Spandidos Publications
Information for authors
Manuscript submission process
The content of this webpage is available for download as a
The content of this webpage is available for download in
Online Submission
Spandidos Publications journals utilize an online submission and tracking system designed to provide a faster, more efficient service to authors.
Submission guidelines
The principal aim of Spandidos Publications is to publish promptly original works of high quality in English.
Manuscripts will be considered on the understanding that they report original work, or are review articles summarizing and interpreting progress in a thematic area and are not under consideration for publication by another journal.
Manuscripts should be written in clear, concise English and should contain all essential data in order to make the presentation clear and the results of the study replicable.
Authors who are not native speakers of English but would like to improve the English to ensure the meaning is clear can make use of the English Language Editing service offered by Spandidos Publications by accessing the following link:
All material submitted will be subject to review by appropriate referees selected by the Editorial Office and will be examined to detect inappropriate use of previously published material without attribution.
Spandidos Publications utilizes iThenticate to screen submitted manuscripts against published studies and other relevant sources. iThenticate may also be utilized by authors to screen a manuscript prior to submission.
The Editors reserve the right to improve the grammar and style of manuscripts.
The corresponding author is responsible for the submission on behalf of all authors.
Prior to submitting your manuscript, please ensure that it has been prepared according to the guidelines below.
1. Submission method
Manuscripts may be submitted only by using the online submission system accessible via our website http://www.. Create a user account, log in and follow the onscreen directions.
2. Cover letter
Summarize briefly the important points of the submitted work including a brief description of the study to be submitted, that it is an original study presenting novel work, that it has not been previously submitted to or accepted by any other journal, that is has been approved by all authors, that Ethics approval and written informed consent have been obtained, and explain whether any author has a conflict of interest.
3. Format of articles and reviews
3.1 General style
Sub-titles and general headings should be presented in lower case letters (not capitals).
Use British English or American English spellings throughout your manuscript, but not both.
3.2 Manuscripts
The first page should include:
The title of the manuscript in sentence case. No abbreviations other than gene names or in common use.
Full names and full postal addresses, but not including street names, of all authors should be provided and ORCID (http://orcid.org) if desired.
Indicate affiliations of the authors by number (not symbols).
Indicate equal contribution by asterisk.
Name, full postal address, including street number and name, and e-mail address of the corresponding author(s).
Abbreviations, if relevant.
Key words (5 & 10).
Running title (maximum 100 characters with spaces), including the first author's name. For example: PEARSON et al: REGULATION OF HER2 EXPRESSION BY NASCENT GROWTH FACTORS.
Manuscripts reporting experimental results must be divided into the following sections:
Abstract. This section should have 150‐300 words, be continuous (not structured) and without reference numbers. Abbreviations that appear once only, should be defined in full, unless a gene name. If abbreviations appear more than once, the definition should be provided once, and then subsequently used throughout the Abstract.
Introduction. The information in this section should always be referenced.
Materials and methods
This section should include sufficient technical information to allow the experiments to be repeated. This implies that a full description of all the experiments described in Results and presented in the Figures/Tables is expected in this section. For each experiment, all steps (e.g., DNA and protein extraction, quantification, cloning, PCR and microscopy) need to be mentioned, along with instruments the analyses were performed on, reagents and methods (e.g., BCA method for protein quantification, &D&DCt method for qPCR), and relevant citations.
For steps performed with commercialized kits, provide the full name of the kit, along with the full name and location (city, province or state if USA/Canada, and country) of the supplier, and state whether the protocol of the manufacturer was followed or explain any modifications made to the standard protocol. For PCR reactions, provide name of the kit used, the 5&-3& sequence of the primers, final concentration of all reagents in the reaction, and cycling conditions. Carefully review your text to ensure that the type of PCR, quantitative or semi-quantitative, is clearly explained. If the PCR is performed using cDNA synthesized from RNA samples by reverse transcription (RT), make sure that all steps are described, and refer to the method as RT-PCR or, if quantitative, as RT-qPCR. Manufacturers/suppliers/software details need to be provided for all reagents used (including chemicals), instruments (e.g. thermal cyclers, microscopes) and software, ideally accompanied by the corresponding kit number/model/version. For antibodies, include the type (monoclonal/polyclonal), species in which they were raised and targeted species (e.g., mouse anti-human), explain any antigen retrieval steps, mention the dilution used, and state the catalogue number and supplier. For centrifugation steps, provide centrifugal force units in x g rather than revolutions per minute (rpm).
For bioinformatic analyses: state the software used along with the relevant citation, unless the software is not published, in which case a website link can be provided. For microarray/RNA sequences, data downloaded from GEO or other databases, this needs to be clarified in the text, along with the corresponding accession number of the dataset. The use of software should be described with regards to the parameters (default, study-specific) and th please explicitly name the parameters, e.g. &association value& or &false-positive rate&. For all software analysis of data from public databases, cite the database (along with date of access for databases as these are constantly updated), and species (e.g., human). If Figures/Tables contain data from a public database (e.g., Gene Ontology/KEGG), cite the source in the legend/title explicitly. For publically available sequences, provide the accession number.
The source of material used and relevant ethical framework for all experiments should be clearly identified (Ethics approval and/or written informed consent). For tissues, explain how these were collected, handled and stored, and where they were from. For bacterial strains or cells provide the name and supplier. For studies on humans, a minimum of information is required: number of subjects, age range, gender ratio, health status, matching between controls and disease patients with regards to the above parameters. Please note that &normal& should be
rather, the precise health status needs to be described, e.g., &healthy&, or &individuals with no recorded tumor complication&. For manuscripts presenting studies on humans and animals see 3.9 below.
Please note that Figure legends are not expected to contain information already described in Materials and methods, except for image-specific information, for example, for microscopy, mention the type of image, e.g., fluorescence and the original magnification if scale bars are not used. Legends should provide information concerning what is shown in the figure(s)/figure parts. The x- and y-axes of the graphs must be clearly explained in the legends, and when p-values are provided to indicate probability, the comparison to which these p-values refer must be clearly stated.
