Editorial Policy
When a manuscript is submitted, the Editors assume that no similar paper has been or will be submitted for publication elsewhere. Further, it is understood that all authors listed on a manuscript have agreed to its submission. Upon acceptance, authors must sign a License to Publish. Download License to Publish form.

Manuscripts should conform to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (URMSBJ), which can be found in full at www.icmje.org. This is in addition to their need to conform to our general guidelines about layout etc. In particular, the attention of authors is drawn to the following conditions (which are extracted from the URMSBJ):

Authorship
Authorship credit should be based on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or reviewing/revising it critically for important intellectual content and 3) final approval of the version to the published. Each authors should meet all three of these criteria. Acquisition of funding, or general supervision of a research group, are not valid criteria for authorship. Individuals who have a lesser involvement should be thanked in the acknowledgements. If meeting these requirements causes problems for a particular manuscript, authors are encouraged to contact the Editor for advice on alternative ways in which other contributors can be listed.

Acknowledgment of Funding
Authors should list all sources of funding for the research described in a manuscript in the 'Acknowledgments' section.

Conflict of Interest
Potential conflicts of interest exist when an author or reviewer has financial or personal interests in a publication that might, in principle, influence their scientific judgment. Financial interests include, but are not limited to, stock-holding, consultancy, paid expert testimony and honoraria; they also include any limitations on freedom to publish that are imposed on an author by an employer or funding agency. In order to encourage transparency without impeding publication, authors are required that to include a statement at the end of a manuscript that lists all potential financial interests or, if appropriate, that clearly states that there are none. Possible conflicts of interest of a personal nature should also be communicated to the Editor, who will discuss with the author whether these ought to be listed. Peer reviewers are also required to inform the Editor of any potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.

Ethical Statements
If a study involves any ethical issues, which include patient confidentiality and treatment of animals, the paper must be accompanied by a statement to the effect that the authors complied with all of the legal requirements pertaining to the location(s) in which the work was done.
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.

Corrections and retractions
Authors are obliged to notify the Editor-in-Chief at once if they find that a published manuscript contains an error, plagiarism or fraudulent data. The journal will publish a correction, retraction or notice of concern at the earliest possible date: authors are encouraged to contact the Editor to discuss the most appropriate course of action.

Duplicate or redundant publication
We publish only original manuscripts that are not also published or going to be published elsewhere.
Duplicate publications, or redundant publications (re-packaging in different words of data already published by the same authors) will be rejected. If they are detected only after publication, the Editor reserves the right to publish a notice of the fact without requiring the authors' approval. Competing manuscripts on the same study, for example by collaborators who have split into rival teams after the data were gathered, are acceptable only under special circumstances: please contact the Editor for advice.

Plagiarism and other fraud
If the Editor has reason to suspect that a manuscript is plagiarized or fraudulent, he reserves the right to bring his concerns to the authors' sponsoring institution and any other relevant bodies.

Limits to freedom of expression
We are committed to academic freedom. It does, however, have to operate within the laws of the USA, where it is published. Although a liberal democracy that is committed to academic freedom, it does have certain legal restrictions on the publication of specific types of material (for example, defamation of character, incitement to racial hatred, material intended to aid terrorism etc). In the unlikely event that a manuscript contains material that contravenes these restrictions, the journal reserves the right to request that the material is removed from the manuscript or that the manuscript is withdrawn. In any case, the journal requires authors to take full legal responsibility for what they have written.

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.'

• •   significance to the field
• •   study of data
• •   quality of data
• •   quality of controls
• •   whether conclusions are justified
• •   whether the effects are meaningful
• •   whether the study is described clearly
• •   comment on the novelty of the work

If the reviewers believe the paper is potentially acceptable but could be improved, specific suggestions will be made for improvement.

