SCOPE
Clinical Microbiology Reviews (CMR) accepts reviews that are of primary interest to clinical microbiologists, medical microbiologists and immunologists, public health workers, infectious disease clinicians, and others who are interested in the pathogenesis, laboratory diagnosis, epidemiology, and control of human and veterinary pathogens. The articles should present comprehensive, critical summaries of current knowledge in the field and should not be limited to a discussion of the author's work. Sufficient historical or other background material may be included for those readers who are not current with the latest advances in the particular field. If the material covered is controversial, the author should attempt to provide balanced coverage. Appropriate reviews would include those addressing pathogenic mechanisms, specific or groups of microbial pathogens, clinical and laboratory aspects of newly recognized or reemerging infectious diseases, recently developed antimicrobial agents and their application, and new diagnostic laboratory technology.
The editors welcome any suggestions for topics and authors from either prospective authors or others. Prospective authors are advised to discuss with the editor in chief the suitability of their proposed contribution. The preparation of an annotated topical outline is required, since it often elicits constructive suggestions from editorial consultants. In addition, a list of key references showing the author's contributions to the field as well as other investigators’ findings and a one- or two-paragraph statement detailing the aim, scope, and relevance of the review should be included with the outline.
All manuscripts submitted to the journal undergo rigorous peer review similar to that carried out by other ASM journals. Whether a submission is solicited or unsolicited, the editors of CMR do not guarantee that a manuscript will be accepted for publication unless it meets the journal's high standards.
EDITORIAL POLICY
Use of Microbiological InformationThe Council Policy Committee (CPC) of the American Society for Microbiology affirms the long-standing position of the Society that microbiologists will work for the proper and beneficent application of science and will call to the attention of the public or the appropriate authorities misuses of microbiology or of information derived from microbiology. ASM members are obligated to discourage any use of microbiology contrary to the welfare of humankind, including the use of microbes as biological weapons. Bioterrorism violates the fundamental principles expressed in the Code of Ethics of the Society and is abhorrent to ASM and its members.
ASM recognizes that there are valid concerns regarding the publication of information in scientific journals that could be put to inappropriate use as described in the CPC resolution mentioned above. Members of the ASM Publications Board will evaluate the rare manuscript that might raise such issues during the review process. Supply of materials should be in accordance with laws and regulations governing the shipment, transfer, possession, and use of biological materials and must be for legitimate, bona fide research needs. Links to, and information regarding, these laws and regulations can be found at http://www.asm.org/ under the Public Policy tab. We ask that authors pay particular attention to the NSAR Select Agents and Toxins list on the CDC website http://www.selectagents.gov/index.html and the NSABB criteria for identifying dual use research of concern in the report “Proposed Framework for the Oversight of Dual Use Life Sciences Research: Strategies for Minimizing the Potential Misuse of Research Information” on the Office of Biotechnology Activities website http://oba.od.nih.gov/biosecurity/pdf/Framework%20for%20transmittal%200807_Sept07.pdf (p. 17-22).
Ethical GuidelinesASM requirements for submitted manuscripts are consistent with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, as last updated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors in April 2010 (http://www.icmje.org).
Authors are expected to adhere to the highest ethical standards. The following sections of these Instructions include detailed information about ASM's ethical standards. Failure to comply with the policies described in these Instructions may result in a letter of reprimand, a suspension of publishing privileges in ASM journals, and/or notification of the authors’ institutions. Authors employed by companies whose policies do not permit them to comply with ASM policies may be sanctioned as individuals and/or ASM may refuse to consider manuscripts having authors from such companies. The ASM Publications Board wishes to clarify the following in particular.
Plagiarism.Misappropriating another person's intellectual property constitutes plagiarism. This includes copying sentences or paragraphs verbatim (or almost verbatim) from someone else's work, even if the original work is cited in the references. The NIH ORI publication “Avoiding Plagiarism, Self-Plagiarism, and Other Questionable Writing Practices: a Guide to Ethical Writing” (http://ori.dhhs.gov/education/products/plagiarism/) can help authors identify questionable writing practices.
Plagiarism is not limited to the text; it can involve any part of the manuscript, including figures and tables, in which material is copied from another publication without permission and attribution. An author may not reuse his or her own previously published work without attribution; this is considered self-plagiarism.
Fabrication, manipulation, and falsification of data.As a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), ASM encourages authors to consult COPE's “Guidelines on Good Publication Practice” (http://publicationethics.org/static/1999/1999pdf13.pdf). Fabrication, manipulation, and falsification of data constitute misconduct. As defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, fabrication is “making up data or results and recording or reporting them,” and falsification is “manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record” (42 Code of Federal Regulations, §93.103). All sources and methods used to obtain and analyze data, including any electronic preprocessing, should be fully disclosed; detailed explanations should be provided for any exclusions.
Primary publication.By submission of a manuscript to the journal, the authors guarantee that they have the authority to publish the work and that the manuscript, or one with substantially the same content, was not published previously, is not being considered or published elsewhere, and was not rejected on scientific grounds by another ASM journal. It is incumbent upon the author to acknowledge any prior publication, including his/her own articles, of the data contained in a manuscript submitted to an ASM journal. A copy of the relevant work should be submitted with the paper as supplemental material. Whether the material constitutes the substance of a paper and therefore renders the manuscript unacceptable for publication is an editorial decision.
In brief, a paper is not acceptable for submission to an ASM journal if it, or its substance, has been published/posted in:
A serial, periodical, or book
A conference report or symposium proceedings
A technical bulletin or company white paper
A nonpersonal website
Any other retrievable source
The following do not preclude submission to, or publication by, an ASM journal, as long as the posted data do not constitute the substance of a submission:
Posting a method/protocol on a nonpersonal website
Posting a limited amount of original data on a personal/university/corporate website or websites of small collaborative groups working on a problem
Posting of unpublished sequence data on the Internet (the URL where the sequence is posted should be included in the text)
Preliminary disclosures of research findings as meeting posters, webcast as meeting presentations, or published in abstract form as adjuncts to a meeting, e.g., part of a program
Posting of theses and dissertations on a personal/university-hosted website
Permissions.The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining permission from both the original author and the original publisher (i.e., the copyright owner) to reproduce or modify figures (including maps) and tables and to reproduce text (in whole or in part) from previous publications. This also applies to the author's own work published in non-ASM journals. Figures, tables, and discrete portions of text from the author's own prior ASM journal publication may be republished in CMR without permission on the condition that appropriate credit is given to the original ASM publication.