Discussion
Acknowledgements
If you use an English Language Service or paid for a medical writer to help prepare your manuscript you should explain this briefly.
References
Pages should be numbered consecutively. Footnotes should not be used.
For Review articles:
Abstract. This section should have 150‐300 words, be continuous (not structured) and without reference numbers.
May have different sections and sub-headings according to the subject matter.
The main headings of the review should be summarized as a numbered Contents section immediately following the Abstract.
3.3 Figures
Submission of figures to us implies that the images or parts thereof have not been published elsewhere (unless mentioned and or cited in the text and permission has been obtained and provided to us).
Images showing any patient or patient&s scans should not contain information that might identify them, unless you provide written permission from the patient allowing use of the specific image.
We accept that figures in our journals are rarely simple, and that certain adjustments are acceptable to help show experimental results clearly. The guiding principal when preparing digital artwork should be to ensure that the version submitted to us is an honest and accurate representation of the original observation(s) and will not lead to possible misinterpretation of what was done experimentally.
The Editors may assess submitted images for unacceptable manipulation using forensic tools and other means. This might delay progress of your manuscript and/or lead to further investigations and action to preserve the integrity of the scientific record, such as not accepting or revoking a manuscript. We may request the original unmanipulated source files and may contact the author&s institution for assistance with enquiries to establish probity. Our guidance builds on that described by Rossner and Yamada (1).
If brightness, contrast or colour balance is altered, the change should apply to the entire image shown and not a selected part. For images from gels or filters, ensure that details are not lost from bright areas or obscured in dark areas.
No feature of a data image should be selectively enhanced, obscured, removed or added. If a composite image shows gels or blots with tracks from groups of samples analysed separately (or from different exposures) then make the grouping obvious using black or white lines and explain this in the figure legend. The boundaries of individual panels of a tiled image should be marked.
In the Methods or individual Figure legends outline the changes you made to images and how. For example, &Figure 99. Light microscopy of a frozen section of a lesion stained with toluidine blue. Original magnification x 100. Uneven illumination was corrected using a control image as described (2)&.
(1) Rossner M and Yamada KM: What's in a picture? The temptation of image manipulation. J Cell Biol 166: 11-15, 2004.
(2) Marty GD: Blank-field correction for achieving a uniform white background in brightfield digital photomicrographs. BioTechniques 42:716-720, 2007.
3.3.1 File format
Acceptable
TIFF without layers and preferably using Lempel&Ziv&Welch (LZW) compression as it does not reduce image quality.
JPEG (only if originally saved at the highest quality).
Unacceptable
Images imported or copy pasted into Word or PowerPoint
BMP, GIF, PCT, PNG or low quality JPEG files originally saved at low quality.
3.3.2 Color mode
Acceptable
Color figures: Use RGB as this will offer the best reproduction of your data, especially images of immunofluorescence, in the final PDF version of your article on screen. CMYK mode is also acceptable.
Black and white figures and line art: gray scale mode or RGB mode.
Combination figures with colour images and line art: RGB mode.
PLEASE NOTE
Color figures are welcome but must be submitted only if reproduction in color is intended (a charge will apply).
There is a charge of Euro 390 per published color page containing color.
Changing color figures to black and white following evaluation is NOT possible.
3.3.3 Image size
Image size is measured in centimeters or inches
Create your figures at the size (width) at which they will be printed
8.00 cm (3.15 in) wide for a single-column figure
17.00 cm (6.70 in) maximum for a double-column (full page width) figure
Maximum height 20.00 cm (7.87 in)
Empty white space surrounding a figure should NOT be included when calculating image size. Images should therefore be cropped (cut) as close to the outside edges of the figure as possible.
If a figure is too wide or contains too much information to be fit within 17 cm while keeping details clearly visible, figures must be divided into several clearly labeled separate parts
3.3.4 Image resolution
Image resolution in this context is simply a measure of the number of pixels per inch (also called dots per inch, dpi) defining the image and does not relate to the quality of an image in terms of focus, contrast and legibility.
Images must be clear, of good contrast and legible at the size they are to appear in the journal.
Images should be AT LEAST 300 dpi, at the size at which they will be printed (8 or 17 cm wide).
Insufficient image size and/or resolution (dpi) will result in poor quality (blurred) printed figures if they are upscaled.
3.3.5 Exporting/capturing/saving figures
Figures may be produced by scanning, digital photography, or exporting from scientific software or a program such as PowerPoint.
Use a good quality scanner set to scan in RGB for colour images or Grey Scale for line art or to scan gel images, at a resolution of at least 300 dpi and with the output file type set preferably to TIFF, or JPG highest quality (lowest compression).
Digital photographs
Set simple cameras to a &fine& or &extra fine& setting to help ensure that images have sufficient pixels.
When exporting from scientific graphing software, choose settings to ensure the highest possible final size and resolution with lines of sufficient thickness to be seen at final printed size.
When exporting from PowerPoint, DO NOT choose &Save as TIFF& from the Save as dialogue box as this will NOT result in an image of sufficiently high resolution. Instead, save the individual slide image as a PDF (from the Print dialogue box), THEN open the PDF with image editing software, such as Photoshop or GIMP, and when prompted specify 300 dpi resolution. Finally, save the resulting image as a TIFF (with LZW compression).
Note: figures initially scanned, photographed or exported at an insufficient size and resolution cannot be improved by upscaling, i.e., artificially increasing the resolution of a low-quality figure. Using image-editing software to keep the figure size the same while raising the dpi will NOT improve its quality.
3.3.6 File size
If saved according to our guidelines, files will rarely exceed 10 MB.
To reduce the file size of images:
Ensure figures are the exact width and height they should be for publication (not smaller), make sure the figures are saved at no more than 300 dpi.
Ensure that Layers in the image have been flattened.
Save black and white figures as grey scale.
Ensure that TIFF are saved with LZW compression.
