- SCOPE
The Journal of Physiology publishes full-length research
papers and Rapid Reports of particularly important work that merits
accelerated publication. Techniques for Physiology, introduced
in 2008, are short papers aimed at disseminating new techniques
for physiological research. Articles solicited by the Editorial
Board include Perspectives, Symposium Reports and Topical Reviews,
which highlight areas of special physiological interest, and Classical
Perspectives describing how classic papers published in The
Journal have influenced current research. Letters to the Editor
and Journal Club articles are also published. All categories of
papers are subjected to the same review procedure.
- The Journal
of Physiology does not impose page charges.
-
-
- POLICY
Subject areas
The Journal
of Physiology welcomes papers in all areas of physiology.
Authors should present original work that illustrates new
physiological principles or mechanisms. Papers on work at
the molecular level, at the level of the cell membrane, single
cells, tissues or organs and on systems physiology are all
acceptable. Theoretical papers will be considered if based
on experimentally derived data and if the hypothesis advanced
is directly amenable to experimental testing. While emphasis
is on human and mammalian physiology, work on lower vertebrate
or invertebrate preparations may be suitable if it furthers
the understanding of the functioning of other organisms including
mammals.
Some papers
may be rejected on the grounds that the subject matter is too
specialized or that the contribution they make to physiology
is insufficient to justify publication.
Editorial procedures
Certain members
of the Editorial Board, designated Senior Editors, are responsible
for assigning a paper to an appropriate Editor. It is the policy
of The Journal of Physiology that each paper is independently
reviewed by two people, normally the Editor and an Expert Referee;
in some cases a second Expert Referee may be consulted. It is the
aim of the Editorial Board that authors should receive an Editorial
Report within 4 weeks of receipt of the complete manuscript in
the Publications Office. Authors should note that when pairs of
papers are submitted the review process may take longer. Authors
should nominate two members of the Editorial Board of The Journal
of Physiology to act as reviewing editors. They may also suggest
suitable referees, but should not nominate referees who have been
involved in any way with the submitted manuscript, or with whom
they have collaborated during the past 5 years, or who are based
in the same institution as the author. Authors may also identify
referees who may have a conflict of interest. Authors' preferences
will be taken into consideration but there is no guarantee that
they will be acted upon. The final decision rests with The
Journal. Any appeal against the editorial decision must be
made within 2 weeks of the date of the decision letter, appeals received more than 2 weeks after the date of the decision letter cannot be considered. Manuscripts
considered unsuitable for a full review, for whatever reason, will
be triaged to allow authors to submit elsewhere with a minimum
of delay.
Authors with manuscripts under review should not make contact regarding the manuscript with possible editors or reviewers, for example, those whose names are suggested on the submission form, as this may disrupt the review process by creating a conflict of interest for the editor or reviewer.
Editorial conflict-of-interest policy
Original manuscripts
authored or co-authored by members of the Editorial Board, including
the Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor-in-Chief, are handled by
a Senior Editor, who makes all decisions about the manuscript
(including choice of Editor, Expert Referees and ultimate acceptance
or rejection). Original manuscripts authored or co-authored by
Senior Editors are handled by the Editor-in-Chief or Deputy Editor-in-Chief
of the Editorial Board, who makes all decisions about the manuscript
(including choice of Editor, Expert Referees and ultimate acceptance
or rejection). These entire processes are handled confidentially,
and at no time do authors or co-authors who are members of the
Editorial Board have access to the names of Editors or Expert
Referees responsible for the review of their papers. Senior Editors
and Editors do not handle or review manuscripts from their home
institutions.
Overlapping material
Only in exceptional
circumstances may results submitted for publication in The
Journal of Physiology repeat findings already published
or intended to be published by the authors elsewhere; inclusion
on a website
of material other than an abstract is considered as prior publication.
Authors should instead refer to their previous findings in
the same way as they would to work from a different group.
This policy applies to results in the widest sense and not
simply to figures or parts of figures. The Editorial Board
emphasizes that a manuscript which is merely an expanded version
of work published elsewhere is not acceptable. An exception
to this policy applies in the case of an abstract that does
not exceed about 400 words.
A submission
must be accompanied by copies of any material, published by the
authors in the last year, that overlaps the content of the manuscript.
This should include preliminary notes, communications, abstracts,
chapters or reviews. Please also include any ‘in
press’ or submitted articles. These should be submitted as ‘Supplemental
files’ in PDF format, and reference made to them in the authors’ covering
letter.