Written, signed permissions must be secured at the modification stage and submitted with the revised manuscript in the online manuscript submission and peer review system. They should be scanned and submitted as supplemental material. If they cannot be scanned and transmitted this way, they should be e-mailed, mailed, or faxed to the editor. Permissions should be identified as to the relevant item in the ASM manuscript (e.g., “permissions for Fig. 1 in submitted manuscript”). In addition, a statement indicating that the material is being reprinted with permission must be included in the relevant figure legend or table footnote of the manuscript. Reprinted text must be enclosed in quotation marks, and the permission statement must be included as running text or indicated parenthetically.
It is expected that the authors will provide written assurance that permission to cite unpublished data or personal communications has been granted. For supplemental material intended for posting by ASM (see “Supplemental Material”), if the authors of the CMR manuscript are not also the owners of the supplemental material, the corresponding author must submit, no later than the modification stage, signed permission from the copyright owner that allows posting of the material, as a supplement to the article, by ASM. The corresponding author is also responsible for incorporating in the supplemental material any copyright notices required by the owner.
Authorship.All authors of a manuscript must have agreed to its submission and are responsible for its content (initial submission and any subsequent versions), including appropriate citations and acknowledgments, and must also have agreed that the corresponding author has the authority to act on their behalf in all matters pertaining to publication of the manuscript. The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining such agreements and for informing the coauthors of the manuscript's status throughout the submission, review, and publication processes. Submitting a paper before all coauthors have read and approved it is considered an ethical violation, as is failure to credit someone who qualifies as a coauthor; however, ASM does not itself investigate or attempt to resolve authorship disputes.
An author is one who made a substantial contribution to the article; therefore, ASM considers all authors responsible for the entire paper. Individuals who provided assistance, e.g., supplied strains or critiqued the paper, need not be listed as authors but may be recognized in the Acknowledgments section.
A study group, surveillance team, working group, consortium, or the like (e.g., the Active Bacterial Core Surveillance Team) may be listed as a coauthor in the byline if its contributing members satisfy the requirements for authorship and accountability as described in these Instructions. The names (and institutional affiliations if desired) of the contributing members only may be given in a footnote linked to the study group name in the byline or as a separate paragraph in the Acknowledgments section.
If the contributing members of the group associated with the work do not fulfill the criteria of substantial contribution to and responsibility for the paper, the group may not be listed in the author byline. Instead, it and the names of its contributing members may be listed in the Acknowledgments section.
All authors must agree to the order in which their names are listed in the byline. Statements regarding equal contributions by two or more authors (e.g., “X.J. and Y.S. contributed equally to …”) are permitted as footnotes to bylines and must be agreed to by all of the authors. Other statements of attribution may be included in the Acknowledgments section.
A change in authorship (order of listing, addition or deletion of a name, or corresponding author designation) after submission of the manuscript will be implemented only after receipt of signed statements of agreement from all parties involved.
Disputes about authorship may delay or prevent review and/or publication of the manuscript. Should the individuals involved be unable to reach an accord, review and/or publication of the manuscript can proceed only after the matter is investigated and resolved by the authors’ institution(s) and an official report of such and signed statements of agreement are provided to ASM.
Conflict of interest.All authors are expected to disclose, in the manuscript submittal letter, any commercial affiliations as well as consultancies, stock or equity interests, and patent-licensing arrangements that could be considered to pose a conflict of interest regarding the submitted manuscript. (Inclusion of a company name in the author address lines of the manuscript does not constitute disclosure.) Details of the disclosure to the editor will remain confidential. However, it is the responsibility of authors to provide, in the Acknowledgments section, a general statement disclosing financial or other relationships that are relevant to the study. Examples of potentially conflicting interests that should be disclosed include relationships that might detract from an author's objectivity in presentation of study results and interests whose value would be enhanced by the results presented. All funding sources for the project, institutional and corporate, must be credited in the Acknowledgments section. In addition, if a manuscript concerns a commercial product, the manufacturer's name must be indicated in the text in an obvious manner.
CopyrightTo maintain and protect the Society's ownership and rights and to continue to afford scientists the opportunity to publish in high-quality journals, ASM requires the corresponding author to sign a copyright transfer agreement on behalf of all the authors on acceptance. Unless this agreement is executed (without changes and/or addenda), ASM will not publish the manuscript.
In the copyright transfer agreement signed by an author, ASM grants to that author (and coauthors) the right to republish discrete portions of his/her (their) article in any other publication (print, CD-ROM, and other electronic forms) of which he/she is (they are) the author(s) or editor(s), on the condition that appropriate credit is given to the original ASM publication. This republication right also extends to posting on a host computer to which there is access via the Internet. Except as indicated below, significant portions of the article may not be reprinted/posted without ASM's prior written permission, however, as this would constitute duplicate publication.
Authors may post their own published articles on their personal or university-hosted (but not corporate, government, or similar) websites without ASM's prior written permission provided that appropriate credit is given (i.e., either the copyright lines shown at the top of the first page of the PDF version or “Copyright © American Society for Microbiology, [insert journal name, volume number, page numbers, and year]” for the HTML version).
The copyright transfer agreement asks that authors who were U.S. government employees and who wrote the article as part of their employment duties be identified. This is because works authored solely by such U.S. government employees are not subject to copyright protection, so there is no copyright to be transferred. The other provisions of the copyright transfer agreement, such as author representations of originality and authority to enter into the agreement, apply to U.S. government employee-authors as well as to other authors.
Copyright for supplemental material (see “Supplemental Material”) remains with the author, but a license permitting the posting by ASM will be sent, along with the article copyright transfer agreement, to the corresponding author for signing at the acceptance stage. (If the author of the article is not also the copyright owner of the supplemental material, the corresponding author must send directly to the editor in chief, outside the online manuscript submission and peer review system and no later than the modification stage, signed permission from the owner that allows posting of the material, as a supplement to the article, by ASM. The corresponding author is also responsible for incorporating into the supplemental material any copyright notices required by the owner.)
Supplemental MaterialSupplemental material intended for posting by ASM should be restricted primarily to large or complex data sets or results that cannot readily be displayed in printed form because of space or technical limitations. Such material may include data from microarray, structural, biochemical, or video imaging analyses. In such cases, the manuscript submitted for review should include a distillation of the results so that the principal conclusions are fully supported without referral to the supplemental material.
Supplemental material intended for posting by ASM must be uploaded as a separate Supplemental Material file(s) in the manuscript submission and peer review system and will be reviewed along with the manuscript. The maximum size permitted for an individual file is 8 MB (20 MB for movie files). If your file exceeds this size, you must use the file compression utility WinZip to reduce the file size. The decision to publish (i.e., post online only) the material with the article if it is accepted will be made by the editor. ASM will post no more than 10 individual supplemental files with an individual article. It is possible that a manuscript will be accepted but that the supplemental material will not be.
To ensure broad access, supplemental files should be submitted in the following standard formats:
(i) Text. Word, RTF, or PDF files.
