INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE FOR AUTHORS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Last updated: 11 May 2012

About The Journal of Physiology

Journal policies

  • Ethical standards in research
  • Editorial policy
    • Confidentiality
    • Conflict of interest
    • Unique reagents
  • Publication ethics
    • Overlapping material, plagiarism and duplicate publication
    • Simultaneous submission and the exclusive licence to publish
    • Image manipulation
  • Publication costs

    Guidelines for manuscript preparation

    Submit a manuscript
    The review process
    What happens following acceptance

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    ABOUT THE JOURNAL

    Scope and subject areas
    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. CrossTalk articles are short editorial-style invited articles framing a debate between experts in the field on controversial topics. 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 welcomes submitted research 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 and papers that use computational models to further our understanding of physiological processes will be considered if based on experimentally derived data and if the hypothesis advanced is directly amenable to experimental testing (see Extra information for modelling papers). 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.

    New Editor-in-Chief’s incoming Editorial

    Submitted manuscripts
    Invited manuscripts

    The Journal of Physiology does not impose submission or page charges.

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    Journal statistics

    ISI Web of Knowledge 2010 JCR report

    Two-year Impact Factor 5.139
    Five-year Impact Factor 4.982
    Cited half-life >10.0
    Eigenfactor Article Influence score * 1.923

    * http://www.eigenfactor.org/whyeigenfactor.htm

    Editorial statistics (updated in March 2010)

    Acceptance rate 26%
    Time to first report 3.9 weeks
    Receipt to first publication online 2.5 months
    Receipt to publication in an issue (mean in 2009) 4.4 months

    Editorial Board
    journals{at}physoc.org

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    GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

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    SUBMITTED MANUSCRIPTS

    Full-length research papers

    There are no restrictions on the length of manuscripts submitted as full-length research papers or on the number of figures or tables. However, papers should be written as clearly and concisely as possible and figures and tables should be kept to the minimum necessary to illustrate the hypothesis being tested and support the conclusions. Authors may be asked to reduce the length of the manuscript or the number of figures by the Reviewing Editor.

    The usual format for research papers is:

    1. Title page
    2. Key points summary
    3. Abstract
    4. Abbreviations
    5. Introduction
    6. Methods
    7. Results
    8. Discussion
    9. References
    10. Author contributions
    11. Acknowledgements
    12. Authors' Translational perspective
    13. Tables
    14. 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.

    Title page

    Title. The title should normally contain no more than 150 characters (including spaces). Include the species, tissue, organ or system if this is important in the context of the findings. Avoid specialist abbreviations if possible. For abbreviations and symbols that are acceptable in the title see List 1. Titles should be drafted carefully to indicate broadly what the paper is about to all Journal of Physiology readers, including those who are not specialists in the field. See http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/seo.asp for suggestions on how to optimize your title for search engines.

    Authors. The Editorial Board endorses the general principles set out in Guidelines on Good Publication Practice produced by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE; http://publicationethics.org/files/u2/New_Code.pdf). The author submitting a manuscript must ensure that all authors listed are eligible for authorship. Each author should take responsibility for a particular section of the study and have contributed to writing the paper (see Author contributions). Acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not alone justify authorship; these contributions to the study should be listed in the Acknowledgements. Additional information such as ‘X and Y have contributed equally to this work’ may be added as a footnote on the title page.

    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
    Fax: +44 (0)1223 246858
    Email: journals{at}physoc.org

    The editorial process cannot proceed until this notification is received.

    Addresses. Authors should provide the minimum address information consistent with clarity and should ensure that authors' affiliations are clearly indicated.

    Additional information. The following information is also required on the title page:

    • a running title not exceeding 70 characters and spaces for page headings;
    • three key words for use in the reviewing process
    • the total number of words in the paper, excluding references and figure legends
    • the name and postal and email addresses for the corresponding author
    • the Table of Contents category as assigned in the online submission form (http://submit.jphysiol.org) for the print and online Table of Contents.

    Key points summary
    Authors of potentially acceptable papers must provide a bullet-point summary for a Key points section in their revised manuscript. This will be published ahead of the abstract and replaces the previously published Non-technical summary paragraph. Manuscripts without a Key points summary will be returned to authors and will be delayed. See Guidelines for writing a Key points summary.

    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.