Final acceptance of all submitted manuscripts is a decision made by the Editor(s) in consultation with the Editorial Board and reviewers. If a manuscript is believed to not meet the standards of the journal or is otherwise lacking in scientific rigor or contains major deficiencies, the reviewers will attempt to provide constructive criticism to assist the authors in ultimately improving their work for publication, here or elsewhere. Manuscripts not invited for resubmission will not be reconsidered.

If a manuscript receives favorable reviews but is not accepted outright following the initial review, it may be invited for reconsideration with the expectation that the authors will fully address the reviewer’s criticisms. Resubmitted manuscripts with major revisions will be sent back for peer review.

Accepted papers will be rapidly posted to the journal website as an E-publication (ahead of print).

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 (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MRC, NIH, Wellcome Trust) request 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 $900 for original papers (Research Papers or Reports) and $750 for all other types of papers.

NIH Manuscript Submission System
UK PubMed Central Manuscript Submission System

COMING SOON – If you purchase open access for your paper (see #2 above), Landes will post your paper with PubMed Central.  If you wish to have your paper posted with PubMed Central one year after publication (#1 above), we will take care of this for a nominal fee which will be outlined on the publication charge form authors receive with galley proofs.

Online Submission
Nucleus utilizes an online submission and tracking system 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 your manuscript to Nucleus.

Previously Submitted
Nucleus 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. Authors are encouraged to enclose the reviewers' and/or editorial comments from the journals mentioned above. This will expedite the evaluation of the article. In some instances, the article may be accepted base on the previous review. This allows urgent and competitive research to be published soon after submission. Papers submitted using the Select Submission Track can be accepted within 1-2 days.

Please submit your paper and contact Roland Foisner with the manuscript number and a PDF with the previous review. Upon acceptance, authors should provide the paper in Nucleus’s format.

Pre-submission inquiries
Pre-submission inquiries are not necessary but are welcome. 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-in-Chief (Roland Foisner).
 

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:

• Have your manuscript reviewed for clarity by a colleague whose native language is English.
• Use a service such as one of those listed at the end of our guidelines. 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.

Research Papers/Reports
Research Papers or Reports should include the following sections:

• 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.
• Key words: Include 5-10 for indexing purposes.
• Introduction.
• 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 Systeme International d'Unites (SI Units).
• 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.
• Patients and Methods/Materials and Methods: Describe selection of patients or experimental animals, including controls. Do not use patients' names or hospital numbers. Identify methods, apparatus (manufacturer's 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.
• For reagents listed in the Materials and Methods section, the company that supplied the reagent and the catalog number should be listed in parentheses; do not list the company location.
• References: No more than 85.
• Tables: Tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and include descriptive titles and legends.
• Figure legends.

Short Communications
Short 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.

Meeting Reports
Meeting Reports are summaries of presentations from recent meetings in the field. Authors are encouraged to contact the Editor with proposals for meeting reports. Also, please contact the meeting organizers to verify that reports will be permitted. Please include an abstract of 150-200 words and 5-10 key words for indexing purposes.

Letter to the Editor
A short focused text, with references, addressing a specific publication in Nucleus. Before such a Letter is published, the author of the original published article will be given the opportunity to reply to the Letter. If the author wishes to reply, the Letter and Reply Letter would be published together in the same issue of the journal.

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 Nucleus, Extra Views will appear online, 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.

• •   Title page, including titles, author's names (first, MI, last) and affiliations
• •   5-10 key words (for indexing purposes)
• •   Acknowledgments
• •   A list of abbreviations and acronyms used throughout the text
• •   A running title of no more than 50 characters in length
• •   Text (length and organization depends upon type of paper)
• •   An abstract, the primary goal of which is 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.)
• •   References
• •   Tables (with descriptive titles and legends)
• •   Figure legends

There are no word limits for papers published, however, accepted manuscripts are published with understanding that page and color charges will be assessed. Please see the section, Page and Color Charges below.

If the journal in which your paper is to be published is indexed by PubMed/Medline, the citation of your article will be sent to PubMed within one week of acceptance so please ensure all information is correct.