(ii) Figures. TIFF, EPS, high-resolution PDF, JPEG, or GIF format. Supplemental figures should not be embedded in the manuscript text.
(iii) Tables. Word, RTF, or PDF files.
(iv) Data sets. Excel (.xls), RTF, TXT, or PDF files.
(v) Movies. Audio Video Interleave (.avi), QuickTime (.mov), or MPEG files. All movies should be submitted at the desired reproduction size and length.
Unlike the manuscript, supplemental material will not be edited by the ASM Journals staff and proofs will not be made available. References related to supplemental material only should not be listed in the References section of an article; instead, include them with the supplemental material hosted by ASM or posted on a personal/institutional website.
Supplemental material will always remain associated with its article and is not subject to any modifications after publication.
Material that has been published previously (print or online) is not acceptable for posting as supplemental material. Instead, the appropriate reference(s) to the original publication should be made in the manuscript text.
Copyright for the supplemental material remains with the author, but a license permitting the posting by ASM will be sent, along with the article copyright transfer agreement, to the corresponding author for signing. If you are not the copyright owner, you must send directly to the editor in chief, outside the online manuscript submission and peer review system and no later than the modification stage, signed permission from the owner that allows posting of the material, as a supplement to your article, by ASM. You are responsible for including in the supplemental material any copyright notices required by the owner.
Warranties and ExclusionsArticles published in this journal represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of ASM. ASM does not warrant the fitness or suitability, for any purpose, of any methodology, kit, product, or device described or identified in an article. The use of trade names is for identification purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by ASM.
Editorial StyleThe editorial style of ASM journals conforms to the ASM Style Manual for Journals (American Society for Microbiology, 2011, in-house document) and How To Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 6th ed. (Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 2006), as interpreted and modified by the editorial board and the ASM Journals Department.
The editors and the Journals Department reserve the privilege of editing manuscripts, whether invited or not, to conform with the stylistic conventions set forth in the aforesaid publications and in these Instructions. Any deviations from this style must be approved by the Journals Department.
SUBMISSION, REVIEW, AND PUBLICATION PROCESSES
Submission ProcessAll submissions to CMR must be made electronically. In 2011, the ASM journals are switching from Rapid Review to the eJournalPress manuscript submission and peer review system. Journals will be transitioned one by one over the course of several months, and the exact timing for CMR has not been determined. When the transition occurs, only new manuscript submissions will be made through the eJP system. If you are returning a modified manuscript and made the original submission in Rapid Review, please use Rapid Review. For up-to-date information about where to submit your manuscript, please refer to the separate html version of Instructions to Authors, http://cmr.asm.org/misc/ifora.dtl, which is updated throughout the year.
Manuscript Submission ChecklistBefore submitting a manuscript, please review the following information.
Online manuscript submission and peer review system:
Provide a cover letter including a statement which confirms that the article has not been submitted for publication or review elsewhere
Provide names and contact information for at least three potential reviewers with appropriate expertise who can adequately review the manuscript
Provide a conflict-of-interest statement, disclosing any financial interests or support from institutions or companies mentioned in the manuscript (include this statement in the cover letter)
Manuscript (the listed elements should be included in the following order):
A table of contents with page numbers for each section
An Introduction section
The main body of the manuscript (the main text, the tables, and the references must be double spaced, and line numbers must be included in the text portion of the manuscript only [i.e, there should be no line numbers in the sections containing references, tables, and figures])
A References section, with all references formatted in ASM style (see “References” below); all references must be cited in the text
Author biographies
Figure legends (at the modification stage, figure legends must be provided as text files separate from the image file; on initial submission, to assist review, the legend should be incorporated in the image file and appear beneath the figure)
A summary of the manuscript, to appear in the journal's table of contents
Tables
Figures and author photographs, with each image on a separate page labeled with the figure number and with the legend; no line numbers should appear on pages with figures, and digital images must have been tested with Rapid Inspector (http://rapidinspector.cadmus.com/RapidInspector/zmw/index.jsp) and meet formatting specifications for the journal
Permissions:
Obtain permissions from both the original author and the original publisher to reproduce or adapt any figure or table included in the manuscript that is not original material; this includes material the authors have previously published unless the authors are the copyright owners (note that most peer-reviewed journals are the copyright owners)
Review ProcessAll manuscripts are considered to be confidential and undergo rigorous peer review by members of the editorial board or qualified ad hoc reviewers.
To expedite the review process, authors must recommend at least three reviewers who have expertise in the field, who are not members of their institution(s), who have not recently been associated with their laboratory(ies), and who could not otherwise be considered to pose a conflict of interest regarding the submitted manuscript. Please provide their contact information where indicated on the submission form.
Copies of in-press and submitted manuscripts that are important for judgment of the present manuscript should be included as supplemental material to facilitate the review.
When a manuscript is submitted to the journal, it is given a control number (e.g., CMR00047-11 version 1) and assigned to the editor in chief. (Always refer to this control number in communications with the editor and the Journals Department.) It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to inform the coauthors of the manuscript's status throughout the submission, review, and publication processes. The reviewers operate under strict guidelines set forth in “Guidelines for Reviewers” (http://www.journals.asm.org/misc/reviewguide.dtl) and are expected to complete their reviews expeditiously. Once the manuscript is submitted, it is sent out for peer review to two to four experts in the field. Reviews generally take about 6 weeks, and then a decision (accept, modify, or reject) about the manuscript is made. It should be expected that there will be minor or major revisions required of authors during the revision process. Manuscripts may require re-review if the editor deems it necessary.
The corresponding author is notified by the editor in chief of his/her decision to accept, reject, or require modification. When modification is requested, the corresponding author must either submit the modified version within 2 months or withdraw the manuscript. A point-by-point response to the reviews must be provided with the revised manuscript, and a compare copy of the manuscript (without figures) should be included as supplemental material if the editor in chief requested one.
Manuscripts that have been rejected, or withdrawn after being returned for modification, will not be reconsidered by CMR.
Notification of AcceptanceManuscripts cannot be accepted until all required materials are submitted to the editorial office (manuscripts must be formatted correctly, figures must be prepared according to specifications, and permissions must be secured). When the editor in chief has decided that a manuscript is acceptable for publication on the basis of scientific merit, the author and the Journals Department are notified. The text files undergo an automated preediting, cleanup, and tagging process specific to the particular article type, and the illustrations are examined. If all files have been prepared according to the criteria set forth in these Instructions and those in the online manuscript submission system, the acceptance procedure will be completed successfully. If there are problems that would cause extensive corrections to be made at the copyediting stage or if the files are not acceptable for production, ASM Journals staff will contact the corresponding author.
Once all the material intended for publication has been determined to be adequate, the manuscript is scheduled for the next available issue. The editorial staff of the ASM Journals Department completes the editing of the manuscript to bring it into conformity with prescribed standards.