Consider saving files as highest quality JPEGs. These may be smaller files than TIFF with LZW compression, but will lose some detail.
Try using a compression or stuffing utility, such as WinZip or StuffIt.
3.3.7 Figure labels
Labels must be sized in proportion to the image, sharp, and clearly legible.
When figures are prepared at the correct size (8 or 17cm at 300 dpi) the Font size for labels should be 8‐10 points.
If the figure is saved at a size larger than that needed for printing, the font size of labels must also be larger to maintain the correct proportions.
If labels cannot fit on an 8‐cm‐wide page unless the font size is smaller than 8 points, the figure must be prepared as a double column figure (14‐17 cm wide). If labels cannot fit on the 17‐cm‐wide page unless the font size is smaller than 8 points, the figure must be split into several parts.
Font style and appearance
Labels must be saved using standard fonts (Times, Helvetica or Symbol font).
Labels should be evenly spaced and aligned, easy to see (including exponential numbers around figure axes), and NOT faded, broken, or distorted by JPG compression artifact. Do NOT use light grey color lines or labels.
There must be strong contrast between labels and their background (e.g., labels placed over shaded bar graphs should be in a color that stands out against the shading, NOT blend in with it). Whenever possible, labels should be placed in black font on a white background. Consider using a black label with a white stroke applied to create contrast.
Letters of labels must NOT be overlapping, condensed, expanded, have unnecessary gaps between them or be otherwise irregularly spaced, and must NOT be stretched (distorted) horizontally or vertically.
Labels must NOT overlap or be concealed by other parts of the image, or be cropped (cut off) by the edge of the figure.
Label styles and language
Labels must be prepared according to our in‐house style, be phrased in accordance to the manuscript, and free of spelling and other language errors.
The first letter of each phrase, NOT each word, must be capitalized (e.g., &Overall survival (months)& not &Overall Survival (Months)& and not &overall survival (months)&.
Always use a leading zero (0) before decimal points: 0.5 NOT .5.
Decimal points must use a full stop/period (.) NOT a comma (,).
A space must be inserted before measurement units: 132 bp NOT 132bp, 5 mm NOT 5mm, 1 h NOT 1h.
Measurements must be written as:
second(s): sec
minute(s): min
hour(s): h
day(s): day(s)
week(s): week(s)
month(s): month(s)
micro: &, & (available in Times and Helvetica) NOT u
liter(s): l NOT L
kilo Dalton: kDa NOT kD, Da, bp, kb
5 units BUT 5 U/ml
Greek letters must be inserted using the correct Greek symbol (using Times, Helvetica or Symbol font), NOT written in full, i.e., alpha: &; beta: &, &, (available in Times and Helvetica); and gamma: &, etc.
Figures may be divided into separate sections. Each section may be saved as a separate file (clearly indicated in file name) or included together in one file (with parts clearly labeled).
Separate parts of a figure should be labeled using just A, B, C, NOT 1A, 1B, 1C.
Figure sections may be divided and subdivided as follows:
A a,b,c; B a,b,c; C a,b,c
A a-1, a-2, b-1, b-2; B, a-1, a-2, b-1, b-2
The number of the figure must NOT be included in the image, especially if placed on the overlapping part of the image. Instead, the file itself should be named using the figure number.
A, B, Cs must be placed to the top left of each section of the figure, NOT overlapping the image.
3.3.9 Figure appearance
Figure backgrounds must be white. Grey backgrounds (or backgrounds of any other color) are NOT acceptable.
White space surrounding figures should be cropped so that the image is as close to the edges of the page as possible.
Figures and specific sections of figures should NOT be surrounded by borders (frames).
Figures should NOT be stretched out of proportion (distorted) horizontally or vertically.
Yellow must NOT be used for lines in diagrams. Any darker color may be used instead.
Line art should be dark and lines and labeling thick enough to be clearly visible, even at small sizes.
Charts, graphs and diagrams should NOT use more than 5 shades of gray. Patterns are acceptable.
In charts, graphs and diagrams, unnecessary colors should be avoided (e.g., color that does not impart any additional information and is used for slight emphasis only, or color that can be replaced by shades of gray, patterns or shapes).
3.3.10 Copyright
If a figure or table has been published previously (even if you were the author of the manuscript), copyright permission for re-use of the figure or table will often be required.
You must acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material where necessary.
As an author of your manuscript, you are responsible for obtaining permissions to use material owned by others.
3.4 Figure legends
Figure legends should be listed one after the other, as part of the text document and separate from the figure files.
Figure legends must begin with a brief title for the whole figure and continue with a short description of each panel and the symbols used.
Legends should not contain any details of the methods
All error bars must be defined in the figure legend
3.5 Tables
Each table should be submitted on a separate page
Typed using double-spacing
Numbered with Roman numerals
Include a short title
Symbols and abbreviations are defined immediately below the table
3.6 Nomenclature and abbreviations
Naming of chemicals should follow that given in Chemical Abstracts.
Use standard abbreviations where possible. Use the generic name of any drug unless making claims about a specific brand or formulation.
New abbreviations must be defined at first usage.
3.7 References
Spandidos Publications has updated its services by incorporating Edifix, a new program that automatically links and corrects bibliographic references.
Based on our particular style, the first 9 authors will be listed as they appear. When more than 10 authors are listed, Edifix will automatically include only the first 10 authors, followed by et al.
Cite journal titles using NLM Title Abbreviation found in the U.S. National Library of Medicine Catalog online (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/).
References must be numbered consecutively in the order mentioned.
Do NOT use full stop after initials or abbreviations.
In the text, cite references by number in parentheses e.g., (1-3) (1,2).
Inclusive page numbers should be given.
Following are examples of order and style, which should be strictly adhered to:
Spandidos DA and Wilkie NM: Malignant transformation of early passage rodent cells by a single mutated human oncogene. Nature 310: 469-475, 1984.
