Guidelines for Authors

Editorial Policy

Click here for information on our Editorial Policies.

Availability of Materials and Data

It is expected that authors should be able to provide any materials and/or protocols used in published experiments to other qualified researchers for their own use. Materials include (but are not limited to): cells DNA, antibodies, reagents, organisms, mouse strains, and Drosophila strains. These should be made available in a timely manner and it is acceptable to request reasonable payment to cover the cost of maintenance and transport.

For materials such as mutant strains and cell lines, authors should use established public repositories and provide relevant accession numbers wherever possible.

Repositories include:

Jackson Laboratory (mouse strains)

Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center at Indiana University (fly strains)

Drosophila Genomics Resource Center (DNA clones and cell lines)

MMRRC (Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Centers)

UK Stem Cell Bank

Papers reporting protein or DNA sequences and molecular structures should provide an accession number to any of the three major collaborative databases: DDBJ, EMBL or GenBank. It is only necessary to submit to one database as data are exchanged between DDBJ, EMBL and GenBank on a daily basis. The suggested wording for referring to accession-number information is: 'These sequence data have been submitted to the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under accession number U12345.'

Peer Review and Manuscript Evaluation Process

Click here for detailed information on our peer review process.

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 including, but not limited to, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MRC, NIH, and The Wellcome Trust, require open access of agency-funded research within six months to 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. Authors may deposit a PDF of the final manuscript with PubMed Central or UK PubMed Central once the paper has been made freely availble at the journal's website.
(2) 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, MRC or Wellcome Trust grant, authors may deposit a PDF of the final manuscript with PubMed Central or UK PubMed Central. The fee for open access is $900 for original research and reports and $750 for all other types of papers.

NIH Manuscript Submission System

UK PubMed Central Manuscript Submission System


Manuscript Submission

Pre-submission inquiries

Pre-submission inquiries are encouraged but not necessary. 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 Yelena Boryskina, Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief or you may contact Dr. Blagosklonny directly.

Select Submission Track

Cell Cycle recognizes that excellent papers may have been erroneously rejected by other journals. We will reconsider papers that have been rejected by Nature, Science, Nature Medicine, Nature Cell Biology, Cell, Cancer Cell, Cell Metabolism, Developmental Cell, NEJM, Lancet, Genes & Development and some other journals in the original format of those journals, thus saving the authors effort and time. The authors are encouraged to enclose the reviewers' and/or editorial comments from the above mentioned journals. This will certainly expedite the evaluation of the article and it is possible the article might be accepted based on its previous review. This will allow the urgent and competitive research to be published soon after submission. Papers submitted using the Select Submission Track are generally accepted within 1-2 days. You may submit your paper online. Following submission, please contact Yelena Boryskina, Assitant to the Editor-in-Chief, with the manuscript number and copies of the previous reviews. Upon acceptance, the authors should provide the paper in Cell Cycle format.

Expedited Submission Track

As incentive to authors whose manuscripts meet all requirements, we now guarantee that galley proofs will be returned within 7-10 days of the manuscript's acceptance. Please note this incentive is only available to manuscripts that satisfy all requirements, including figures, tables, references, grammar and punctuation. Please thoroughly review the manuscript preparation guidelines and figure guidelines.

Please download a manuscript submission checklist before submitting. After completing the checklist, please email or fax the form immediately following online submission. Assuming all requirements are met, your paper will be returned within 7-10 days upon acceptance.

Manuscript Checklist

Figure Examples

General Submission

We now utilize an online submission and tracking system which is designed to provide a better, more efficient service to authors.

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

Please read the directions below and then click here to submit a manuscript to Cell Cycle: http://cc.msubmit.net/

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

When your paper is accepted and proofs are sent, you will be given two days to return your corrections. If we do not receive your corrections within the given time frame, we will post an uncorrected proof online. The uncorrected proof will remain online until your corrections are received.

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

American Journal Experts (AJE) provides professional language editing services to authors around the globe who wish to publish in scientific, technical, medical and humanities journals. AJE employs expert editors with post-graduate training in a wide variety of fields who will check your manuscripts not only for terminology and language specific to your field but also for proper English usage, grammar, punctuation, spelling, verb tense, and phrasing. In addition, AJE's professional editors will make sure the text sounds natural and the sentences are well constructed. Visit their website for more information or to submit a document for their journal editing service.