Page ProofsPage proofs, together with a query sheet and instructions for handling proofs, will be made available to the corresponding author electronically via a PDF file that can be accessed through a unique password. Since corresponding authors will be notified of the availability of their PDF proofs, instructed how to access information about reprints, and assigned their unique password via e-mail, an e-mail address must be supplied in the correspondent footnote. Failure to do so may result in a delay in publication. The PDF page proofs must be printed out, and corrections must be written on the hard copy. Queries must be answered on the query page or on a separate sheet of paper, and any changes related to the queries must be indicated on the proofs. Note that the copy editor does not query at every instance where a change has been made. Queries are written only to request necessary information or clarification of an unclear passage or to draw attention to edits that may have altered the sense. It is the author's responsibility to read the entire text, tables, and figure legends, not just items queried. As soon as the page proofs are corrected and signed by the person who proofread them (within 48 h), they should be mailed or sent by a courier service such as FedEx, not faxed or sent as an e-mail attachment, to the ASM Journals Department, 1752 N St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036-2904.
The proof stage is not the time to make extensive corrections, additions, or deletions. Figures as they appear in the proofs are for validation of content and placement, not quality of reproduction or color accuracy. Print output of figures in the PDF page proofs will be of lower quality than the same figures viewed on a monitor. Please avoid making changes to figures based on quality of color or reproduction in proof.
Important new information that has become available between acceptance of the manuscript and receipt of the proofs may be inserted as an addendum in proof with the permission of the editor in chief. If references to unpublished data or personal communications are added, it is expected that written assurance granting permission for the citation will be provided. Limit changes to correction of spelling errors, incorrect data, and grammatical errors and updated information for references to articles that have been submitted or are in press. If URLs have been provided in the article, recheck the sites to ensure that the addresses are still accurate and the material that you expect the reader to find is indeed there.
Questions about late proofs and problems in the proofs should be directed to the ASM Journals Department (e-mail, cbrown{at}asmusa.org; telephone, 202-942-9384). Questions about accessing or viewing your PDF proofs should be directed to Katie Gay of Cadmus Communications at 804-261-3155 or gayk{at}cadmus.com.
ReprintsThe corresponding author may receive up to 300 free reprints of his/her contribution; additional reprints (in multiples of 100) may be purchased if desired. In the proof notification e-mail, the corresponding author will be instructed how to access information about reprints.
PDF FilesA corresponding author who has included an e-mail address in his/her “corresponding author” footnote will have limited access (10 downloads, total) to the PDF file of his/her published article. An e-mail alert will automatically be sent to him/her on the day the issue is posted. It will provide a URL, which will be required to obtain access, and instructions. An article may be viewed, printed, or stored, provided that it is for the author's own use.
Should coauthors or colleagues be interested in viewing the paper for their own use, the corresponding author may provide them with the URL; a copy of the article may not be forwarded electronically. However, they must be made aware of the terms and conditions of the ASM copyright. (For details, go to http://www.journals.asm.org/misc/terms.dtl.) Note that each such download will count toward the corresponding author's total of 10. After 10 downloads, access will be denied and can be obtained only through a subscription to the journal (either individual or institutional) or after the standard access control has been lifted (i.e., 1 year after publication).
ORGANIZATION AND FORMAT
On receipt at ASM, the electronic file of an accepted manuscript undergoes an automated preediting, cleanup, and tagging process specific to the particular article type. To optimize this process, manuscripts must be supplied in the correct format and with the appropriate section headings. Consult a recent issue of CMR for format and style.
The title page must include the title, the running title (not to exceed 54 characters and spaces), the name and affiliation of each author, and a footnote indicating the complete mailing address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author. A table of contents showing the major headings and subheadings of the text should follow the title page. Headings and subheadings have the following format:
LEVEL 1 HEAD (centered, all caps, boldface)
Level 2 Head (centered, initial caps, boldface)
Level 3 head. (boldface paragraph lead-in, sentence capitalization)
(i) Level 4 head. (boldface subparagraph lead-in, sentence capitalization)
(a) Level 5 head. (lightface italic sub-subparagraph lead-in, sentence capitalization)
The summary, which will be included in the issue table of contents and must be no longer than 200 words, should be placed at the end of the electronic file, after the References section and the figure legends (but before any tables).
Type every portion of the manuscript double-spaced (a minimum of 6 mm between lines), including figure legends, table footnotes, and References, and number all pages in sequence, including the author biographies, figure legends, and tables. Place the last two items after the References section. Manuscript pages should have line numbers; manuscripts without line numbers may be editorially rejected by the editor, with a suggestion of resubmission after line numbers are added. The font size should be no smaller than 12 points. It is recommended that the following sets of characters be easily distinguishable in the manuscript: the numeral zero (0) and the letter “oh” (O); the numeral one (1), the letter “el” (l), and the letter “eye” (I); and a multiplication sign (×) and the letter “ex” (x). Do not create symbols as graphics or use special fonts that are external to your word processing program; use the “insert symbol” function. Set the page size to 8½ by 11 inches (ca. 21.6 by 28 cm). Italicize any words that should appear in italics, and indicate paragraph lead-ins in boldface type.
Authors who are unsure of proper English usage should have their manuscripts checked by someone proficient in the English language.
Manuscripts may be editorially rejected, without review, on the basis of poor English or lack of conformity to the standards set forth in these Instructions.
References listed in the References section.The References section must include all journal articles (both print and online), books and book chapters (both print and online), patents, theses and dissertations, published conference proceedings, meeting abstracts from published abstract books or journal supplements, letters (to the editor), and company publications, as well as in-press journal articles, book chapters, and books (publication title must be given). As we use the citation-name reference style, arrange the citations in alphabetical order (letter by letter, ignoring spaces and punctuation) by first-author surname and number consecutively. Provide the names of all the authors for each reference. All listed references must be cited parenthetically by number in the text. Since title and byline information that is downloaded from PubMed does not always show accents, italics, or special characters, authors should refer to the PDF files or hard-copy versions of the articles and incorporate the necessary corrections in the submitted manuscript. Abbreviate journal names according to the PubMed Journals Database (National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health; available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=journals), the primary source for ASM style.
Follow the styles shown in the examples below for print references.
Alexander, T. W., et al. 2008. Effect of subtherapeutic administration of antibiotics on the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli bacteria in feedlot cattle. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74:4405-4416.
Cox, C. S., B. R. Brown, and J. C. Smith. J. Gen. Genet., in press.* {Article title is optional; journal title is mandatory.}
da Costa, M. S., M. F. Nobre, and F. A. Rainey. 2001. Genus I. Thermus Brock and Freeze 1969, 295,AL emend. Nobre, Trüper and da Costa 1996b, 605, p. 404-414. In D. R. Boone, R. W. Castenholz, and G. M. Garrity (ed.), Bergey's manual of systematic bacteriology, 2nd ed., vol. 1. Springer, New York, NY.