Spandidos A, Wang X, Wang H and Seed B: PrimerBank: a resource of human and mouse PCR primer pairs for gene expression detection and quantification. Nucleic Acids Res 38: D792-D799, 2010.
Russo A, Ficili B, Candido S, Pezzino FM, Guarneri C, Biondi A, et al: Emerging targeted therapies in melanoma. Int J Oncol 45: 516-524, 2014
Hall A, Morris JDH, Price B, Lloyd A, Hancock JF, Gardener S, Houslay MD, Wakelam MJO and Marshall CJ: The function of the mammalian Ras proteins. In: Ras oncogenes. Spandidos DA (ed.) Plenum Publ. Corp., New York, pp99-104, 1989.
Personal communications should be avoided.
Manuscripts in preparation or submitted (but not yet accepted) and abstracts, may be cited in the text, but should NOT be included in the list of references.
Output Style files are available to download in Endnote format from Spandidos Publications at
or from Thomson Reuters at
and also in CSL 1.0.1 format from
to work with software such as Mendeley , Papers
and Zotero .
3.8 Conflicts of interest and informed consent
Authors must declare whether they have any conflicts of interest in the cover letter.
3.9 Use of humans and experimental animals
Research carried out on humans must follow international and national regulations. Written informed consent should be obtained from the subjects (patients and controls) and/or guardians, in the case of minors.
When experimental animals are used, research must follow internationally recognized guidelines on animal welfare, as well as local and national regulations.
A statement must be included in the Materials and methods section of the manuscript identifying the institutional and/or licensing committee that has approved the experiments undertaken.
Authors must check their manuscript carefully before submission, after responding to peer-review, and when answering queries raised at the proof stage. Any errors will be faithfully transferred into the final PDF and print versions..
5. Reprints
A reprint order form will accompany notification of acceptance of a manuscript and should be completed and returned immediately. For further information, please email
6. Article charges
After final acceptance of manuscripts, authors can choose between one of the two following options to cover for publications costs.
If your institute has a Gold Membership subscription with Spandidos Publications, then your article may be published free of charge.
Option 1: The publication charge is calculated based on the number of pages and color figures (per page) of the final accepted manuscript. All Spandidos Publications journals have the same fees for option 1.
&EURGBPUSD
Basic charge (total amount for up to 5 pages)
Each additional page
Reproduction in color, per page
Color figures should only be submitted if intended for publication. Fees for color reproduction are calculated based on the number of pages with color at the time of manuscript acceptance. Figures may not be changed to black and white once a manuscript has been accepted.
Articles become freely available 12 months after their publication online.
For the International Journal of Oncology and Oncology Reports ONLY, authors may choose to pay for immediate open access following publication for a fee of EUR & &450 | GBP & &360 | USD $675
Authors requiring immediate open access of articles published in our other journals must use Option 2.
Option 2: A fixed charge is applied irrespective of the total number of pages or color figures. In addition, the articles are made immediately available as open access and appear online at PubMed, PubMed Central and Europe PMC. This option complies with a number of funding bodies (see open access section online).
&EURGBPUSD
International Journal of Molecular Medicine
Molecular Medicine Reports
Oncology Letters
Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine
Molecular and Clinical Oncology
Biomedical Reports
If your institute has a Gold Membership subscription with Spandidos Publications, then your article may be published free of charge. Please check with your institute librarian or subscription manager.
7. Open Access
"Open access" articles published online can be freely accessed at the journal's website by all users, the articles are made immediately available as open access and appear online at PubMed, PubMed Central and Europe PMC.
Articles may be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License or a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Spandidos Publications& publishing policies enable authors to comply fully with the public access requirements of the major worldwide funding agencies (visit www.sherpa.ac.uk for more information). Authors must take the necessary actions to obtain this compliance, including self-archiving, utilization of Spandidos Publications manuscript deposition service and selection of open access publication under the correct license.
Spandidos Publications makes articles freely available 12 month after the publication.
Under option 1, the charge for immediate open access following publication of articles in International Journal of Oncology and Oncology Reports is EUR 450 | GBP 360 | USD 675.
Authors wishing to purchase immediate open access for International Journal of Molecular Medicine, Molecular Medicine Reports, Oncology Letters, Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, Molecular and Clinical Oncology and Biomedical Reports must select option 2.
8. Compliance with funding agencies
All manuscripts that are agency-funded (e.g. NIH, HHMI, Cancer Research UK, Wellcome Trust, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC),etc.) and paid for under the Open Access Option will be deposited automatically by the publisher and become publicly available in PubMed Central and Europe PMC. Alternatively, agency-funded articles without Open Access purchase will be deposited and made publicly available in PubMed Central and Europe PMC 6-12 months following publication, depending on the public access policy of the agency.
9. Funding body policies and agreements
Spandidos Publications has obtained agreements and constructed policies to enable authors to comply with manuscript archiving requirements of the following funding bodies specified in conditions of researcher grant awards.
This enables authors to follow their funding body's policies on archiving without breaching their publishing agreements with Spandidos Publications.
Arthritis Research Campaign (UK)
Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
British Heart Foundation (UK)
Cancer Research (UK)
Chief Scientist Office (UK)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
Department of Health (UK)
Dunhill Medical Trust
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
Medical Research Council (UK)
National Institutes of Health (US)
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
Research Councils (UK)
Telethon (Italy)
Wellcome Trust (UK)
10. Author self-archiving
Authors are encouraged to submit the final publisher&s version PDF of their manuscript to their institution&s repository 6 months following publication, as well as to their funding body&s archive. A link to the published version on the Spandidos Publications website must be included with full citation details and acknowledgement of the journal as the original source. Authors that have purchased open access can add the final publisher's PDF to their institutional repository and funding body's archive immediately.