Receive a 10% discount: enter code 'Landes' into your account to receive your discount.

Bioedit English Language Editing

Bioedit Ltd, an online English editing company, offers unprecedented, high-quality English editing of biomedical texts destined for submission to peer-reviewed journals in the life sciences. The texts are edited by a large, expert team of native English-speaking editors with PhDs and years of experience in a broad range of disciplines in medicine and biology.

  • Editing of the same manuscript by up to three independent editors, including a subject-specific editor and a grammar expert.

  • Tremendous value with no hidden costs.

  • Express editing in less than 48 hours.

  • Secure and confidential.

First-time clients will receive a special 20% rebate if they are submitting their work to a Landes Bioscience journal.

Editage

Editage, a leading international English editing, writing, and publication service provider, offers multiple-level editing services that check for meaning, punctuation, grammar, sentence construction, logic, structure, and journal formatting. Editage is a preferred brand for nonnative English speakers in East Asia.

• Subject-matter expertise—editors from bioscience disciplines
• Fast turnaround times—24-hour delivery for emergencies
• 24/7 online system—manage accounts, track manuscripts, post requests
• 100% confidentiality
• Unlimited questions for editor
• ISO 9001:2000-certified editing processes
• Free journal formatting

To submit a manuscript, please visit the website in your choice of language:

Japanese | English |Traditional Chinese | Korean

Mention “Landes Bioscience” as “Reference” while submitting manuscript and receive a flat 10% discount.

Global BioEditing

Global BioEditing is a specialist service for the editing of English in biological documents. Our editing will not only make your manuscripts appear as though written by a native speaker of English but will also clarify your writing.

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

Text should be prepared in Microsoft 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 title, author's names, degrees and affilitations and email addresses.
  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. There is no abstract for Letters to the Editor, News and Editorials)
  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

Types of Papers

We are flexible regarding the department in which a paper fits and recognize that some papers may include elements of more than one type of paper as listed below.

Reports

Reports include the following sections:

1. 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.
2. Key Words: 5-10, for indexing purposes
3. Introduction
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. Materials and Methods
7. References: No limit to number. Please see section below for reference format.

Analytical Report

These are research articles based on analysis and/or re-interpretation of previously published data (by other authors and/or by the same authors). Analytical Reports should provide a new conclusion (or present a new concept) based on pre-existing data in the literature or found online.

Please include an abstract of 150-200 words and 5-10 key words for indexing purposes.

Reviews

This department includes traditional reviews, reviews of new concepts and analytical reviews.

Although reviews should be recognized as scholarly by specialists in the field being covered, they also should 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 include an abstract of 150-200 words and 5-10 key words for indexing purposes.

Extra-Views

For extra-views (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. As with other papers published in Cell Cycle, extra-views will appear on-line, in print and on MedLine/Pubmed. Extra-views 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.

Perspectives

There are several types of Perspectives:

  1. A focused review or theoretical paper that is primarily addressed to the experts in the field. It may emphasize an opinion of the authors', present a concept or authors' credo.
  2. A commentary on the most significant conceptual changes and on groundbreaking phenomena described in recent years, envisioning a potential conceptual framework for these phenomena.
  3. Auto-commentary (like extra-views) of the most significant recent and forthcoming papers, published elsewhere, to provide a summary with additional insights, new interpretations or speculation on the relevant topic plus a review of the field.
  4. Mini-reviews.

Please include an abstract of 150-200 words and 5-10 key words for indexing purposes.

Letters to the Editor

These are short experimental papers that may present as little as a single experiment or observation and should constitute unusually interesting data combined with a discussion of what the data might mean, or an explanation of why the data contradicts current paradigms.

The letter is a single paragraph of fewer than 900 words, no abstract, no subheadings and less than 12 references (one author et al, no titles). If an abstract is included, it will automatically be made the first pagaraph. No more than one simple figure should be included in a Letter to the Editor. Additional figures should be supplemental. As with other papers published in Cell Cycle, Letters will appear on-line, in print and on MedLine/Pubmed/ ISI.