Elder, B. L., and S. E. Sharp. 2003. Cumitech 39, Competency assessment in the clinical laboratory. Coordinating ed., S. E. Sharp. ASM Press, Washington, DC.
Falagas, M. E., and S. K. Kasiakou. 2006. Use of international units when dosing colistin will help decrease confusion related to various formulations of the drug around the world. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 50:2274-2275. (Letter.) {“Letter” or “Letter to the editor” is allowed but not required at the end of such an entry.}
Fitzgerald, G., and D. Shaw. In A. E. Waters (ed.), Clinical microbiology, in press. EFH Publishing Co., Boston, MA.* {Chapter title is optional.}
Forman, M. S., and A. Valsamakis. 2003. Specimen collection, transport, and processing: virology, p. 1227-1241. In P. R. Murray, E. J. Baron, M. A. Pfaller, J. H. Jorgensen, and R. H. Yolken (ed.), Manual of clinical microbiology, 8th ed. ASM Press, Washington, DC.
Garcia, C. O., et al. 1996. Detection of salmo-nella DNA in synovial membrane and synovial fluid from Latin American patients. Arthritis Rheum. 39(Suppl.):S185. {Meeting abstract published in journal supplement.}
Green, P. N., D. Hood, and C. S. Dow. 1984. Taxonomic status of some methylotrophic bacteria, p. 251-254. In R. L. Crawford and R. S. Hanson (ed.), Microbial growth on C1 compounds. Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC.
Odell, J. C. April 1970. Process for batch culturing. U.S. patent 484,363,770. {Include the name of the patented item/process if possible; the patent number is mandatory.}
O'Malley, D. R. 1998. Ph.D. thesis. University of California, Los Angeles, CA. {Title is optional.}
Rotimi, V. O., N. O. Salako, E. M. Mohaddas, and L. P. Philip. 2005. Abstr. 45th Intersci. Conf. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., abstr. D-1658. {Abstract title is optional.}
Smith, D., C. Johnson, M. Maier, and J. J. Maurer. 2005. Distribution of fimbrial, phage and plasmid associated virulence genes among poultry Salmonella enterica serovars, abstr. P-038, p. 445. Abstr. 105th Gen. Meet. Am. Soc. Microbiol. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC. {Abstract title is optional.}
Stratagene. 2006. Yeast DNA isolation system: instruction manual. Stratagene, La Jolla, CA. {Use the company name as the author if none is provided for a company publication.}
*A reference to an in-press ASM publication should state the control number (e.g., CMR00577-11) if it is a journal article or the name of the publication if it is a book.
Online references must provide essentially the same information that print references do. For online journal articles, posting or revision dates may replace the year of publication, and a DOI or URL may be provided in addition to or in lieu of volume and page numbers. Some examples follow.
Charlier, D., and N. Glansdorff. September 2004, posting date. Chapter 3.6.1.10, Biosynthesis of arginine and polyamines. In R. Curtiss III et al. (ed.), EcoSal—Escherichia coli and Salmonella: cellular and molecular biology. ASM Press, Washington, DC. http://www.ecosal.org/. {Note that each chapter has its own posting date.}
Dionne, M. S., and D. S. Schneider. 2002. Screening the fruitfly immune system. Genome Biol. 3: REVIEWS1010. http://genomebiology.com/2002/3/4/reviews/1010.
Smith, F. X., H. J. Merianos, A. T. Brunger, and D. M. Engelman. 2001. Polar residues drive association of polyleucine transmembrane helices. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 98:2250-2255. doi:10.1073/pnas.041593698.
Winnick, S., D. O. Lucas, A. L. Hartman, and D. Toll. 2005. How do you improve compliance? Pediatrics 115:e718-e724.
Note: a posting or accession date is required for any online reference that is periodically updated or changed.
References cited in the text.References to unpublished data, manuscripts submitted for publication, unpublished conference presentations (e.g., a report or poster that has not appeared in published conference proceedings), personal communications, patent applications and patents pending, computer software, databases, and websites should be made parenthetically in the text as follows.
… similar results (R. B. Layton and C. C. Weathers, unpublished data).
… system was used (J. L. McInerney, A. F. Holden, and P. N. Brighton, submitted for publication).
… as described previously (M. G. Gordon and F. L. Rattner, presented at the Fourth Symposium on Food Microbiology, Overton, IL, 13 to 15 June 1989). {For nonpublished abstracts and posters, etc.}
… this new process (V. R. Smoll, 20 June 1999, Australian Patent Office). {For non-U.S. patent applications, give the date of publication of the application.}
… available in the GenBank database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/index.html).
… using ABC software (version 2.2; Department of Microbiology, State University [http://www.state.micro.edu]).
URLs for companies that produce any of the products mentioned in your study or for products being sold may not be included in the article. However, company URLs that permit access to scientific data related to the study or to shareware used in the study are permitted.
References related to supplemental material.References that are related only to supplemental material hosted by ASM or posted on a personal/institutional website should not be listed in the References section of an article; include them with the supplemental material itself.
Referencing ASM Accepts (publish-ahead-of-print) manuscripts.Citations of ASM Accepts manuscripts should look like the following example.
Wang, G. G., M. P. Pasillas, and M. P. Kamps. 15 May 2006. Persistent transactivation by Meis1 replaces Hox function in myeloid leukemogenesis models: evidence for co-occupancy of Meis1-Pbx and Hox-Pbx complexes on promoters of leukemia-associated genes. Mol. Cell. Biol. doi:10.1128/MCB.00586-06.
Other journals may use different styles for their publish-ahead-of-print manuscripts, but citation entries must include the following information: author name(s), posting date, title, journal title, and volume and page numbers and/or DOI. The following is an example:
Zhou, F. X., H. J. Merianos, A. T. Brunger, and D. M. Engelman. 13 February 2001, posting date. Polar residues drive association of polyleucine transmembrane helices. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. doi:10.1073/pnas.041593698.
Author BiographiesCorresponding authors should submit brief biographical sketches (limit, 150 words) of each contributing author, to be published at the end of the article. If the editor asks you to submit a modified manuscript, submit biographical text and photos with your modification.
Correspondent FootnoteThe complete mailing address, a single telephone number, a single fax number, and a single e-mail address for the corresponding author should be included on the title page of the manuscript. This information will be published in the article as a footnote to facilitate communication, and the e-mail address will be used to notify the corresponding author of the availability of proofs and, later, of the PDF file of the published article. No more than two authors may be designated corresponding authors.