Conflict of interest
Using the covering
letter on the electronic manuscript submission form, authors
are required to disclose any potential conflict of interest
such as consultancies, financial involvement, patent ownership,
etc. Where such information is not already disclosed in the
manuscript, it will be held in confidence during the review
process. Should the article be accepted for publication the
relevant information will be given in the Acknowledgements.
Ethical standards
Authors should
note that the processing of papers may be delayed if there is
any doubt about their conformity with the ethical standards
required by The Journal of Physiology. Because The
Journal has a wide scope and readership, we always require authors to
provide full information on the ethical approval process and
sufficient explicit information about experimental procedures
to allow non-specialist readers to appreciate the extent and
need for the procedures described.
1. Research
misconduct
The Editorial
Board is alert to any form of research or publication misconduct
including plagiarism, submission of fraudulent results/data
including doctored figures, dual publication and false or incomplete
attribution of authorship. It is also considered malpractice
for an author to make inappropriate contact with a reviewer during
the review process with the aim of influencing the outcome. The
Editorial Board endorses the general principles set out in Guidelines
on Good Publication Practice produced by the Committee on Publication
Ethics (COPE). The Guidelines are available from the web on: www.publicationethics.org.uk.
Authors should be aware that The Journal of Physiology will
take action along the lines indicated in the COPE Guidelines
where misconduct is suspected. Serious cases of misconduct
will be referred to The Physiological Society's Publication
Ethics Committee, drawn from an independent, international panel
of physiologists. The authors' institutions may also be informed.
2. Animal
experiments
The Editorial
Board will not allow the publication of papers describing experimental
procedures on living animals which may reasonably be presumed to
have inflicted unnecessary pain or discomfort upon them.
To be acceptable for publication, experiments on living vertebrates
or Octopus vulgaris should conform with the principles of
UK legislation. Whenever appropriate, a statement should be included
indicating that experiments were performed in accordance with named national
legislation where this exists or, in its absence, with the requirements
of the named institutional/local body concerned with the
ethics of experimentation. Authors must give a full description
of their anaesthetic and surgical procedures, and of peri-operative
care, at every stage (including preparatory stages). Where work
involves decerebrate animals the level of section must be specified;
destruction of tissue rostral to the section must be included as
an essential part of the technique. For anaesthesia the following
details are required:
1. generic
name for the anaesthetic(s);
2. dose
and route used;
3. dose,
route and frequency of supplementary doses, plus criteria
for giving additional doses, when neuromuscular blocking agents
are used.
Note that chilling
is not an acceptable method for rendering cold-blooded vertebrates
insentient; an anaesthetic agent must be used. Authors must provide
evidence that they took adequate steps to ensure that animals did
not suffer unnecessarily at any stage of an experiment, whether
acute or chronic. Where relevant, the fact that animals were killed
at the end of an experiment should be stated.
Authors working
on isolated tissues, including primary cell cultures, must state
whether the donor animal was anaesthetized or killed, and give details
of the relevant procedures. Where tissues are obtained from an abattoir
or similar establishment the method of killing need not be specified
unless scientifically important.
Use of neuromuscular
blocking agents and of nitrous oxide
In experiments
involving the use of neuromuscular blocking agents authors must
describe the precautions taken to ensure the adequacy of anaesthesia.
They must provide sufficient detail to enable the reader to determine
that no unnecessary suffering occurred. The Physiological Society
has issued the following advice:
‘When
neuromuscular blocking agents are used with anaesthetic agents
during physiological experiments, safeguards are required to ensure
that the animal does not experience unnecessary pain or distress.
It is the responsibility of the person conducting the experiment
to ensure that anaesthesia is adequate. Neuromuscular blocking
agents should never be used without anaesthesia.
- 1. For any
experiment using neuromuscular blocking agents it should first
be established that the proposed anaesthetic regime is adequate,
in the absence of these agents, to provide analgesia for any surgical
procedure or noxious stimulus which is proposed. When light levels
of anaesthesia are considered appropriate for experimental purposes,
it should have been established that deeper levels of anaesthesia
would interfere with the purpose of the experiment. All preparatory
major surgery should be performed under full surgical anaesthesia.
Subsequent procedures under light anaesthesia in the presence
of neuromuscular blocking agents should be conducted in such a
way that any residual pain from the initial surgery is blocked
by local anaesthetics or analgesia and no further noxious stimuli
are delivered. It should be noted that some methods of head holding
using ear bars and zygomatic bars are a potential source of pain:
other, atraumatic, methods of head restraint should be used in
lightly anaesthetized animals.
