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RNA Instructions for Contributors

RNA will publish original papers reporting significant experimental results and emerging concepts in ribonucleic acid research in the broadest sense. The journal covers all aspects of RNA research including biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology, molecular biology, RNA virology, and cell biology and informatics. RNA is the official journal of the RNA Society.

TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS

RNA will consider papers in six categories: Reports, Articles, Bioinformatics, Hypotheses, Methods, and Letters to the Editor. Authors should designate a category upon submission of a manuscript. Reports document significant new results that lend themselves to succinct presentation (i.e., combined Results and Discussion) and can contain no more than four display items. Reports are evaluated using the same criteria as Articles; preliminary observations that require further experimentation to support the major conclusions will not be accepted. There are no explicit length limitations to Articles; a "normal" paper will occupy 6-8 printed pages (20-30 double-spaced manuscript pages); however, length is not a criterion for evaluation. Bioinformatics describe computer-based analyses of sequence data or new computer-based tools of interest to RNA scientists. Hypotheses outline novel concepts or new ways of integrating existing data. Methods are brief accounts of methodological advances or improvements that are of potential utility to a broad range of RNA researchers. Letters to the Editor are intended as a forum for raising or clarifying issues of specific interest to the RNA community.

In addition to the categories above, RNA publishes Reviews, Perspectives, Mini-Reviews, Commentaries, and Meeting Summaries. Normally, these are by invitation, but presubmission inquiries to the Reviews Editor are welcome.

Submission of a paper implies that it has not been published previously and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Closely related papers that are in press elsewhere or that have been or will be submitted elsewhere must be included with the submitted manuscript. It is understood that researchers who submit papers to this journal are prepared to make available to qualified academic researchers materials needed to duplicate their research results (DNA, cell lines, antibodies, microbial strains, mouse lines, etc.). Authors should submit nucleic acid and protein sequences, NMR and X-ray crystallographic data to the appropriate database. Upon acceptance copyright must be assigned to the RNA Society.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

All manuscript pages (including references, tables, figure legends, footnotes) must be double-spaced and in a typeface of at least 11-point size. Label each page with the first author's name and page number.

Form. Please observe the following order: Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Results, Discussion, Materials and Methods, Acknowledgments, References, Tables, Figure legends. The Title page should include: (a) title; (b) all authors' full names; (c) all affiliations clearly indicated; (d) a shortened version of the title for use as a running head (maximum 50 characters, including spaces); and (e) keywords (up to six) for use in indexing. Abstracts (limited to 250 words not containing references) should summarize the aim of the research, the methodological approach, and the significance of the results. Methods should be detailed enough to allow qualified researchers to reproduce the results. In addition, please set all genes, alleles, and loci in italic type and proteins in Roman type.

Figures and legends. Number figures consecutively according to the order in which they are cited in the text. The figure sizes will be adjusted to fit the journal format; therefore, please keep labels, symbols, and other callout devices in proportion to the figure size and detail. Figure legends should be brief and should not contain methods. Symbols indicated in the figure must be identified in the legend text. If figures are reprinted from another source, permission to reprint is required. Line drawiings, graphs, charts, and chemical formulae should be professionally prepared and labeled. Indicate magnification with a bar scale. Multipart figures should be submitted as one composite. Authors submitting color figures as essential data for review with manuscripts undertake to pay the publication costs of four-color artwork (see below).

Tables. Tabular data should be presented concisely and logically. Number tables consecutively according to the order cited in the text. Provide a title for each table. Use only horizontal rules and ensure that column headings are unambiguous in indicating columns to which they refer. Include table legends and footnotes where needed. If tables are reprinted from another source or if data included are from another source, permission to reprint is required.

References. Only those articles that are published or in press will be included in the references. "Et al." should be used ONLY after the first 10 authors. Unpublished data, submitted manuscripts, or personal communications should appear in the text and should include first initials and last names of authors. References are name/date citations in text. Please observe the following reference style:

Sampath, P., Mazumder, B., Seshadri, V., Gerber, C.A., Chavatte, L., Kinter, M., Ting, S.M., Dignam, J.D., Kim, S., Driscoll, D.M., et al. 2004. Noncanonical function of glutamyl-prolyl-tRNA synthetase: Gene-specific silencing of translation. Cell 119: 195–208.

Strunk, W. and White, E.B. 1979. The elements of style. Macmillan, New York, NY.