ErrataThe Erratum section provides a means of correcting errors that occurred during the writing, typing, editing, or publication (e.g., a misspelling, a dropped word or line, or mislabeling in a figure) of a published article. Submit Errata via the online manuscript submission and peer review system (see “Submission, Review, and Publication Processes”). In the Abstract section of the submission form (a required field), put “Not Applicable.” Upload the text of your Erratum as a Microsoft Word file. Please see a recent issue for correct formatting.
Authors’ CorrectionsThe Author's Correction section provides a means of correcting errors of omission (e.g., author names or citations) and errors of a scientific nature that do not alter the overall basic results or conclusions of a published article (e.g., an incorrect unit of measurement or order of magnitude used throughout, contamination of one of numerous cultures, or misidentification of a mutant strain, causing erroneous data for only a [noncritical] portion of the study). Note that the addition of new data is not permitted.
For corrections of a scientific nature or issues involving authorship, including contributions and use or ownership of data and/or materials, all disputing parties must agree, in writing, to publication of the Correction. For omission of an author's name, letters must be signed by the authors of the article and the author whose name was omitted. The editor who handled the article will be consulted if necessary.
Submit an Author's Correction via the online manuscript submission and peer review system (see “Submission, Review, and Publication Processes”). Select Erratum as the manuscript type; there is no separate selection for an Author's Correction, but your Correction will be published as such if appropriate. In the Abstract section of the submission form (a required field), put “Not Applicable.” Upload the text of your Author's Correction as a Microsoft Word file. Please see a recent issue for correct formatting. Signed letters of agreement must be supplied as supplemental material (scanned PDF files).
General.Abbreviations should be used as an aid to the reader, rather than as a convenience to the author, and therefore their use should be limited. Abbreviations other than those recommended by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry-International Union of Biochemistry (IUPAC-IUB) (Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, Portland Press, London, United Kingdom, 1992; available at http://www.chem.qmul.ac.uk/iupac/bibliog/white.html) should be used only when a case can be made for necessity, such as in tables and figures.
It is often possible to use pronouns or to paraphrase a long word after its first use (e.g., “the drug” or “the substrate”). Standard chemical symbols and trivial names or their symbols (folate, Ala, and Leu, etc.) may also be used.
Define each abbreviation and introduce it in parentheses the first time it is used; e.g., “cultures were grown in Eagle minimal essential medium (MEM).” Generally, eliminate abbreviations that are not used at least three times in the text (including tables and figure legends).
Not requiring introduction.In addition to abbreviations for Système International d’Unités (SI) units of measurement, other common units (e.g., bp, kb, and Da), and chemical symbols for the elements, the following should be used without definition in the title, summary, text, figure legends, and tables: DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid); cDNA (complementary DNA); RNA (ribonucleic acid); cRNA (complementary RNA); RNase (ribonuclease); DNase (deoxyribonuclease); rRNA (ribosomal RNA); mRNA (messenger RNA); tRNA (transfer RNA); AMP, ADP, ATP, dAMP, ddATP, and GTP, etc. (for the respective 5′ phosphates of adenosine and other nucleosides) (add 2′-, 3′-, or 5′- when needed for contrast); ATPase and dGTPase, etc. (adenosine triphosphatase and deoxyguanosine triphosphatase, etc.); NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide); NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, oxidized); NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, reduced); NADP (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate); NADPH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, reduced); NADP+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, oxidized); poly(A) and poly(dT), etc. (polyadenylic acid and polydeoxythymidylic acid, etc.); oligo(dT), etc. (oligodeoxythymidylic acid, etc.); UV (ultraviolet); PFU (plaque-forming units); CFU (colony-forming units); MIC (minimal inhibitory concentration); Tris [tris(hydroxymethyl)amino- methane]; DEAE (diethylaminoethyl); EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid); EGTA [ethylene glycol-bis(β-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid]; HEPES (N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N′-2-ethanesulfonic acid); PCR (polymerase chain reaction); and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Abbreviations for cell lines (e.g., HeLa) also need not be defined.
The following abbreviations should be used without definition in tables:
amt (amount)
approx (approximately)
avg (average)
concn (concentration)
diam (diameter)
expt (experiment)
exptl (experimental)
ht (height)
mo (month)
mol wt (molecular weight)
no. (number)
prepn (preparation)
SD (standard deviation)
SE (standard error)
SEM (standard error of the mean)
sp act (specific activity)
sp gr (specific gravity)
temp (temperature)
tr (trace)
vol (volume)
vs (versus)
wk (week)
wt (weight)
yr (year)
Reporting Numerical DataStandard metric units are used for reporting length, weight, and volume. For these units and for molarity, use the prefixes m, μ, n, and p for 10−3, 10−6, 10−9, and 10−12, respectively. Likewise, use the prefix k for 103. Avoid compound prefixes such as mμ or μμ. Use μg/ml or μg/g in place of the ambiguous ppm. Units of temperature are presented as follows: 37°C or 324 K.
When fractions are used to express units such as enzymatic activities, it is preferable to use whole units, such as “g” or “min,” in the denominator instead of fractional or multiple units, such as μg or 10 min. For example, “pmol/min” is preferable to “nmol/10 min,” and “μmol/g” is preferable to “nmol/μg.” It is also preferable that an unambiguous form such as exponential notation be used; for example, “μmol g−1 min−1” is preferable to “μmol/g/min.” Always report numerical data in the applicable SI units.
For a review of some common errors associated with statistical analyses and reports, plus guidelines on how to avoid them, see the article by Olsen (Infect. Immun. 71:6689-6692, 2003).
For a review of basic statistical considerations for virology experiments, see the article by Richardson and Overbaugh (J. Virol. 79:669-676, 2005).
NOMENCLATURE
Bacteria, Viruses, and EnzymesThe spelling of bacterial names should follow the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names (Amended) & Index of the Bacterial and Yeast Nomenclatural Changes (V. B. D. Skerman et al., ed., American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC, 1989) and the validation lists and notification lists published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (formerly the International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology) since January 1989. In addition, two sites on the World Wide Web list current approved bacterial names: Bacterial Nomenclature Up-to-Date (http://www.dsmz.de/microorganisms/main.php?contentleft_id=14) and List of Prokaryotic Names with Standing in Nomenclature (http://www.bacterio.cict.fr/). If there is reason to use a name that does not have standing in nomenclature, the name should be enclosed in quotation marks in the title and at its first use in the abstract and the text and an appropriate statement concerning the nomenclatural status of the name should be made in the text. “Candidatus” species should always be set in quotation marks.