2. During the course
of each experiment in the period when neuromuscular blocking
agents are used there must be a protocol for continuous or regular
assessment of adequacy of anaesthesia. The appropriate methods
of assessment will depend on the particular anaesthetic and
the particular experiment. For example:
(a) the monitoring
of changes in heart rate and blood pressure provides one of
the most valuable indices of the level of anaesthesia. Neuromuscular
blocking agents, in doses which do not reduce blood pressure,
do not abolish autonomic cardiovascular reflexes. A preparation
in which precipitate cardiovascular responses occur to minor
noxious stimuli must be considered too lightly anaesthetized;
(b) the electroencephalogram
can be monitored and changes in pattern with minor noxious stimuli
may be a valuable guide. Thus, many experiments can be conducted
while the EEG is in the unaroused state characteristic of moderate
anaesthesia. However, some anaesthetics (e.g. chloralose) induce
an EEG that cannot readily be interpreted, and the relation
between EEG waveform and the suffering of pain is, in any case,
not known. It should also be noted that changes in arterial  and the administration of atropine and
certain other drugs may alter the relation between the EEG and
behavioural state;
(c) the state of
the pupil can provide a further indication of the level of anaesthesia.
Generally, under anaesthesia pupils are constricted, and dilated
pupils, or pupils which react rapidly to stimuli, are indicative
of inadequate anaesthesia. This is not a suitable test for experiments
on the visual system when drugs have been administered which
paralyse accommodation and dilate the pupils.
3. Nitrous oxide
(N2O)
has effective mood changing (tranquillizing) and analgesic
properties and is useful because of the ease and consistency
of delivery but, even at the maximum concentration feasible
at normal pressures, it is not an adequate anaesthetic for
surgery in cats. Caution should be used in relying upon it
for maintenance, even when precautions have been taken to
avoid noxious stimuli. It becomes especially important to
assess the animal’s state periodically and to use supplementary
agents as required.’
3. Human
experiments
The
Editorial Board is concerned that all work published in The
Journal of Physiology should have been conducted according
to the highest standards of safety and ethics. Legislation and
accepted practice concerning human experimentation vary from country
to country and consequently it is difficult to define absolute
requirements. However, work with human subjects should conform
to the standards set by the Declaration of Helsinki (last
modified in 2004) (http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm),
the Medical Research Council’s online guidelines MRC interim
guidance on ethics of research involving human material derived
from the nervous system
(2003) (http://www.mrc.ac.uk/pdf-nervous_tissue_guidance.pdf),
and the guidelines set out below. The objectives must be to ensure
that all risks are minimized and that subjects are not injured
and do not feel they have been abused as a result of participating
in the study. Any definition of abuse will include excessive or
unexpected pain or discomfort experienced during the experiment.
Note, in the case of experiments involving minors, any risks must
have been considered absent or minimal, and evidence must be presented
that the experiments were performed with the understanding and
consent of the legal guardian.
All manuscripts
must contain statements indicating that (i) informed consent
has been obtained, preferably in writing, (ii) studies conformed
to the standards set by the Declaration of Helsinki, and
(iii) the procedures have been approved by the local ethics committee.
1. The acceptability
of procedures used will depend on the age and health of the subjects.
Manuscripts should state the age, sex, health status and, where
necessary, fitness of participants.
2. ‘Informed’
consent means that subjects have been told not only of the procedures
and risks from the experiment but also that they are free to withdraw
at any time without jeopardy. Experiments with children must have,
in addition to the acquiescence of the child, the informed consent
of the parent or guardian.
3. Experiments
must be conducted by suitably qualified personnel with medical
support where appropriate. The possible adverse physical and psychological
effects of invasive procedures, painful stimuli, the stress of
physical performance, sleeplessness, confinement or sensory deprivation
must be borne in mind.
4. Monetary
or other rewards are commonly provided in physiological studies
that involve discomfort. Such rewards should not be so large as
to induce subjects to participate against their better judgement.
Particular care should be taken to ensure that students and junior
laboratory personnel are not inadvertently coerced to participate
by senior staff.
5. When drugs
are to be given to a subject, their usual actions and potential
side-effects must be explained verbally and, when appropriate,
in writing.