11. English Language Editing, Manuscript Formatting and Figure Preparation
If English is not your first language, you may decide to have your manuscript proofread or edited by an English speaker, prior to submission. A colleague or a professional service may do this. Clear and concise language enables editors and reviewers to concentrate on the scientific content of your manuscript. This facilitates the peer review process and ensures that your article will not be rejected based on English language alone. Spandidos Publications offers a number of Manuscript Services including an English Language Editing service, through which the use of English in your manuscript may be checked and refined. The editors of this service will focus on the spelling, grammar, clarity and style of your manuscript.
For more information on this and other services, please access:
Please be aware that an author's use of this or any other service in no way guarantees that his or her submission will be accepted by a Spandidos journal or any other. Any arrangement an author enters into will be exclusively between the author and their chosen company. Using an editing service is neither a requirement for nor a guarantee of acceptance for publication. For further details, please refer to our disclaimer on our affiliated website.
1. Submission method
Manuscripts may be submitted only by using the online submission system accessible via our website http://www.. Create a user account, log in and follow the onscreen directions.
2. Cover letter
Summarize briefly the important points of the submitted work including a brief description of the study to be submitted, that it is an original study presenting novel work, that it has not been previously submitted to or accepted by any other journal, that is has been approved by all authors, that Ethics approval and written informed consent have been obtained, and explain whether any author has a conflict of interest.
3. Format of articles and reviews
3.1 General style
Sub-titles and general headings should be presented in lower case letters (not capitals).
Use British English or American English spellings throughout your manuscript, but not both.
3.2 Manuscripts
The first page should include:
The title of the manuscript in sentence case. No abbreviations other than gene names or in common use.
Full names and full postal addresses, but not including street names, of all authors should be provided and ORCID (http://orcid.org) if desired.
Indicate affiliations of the authors by number (not symbols).
Indicate equal contribution by asterisk.
Name, full postal address, including street number and name, and e-mail address of the corresponding author(s).
Abbreviations, if relevant.
Key words (5 & 10).
Running title (maximum 100 characters with spaces), including the first author's name. For example: PEARSON et al: REGULATION OF HER2 EXPRESSION BY NASCENT GROWTH FACTORS.
Manuscripts reporting experimental results must be divided into the following sections:
Abstract. This section should have 150‐300 words, be continuous (not structured) and without reference numbers. Abbreviations that appear once only, should be defined in full, unless a gene name. If abbreviations appear more than once, the definition should be provided once, and then subsequently used throughout the Abstract.
Introduction. The information in this section should always be referenced.
Materials and methods
This section should include sufficient technical information to allow the experiments to be repeated. This implies that a full description of all the experiments described in Results and presented in the Figures/Tables is expected in this section. For each experiment, all steps (e.g., DNA and protein extraction, quantification, cloning, PCR and microscopy) need to be mentioned, along with instruments the analyses were performed on, reagents and methods (e.g., BCA method for protein quantification, &D&DCt method for qPCR), and relevant citations.
For steps performed with commercialized kits, provide the full name of the kit, along with the full name and location (city, province or state if USA/Canada, and country) of the supplier, and state whether the protocol of the manufacturer was followed or explain any modifications made to the standard protocol. For PCR reactions, provide name of the kit used, the 5&-3& sequence of the primers, final concentration of all reagents in the reaction, and cycling conditions. Carefully review your text to ensure that the type of PCR, quantitative or semi-quantitative, is clearly explained. If the PCR is performed using cDNA synthesized from RNA samples by reverse transcription (RT), make sure that all steps are described, and refer to the method as RT-PCR or, if quantitative, as RT-qPCR. Manufacturers/suppliers/software details need to be provided for all reagents used (including chemicals), instruments (e.g. thermal cyclers, microscopes) and software, ideally accompanied by the corresponding kit number/model/version. For antibodies, include the type (monoclonal/polyclonal), species in which they were raised and targeted species (e.g., mouse anti-human), explain any antigen retrieval steps, mention the dilution used, and state the catalogue number and supplier. For centrifugation steps, provide centrifugal force units in x g rather than revolutions per minute (rpm).
For bioinformatic analyses: state the software used along with the relevant citation, unless the software is not published, in which case a website link can be provided. For microarray/RNA sequences, data downloaded from GEO or other databases, this needs to be clarified in the text, along with the corresponding accession number of the dataset. The use of software should be described with regards to the parameters (default, study-specific) and th please explicitly name the parameters, e.g. &association value& or &false-positive rate&. For all software analysis of data from public databases, cite the database (along with date of access for databases as these are constantly updated), and species (e.g., human). If Figures/Tables contain data from a public database (e.g., Gene Ontology/KEGG), cite the source in the legend/title explicitly. For publically available sequences, provide the accession number.
The source of material used and relevant ethical framework for all experiments should be clearly identified (Ethics approval and/or written informed consent). For tissues, explain how these were collected, handled and stored, and where they were from. For bacterial strains or cells provide the name and supplier. For studies on humans, a minimum of information is required: number of subjects, age range, gender ratio, health status, matching between controls and disease patients with regards to the above parameters. Please note that &normal& should be
rather, the precise health status needs to be described, e.g., &healthy&, or &individuals with no recorded tumor complication&. For manuscripts presenting studies on humans and animals see 3.9 below.
Please note that Figure legends are not expected to contain information already described in Materials and methods, except for image-specific information, for example, for microscopy, mention the type of image, e.g., fluorescence and the original magnification if scale bars are not used. Legends should provide information concerning what is shown in the figure(s)/figure parts. The x- and y-axes of the graphs must be clearly explained in the legends, and when p-values are provided to indicate probability, the comparison to which these p-values refer must be clearly stated.
Discussion
Acknowledgements
If you use an English Language Service or paid for a medical writer to help prepare your manuscript you should explain this briefly.
References
Pages should be numbered consecutively. Footnotes should not be used.
For Review articles:
Spandidos Publications has updated its services by incorporating Edifix, a new program that automatically links and corrects bibliographic references.
Based on our particular style, the first 9 authors will be listed as they appear. When more than 10 authors are listed, Edifix will automatically include only the first 10 authors, followed by et al.
Abstract. This section should have 150‐300 words, be continuous (not structured) and without reference numbers.