Names used for viruses should be those approved by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) and reported on the ICTV Virus Taxonomy website (http://www.ictvonline.org/index.asp). In addition, the recommendations of the ICTV regarding the use of species names should generally be followed: when the entire species is discussed as a taxonomic entity, the species name, as with other taxa, is italic and has the first letter and any proper nouns capitalized (e.g., Tobacco mosaic virus, Murray Valley encephalitis virus). When the behavior or manipulation of individual viruses is discussed, the vernacular (e.g., tobacco mosaic virus, Murray Valley encephalitis virus) should be used. If desired, synonyms may be added parenthetically when the name is first mentioned. Approved generic (or group) and family names may also be used.
For enzymes, use the recommended (trivial) name assigned by the Nomenclature Committee of the IUB as described in Enzyme Nomenclature (Academic Press, Inc., New York, NY, 1992) and at http://www.chem.qmul.ac.uk/iubmb/enzyme/.
For nomenclature of restriction enzymes, DNA methyltransferases, homing endonucleases, and their genes, refer to the article by Roberts et al. (Nucleic Acids Res. 31:1805-1812, 2003).
Genetic nomenclature should essentially follow the recommendations of Demerec et al. (Genetics 54:61-76, 1966) and those given in the instructions to authors of the Journal of Bacteriology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Eukaryotic Cell (January issues). FlyBase (http://flybase.org/) is the genetic nomenclature authority for Drosophila melanogaster. WormBase (http://wormbase.org/) is the genetic nomenclature authority for Caenorhabditis elegans. When naming genes for Aspergillus species, the nomenclature guidelines posted at http://www.aspergillus.org.uk/indexhome.htm?secure/sequence_info/nomenclature.htm∼main should be followed, and the Aspergillus Genome Database (http://www.aspgd.org) should be searched to ensure that any new name is not already in use. To facilitate accurate communication, it is important that standard genetic nomenclature be used whenever possible and that deviations or proposals for new naming systems be endorsed by an appropriate authoritative body. Review and/or publication of submitted manuscripts that contain new or nonstandard nomenclature may be delayed by the editor or the Journals Department so that they may be reviewed by the Genetics and Genomics Committee of the ASM Publications Board. Before submission of manuscripts, authors may direct questions on genetic nomenclature to the committee's chairperson: Maria Costanzo (maria{at}genome.stanford.edu). Such a consultation should be mentioned in the manuscript submission letter.
Proper Use of Locus Tags as Systematic Identifiers for GenesLocus tags are systematic, unique identifiers that are assigned to each gene in GenBank. All genes mentioned in a manuscript should be traceable to their sequences by the reader, and locus tags may be used for this purpose in manuscripts to identify uncharacterized genes. Authors should check GenBank to make sure that they are using the correct, up-to-date format for locus tags (e.g., uppercase versus lowercase letters and the presence or absence of an underscore, etc.). Locus tag formats vary between different organisms and also may be updated for a given organism, so it is important to check GenBank at the time of manuscript preparation. To comply with recommendations from the International Nucleotide Sequence Database (INSD) Collaborators and to avoid conflicts in gene identification, researchers should implement the following two fundamental guidelines as standards for utilization of locus tags in genome analysis, annotation, submission, reporting, and publication. (i) Locus tag prefixes are systematic gene identifiers for all of the replicons of a genome and as such should be associated with a single genome project submission. (ii) New genome projects must be registered with INSD, and new locus tag prefixes must be assigned in cooperation with INSD to ensure that they conform to the agreed-upon criteria. Locus tag prefixes that are currently in use may be searched at the NCBI locus tag database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genomes/lltp.cgi).
ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES
The ASM review journals have engaged a professional science illustrator who will work with the authors at the modification stage. This arrangement enhances the graphics and generates a uniform style throughout the journal. The authors must work with the illustrator to ensure that the final figures meet the criteria below.
Image manipulation.Computer-generated images may be processed only minimally. Processing (e.g., changing contrast, brightness, or color balance) is acceptable only if applied to all parts of the image, as well as to the controls, equally, and descriptions of all such adjustments and the tools used (both hardware and software) must be provided in the manuscript. Unprocessed data and files must be retained by the authors and be provided to the editor on request.
File types and formats.Illustrations may be continuous-tone images, line drawings, or composites. Color graphics are encouraged.
On initial submission, illustrations should be supplied as PDF files, with the legend on the same page to assist review. At the modification stage, production quality digital files must be provided, along with text files for the legends. The legends are copyedited and typeset for final publication, not included as part of the figure itself. All graphics submitted with modified manuscripts must be bitmap, grayscale, or in the RGB (preferred) or CMYK color mode. See “Color illustrations.” Halftone images (those with various densities or shades) must be grayscale, not bitmap. CMR accepts TIFF or EPS files but discourages PowerPoint for either black-and-white or color images.
For instructions on creating acceptable EPS and TIFF files, refer to the Cadmus digital art website http://art.cadmus.com/da/index.jsp. PowerPoint requires users to pay close attention to the fonts used in their images (see the section on fonts below). If instructions for fonts are not followed exactly, images prepared for publication are subject to missing characters, improperly converted characters, or shifting/obscuring of elements or text in the figure. For proper font use in PowerPoint images, refer to the Cadmus digital art website http://art.cadmus.com/da/instructions/ppt_disclaimer.jsp.
Authors must check the acceptability of their digital images for production by running their files through Rapid Inspector, a tool provided at the following URL: http://rapidinspector.cadmus.com/RapidInspector/zmw/index.jsp. Rapid Inspector is an easy-to-use, Web-based application that identifies file characteristics that may render the image unusable for production.
If you require additional information, please send an e-mail inquiry to digitalart{at}cadmus.com.
It is extremely important that a high enough resolution is used. All separate images that you import into a figure file must be at the correct resolution before they are placed. (For instance, placing a 72-dpi image in a 300-dpi EPS file will not result in the placed image meeting the minimum requirements for file resolution.) Note, however, that the higher the resolution, the larger the file and the longer the upload time. Publication quality will not be improved by using a resolution higher than the minimum. Minimum resolutions are as follows:
300 dpi for grayscale and color
600 dpi for combination art (lettering and images)
1,200 dpi for line art
All graphics should be submitted at their intended publication size; that is, the image uploaded should be 100% of its print dimensions so that no reduction or enlargement is necessary. Resolution must be at the required level at the submitted size. Include only the significant portion of an illustration. White space must be cropped from the image, and excess space between panel labels and the image must be eliminated.
Maximum width for a 1-column figure: 3$$mathtex$$\({5}/{16}\)$$mathtex$$ inches (ca. 8.4 cm)
Maximum width for a 2-column figure: 6⅞ inches (ca. 17.4 cm)
Minimum width for a 2-column figure: 4¼ inches (10.8 cm)
Maximum height: 9$$mathtex$$\({1}/{16}\)$$mathtex$$ inches (23.0 cm)
Contrast.Illustrations must contain sufficient contrast to be viewed easily on a monitor or on the printed page.