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
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.

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.

Guidelines for Figure Preparation

Image presentation
(These guidelines for image presentation are adapted from the “Instructions for Authors” that are posted at the Journal of Cell Biology web site, and are included here with permission).

As you prepare your figures, please adhere to the following guidelines to accurately present your data:

1. No specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced. 

2. The grouping of images from different parts of the same gel, or from different gels, fields, or exposures must be made explicit by the arrangement of the figure (i.e., using dividing lines) and in the text of the figure legend. 

3. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable if they are applied to the whole image and as long as they do not obscure, eliminate, or misrepresent any information present in the original, including the background. Non-linear adjustments must be disclosed in the figure legend.

A more detailed discussion of image presentation can be found at the following URL: http://jcb.rupress.org/content/166/1/11.full (Rossner and Yamada, J. Cell Biol. 166:11–15)

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. Maximum width = 7.1667 in. Maximum height = 9.6663 in.

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, including type, are visible and 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
Please be sure to embed all fonts. Use a sans serif font such as Helvetica. The font size should be no greater than 9 pt. and no smaller than 6 pt; however, panel labels (A, B, C) should be 15 pt. uppercase (not bold). Lettering in figures (labeling of axes and so on) should be in lowercase 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 or black.

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
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.

Please only list six authors and then use et al. Do not list less then six authors with et al.

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:

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

Journal References

Supplementary Files
The following fees apply for any supplemental material posted with a manuscript. A flat $100 rate for all text, figures and/or tables is assessed. Supplemental movies carry a rate of $150 for up to five movie files and $50 for each subsequent movie file. Fees will be outlined on the publication charge form authors receive with galley proofs.

Please provide supplementary material in the following formats:

• •   Text: MS Word file
• •   Table/Data: MS Word file or Excel file
• •   Figures: Please provide figures in a MS Word file or in a PPT file, clearly labeled with figure legends below them.

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

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


Publication Charges

For journals within their first year of publication, no page, color or supplemental fees are assessed. With the publication of Volume 2, Issue 1, a rate of $100 will be assessed for any page or part page used starting with and following page 5. Color charges will become effective at a rate of $340 for the initial page and $150 for each additional page. An option to covert color images to grayscale in order to eliminate color charges will be available. Supplementary fees will apply at a rate of $100 for all text, figures and/or tables assessed. Supplemental movie files will care a rate of $150 for up to five movie files and $50 for each subsequent movie file.

Page Proofs
Page proofs will be sent to the author via email. Page proofs should be returned within two working days, preferably by email. 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/Pre-Prints
A reprint and pre-print order form will be sent, along with an outline of publication charges, to authors via email with page proofs.

Formatting Services

International Edit

Formatting is critical for acceptance. We offer a formatting-only option for authors who want to ensure that all of the journal’s requirements—from page numbering to figure preparation—are met. Get this service for FREE if you also require editing.

• We format every detail to Landes journal guidelines.
• We identify missing reference information (e.g., missing volume number or authors’ initials?)
• We check that all references are cited – in the correct order and the correct manner.
• We ensure correct overall organization, including table, figure, and supplementary files.
• Authors do not pay until after receiving and reviewing their file(s).
• No registration. No hassle. We never have access to any of your personal information.

Cover Image Submissions
Nucleus 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 Nucleus please email a high-resolution version of your image, conforming to the specifications below, and an explanatory caption of 50-60 words to <Managing Editor>.

All potential cover images should be sized to fit on a singler letter size (8.5" x 11") page. 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
•   PSD (Adobe Photoshop: if graphics are built with layers, do not flatten), 300 dpi, CMYK at 100% size.
•   TIF, 300 dpi, CMYK at 100% size
•   JPG, 300 dpi highest quality, CMYK at 100% size.
•   EPS (scalable vector line art)
•   AI (Adobe Illustrator)