May have different sections and sub-headings according to the subject matter.
The main headings of the review should be summarized as a numbered Contents section immediately following the Abstract.
3.3 Figures
Submission of figures to us implies that the images or parts thereof have not been published elsewhere (unless mentioned and/or cited in the text and permission has been obtained and provided to us).
Images showing any patient or patient&s scans should not contain information that might identify them, unless you provide written permission from the patient allowing use of the specific image.
We accept that figures in our journals are rarely simple, and that certain adjustments are acceptable to help show experimental results clearly. The guiding principal when preparing digital artwork should be to ensure that the version submitted to us is an honest and accurate representation of the original observation(s) and will not lead to possible misinterpretation of what was done experimentally.
The Editors may assess submitted images for unacceptable manipulation using forensic tools and other means. This might delay progress of your manuscript and/or lead to further investigations and action to preserve the integrity of the scientific record, such as not accepting or revoking a manuscript. We may request the original unmanipulated source files and may contact the author&s institution for assistance with enquiries to establish probity. Our guidance builds on that described by Rossner and Yamada (1).
If brightness, contrast or colour balance is altered, the change should apply to the entire image shown and not a selected part. For images from gels or filters, ensure that details are not lost from bright areas or obscured in dark areas.
No feature of a data image should be selectively enhanced, obscured, removed or added. If a composite image shows gels or blots with lanes from groups of samples analysed separately (or from different exposures) then make the grouping obvious using black or white lines and explain this in the figure legend. The boundaries of individual panels of a tiled image should be marked.
In the Methods or individual Figure legends outline the changes you made to images and how. For example, &Figure 99. Light microscopy of a frozen section of a lesion stained with toluidine blue. Original magnification x 100. Uneven illumination was corrected using a control image as described (2)&.
(1) Rossner M and Yamada KM: What's in a picture? The temptation of image manipulation. J Cell Biol 166: 11-15, 2004.
(2) Marty GD: Blank-field correction for achieving a uniform white background in brightfield digital photomicrographs. BioTechniques 42:716-720, 2007.
3.3.1 File format
Acceptable
TIFF without layers and preferably using Lempel&Ziv&Welch (LZW) compression as it does not reduce image quality.
JPEG (only if originally saved at the highest quality).
Unacceptable
Images imported or copy pasted into Word or PowerPoint
BMP, GIF, PCT, PNG or low quality JPEG files originally saved at low quality.
3.3.2 Color mode
Acceptable
Color figures: Use RGB as this will offer the best reproduction of your data, especially images of immunofluorescence, in the final PDF version of your article on screen. CMYK mode is also acceptable.
Black and white figures and line art: gray scale mode or RGB mode.
Combination figures with colour images and line art: RGB mode.
PLEASE NOTE
Color figures are welcome but must be submitted only if reproduction in color is intended (a charge will apply).
There is a charge of Euro 390 per published color page containing color.
Changing color figures to black and white following evaluation is NOT possible.
3.3.3 Image size
Image size is measured in centimeters or inches
Create your figures at the size (width) at which they will be printed
8.00 cm (3.15 in) wide for a single-column figure
17.00 cm (6.70 in) maximum for a double-column (full page width) figure
Maximum height 20.00 cm (7.87 in)
Empty white space surrounding a figure should NOT be included when calculating image size. Images should therefore be cropped (cut) as close to the outside edges of the figure as possible.
If a figure is too wide or contains too much information to fit within 17 cm while keeping details clearly visible, figures must be divided into several clearly labeled separate parts
3.3.4 Image resolution
Image resolution in this context is simply a measure of the number of pixels per inch (also called dots per inch, dpi) defining the image and does not relate to the quality of an image in terms of focus, contrast and legibility.
Images must be clear, of good contrast and legible at the size they are to appear in the journal.
Images should be AT LEAST 300 dpi, at the size at which they will be printed (8 or 17 cm wide).
Insufficient image size and/or resolution (dpi) will result in poor quality (blurred) printed figures if they are upscaled.
3.3.5 Exporting/capturing/saving figures
Figures may be produced by scanning, digital photography, or exporting from scientific software or a program such as PowerPoint.
Use a good quality scanner set to scan in RGB for colour images or Grey Scale for line art or to scan gel images, at a resolution of at least 300 dpi and with the output file type set preferably to TIFF, or JPG highest quality (lowest compression).
Digital photographs
Set simple cameras to a &fine& or &extra fine& setting to help ensure that images have sufficient pixels.
When exporting from scientific graphing software, choose settings to ensure the highest possible final size and resolution with lines of sufficient thickness to be seen at final printed size.
When exporting from PowerPoint, DO NOT choose &Save as TIFF& from the Save as dialogue box as this will NOT result in an image of sufficiently high resolution. Instead, save the individual slide image as a PDF (from the Print dialogue box), THEN open the PDF with image editing software, such as Photoshop or GIMP, and when prompted specify 300 dpi resolution. Finally, save the resulting image as a TIFF (with LZW compression).
Note: figures initially scanned, photographed or exported at an insufficient size and resolution cannot be improved by upscaling, i.e., artificially increasing the resolution of a low-quality figure. Using image-editing software to keep the figure size the same while raising the dpi will NOT improve its quality.
3.3.6 File size
If saved according to our guidelines, files will rarely exceed 10 MB.
To reduce the file size of images:
Ensure figures are the exact width and height they should be for publication (not smaller), make sure the figures are saved at no more than 300 dpi.
Ensure that Layers in the image have been flattened.
Save black and white figures as grey scale.
Ensure that TIFF are saved with LZW compression.
Consider saving files as highest quality JPEGs. These may be smaller files than TIFF with LZW compression, but will lose some detail.
Try using a compression or stuffing utility, such as WinZip or StuffIt.
3.3.7 Figure labels
Labels must be sized in proportion to the image, sharp, and clearly legible.
When figures are prepared at the correct size (8 or 17cm at 300 dpi) the Font size for labels should be 8‐10 points.