Labeling and assembly.All final lettering and labeling must be incorporated into the figures. On initial submission, illustrations should be provided as PDF files, with the legend beneath each image to assist review. At the modification stage, production quality digital figure files must be provided, along with text files for the legends. Put the figure number well outside the boundaries of the image itself. (Numbering may need to be changed at the copyediting stage.) Each figure must be uploaded as a separate file, and any multipanel figures must be assembled into one file; i.e., rather than sending a separate file for each panel in a figure, assemble all panels in one piece and supply them as one file.
Fonts.To avoid font problems, set all type in one of the following fonts: Arial, Helvetica, Times Roman, European PI, Mathematical PI, or Symbol. Courier may be used but should be limited to nucleotide or amino acid sequences, where a nonproportional (monospace) font is required. All fonts other than these must be converted to paths (or outlines) in the application with which they were created.
Compression.When figure files are uploaded to the manuscript submission and peer review system, they may be compressed with WinZip.
Color illustrations.CMR encourages authors to submit high-quality color images with their manuscripts. There are no color charges for publication in CMR. Adherence to the following guidelines will help to minimize costs and to ensure color reproduction that is as accurate as possible.
The online version is considered the version of record for CMR and all other ASM journals. To maximize online reproduction, color illustrations should be supplied in the RGB color mode, as either (i) RGB TIFF images with a resolution of at least 300 pixels per inch (raster files, consisting of pixels) or (ii) Illustrator-compatible EPS files with RGB color elements (vector files, consisting of lines, fonts, fills, and images). CMYK files are also accepted. Other than in color space, CMYK files must meet the same production criteria as RGB files. The RGB color space is the native color space of computer monitors and of most of the equipment and software used to capture scientific data, and it can display a wider range of colors (especially bright fluorescent hues) than the CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) color space used by print devices that put ink (or toner) on paper. For the print version (and reprints), ASM's print provider will automatically create CMYK versions of color illustrations from the supplied RGB versions. Color in the print journal may not match that in the online journal of record because of the smaller range of colors capable of being reproduced by CMYK inks on a printing press. For additional information on RGB versus CMYK color, refer to the Cadmus digital art site, http://art.cadmus.com/da/guidelines_rgb.jsp.
DrawingsSubmit graphs, charts, complicated chemical or mathematical formulas, diagrams, and other drawings as finished products not requiring additional artwork or typesetting. All elements, including letters, numbers, and symbols, must be easily readable, and both axes of a graph must be labeled. Keep in mind that the journal is published both in print and online and that the same electronic files submitted by the authors are used to produce both formats.
When creating line art, please use the following guidelines:
All art must be submitted at its intended publication size. For acceptable dimensions, see “Size” above.
Avoid using screens (i.e., shading) in line art. It can be difficult and time-consuming to reproduce these images without moiré patterns. Various pattern backgrounds are preferable to screens as long as the patterns are not imported from another application. If you must use images containing screens,
Generate the image at line screens of 85 lines per inch or less.
When applying multiple shades of gray, differentiate the gray levels by at least 20%.
Never use levels of gray below 5% or above 95% as they are likely to fade out or become totally black when output.
Use thick, solid lines that are no finer than 1 point in thickness.
No type should be smaller than 6 points at the final publication size.
Avoid layering type directly over shaded or textured areas.
Avoid the use of reversed type (white lettering on a black background).
Avoid heavy letters, which tend to close up, and unusual symbols, which the printer may not be able to reproduce in the legend.
If colors are used, avoid using similar shades of the same color and avoid very light colors.
In figure ordinate and abscissa scales (as well as table column headings), avoid the ambiguous use of numbers with exponents. Usually, it is preferable to use the Système International d’Unités (SI) symbols (μ for 10−6, m for 10−3, k for 103, and M for 106, etc.). A complete listing of SI symbols can be found in the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) publication Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry (RSC Publishing, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2007); an abbreviated list is available at http://old.iupac.org/reports/1993/homann/index.html. Thus, a representation of 20,000 cpm on a figure ordinate is to be made by the number 20 accompanied by the label kcpm.
When powers of 10 must be used, the journal requires that the exponent power be associated with the number shown. In representing 20,000 cells per ml, the numeral on the ordinate should be “2” and the label should be “104 cells per ml” (not “cells per ml × 10−4”). Likewise, an enzyme activity of 0.06 U/ml might be shown as 6 accompanied by the label 10−2 U/ml. The preferred designation is 60 mU/ml (milliunits per milliliter).
TablesTables that contain artwork, chemical structures, or shading must be submitted as illustrations in an acceptable format at the modification stage. The preferred format for regular tables is Microsoft Word; however, WordPerfect and Acrobat PDF are also acceptable. Note that a straight Excel file is not currently an acceptable format. Excel files must be either embedded in a Word or WordPerfect document or converted to PDF before being uploaded. If your modified manuscript contains PDF tables and is being submitted in Rapid Review, select “for reviewing purposes only” at the beginning of the file upload process.
Tables should be formatted as follows. Arrange the data so that columns of like material read down, not across. The headings should be sufficiently clear so that the meaning of the data is understandable without reference to the text. See the “Abbreviations” section of these Instructions for those that should be used in tables. Explanatory footnotes are acceptable, but more-extensive table “legends” are not. Footnotes should not include detailed descriptions of the experiment. Tables must include enough information to warrant table format; those with fewer than six pieces of data will be incorporated into the text by the copy editor. Table 1 is an example of a well-constructed table.
Correlation between detection of V-Z viral antibody by neutralization and by EIA and IAHA a
Presentation of Nucleic Acid SequencesLong nucleic acid sequences must be presented as figures in the following format to conserve space. Print the sequence in lines of approximately 100 to 120 nucleotides in a nonproportional (monospace) font that is easily legible when published with a line length of 6 inches (ca. 15.2 cm). If possible, lines of nucleic acid sequence should be further subdivided into blocks of 10 or 20 nucleotides by spaces within the sequence or by marks above it. Uppercase and lowercase letters may be used to designate the exon-intron structure or transcribed regions, etc., if the lowercase letters remain legible at a 6-inch (ca. 15.2-cm) line length. Number the sequence line by line; place numerals, representing the first base of each line, to the left of the lines. Minimize spacing between lines of sequence, leaving room only for annotation of the sequence. Annotation may include boldface, underlining, brackets, and boxes, etc. Encoded amino acid sequences may be presented, if necessary, immediately above or below the first nucleotide of each codon, by using the single-letter amino acid symbols. Comparisons of multiple nucleic acid sequences should conform as nearly as possible to the same format.
FOOTNOTES
* Instructions to Authors are published annually in the January issue. A separate html version, which is updated throughout the year, is at http://cmr.asm.org/misc/ifora.dtl.
- Copyright © 2011, American Society for Microbiology