    Abbreviations list
    Authors should avoid abbreviations unless they are easily understood and help in reading the paper. Abbreviations well known in the field do not need to be defined. Please refer to our list of well-known abbreviations and symbols (List 2). All other abbreviations should be defined at their first mention and also in an alphabetical list immediately after the abstract, in the following format:

    Abbreviations ACE2, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2; AMG, α-methyl-glucopyranoside; Ang II, angiotensin II; Ang IV, angiotensin IV; Ang (1-7), angiotensin-(1-7); AT1, angiotensin type 1 receptor; eNOS, endothelial nitric oxide synthase; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; L-NMMA, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine; NF-κB, nuclear factor-κB; NOS, nitric oxide synthase; PI3K, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; RAS, renin–angiotensin system; ROS, reactive oxygen species; SGLT1, sodium-dependent glucose transporter 1; TNF-α, tumour necrosis factor-α.

    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.

    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. The Editorial Board endorses the ARRIVE Guidelines for reporting in vivo experiments.

    To be acceptable for publication, experiments on living vertebrates or Octopus vulgaris should conform with the principles of UK legislation. Guidance on the legislation can be found at: http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/hoc/321/321-02.htm and http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/hoc/321/321-02.htm#gen70

    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. A detailed explanation of Journal policy and UK regulations on animal experimentation is given in 'Reporting ethical matters in The Journal of Physiology: standards and advice' by Gordon B. Drummond, J Physiol 587, 713–719 . Authors should confirm in their Methods section that their experiments comply with the policies and regulations.

    Start the Methods section with a paragraph headed 'Ethical approval'. This paragraph must contain the following information:

    1. 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.
    2. 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 recommendations in the ARRIVE Guidelines should be followed. The following information must be provided:

    1. The numbers of animals studied.
    2. 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.
    3. Where relevant, the method of humane killing at the end of the experiment.
    4. 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.

    Results
    Data are often better presented graphically than in tables. Graphs that show individual values are better than solid bars indicating a mean value, unless the number of observations is large, in which case a box and whisker plot can be used. Authors should ensure that their data are treated correctly and seek 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 with means and errors if data have been transformed onto a logarithmic scale.
    Standard deviation and standard error of the mean should be specified and used appropriately, as measures of dispersion and precision of a summary value, and given with a suitable number of significant figures; the n value should be stated.
    Tests of significance should be specified on each occasion and in full, e.g. Student's paired t test.
    Theory and inference must be clearly distinguished from what was observed, and should not be elaborated upon in this section.

    Beginning in April 2011, The Journal of Physiology is collaborating with several other journals to publish a series of advisory editorials on statistical reporting.

    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.

    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 35 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 Physiol542, 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/citmgr?gca=jphysiol;579/2/289

    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.

    Author contributions
    The laboratory where the experiments were performed and the contribution of each author to the following aspects of the study should be stated:

    1. Conception and design of the experiments
    2. Collection, analysis and interpretation of data
    3. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content

    It must be confirmed that all authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

    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. They should also disclose any conflict of interest in accordance with journal policy.

    Authors' Translational perspective
    Authors of potentially acceptable papers may be asked to provide a Translational perspective with their revised manuscript. This will be published at the end of the paper, after the Acknowledgements, and will consist of a paragraph of no more than 250 words, entitled Translational perspective, describing the wider translational implications of the work. These could be for researchers in other disciplines or for clinical practice. This paragraph will be checked by The Journal's Translational Editor before being accepted. See Guidelines for preparing a Translational perspective.

    (Translational perspectives article.)

    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 will be processed as text and therefore should NOT be submitted as figures.

    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.

    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, 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 journals{at}physoc.org.

    Where figures from previous publications are used (even if these have been redrawn), see Use of previously published material

    Authors must not modify photographic images to enhance their data. See Publication ethics section Image manipulation for further information.

    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.

    NB. Extra information for modelling papers
    As in any experimental study, results from the model should add new scientific insights. The model should be based on physiological data where the parameters can be directly linked to experimental data. The model should be described in such a way that the results can be reproduced, i.e. all parameters are listed and any computation codes made available. Where possible there should be a detailed sensitivity analysis of the conclusions reached against the parameters proposed within the bounds of the data used to constrain them. Papers that develop integrative physiological models which link functions together or observations across scales would be encouraged.