If the figure is saved at a size larger than that needed for printing, the font size of labels must also be larger to maintain the correct proportions.
If labels cannot fit on an 8‐cm‐wide page unless the font size is smaller than 8 points, the figure must be prepared as a double column figure (14‐17 cm wide). If labels cannot fit on the 17‐cm‐wide page unless the font size is smaller than 8 points, the figure must be split into several parts.
Font style and appearance
Labels must be saved using standard fonts (Times, Helvetica or Symbol font).
Labels should be evenly spaced and aligned, easy to see (including exponential numbers around figure axes), and NOT faded, broken, or distorted by JPG compression artifact. Do NOT use light grey color lines or labels.
There must be strong contrast between labels and their background (e.g., labels placed over shaded bar graphs should be in a color that stands out against the shading, NOT blend in with it). Whenever possible, labels should be placed in black font on a white background. Consider using a black label with a white stroke applied to create contrast.
Letters of labels must NOT be overlapping, condensed, expanded, have unnecessary gaps between them or be otherwise irregularly spaced, and must NOT be stretched (distorted) horizontally or vertically.
Labels must NOT overlap or be concealed by other parts of the image, or be cropped (cut off) by the edge of the figure.
Label styles and language
Labels must be prepared according to our in‐house style, be phrased in accordance to the manuscript, and free of spelling and other language errors.
The first letter of each phrase, NOT each word, must be capitalized (e.g., &Overall survival (months)& not &Overall Survival (Months)& and not &overall survival (months)&.
Always use a leading zero (0) before decimal points: 0.5 NOT .5.
Decimal points must use a full stop/period (.) NOT a comma (,).
A space must be inserted before measurement units: 132 bp NOT 132bp, 5 mm NOT 5mm, 1 h NOT 1h.
Measurements must be written as:
second(s): sec
minute(s): min
hour(s): h
day(s): day(s)
week(s): week(s)
month(s): month(s)
micro: &, & (available in Times and Helvetica) NOT u
liter(s): l NOT L
kilo Dalton: kDa NOT kD, Da, bp, kb
5 units BUT 5 U/ml
Greek letters must be inserted using the correct Greek symbol (using Times, Helvetica or Symbol font), NOT written in full, i.e., alpha: &; beta: &, &, (available in Times and Helvetica); and gamma: &, etc.
Figures may be divided into separate sections. Each section may be saved as a separate file (clearly indicated in file name) or included together in one file (with parts clearly labeled).
Separate parts of a figure should be labeled using just A, B, C, NOT 1A, 1B, 1C.
Figure sections may be divided and subdivided as follows:
A a,b,c; B a,b,c; C a,b,c
A a-1, a-2, b-1, b-2; B, a-1, a-2, b-1, b-2
The number of the figure must NOT be included in the image, especially if placed on the overlapping part of the image. Instead, the file itself should be named using the figure number.
A, B, Cs must be placed to the top left of each section of the figure, NOT overlapping the image.
3.3.9 Figure appearance
Figure backgrounds must be white. Grey backgrounds (or backgrounds of any other color) are NOT acceptable.
White space surrounding figures should be cropped so that the image is as close to the edges of the page as possible.
Figures and specific sections of figures should NOT be surrounded by borders (frames).
Figures should NOT be stretched out of proportion (distorted) horizontally or vertically.
Yellow must NOT be used for lines in diagrams. Any darker color may be used instead.
Line art should be dark and lines and labeling thick enough to be clearly visible, even at small sizes.
Charts, graphs and diagrams should NOT use more than 5 shades of gray. Patterns are acceptable.
In charts, graphs and diagrams, unnecessary colors should be avoided (e.g., color that does not impart any additional information and is used for slight emphasis only, or color that can be replaced by shades of gray, patterns or shapes).
3.3.10 Copyright
If a figure or table has been published previously (even if you were the author of the manuscript), copyright permission for re-use of the figure or table will often be required.
You must acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material where necessary.
As an author of your manuscript, you are responsible for obtaining permissions to use material owned by others.
3.4 Figure legends
Figure legends should be listed one after the other, as part of the text document and separate from the figure files.
Figure legends must begin with a brief title for the whole figure and continue with a short description of each panel and the symbols used.
Legends should not contain any details of the methods
All error bars must be defined in the figure legend
3.5 Tables
Each table should be submitted on a separate page
Typed using double-spacing
Numbered with Roman numerals
Include a short title
Symbols and abbreviations are defined immediately below the table
3.6 Nomenclature and abbreviations
Naming of chemicals should follow that given in Chemical Abstracts.
Use standard abbreviations where possible. Use the generic name of any drug unless making claims about a specific brand or formulation.
New abbreviations must be defined at first usage.
3.7 References
Cite journal titles using NLM Title Abbreviation found in the U.S. National Library of Medicine Catalog online (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/).
References must be numbered consecutively in the order mentioned.
Do NOT use full stop after initials or abbreviations.
In the text, cite references by number in parentheses e.g., (1-3) (1,2).
Inclusive page numbers should be given.
Following are examples of order and style, which should be strictly adhered to:
Spandidos DA and Wilkie NM: Malignant transformation of early passage rodent cells by a single mutated human oncogene. Nature 310: 469-475, 1984.
Spandidos A, Wang X, Wang H and Seed B: PrimerBank: a resource of human and mouse PCR primer pairs for gene expression detection and quantification. Nucleic Acids Res 38: D792-D799, 2010.
Russo A, Ficili B, Candido S, Pezzino FM, Guarneri C, Biondi A, et al: Emerging targeted therapies in melanoma. Int J Oncol 45: 516-524, 2014
Hall A, Morris JDH, Price B, Lloyd A, Hancock JF, Gardener S, Houslay MD, Wakelam MJO and Marshall CJ: The function of the mammalian Ras proteins. In: Ras oncogenes. Spandidos DA (ed.) Plenum Publ. Corp., New York, pp99-104, 1989.
