Note: Before submitting your manuscript, please conduct a careful review of the information below to familiarize yourself with the structure you will need to apply to your manuscript to meet our editorial specifications. This page contains very useful information to help you prepare your content so that it flows smoothly through our peer review process, as well as important information to help you understand our editorial policies and procedures.
Instructions for Authors
These instructions pertain to all of the American Journal of Physiology sections, as well as the Journal of Applied Physiology, the Journal of Neurophysiology, and Physiological Genomics. Please note that there are additional specific instructions that you should review if you are submitting to Advances in Physiology Education, Physiology (invited only), and Physiological Reviews (invited only).
Also, if you are an author who has been invited to submit to the "Physiology in Medicine " series, please be sure to read the instructions for that series, as well.
General Information
The American Physiological Society (APS) Journals seek definitive papers that present the entire contents of a research project. In general, all data from a group of subjects, animals, or samples should be presented together in a single paper. If this cannot be done, then the manuscript should be cross-referenced. Identical subject, animal, and sample numbers should be used in the different manuscripts to identify their commonality.
Disclaimer
The statements and opinions contained in the articles of the APS Journals are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the APS. The appearance of advertisements in the Journals is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or their safety. The APS disclaims responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas or products referred to in any article or advertisement.
Notice regarding inquiries: The APS has a transparent and rigorous publications ethics policy. The APS does not address inquiries or discuss perceived or actual ethical infractions with individuals, groups, or organizations not directly involved with the matter, including the media.
Ethical Policies
For the complete details of the APS Ethical Policies, see the Ethical Policies section under Publications. All potential authors should read and understand these policies before proceeding with submission of an article to any APS publication.
Peer Review Policy
Manuscripts are refereed critically by two or more reviewers. Acceptance of manuscripts is based on scientific content and presentation of the material; membership in the Society is not a prerequisite for publication. The Editor/Associate Editor selects the reviewers, corresponds with the author, and makes the final decision on the acceptance or rejection of the manuscript.
Manuscripts currently under peer review with a journal (APS or otherwise) may not be submitted to another journal; the manuscript must be officially withdrawn from the first journal (APS or otherwise) before it may be submitted to another journal.
If a manuscript is submitted by an Editor of the Journal, another Editor handles that manuscript. The APS Peer Review office helps ensure confidentiality by blinding user records in the system to be used for this purpose.
If an article is accepted by the Editor, it will be processed by the Peer Review Department, and authors are required to resolve any outstanding issues before the article is moved into production. Once an article is in production, it will be posted to the APS "early view" site ("Articles in PresS") in manuscript form (excluding Letters to the Editor), and the manuscript files will be moved to the Editorial department for production in final PDF format, according to the standard style of the respective journal, to be included in the next possible issue release.
A note about APS Articles in PresS (AiPS): AiPS pages contain the "early view" of recently accepted APS articles. AiPS articles are posted in the format in which these are accepted ("manuscript style"), before copyediting and before the rigorous scrutiny of final production stages, and so may contain errors and inconsistencies of presentation (including the quality of the graphics) that may not be corrected until the final article is released in standard journal style and format. When the final-published article appears, the AiPS version is removed from the current AiPS web page, but remains linked to the final-published article. AiPS articles do, however, represent full and legal publication and are citable. When possible, always cite the final-published article, but if it has not yet been released, you may cite the AiPS version. Be sure to include the date and the digital object identifier (“doi”) when citing the AiPS version (see the References section in "Manuscript Formatting Requirements," below).
APS Policy on Funding Agencies
Authors whose funding agencies, such as the NIH, require posting of their published article in PubMedCentral (PMC) are covered by the APS Funding Agency Policy. To assist our authors who acknowledge funding from these agencies, APS submits the final-published article to PMC on their behalf. Articles by authors who pay the AuthorChoice open access fee ($2000 for research articles and $3000 for review articles) will be made publicly available when the final version is published on the APS journal website. APS will deliver the AuthorChoice article to PMC for posting by them.
Cost of Publication
Mandatory Submission Fee
- There is a one-time Mandatory Submission Fee of $50 for each article submitted to most of the APS Journals. This fee is nonrefundable. Only authors of reviews, editorials, and letters, as well as those submitting to Advances in Physiology Education do not have to pay this fee.
Page Charges
- To recover part of publication costs, the APS charges authors of research articles $75 per final-published PDF page. By signing the Mandatory Submission Form, the author agrees to pay page charges once his/her paper is published. (Forms customized to your manuscript will become available on completion of the submission process; check the Info Page of the journal you are submitting to for blank forms.)
- Excessive changes made in proof will be subject to additional charges.
- The page charges are waived for authors of reviews, editorials, and letters and for those publishing in Physiological Reviews, Physiology, and Advances in Physiology Education.
Cost of Color
- We will publish scientifically necessary color figures free of charge if the first or the last author is an APS member in good standing (this includes student members).
- Please submit in color only if you intend for the figure(s) to be published in color. Unnecessary color figures are not permitted in the Journals, and in such cases authors will be required to provide a black and white version suitable for publication. The APS Publications Department is the final arbiter of whether color for a figure is scientifically necessary.
- Nonmembers will be charged the low subsidized rate of $400 per color figure. APS will not delay publication of any article for the sake of a pending membership application; membership status will be assessed at the time the color fee is due.
- Color is free for authors publishing in Physiological Reviews, Physiological Genomics, and Physiology.