6. It is
the duty of the experimenter to minimize the physical risks to
the subject. Such precautions will depend on the type of experiment:
examples include having stops on mechanical devices, limiting
the electric current provided by nerve stimulators and providing
resuscitation facilities where necessary. Where procedures involve
the sampling of body fluids suitable aseptic conditions must be
used.
7. Procedures
involving exposure to radiation should be detailed separately
in the manuscript and include a statement of the dose given.
8. The identity
of subjects must remain confidential; only with the written consent
of the subject may his or her name be revealed.
9. Before
human biopsy or post-mortem tissue is taken for study, consent
must be obtained from the subject, or relatives where appropriate.
This should be stated in the manuscript.
Unique reagents
Papers are
accepted on the understanding that authors are prepared to make
available to other investigators any unique reagents or cell lines
used in the work reported.
Copyright and reproduction
Authors may
make copies of their own papers published in The Journal of Physiology,
provided that such copies are for free distribution only; they must
not be sold.
Authors may
re-use their own illustrations in other publications appearing under
their own name, without seeking permission, provided that the source
of the material is properly acknowledged. Permission to reproduce
material from The Journal of Physiology, either in The
Journal or in other publications, will not generally be given
to third parties except with the consent of the authors concerned.
Specific permission
will not be required for photocopying copyright material in the
following circumstances.
1. For private
study, provided the copying is done by the person requiring
its use, or by an employee of the institution to which he/she
belongs, without charge beyond the actual cost of copying.
2. For the
production of multiple copies of such material, to be used
for
bona fide educational purposes, provided this is done
by a member of the staff of the university, school or other
comparable institution, for distribution without profit to student
members of that institution, and provided the copy is made from
the original journal.
For all other
matters relating to the reproduction of copyright material written
application must be made to the publishers at the address below.
Publication
costs
The Journal
of Physiology does not impose submission or page charges.
-
-
-
-
The Journal of Physiology is published on PubMed Central. Therefore authors funded by the NIH do not need to submit their papers to PubMed Central after publication.
2. Colour charges
There is no charge for colour figures online.
Authors are asked to contribute towards the cost of printing colour
figures.
Per figure charges are given at the end of the publisher’s
colour work agreement form:
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/SN_Upw2000_F_CoW.pdf
The total cost will be: cost of colour print figures + mandatory
UK VAT at 17.5%.
3. Offprint charges
Authors are supplied with a PDF file of the final published article,
along with guidelines for its use. Offprints can be purchased
from the publisher by completing the Offprints order form provided
with the proof. For further information contact Blackwell Publishing
Ltd: TJP{at}oxon.blackwellpublishing.com%20
- ADMINISTRATIVE
PROCEDURES
Submission of manuscripts
All manuscripts
must be submitted electronically using the online submission form
(http://submit.jphysiol.org).
Full instructions are given with the form. To avoid excessively
large files, which are time consuming for both uploading by the
authors and downloading for the reviewing process,
no file should be larger than 5 MB (5,000K).
Enquiries
should be sent to:
The Journal
of Physiology
Publications Office
PO Box 502
Cambridge
CB1 0AL
UK
Tel: + 44
(0)1223 400180
Fax: + 44 (0)1223 246858
Email: journals{at}physoc.org
Web: http://www.jphysiol.org
Manuscripts should
be submitted initially as PDF files; numbered figures and tables should
be included in the PDF file in the first instance. To facilitate the
reviewing process the submitted manuscript should be formatted with
the body text in 12 point Times New Roman, or a similar font, and line
spacing of 1.5. Text should be left-aligned and surrounded by 3 cm
margins. The formatting of text and headings will be removed during
the production process and replaced with The Journal styles.
Upon acceptance a Word file of the manuscript will be required. High-quality
figure files will be requested if necessary. Authors wishing to have
figures in colour online but black and white in print must submit both
colour and black and white versions of the figures for review.
They must also ensure that the figure legends apply to both versions
of the figures, i.e. contain no mention of colour. As papers are now
published online in manuscript form upon acceptance, it is important
that figures are of a suitable quality at this stage. For details see Guidelines
for preparing figures and tables. A signed Exclusive Licence Form
will be required upon acceptance, together with a Colour Work Agreement
Form if the manuscript contains any colour figures. Both forms are
available on the online submission system. Provided these forms have been faxed to the Publications office, it is sufficient to send the originals by regular mail.