Personal communications should be avoided.
Manuscripts in preparation or submitted (but not yet accepted) and abstracts, may be cited in the text, but should NOT be included in the list of references.
Output Style files are available to download in Endnote format from Spandidos Publications at
or from Thomson Reuters at
and also in CSL 1.0.1 format from
to work with software such as Mendeley , Papers
and Zotero .
3.8 Conflicts of interest and informed consent
Authors must declare whether they have any conflicts of interest in the cover letter.
3.9 Use of humans and experimental animals
Research carried out on humans must follow international and national regulations. Written informed consent should be obtained from the subjects (patients and controls) and/or guardians, in the case of minors.
When experimental animals are used, research must follow internationally recognized guidelines on animal welfare, as well as local and national regulations.
A statement must be included in the Materials and methods section of the manuscript identifying the institutional and/or licensing committee that has approved the experiments undertaken.
Authors must check their manuscript carefully before submission, after responding to peer-review, and when answering queries raised at the proof stage. Any errors will be faithfully transferred into the final PDF and print versions..
5. Reprints
A reprint order form will accompany notification of acceptance of a manuscript and should be completed and returned immediately. For further information, please email
6. Article charges
After final acceptance of manuscripts, authors can choose between one of the two following options to cover for publications costs.
If your institute has a Gold Membership subscription with Spandidos Publications, then your article may be published free of charge.
Option 1: The publication charge is calculated based on the number of pages and color figures (per page) of the final accepted manuscript. All Spandidos Publications journals have the same fees for option 1.
&EURGBPUSD
Basic charge (total amount for up to 5 pages)
Each additional page
Reproduction in color, per page
Color figures should only be submitted if intended for publication. Fees for color reproduction are calculated based on the number of pages with color at the time of manuscript acceptance. Figures may not be changed to black and white once a manuscript has been accepted.
Articles become freely available 12 months after their publication online.
For the International Journal of Oncology and Oncology Reports ONLY, authors may choose to pay for immediate open access following publication for a fee of EUR & &450 | GBP & &360 | USD $675
Authors requiring immediate open access of articles published in our other journals must use Option 2.
Option 2: A fixed charge is applied irrespective of the total number of pages or color figures. In addition, the articles are made immediately available as open access and appear online at PubMed, PubMed Central and Europe PMC. This option complies with a number of funding bodies (see open access section online).
&EURGBPUSD
International Journal of Molecular Medicine
Molecular Medicine Reports
Oncology Letters
Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine
Molecular and Clinical Oncology
Biomedical Reports
If your institute has a Gold Membership subscription with Spandidos Publications, then your article may be published free of charge. Please check with your institute librarian or subscription manager.
7. Open Access
"Open access" articles published online can be freely accessed at the journal's website by all users, the articles are made immediately available as open access and appear online at PubMed, PubMed Central and Europe PMC.
Articles may be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License or a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Spandidos Publications& publishing policies enable authors to comply fully with the public access requirements of the major worldwide funding agencies (visit www.sherpa.ac.uk for more information). Authors must take the necessary actions to obtain this compliance, including self-archiving, utilization of Spandidos Publications manuscript deposition service and selection of open access publication under the correct license.
Spandidos Publications makes articles freely available 12 month after the publication.
Under option 1, the charge for immediate open access following publication of articles in International Journal of Oncology and Oncology Reports is EUR 450 | GBP 360 | USD 675.
Authors wishing to purchase immediate open access for International Journal of Molecular Medicine, Molecular Medicine Reports, Oncology Letters, Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, Molecular and Clinical Oncology and Biomedical Reports must select option 2.
8. Compliance with funding agencies
All manuscripts that are agency-funded (e.g. NIH, HHMI, Cancer Research UK, Wellcome Trust, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC),etc.) and paid for under the Open Access Option will be deposited automatically by the publisher and become publicly available in PubMed Central and Europe PMC. Alternatively, agency-funded articles without Open Access purchase will be deposited and made publicly available in PubMed Central and Europe PMC 6-12 months following publication, depending on the public access policy of the agency.
9. Funding body policies and agreements
Spandidos Publications has obtained agreements and constructed policies to enable authors to comply with manuscript archiving requirements of the following funding bodies specified in conditions of researcher grant awards.
This enables authors to follow their funding body's policies on archiving without breaching their publishing agreements with Spandidos Publications.
Arthritis Research Campaign (UK)
Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
British Heart Foundation (UK)
Cancer Research (UK)
Chief Scientist Office (UK)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
Department of Health (UK)
Dunhill Medical Trust
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
Medical Research Council (UK)
National Institutes of Health (US)
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
Research Councils (UK)
Telethon (Italy)
Wellcome Trust (UK)
10. Author self-archiving
Authors are encouraged to submit the final publisher&s version PDF of their manuscript to their institution&s repository 6 months following publication, as well as to their funding body&s archive. A link to the published version on the Spandidos Publications website must be included with full citation details and acknowledgement of the journal as the original source. Authors that have purchased open access can add the final publisher's PDF to their institutional repository and funding body's archive immediately.
11. English Language Editing, Manuscript Formatting and Figure Preparation
If English is not your first language, you may decide to have your manuscript proofread or edited by an English speaker, prior to submission. A colleague or a professional service may do this. Clear and concise language enables editors and reviewers to concentrate on the scientific content of your manuscript. This facilitates the peer review process and ensures that your article will not be rejected based on English language alone. Spandidos Publications offers a number of Manuscript Services including an English Language Editing service, through which the use of English in your manuscript may be checked and refined. The editors of this service will focus on the spelling, grammar, clarity and style of your manuscript.
For more information on this and other services, please access:
Please be aware that an author's use of this or any other service in no way guarantees that his or her submission will be accepted by a Spandidos journal or any other. Any arrangement an author enters into will be exclusively between the author and their chosen company. Using an editing service is neither a requirement for nor a guarantee of acceptance for publication. For further details, please refer to our disclaimer on our affiliated website.}