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    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 but excluding references, should not exceed 5000 words, and should contain no more than five figures/tables and 35 references.

    Papers submitted as Rapid Reports will be published as full research papers if they do not comply with the guidelines for a Rapid Report at the time of acceptance. Please ensure that the above number of references or figures/tables are not exceeded if the article is to be published as a Rapid Report.

    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.

    See Submit a manuscript.

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    Techniques for Physiology
    Techniques for Physiology is a new section in The Journal of Physiology for 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 for a full-length research paper. Sufficient physiological data to show the relevance and utility of the technique, as well as new physiological insights that may be gained, must be included. 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.

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    Journal Club
    The Journal of Physiology encourages the submission, by graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and other training-level scientists, of short reviews of research 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 postdoctoral 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 references above 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).

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    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 using the online submission form (http://submit.jphysiol.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.

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    Corrigenda/Errata
    If authors discover errors in published papers they should contact the journals{at}physoc.org with the information and if an erratum is considered to be appropriate they will be sent an erratum template and instructions. Once the details have been added they can submit the erratum electronically using the online submission form (http://submit.jphysiol.org), as a New Paper through the Author Area, choosing 'Erratum' on the Article Type list. If the correction affects the conclusions of the article it will be sent to an editor for approval. The convention of The Journal of Physiology is to designate author errors as Corrigenda and errors introduced during the publishing process as Errata. The correction will be published in the next possible issue and, in the online version of The Journal, linked to the primary article.

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    INVITED MANUSCRIPTS

    Review articles

    Topical Reviews
    Symposium Reviews
    Information for authors of review articles

    Length
    Author profile
    Reproducing material that has been previously published
    Unpublished results
    Illustrations and colour figures
    References
    Cover images
    Supplemental material
    Submission
    The review process
    Following acceptance

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    Topical Reviews
    The Journal of Physiology commissions Topical Reviews, either as stand-alone reviews or as part of a themed Special Issue on a broad topic of current interest.

    Aim. Topical Reviews are expected to provide an accessible synthesis of current information in rapidly developing areas of physiology. Authors are encouraged to express their own opinion on a subject area. The reviews are intended to be succinct and direct, easy to read and attractively presented with explanatory diagrams and summary figures.

    Symposium Reviews
    Symposium Reviews are commissioned from speakers at Journal of Physiology-sponsored Symposia. A set of Symposium Reviews resulting from each symposium is published, along with related papers, in a Symposium Issue of The Journal.

    Aim. A Symposium Review should elaborate around and beyond the presented topic of the talk given by the speaker at the symposium, providing a succinct, readable account of the proceedings and what is new and exciting in the field. Our intention is to extend the benefit of our sponsored Symposia to the wider scientific community and to ensure, by publication in The Journal, that those who are unable to attend (especially more junior investigators) can be brought quickly up to date with what field leaders think. We encourage authors to be speculative if they wish – this is an opportunity to put forward arguments freely in order to stimulate debate and further scientific endeavour. The symposium review should be submitted prior to the symposium taking place. The speaker’s expense reimbursement is conditional upon receipt of the symposium review.

    Information for authors of review articles

    Length. The Review should not normally exceed 2000 words, but can be longer. Authors should follow Journal style in the preparation of papers. An abstract of up to 200 words should be included with the review.

    Author profile. Authors are invited to provide a short biography (no more than 100 words for one author or 150 words in total for two authors) and a portrait photograph of the two leading authors on the paper. These should be uploaded, clearly labelled, with the final manuscript submission. Any standard image format for the photograph is acceptable, but the resolution should be at least 300 dpi and preferably more.

    Reproducing material that has been previously published. Articles containing material that has been previously published cannot be published online or in print if permission documents are not received. (See Use of previously published material)

    Unpublished results. Unpublished results should not be included in a review article. Authors who have presented new data at a symposium may refer sparingly to unpublished observations without presenting the data. Their article should focus on describing recent developments in the field.

    Illustrations and colour figures. Illustrations are strongly encouraged. Reviews without figures are unlikely to be accepted. The use of colour figures where these will enhance the scientific quality of the review is also encouraged. Authors will not be asked to contribute towards the cost of colour reproduction.

    References. References are limited to 50, with exceptions in special cases. Refer to the References section for our style requirements.