Tymowska, J. 1991. Polyploidy and cytogenetic variation in frogs of the genus Xenopus. In Amphibian cytogenetics and evolution (eds. D.M. Green and S.K. Sessions), pp. 259-297. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

Supplementary Information. RNA will accept Supplementary Material which will be linked to the article published online. Such Supplementary Material will be restricted to long tables of data, lists of genomic and sequence data, or videos. Submitted supplementary material such as gels or other simple figures as well as standard tables will not be linked to online articles and must be maintained on the authors' Web site. In this regard, supplementary material is not intended for completing a manuscript with standard figures or tables. Appropriate supplementary material, as discussed above, will be peer-reviewed and must be submitted on-line at the same time as the manuscript. It cannot be altered after acceptance of the manuscript. Submission of supplementary material to the journal is not an alternative to submission to public databases (thus crystal structure coordinates, sequence data, microarray data must be submitted prior to submission to the journal and accession numbers given in the manuscript). Public databases have confidential sections to which passwords give access for editors and referees on request. The context of the files contained in the supplementary material should be precisely described at the end of the Material and Methods section in the manuscript and referred to at the appropriate places in the text. The types of files supplied should be clearly indicated (.doc, .xls, .rtf, .mp3, .mpeg, .mov, .wav …).

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

Authors must submit manuscripts using the online manuscript submission system available at http://submit.rnajournal.org. Hard copies are not required unless requested by the Editorial Office.

File formats accepted for review purposes include Word, WordPerfect, PDF, GIF, TIFF, EPS, and JPEG. PowerPoint files submitted as one slide per file are supported, however multipage PowerPoint files are not. Authors may upload a single PDF file containing all text and figures. Files may also be uploaded separately for direct conversion to PDF. Formats not supported include the following: Bitmap (.bmp), PICT (.pict), Excel (.xls), Photoshop (.psd), Canvas (.cnv), CorelDRAW (.cdr), and locked or encrypted PDFs.

If you are unable to submit online, please inquire with the RNA Editorial Office about alternate submission methods (216-368-1852 or rnajournal@case.edu).

REQUIREMENTS FOR FINAL ACCEPTANCE

Text. Upon final acceptance, authors must submit the final version of text, including tables, in Microsoft Word. In addition, Greek symbols should be inserted directly from Word's "symbol insert" pulldown menu; math equations should be inserted using MathType or Word's Equation Editor. Authors need not send hard copies of the final manuscript or figures at the final acceptance stage.

Figures. Final versions of figures should be submitted according to the following guidelines. Note: Reflective art will be used as the default should any digital art file not pass our printer's Preflight checks. Acceptable digital art formats are EPS or TIFF, created in either Illustrator or Photoshop (see digital art resolution parameters below). [NOTE: If you are working in Illustrator CS3, please back-save to Illustrator CS2 before sending the file. Art files saved in Illustrator CS3 format are currently not yet usable by our compositor.]

Line Art
Line art (without halftone dots) should be scanned or produced at a minimum of 800 dpi in bitmap mode (saved as EPS or TIFF).

Halftone or Grayscale Art
Art to be reproduced as halftones should be scanned or produced at 300 dpi in grayscale mode. This is for halftone/grayscale art only (art that does not also have any line art within it). If within the halftone artwork there also exists line art, you need to follow the dpi specifications for Combo Art instead. When in doubt with halftone art, always default to the Combo Art specifications to ensure that halftone digital art will be used. For the best reproduction, halftones should be high contrast (and always saved as EPS or TIFF).

Combo Art
Combo art, which means both halftone art and line art within the same piece of art, must be 800 dpi in grayscale mode (saved as EPS or TIFF).

Color Art
Color art should be scanned or produced at 300 dpi in CMYK mode (saved as EPS or TIFF). Always save your color scans into the CMYK color space. Never submit color electronic files in the RGB mode. When color files are converted from RGB into CMYK, the color can change significantly. Please convert any RBG files to CMYK files prior to submitting such artwork to make sure the file is correct.

Note: Make sure that the weight of all rules used in artwork is 1/2 point or heavier. Lighter-weight rules will not be picked up.

Proofs. Proofs are considered the final form of the paper and correction can be made only in the case of factual errors. If additional information must be added at this stage, it should be in the form of "Note added in proof," subject to the approval of the editors.

PUBLICATION COSTS

Page charges. To help defray the cost of publication, corresponding authors who are members of the RNA Society will be charged $25 per page; corresponding authors who are not Society members will be charged $50 per page. Authors unable to meet these charges should include a letter of explanation upon acceptance for publication; inability to meet these charges will have no effect on acceptance and publication of submitted papers.

Color Charges. Corresponding authors who are members of the RNA Society will be charged $225 for the first sheet of a color figure and $350 for each additional color figure plate. Corresponding authors who are not Society members will be charged $450 for the first color figure and $350 for each additional color figure. Price estimates are supplied upon acceptance of the paper. In cases where the authors cannot cover color art fees, but it is clear the figure must be presented in color, such fees may be waived at the discretion of the Editor. A letter explaining the circumstances should be sent to the Editor.

Open Access Fees. For authors who wish to have their work immediately accessible to the entire community (Open Access), RNA Society members will be charged $1500; corresponding authors who are not Society members will be charged $2000.

Offprints. An offprint order form will be included with the proofs.