News and Views

These are short commentaries on recent and forthcoming significant research published in Cell Cycle. These papers should be 250-700 words with no more than 10 references (One author et al. Journal Abbreviation Year; Volume: Page numbers). No more than one figure should be included in a News & Views article. Please do NOT include any tables or an abstract.

Figures should be no larger than 3.5 inches in width and 4 inches in height. As with other papers published in Cell Cycle, News & Views will appear online, in print and on MedLine/Pubmed/ISI.

Cell Cycle Features

These are short autocommentaries on recent and forthcoming significant research papers.  Cell Cycle Features are intended to provide a short summary with additional insights on the relevant topic. These papers should be 650-800 words with no more than 10 references (One author et al. Journal Abbreviation Year; Volume: Page numbers). No more than one figure should be included in a Feature. Please do NOT include any tables or an abstract.

Figures should be no larger than 3.5 inches in width and 4 inches in height. As with other papers published in Cell Cycle, Cell Cycle Features will appear online, in print and on MedLine/Pubmed/ISI.

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)

To aid in the processing and turnaround of issues, we ask that authors please adhere to the following figure guidelines. Authors will be asked to revise details and images if they do not adhere to the figure protocols. Any image processing should be explained clearly in the Materials and Methods section of your manuscript.

Please note the quality of figures and ease of processing can greatly affect the turnaround time of your paper as noted under "manuscript submission".

Figures should be as small and simple as is compatible with clarity. Unnecessary figures and panels in figures should be avoided: data presented in small tables or histograms, for instance, can generally be stated briefly in the text instead. Avoid unnecessary complexity, coloring and excessive detail. Figures should not contain more than one panel unless the parts are logically connected. Where possible, text, including keys to symbols, should be provided in the text of the figure legend rather than on the figure itself.

DO NOT EMBED GRAPHICS WITHIN YOUR MICROSOFT WORD TEXT DOCUMENT.

Guidelines for figure preparation:

    Resolution. All submitted images must be of high quality and have resolutions of at least 300 dpi ready for print.

    Formats. We require figures in electronic format. Please do not send PowerPoint or Word processing, presentation files, or paint files as they are inadequate for the creation of high quality images. Much of the information contained in PowerPoint or other file types is lost or skewed in the conversion of images. Figures should be provided as TIFF, Photoshop, EPS files or high resolution PDF files. Compatible graphic art programs are Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.

    Figure size. Figures should be submitted at the size they are to be published. The maximum height is 9.25 inches and maximum width 7.3 inches (2250 pixels by 2850 pixels). If possible, figures should conform one of the following sizes:

    -Up to 1 column wide: figure width should be 3.5 inches

    -1 to 1.5 columns wide: figure width should be 4 to 5 inches

    -2 columns wide: figure width should be 7 inches

    For multi-panel figures (such as figure 1a, 1b, 1c, etc.), each panel should be assembled into one image file. Do not include separate panels on multiple pages, i.e. A, B, C and D should all fit on one page. Each panel should be sized so that the figure as a whole can be reduced by the same amount and reproduced on the printed page at the smallest size at which essential details are visible (i.e.- all type should always be readable).

    Color mode. Save all color figures in CMYK mode at 8 bits/channel. Layering type directly over shaded or textured areas and using reversed type (white lettering on a colored background) should be avoided.

    Type. The font size should be no greater than 9 pt. and no smaller than 6 pt. Please be sure to embed all fonts. Fonts used should be sans serif such as Helvetica. Lettering in figures (labeling of axes and so on) should be in lower-case type, with the first letter capitalized and no full stop. Please keep font size relatively the same throughout the figures so as to avoid scaling issues. Also note that readability suffers if type is layered over a pattern or color other than white.

    Units. Units should have a single space between the number and the unit, and follow SI nomenclature or the nomenclature common to a particular field. Thousands should be separated by commas (1,000). Unusual units or abbreviations should be defined in the legend. Please use the proper microsymbol (denoting a factor of one millionth) rather than a lower case u.

References

There are no limits on the number of references.

Include in the reference list only those articles that have been published or are in press. Unpublished data or personal communications must be cited within the text.