    Cover images. Authors of reviews are encouraged to submit images suitable for The Journal's print cover. These should be high resolution TIFF files. They should be included with the submission as clearly labelled supplementary files and mentioned in the covering letter. For help uploading large files please journals{at}physoc.org.

    Supplemental material. Material presented at a symposium that is not suitable for printing such as large complex colour images, videos, 3-D images, etc. can be published online-only as Supplemental material and referred to in the text. For instructions on how to submit files larger than 10 MB please journals{at}physoc.org.

    Submission. When a review is part of a series allocated to a Special or Symposium Issue, authors will be given a deadline for submission. It is important to note that deadlines are fixed, and articles submitted after the deadline will probably not appear in the designated issue.  They may, however, be included in a subsequent, regular issue of The Journal of Physiology as stand-alone reviews.

    Manuscripts should be submitted electronically at http://submit.jphysiol.org.  Ensure that the appropriate article type and Table of Contents category are selected on the submission form. Please also indicate clearly in the covering letter that the manuscript is an invited article.

    All necessary contact details, i.e. corresponding author and full address, telephone and fax numbers and email address should be included on the title page of the article.

    The review process. Each article will be reviewed by a member of the Editorial Board and one or two expert referees.  The reviewers will be asked to comment critically on the content and on any areas or statements in the manuscript which they consider to be misleading or inaccurate. They may also suggest improvements to the writing style which they feel will maximize the impact of the published article. The Editorial Board does not guarantee acceptance of any manuscript.

    Following acceptance. We aim to publish within 3 months of submission. On acceptance, the manuscript will be rapidly moved to Physiology in Press, prior to publication. Authors will be provided with a PDF of their article. Refer to the publisher's exclusive licence terms for conditions of re-use of the article.

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    Commentaries

    Perspectives
    Translational Perspectives
    CrossTalk
    Information for authors of commentary articles

    Length
    Title and title page
    References
    Submission
    Review
    Confidentiality

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    Perspectives
    Perspectives articles are short commentaries commissioned to highlight papers in an issue of The Journal of Physiology that report technical or theoretical advances, or interdisciplinary approaches to questions in physiology, or illustrate new physiological principles of mechanisms. A Perspectives article may focus on one or more articles in an issue of The Journal and should present the wider context of the paper(s) in a style that makes the subject accessible to a broad readership. The authors of the highlighted articles will be asked to comment on the factual accuracy of the articles.

    Perspectives articles will appear in the same issue of The Journal as the focus paper(s).

    Translational Perspectives
    Translational Perspectives are commentaries on selected articles from The Journal of Physiology which report important advances in our knowledge of physiology that can provide insights for researchers working in other areas on the boundaries of physiology and point to applications in clinical practice. Our aim is to engage research scientists in related areas and clinical practitioners with advances in our knowledge of physiological mechanisms and to indicate how the results could inform research in other fields or contribute to new or improved therapies. The articles are commissioned from clinicians who are also researchers in physiology and should be written in a style that makes the subject accessible to a broad readership.

    Translational Perspectives articles will appear in the same issue of The Journal as the focus paper.

    In addition, authors of selected research papers will be invited to provide a short Translational perspective on their own paper which will appear as a paragraph at the end of the paper after the Acknowledgements. See Authors' Translational perspective.

    CrossTalk
    CrossTalk articles are exchange-of-views articles on controversial topics commissioned by the CrossTalk Editor. Two experts holding opposing viewpoints are invited to provide short commentaries (1200 words) presenting the evidence for their viewpoint. They also have the opportunity to provide a rebuttal (400 words) of the opposing view. The reviews and rebuttals are published together. Authors will be invited to provide an author profile to accompany their articles.

    Aim. The aim of CrossTalk articles is to provide readers with explicit accounts of both sides of a current controversy in physiology, allowing them to understand the arguments and arrive at an informed conclusion on the topic.

    Information for authors of commentary articles

    Length. The article will normally occupy no more than one side of one page of The Journal. Between 600 and 900 words (maximum) is recommended. A small figure may be included, provided the article (including a figure) does not exceed the stipulated size. Suggested maximum length is 750 words with one figure, or 900 words and no figure. Authors should adhere strictly to the limits on numbers of words, figures and references.

    Title and title page. The title of the article should be attractive to readers and must include keywords relevant to the topic of the commentary and the focus article to ensure that both articles can found through searches. The article must be prefaced by a title page including the title, author(s), institution(s), the corresponding author's name and address, and email , phone and FAX numbers.