Correspondence
Following submission
of a manuscript, all correspondence, up to the stage of acceptance,
is dealt with by the Senior Editor whose name, address, and telephone
and fax numbers are given in the acknowledgement. After acceptance
all matters related to printing should be addressed to the Managing
Editor at the Publications Office.
The Editors
cannot accept responsibility for loss of files submitted
to them. Contributors are advised to keep copies of all text
and figure files during the review process.
Date of receipt
The date of
receipt of each paper will be printed and is normally the date
on which the manuscript is first received in the Publications
Office. Papers submitted without all the information specified
in these instructions will not be given editorial consideration
until it has been provided; this applies especially to aspects
of animal welfare/ethics. The date of receipt published will then
refer to the date when the complete submission was received. If
an author fails to deal with requested revisions within a reasonable
time (usually one month) the date of original receipt will be
replaced by the date on which the new version was received in the
Publications Office.
Accelerated publication of Rapid Reports
Authors may
request that their manuscript be considered as a Rapid Report
for accelerated publication. Priority will be given to such papers
at all stages, the Editorial Report normally being sent to authors
within 4 weeks of receipt of the paper.
Rapid Reports
should be complete in themselves; pairs or sequences are not allowed
for papers in this category. Papers should be presented in the
usual format. A Rapid Report, including figure legends, should
not exceed 3500 words (about 12 double-spaced A4 pages at 12 c.p.i.;
authors must indicate on the title page the number of words in
the manuscript). In addition to the text allowance, up to a total
of five figures/tables and no more than 30 references will be
allowed. The other conditions of publication are as below.
Authors
must indicate on the submission form and in the covering letter
that they wish the manuscript to be considered as a Rapid Report
for accelerated publication.
Letters
to the Editor
Submitted letters
should address serious scientific points arising out of a recent
paper published in The Journal of Physiology, such
as interpretation of data and methodology. The content should be
objective, and there should be no references of a personal or derogatory
nature to the original authors or their colleagues. Authors of published
papers to which a letter may refer have a right of reply, to be published
with the original letter. No new data may be introduced into a letter,
but may be included in the reply. Letters and replies will be published
both online and in the print version of The Journal of Physiology.
A letter should
be submitted as a Word file attachment to an email addressed to mwilson{at}physoc.org It
should not exceed 1000 words. The letter will be forwarded to a
member of the Editorial Board for a decision. An editor may decide
not to publish a letter based on lack of scientific relevance or
if the subject matter of the letter is too minor to be relevant
to the readership at large. If accepted, a reply is invited, The
Editor reserves the right to publish the letter without a reply.
Journal
Club
The
Journal of Physiology encourages the submission, by graduate
students, post-doctoral fellows and other training-level scientists,
of short reviews of papers published within the last 3 months in
The Journal. These reviews can be the result of formal laboratory
journal club discussions or informal discussions among interested
parties. Multiple authorship is encouraged.
It is expected that senior investigators will provide assistance in the preparation
of articles and it is appropriate to acknowledge such assistance. However, as
the journal club is a forum for students and post-doctoral fellows, co-authorship
by senior authors is discouraged.
The reviews will appear
under the heading ‘Journal Club’ in the table of contents.
Articles should
provide a frank, honest review that is neither hyper-critical nor
hyper-laudatory; articles that do not maintain the normal level
of tact and respect expected of scholarly work will not be accepted
for publication.
Journal Club
articles will be handled by a designated Editor. Submissions will
be screened by the Reviewing Editor who handled the source manuscript
for accuracy and appropriateness. Submissions that necessitate
more than minor revisions will not be accepted for publication.
- Articles
should be submitted using the online submission form (http://submit.jphysiol.org).
They should consist of a brief background, a brief presentation
of the data of interest and a very brief discussion of the significance
of the manuscript or a specific aspect of the manuscript. Articles
should be less than two pages (1500 words) and contain no more
than five citations. Authors should refer to ‘Preparation
of manuscripts’ below for guidance on formatting references.
No abstract or figures are required and no more than one figure
may be included in the article. Queries relating to a submission
may be sent to journalclub{at}physoc.org
Please note that it is The Journal's policy not to publish
more than one Journal Club article per year from the same author(s).
Techniques
for Physiology
Techniques for Physiology is a new section in The Journal of
Physiology for short papers aimed at disseminating exciting
new techniques for physiological research. The papers must provide
a significant advance in technology or a radical new technique
that allows investigators to ask deeper questions about physiology.
Papers should be relevant to current subject themes in The
Journal.