The list of references should be numbered consecutively according to the first time mentioned within the article. Cite only the number assigned to the reference:

Correct: according to Jones.1

Incorrect: according to Jones1.

Correct: noted by Smith et al.1

Incorrect: Smith et al (1).

When referring the reader to specific references as part of a sentence please state:

Correct: For a review see refs. 20-25.

Incorrect: For a review see 20-25

Journal References

The reference format is the same for all of our journals. You may download the output style for Cell Cycle from Endnotes.

Abbreviate journal names according to the style used in Index Medicus or a comparable source and omit punctuation after journal titles. Spell out foreign or less commonly known journal names. List all authors up to 6 authors. If there are more than 6 authors, please list the first 6 authors followed by "et al."

[Author's last name] [Author's initials], [First six author's last names followed by their initials]. [Title of article with only the first word capitalized]. [Journal's standard abbreviated name] [Year]; [Volume (number)]:[Inclusive pages].

For Example:

  1. Hahn WC, Counter CM, Lundberg AS. Creation of human tumour cells with defined genetic elements. Nature 1999; 400:464-8.

  2. Fisher MJ, Virmani AK, Wu L, Aplenc R, Harper JC, Powell SM, et al. Nucleotide substitution in the ectodomain of trail receptor dr4 is associated with lung cancer and head and neck cancer. Clin Cancer Res 2001; 7:1688-97.

Book References

[Author's last name] [Author's initials], [Other authors' last names followed by initials]. [Chapter title]. In: [Editor's last name] [Editor's initials], ed(s). [Book Title]. [Number of edition]. [City]:[Publisher], [Year]:[Inclusive pages].

For Example:

  1. Ozoren N, El-Diery WS. Introduction to cancer genes and growth control. In: Ehrlic M, ed. DNA Alterations in Cancer: Genetic and Epigenetic Changes. Natick, MA: Eaton Publishing, 2000:3-43.

Supplementary Files

Please provide supplementary material in the following formats:

  • Text: MS Word file

  • Table/Data: MS Word file or Excel file

  • Figures: Please provide figures clearly labeled with figure legends below them. Accepted file types include PPT, XLS, DOC, PDF.

  • Please provide ALL files also in one PDF file. Links to supplemental data will be included in the PDF of the published manuscript.

  • Video Files: Video submissions for viewing online should be Audio Video Interleave (.avi), MPEG (.mpg), or Quick Time (.qt, .mov).

    1. AVI files can be displayed via Windows Media Player (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/players.aspx); MPEG files can be displayed via Windows Media Player; Quick Time files require Quick Time software (free) from Apple (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/index.html)
    2. Videos should be brief whenever possible (<2-5 minutes). Longer videos will require longer download times and may have difficulty playing online. Videos should be restricted to the most critical aspects of your research. A longer procedure can be restructured as several shorter videos and submitted in that form.
    3. It is advisable to compress files to use as little bandwidth as possible and to avoid overly long download times. Video files should be no larger than 5 megabytes. This is a suggested maximum. If files are larger please contact Kristine Pipit.
    4. A caption giving a brief overall description of the video content should be provided for each video.
    5. If your paper is accepted for publication you may wish to supply the editorial office with several different resolutions of your video files. This will allow viewers with slower connections to download a lower resolution version of your video.

Page and Color Charges

Papers are published in Cell Cycle on the understanding that the author will pay a charge of $100 U.S. dollars for each formatted page or part-page.

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. Color charges apply to all papers, including invited papers.

For guidance, a five page article with 3 figures (approx. 9cm x 9cm, =3.5" x 3.5") and 100 references would consist of approximately 2000 words of text including figure legends. A four page article with 2 figures (approx. 9cm x 9cm, =3.5" x 3.5") and 75 references would consist of approximately 2000 words of text including figure legends. These word counts do not include the references.

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 Managing Editor for page charges to be waived. This appeal must be made prior to publication online and 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.

Cover Image Submissions

Cell Cycle 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 Cell Cycle please email a high-resolution version of your image, conforming to the specifications below, and an explanatory caption of 50-60 words to Kristine Pipit.

Cell Cycle 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.
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