and should therefore be presented using simple prose. Please avoid excessive jargon and technical detail. Reviews should capture the broad developments and implications of recent work. The opening paragraph should make clear the general thrust of the review and provide a clear sense of why the review is now particularly appropriate. The concluding paragraph should provide the reader with an idea of how the field may develop or future problems to be overcome, but should not summarize the article. To ensure that a review is likely to be accessible to as many readers as possible, it may be useful to ask a colleague from another discipline to read the review before submitting it. Submitted reviews are subject to the same page charges as full-length reports -- whether and how page charges will apply for commissioned reviews will be made clear when each review is commissioned. Reviews should include an abstract of 150 words and should cite no more than 150 references. Please include 5-10 key words for indexing purposes.

Addenda are essentially an auto-commentary. The Editorial Board will solicit authors of the most significant recent and forthcoming papers, published elsewhere, to provide a short summary with additional insights, new interpretations or speculation on the relevant topic. These manuscripts may include data or models, which due to space limitations were not included or discussed in the original paper. In other words, the authors may provide biased and uncensored points of views, complementing their article. Addenda will appear simultaneously, or very soon after, publication of the original paper.
Please include an abstract of 150-200 words and 5-10 key words for indexing purposes. The typical length of an addendum will be approximately 500-1,000 words and may include up to 30 references. There will be no page charges for addenda and you are encouraged to include figures; however, please note the journal policy regarding color charges below.

Meeting Reports. Authors are encouraged to contact the journal (contact Dr. Esteller, Editor-in-Chief) with proposals for meeting reports. Please contact the meeting organizers to verify that reports will be permitted.

There are no word limits for papers published in Epigenetics, however, accepted manuscripts are published with the understanding that the author will pay a charge of $80 USD for pages 5 and greater (there is no charge for the first four pages).

A four page article with three figures (approx 3.5' x 3.5') and 100 references would consist of approximately 3200 words (including figure legends).

Under exceptional circumstances, when no grant or other source of support exists, the author(s) may apply (at the time of submission) to Dr. Esteller, Editor-in-Chief, for a waiver of the page charges. All applications must be countersigned by an appropriate institutional official stating that no funds are available for the payment of page charges.

Text Files and Tables

Please save text and table files as Microsoft Word documents. Save tables in a file separate from text. Figure legends, however, should be at the end of the manuscript as text. Tables will be reformatted during production and therefore should only be minimally formatted in your text file.

Figures (Illustrations)

Click here for guidelines on figure preparation and the required formats.

DO NOT EMBED GRAPHICS WITHIN YOUR MS WORD TEXT DOCUMENT.

References

Click here to view our reference format. References for review articles are limited to 150. For Research Papers, please limit references to 85. For Addenda, and Commentaries and Views, please limit references to 30.

The reference format for Epigenetics is the same as that for Cell Cycle. Click here to download this output style from EndNotes.

Supplementary Files

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Page and Color Charges

For original research papers that occupy more than four pages of the journal, publication of the first four monochrome pages is free but papers are published on the understanding that the author will pay a charge of $80 U.S. dollars for each additional page or part-page used.

Publication of color images is free for the online version of the journal, but carries a page charge of $340 US dollars for the initial page and $150 for each additional page in the print edition. If you prefer that color figures appear online only and in black and white for the print version, please make sure that the figure legends for each version of the figure are provided.

For guidance, a four page article with 3 figures (approx 9cmx9cm, =3.5" x 3.5") and 100 references would consist of approximately 3200 words of text including figure legends.

Under exceptional circumstances, where there are no funds to cover page charges and articles cannot be reduced in size, authors may appeal directly to the Editor for page charges to be waived. This appeal must be supported by a letter signed by finance official at the author’s institution, confirming that no funds are available to cover page charges.

Page Proofs

Page proofs should be returned within two working days, preferably by email or fax. Corrections should be marked on the actual proof and provided in a numbered list. Lengthy additions should be avoided, but where necessary should be provided in a MS Word file with explicit instructions regarding placement.

Reprints

A reprint order form will be sent to the author prior to the issue going to press or you may download it here.

Cover Image Submissions

Epigenetics publishes cover illustrations that are taken from articles in each issue, or that are designed to accompany an accepted article.

The cover illustration should be scientifically interesting and visually attractive. The illustration need not be a figure from the paper but should be closely related to the subject of the paper. If you are interested in submitting a figure for use as the cover of Epigenetics please email a high-resolution version of your image, conforming to the specifications below, and an explanatory caption of 50-60 words to Kathryn Sauceda.

Epigenetics Cover Image Specifications: All potential cover images should be sized to fill the entire cover. 12'' high and 9'' wide should be the minimum size. Larger files are even better. Please remove all text, captions, etc. from the image. If you have variations of the image you may send additional files. Please send no more than 2 alternate versions.

Accepted formats and resolution:

  1. Native Photoshop .psd (if graphics are built with layers, do not flatten), 300dpi, CMYK at 100% size.
  2. 300 dpi .tif, CMYK at 100% size.
  3. 300 dpi highest quality .jpg, CMYK at 100% size.
  4. Scalable vector .eps line art or native Illustrator or Freehand files.