Papers should
be laid out in the normal format, but the Abstract should indicate
in 100 words why this advance is so significant. The papers should
be short (<2000 words), with no more than three
figures (colour is strongly encouraged in The Journal print
version). Some physiological data, showing the relevance and utility
of the technique, must be shown. References will be limited to 10.
Further information, such as videos, can be shown in supplementary
information in the online version.
The Editorial Board may solicit submissions, but unsolicited submissions
are also welcomed.
Proofs
Proofs should
be corrected and returned promptly since publication is in order
of receipt of corrected proofs. Excessive alterations by the authors
of the accepted copy may be subject to further editorial consideration
and may be charged to the authors.
Offprints
Offprints can
be supplied if ordered at the same time as proofs are returned.
A complimentary copy of the relevant issue of The
Journal will be sent to all corresponding authors, together
with a PDF file of their paper.
- PREPARATION
OF MANUSCRIPTS
General
information
English spelling
(as in The Chambers Dictionary or the Oxford English
Dictionary) and terminology should
be used (e.g. colour, fibre, noradrenaline). Clarity of expression
and conciseness will be taken into consideration.
Arrangement
of papers
The
usual format form research papers is:
- Title
page
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Methods
- Results
- Discussion
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Tables
- Figures
and legends
Papers deviating
from the usual format can be considered for publication if there
are obvious and compelling reasons for the variation. Footnotes
are not acceptable.
1.
Title page
The title
of the paper should be as informative and interesting as possible,
but authors may be asked to reduce the length if over 150 characters
and spaces. The Editors will not accept a series of papers with
the same main title, e.g. ‘Studies
in . . . Part I’,
‘Studies in . . . Part II’. For abbreviations that
are acceptable in the title see the Abbreviations section
below.
A running
title not exceeding 70 characters and spaces must be given
for page headings.
Three key
words for use in the reviewing process should be provided.
The total
number of words in the paper, excluding references and figure
legends, should be added to the title page.
Authors
should assign their paper to one of the Table of Contents categories
in the online submission form (http://submit.jphysiol.org/submission/)
for the print and online Table of Contents (TOC). After publication
the paper will also appear in an online collection of papers
in the same TOC category. Authors can request that their paper
is assigned to other online collections in the letter accompanying
their submission.
Authorship
The author
submitting a manuscript must ensure that all authors listed
are eligible for authorship. The Editorial Board endorses the
general principles set out in Guidelines on Good Publication
Practice produced by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE; http://www.publicationethics.org.uk/guidelines).
If authorship of a manuscript changes during the publication
process, notification of the change, signed by the corresponding
author and any authors whose names have been added to or removed
from the manuscript, must be sent to the Publications Office:
The Journal
of Physiology
Publications Office
PO Box 502
Cambridge
CB1 0AL
UK
The editorial
process cannot proceed until this notification is received.
A statement
that certain authors have contributed equally to the work may
be included as a footnote on the title page.
Addresses
Authors should
provide the minimum address information consistent with clarity
and should ensure that authors’ affiliations
are clearly indicated.
2.
Abstract
This should
be in one unnumbered paragraph that accurately reflects the
contents of the paper and makes clear the physiological significance
of the work, the problem addressed, the nature of the results,
and the principal conclusions;
authors are expected to conclude the summary by explaining the conceptual novelty
and the broader physiological importance of their work. Results should be presented
quantitatively where appropriate, together with the statistical
significance, and the conclusions indicated. References may
not be cited.
Since the Abstract may be used by abstracting services, a limit
of 250 words is recommended. It must not exceed 5 % of the text
(excluding references and figure legends), with an absolute
maximum of one printed page.
3. Introduction
The Introduction
should make the background and the object of the research
clear, indicate the justification for the work and be understandable
to the non-specialist. Reference to the authors’ previous
work is desirable only if it has a direct bearing on the subject
of the paper; an extensive historical review is not appropriate.
4. Methods
Methods are
described once only and do not appear in the legends to figures
and tables. Details should be sufficient to allow the work
to be repeated by others. Authors should note that to be acceptable
for publication, experiments on living vertebrates or Octopus
vulgaris should conform with the principles of UK legislation.
Ethical
information
Start the Methods section with a paragraph headed Ethical approval.
This paragraph must contain the following information:
- The name
of the national or local ethics committee that approved
the project and the relevant regulations governing all the
studies described in the paper.