    References. You may include up to 5 references, in abbreviated journal style:

    Lipp P, Egger M & Niggli E (2002). J Physiol542, 383–393.
    Adrian ED (1932). The Mechanism of Nervous Action. Humphrey Milford, London.

    Submission. Articles should be submitted online (http://submit.jphysiol.org) via the New Papers queue, indicating in the relevant boxes and in the covering letter that it is an invited Perspectives article.

    Review. Articles will be reviewed and edited by a member of the The Journal's Editorial Board.

    Confidentiality. Authors of Perspectives articles should not contact the author of the manuscript on which the Perspectives is being written.

    Journal style
    Guidelines for preparing Research papers

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    SUBMIT A MANUSCRIPT

    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 3–4 MB.

    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' cover letter. CrossCheck plagiarism detection software is used to check submitted manuscripts for overlap with previously published material.

    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

    Manuscripts
    Initial submissions. Manuscripts should be submitted initially as a single PDF file; 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.

    Revised manuscripts. Revised manuscripts should be submitted in the time requested as a WORD file via the 'Submit a Revision' link in the Author Area at http://submit.jphysiol.org/. This version will be published online within a week of acceptance, therefore it is essential that the manuscript is checked carefully for errors or unwanted correction marks. The WORD file must contain any tables that are in the manuscript.

    Open access. Please be ready to pay the Open Access fee if applicable and if the paper is finally accepted for publication. The fee must be paid to The Journal's publisher, Wiley-Blackwell, within 1–2 weeks of the date of the final acceptance letter.

    Figures
    Initial submissions. High-quality figure files need not be submitted intially; they will be requested if necessary. Authors wishing to have figures in colour online but monochrome (black on white) in print must submit both colour and monochrome 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. All figures showing photographs of cells must have scale bars.

    Revised manuscripts. Authors submitting a revised potentially acceptable manuscript should submit a separate file for each figure. Files should be high-resolution PDF, EPS or TIFF, no more than 5 MB each, and with all fonts embedded. Where a figure is to appear in colour online but monochrome in print, ensure that the legend applies to both versions since only one legend can be accepted. 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 further help see Guidelines for preparing figures.

    Permissions
    Authors wishing to reproduce text or figures that have already been published must seek permission from the copyright holder as soon as possible, and copies of permissions granted should be forwarded to The Journal. If accepted, the manuscript will not be published until the permissions are received.

    Copyright
    Authors are required to agree to the terms set out in the publisher's Exclusive Licence Form . This is now part of the online submission process. A printed signed agreement is no longer required.

    Colour figures
    If a manuscript contains colour figures authors are asked to state in the Cover Letter whether they would like to pay for the figures to be in colour in print. No charge is made for colour figures online. However, colour online-only figures must also make sense in monochrome and one version of the legend must apply to both the colour and monochrome figure. Colour charges can be found on the Colourwork Agreement form. The completed Colourwork Agreement form will only be requested from authors upon formal acceptance of the manuscript when a hard copy needs to be sent promptly to the publisher, Wiley-Blackwell, by post. The blank colourwork agreement form can also be found in the Author Area at http://submit.jphysiol.org

    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.

    Submit at: http://submit.jphysiol.org

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    THE REVIEW PROCESS

    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 Expert Referees; in some cases a third 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. However, authors should not nominate Editors or Expert Referees who are known to have any conflicts of interest with the authors or manuscript as listed at Editorial policy: Conflict of interest. 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. 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.

    Appeals procedure. Authors wishing to lodge an appeal regarding an editorial decision on their manuscript should do so within 2 weeks from the date of the decision letter. Beyond this, appeals will not be considered. The 'Letter of Appeal' should be addressed to the signatory of the decision letter, usually the Senior Editor, and emailed to the Administrator in the Publications Office who handled the manuscript (and from whose email the decision letter was sent). The appeal will be considered by the Senior Editor and the Reviewing Editor concerned, but may include others at the discretion of the Senior Editor, and so should be a succinct, reasoned rebuttal, suitable for onward transmission. Once a decision on the appeal has been reached, the authors will be informed.

    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 journals{at}physoc.org.

    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.

    Guidelines for reviewers

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  1. May 1, 2012, 590 (10)
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