- If
experiments were conducted on humans, confirmation that
informed consent was obtained, preferably in writing, that
the studies conformed to the standards set by the latest
revision of the Declaration of Helsinki, and that
the procedures were approved by a properly constituted ethics
committee, which should be named.
When describing
experimental protocols the following information must be
provided:
- The numbers
of animals studied.
- In accord
with the earlier section ‘Ethical standards’, all details
concerning anaesthesia, including:
a.
Generic name of the agents, with dose and route of administration.
b.
Route and frequency of any supplemental doses.
c.
When neuromuscular blocking agents are used, the criteria used
for giving supplemental doses. The Results section should give
a summary of these doses.
- Where
relevant, the method of humane killing at the end of
the experiment.
- In studies
of isolated tissues, including cell cultures, details
of the methods by which these tissues were obtained, including
the method of anaesthesia or killing.
Ethical
information must be included for each manuscript. It is not
sufficient to refer to previous publications for details,
unless the paper is one of a series published in the same
issue.
Where appropriate,
lists of solutions, chemicals and equipment, and an
explanation of data handling procedures may be given as separate
headed paragraphs. The maker’s
name should be given for all non-standard chemicals,
apparatus and equipment. Materials known by a trade name,
e.g. Perspex, have the initial letter as a capital. The Latin
names as well as the common name of non-mammalian species
should be given.
5. Results
Quantitative
observations are often better presented graphically than in
tables. Authors should ensure that their data are treated
correctly, taking statistical advice if necessary. Analysis
of variance (ANOVA), not t tests, should be used for
multiple comparisons; parametric and non-parametric statistics
should be used appropriately, and particular care should be
taken over the expression of means and errors where data have
been transformed onto a logarithmic scale. Standard deviations
and standard errors of the means (as appropriate) should be
given with not more than two significant figures; the form
used, and the n value, should be stated. Tests of
significance should be specified in full, e.g. Student’s
paired t test. It is not usually necessary to present
the individual results of a large number of repeated tests
if the number of measurements is stated. Theory and inference
must be clearly distinguished from what was observed, and
should not be elaborated upon in this section.
6.
Discussion
The Discussion,
which follows the Results section, should be separate from
it. The assumptions involved in making inferences from the
experimental results should be stated. The Discussion should
not merely recapitulate the results. Authors should provide
a succinct conclusion to their work
and are encouraged to conclude the Discussion by expressing an opinion on the
relevance of the results in the context of work cited in the paper.
In appropriate
circumstances an Appendix or a Theory section may be accepted
where, for example, it is necessary to derive mathematical
results required in the paper.
7.
References
The paper
should conclude with a list of the papers and books cited
in the text. Authors should avoid an excessive number of references.
Normally about 50 should be adequate (a maximum of 30 references
for Rapid Reports is strictly adhered to). The order of references
is strictly alphabetical, regardless of chronology. The format
for references to papers and books, and to chapters in books,
is as follows:
Lipp P,
Egger M & Niggli E (2002). Spatial characteristics of
sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release events triggered
by L-type Ca2+ current and Na+ current
in guinea-pig cardiac myocytes. J Physiol 542,
383-393.
Adrian
ED (1932). The Mechanism of Nervous Action. Humphrey
Milford, London.
Buchan
AMJ, Bryant MG, Polak JM, Gregor M, Ghatei MA & Bloom
SR (1981). Development of regulatory peptides in the human
fetal intestine. In Gut Hormones, 2nd edn, ed. Bloom
SR & Polak JM,
pp. 119-124. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh.
Attention
to punctuation is required.
Use only
established abbreviated journal titles. See PubMed journals
database: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=journals
To download
the current references style for use with EndNote, Reference
Manager, ProCite, BibTeX and RefWorks go to http://jp.physoc.org/cgi/citmgr?gca=jphysiol;579/2/289&ck=nck
DOIs for
articles in press
Many journals
now publish articles online ahead of print. This initial posting
to the web qualifies as publication and the citation of such
articles should include the DOI (digital object identifier)
if the article's full publication details have not yet been
assigned:
Lipp
P, Egger M & Niggli E (2002). Spatial characteristics
of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release events
triggered by L-type Ca2+
current and Na+ current in guinea-pig cardiac myocytes.
J Physiol; DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2001.013382.
In the text,
references should be made by giving the author and the year
of publication in parentheses, e.g. (Lamb, 1986), except when
the author’s name is part of the sentence, e.g. ‘Lamb
(1986) showed that . . . ’. Where several references
are given together they are in chronological order, separated
by semicolons.
When a paper
written by two authors is cited, both names are given; for
three or more authors only the first name is given, followed
by ‘et
al.’. Unpublished material may be referred to sparingly
in the text, by giving the authors’ initials and names
followed by ‘unpublished observations’ or ‘personal
communication’;
such citations should not appear in the list of references.
References cited as being ‘in press’ must have
been accepted for publication, and the name of the journal
or publisher included in the reference list.
- 8. Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
should be the minimum consistent with courtesy. The wording
of acknowledgements of scientific assistance or advice must
have been seen and approved by the persons concerned. Authors
must indicate the source of their funding.
9. Tables
Tables should
be used sparingly. They should be referred to in the text by
arabic numerals, e.g. Table 3. Each table should have its own
self-explanatory title. The same information should not be presented
in both tabular and graphical forms. Tables should be included
in the main text file and should not be submitted as separate
files. Guidelines
for preparing figures and tables.
10.
Figures and legends
Each figure
should be given a title and be accompanied by a legend that
makes it comprehensible without reference to the text, although
undue repetition should be avoided. For detailed instructions
for preparation of figures see Guidelines
for preparing figures and tables.
Authors
may submit coloured illustrations whenever they enhance the
scientific value of the paper. Colour figures online only are
free, but there is a charge for printing figures in colour. Upon
submission of a manuscript, authors should download the Colour
Agreement Form (http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/SN_Upw2000_F_CoW.pdf),
which gives information on the cost of colour reproduction. Authors
wishing to have figures in colour online but black and white
in print must submit both colour and black and white versions
of the figures for review. They must also ensure
that the figure legends apply to both versions of the figures,
i.e. contain no mention of colour.
Upon acceptance, only the colour versions of figures that are to be colour online
only should be included with the manuscript going to press.
Enquiries should be addressed to the Publications
Office (journals{at}physoc.org).
Where figures
from previous publications are used (even if these have been
redrawn), it is the author’s responsibility to obtain permission
from the original journal and to include these with the submission.
Authors are
encouraged to provide a figure for possible use
on the cover although there is no guarantee that it will be selected.
It need not necessarily appear in the paper but should be related
to it. The figure must not have appeared or been submitted
elsewhere.
Supplemental
material
The Journal of Physiology gives authors the opportunity to submit data files that are inappropriate or impractical to include in the printed version for publication online only as separate supplemental material. These data may substantially enhance the importance of the research and be of benefit to readers, but should not be essential for the understanding of the paper, i.e. the manuscript must be able to stand alone in print and online without the data. Authors are encouraged to include data such as videos, 3-D structures/images and any other supplemental data too large for print publication.
All supplemental material must be submitted with the original manuscript. Figure legends should follow their corresponding figure. Please put all supplemental material into a single file if possible, but if the supplemental file sizes exceed 10 MB in total please contact the Publications Office (journals{at}physoc.org).
Links to web sites may be included in manuscripts, but these links
must terminate on a permanent data repository, such as those of
the host platforms used by The Journal. Links to private author's
web pages/sites are not permitted.
Abbreviations
Authors should
avoid abbreviations unless they are easily understood and help
in reading the paper. Abbreviations should be defined when first
introduced and are normally printed in upper-case letters without
stops (a list of preferred abbreviations is available to
download here [PDF]).
Symbols,
units and mathematical notation
Recommended
mathematical symbols and ways of printing them are given in Quantities,
Units, and Symbols (1975), published by the Royal Society,
London; this also includes a full discussion of the use of
units.
The SI system
of units and index notation should be used, e.g. ml s-1
rather than ml/s.
Guidance for the use of SI units and conventions for the typeface of symbols
can also be found at http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/index.html
Certain
traditional units that are still in common usage are also acceptable, for example:
length,
Å (SI unit nm)
pressure, mmHg, Torr (SI unit kPa)
radioactivity, Ci = Curie (SI unit Bq)
O2 uptake and CO2 elimination, l min-1
(SI unit mol s-1).
Authors should
ensure that consistency is maintained throughout the manuscript,
including illustrations and tables.
Chemical
and biological nomenclature
In general,
the conventions in chemical nomenclature adopted by the Biochemical
Society should be followed. These are described in the Biochemical
Journal Instructions to Authors available online from www.BiochemJ.org
Names of species
and genera should be in italics. Names of muscles, bones etc.
should be in roman type (i.e. not in italics).
|
Scope