Reprint Services
- Please order reprints when you receive the proof of your article.
- The Reprint Order Form is enclosed in the electronic proof package. Please fill it out and send within 2 business days to the address indicated on the form.
- If your article has color figures, there is an additional press charge of $100 per 100 reprints ordered.
- Toll-free link: at your request, the APS can create a link from your online published article to a URL you specify. Readers accessing your article from this URL can do so without a subscription to the journal. The per-article cost is $150 ($250 for articles in Physiological Reviews) and can be noted on the Reprint Order Form. Payment for the link will be added to the invoice for publication fees.
AuthorChoice Program for Open Access
You may now choose to pay a fee ($2,000 for research articles; $3,000 for reviews) to make your online article free immediately (for more information on the APS AuthorChoice program, see Open Access). AuthorChoice articles are covered by the Creative Commons "CC-BY" license.
Restrictions on Prepublication
Except in reviews and editorials, the APS Journals will not accept submissions in which, other than in abstracts of less than 400 words, a significant portion of the data in the form of figures and/or tables has been published elsewhere. For the APS guidelines regarding duplicate and/or prior publication, and for exceptions pertaining to the Journal of Neurophysiology, which now receives for consideration manuscripts that have previously been posted to preprint servers, see the APS Ethical Policies and Procedures.
Conflicts of Interest
All funding sources supporting the work and all institutional or corporate affiliations must be disclosed in the manuscript. Authors are required at the time of submission to disclose to the APS Publications Office any potential conflict of interest, financial or otherwise (e.g., consultancies, stock ownership, equity interests, patent-licensing arrangements, lack of access to data, or lack of control of the decision to publish, or any other potential conflict). Authors who have commercial associations must assert that they accept full responsibility for the conduct of the trial, had full access to all the data, and controlled the decision to publish. Any potential conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article must be disclosed in the Conflict of Interest Disclosure section during the manuscript submission process. Such information, unless already disclosed in the submitted article, will be held in confidence while the paper is under review. If the article is accepted for publication, information on the potential conflict of interest, or lack thereof, must be noted by the author in the manuscript file as a “Disclosures” statement following the Acknowledgments section of the paper.
Authorship Changes
After submission of the manuscript, if you realize that changes to authorship (e.g., altering the order of authorship or adding/removing a name) are needed, please follow these steps:
"Submitted" and "Accepted" Dates
The "submitted" date for a manuscript is the date when the manuscript was received for consideration by the Editor in Chief via the online Peer Review System. The "accepted" date is the date when the official letter of acceptance is sent out (usually via e-mail) from the review Editor.
Use of Humans and/or Animals in Experiments
The research described in papers submitted to any of the APS publications that involve the use of human beings must adhere to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and Title 45, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Part 46, Protection of Human Subjects, Revised June 23, 2005, effective June 23, 2005. Research involving animals must adhere to APS's Guiding Principles in the Care and Use of Vertebrate Animals in Research and Training. APS insists that all investigations involving humans or animals reported in its publications be conducted in conformity with these principles, and that a statement of protocol approval from an IRB or IACUC or equivalent is included in the methods section of the paper.
The description of animal procedures in the manuscript should be sufficient to permit readers to evaluate the quality of the data presented and to replicate the experiments, if needed. Studies involving surgeries or other painful procedures must include an explanation of steps taken to mitigate pain and distress, including the types and dosage of anesthetics and post-operative analgesics that were used. Curarizing agents are not anesthetics; if these were used, evidence must be provided that anesthesia of suitable grade and duration was employed. Authors may want to review guidelines provided by the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (National Academy of Sciences), Guidance for the Description of Animal Research in Scientific Publications, and those of the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, Animals in Research: In Vivo Experiments for additional guidance to determine what items are relevant to their study.
Manuscripts reporting the results of experiments on human subjects, including healthy volunteers, must include a statement that written informed consent was obtained. Editors/Associate Editors are expected to refuse papers in which evidence of the adherence to these principles is not apparent. They reserve the right to judge the appropriateness of the use of animals and humans in experiments published in the journals. Differences of opinion will be adjudicated by the Publications Committee.
Registering of clinical trials is a requirement for peer review and publication for any study that uses clinical trials. There must be a statement in the Methods section that states where the clinical trial was registered (for example, see the registration site sponsored by the United States National Library of Medicine, at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).
Fetal Tissue Research
The research described in papers submitted to any of the APS publications that involve the use of human fetuses, fetal tissue, embryos, or embryonic cells must adhere to U.S. Public Law 103-43, Section 498B(a) and Title 45, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Part 46, Protection of Human Subjects, Revised November 13, 2001, effective December 13, 2001, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Office for the Protection from Research Risks, unless regulated by more restrictive state or local laws. Please read the APS Policy Regarding Publication of Research on Human Fetuses, Fetal Tissue, Embryos, and Embryonic Cells and the criteria that must be met by all researchers submitting their work to the APS Journals.
Data Repository Standards
All authors of articles submitted to APS journals should submit their relevant data to all appropriate data repositories, such as the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI).
MIAME Standard for Microarray Data
The American Physiological Society has adopted the microarray data standard developed by the Functional Genomics Data Society (FGED) and requests that all authors using microarray data analysis in their research submit a complete data set to one of these two databases prior to manuscripts submission: the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO); or the EMBL-EBI ArrayExpress repository. Also, provide the set of login credentials (username and password) that will let referees access the data set during review, if it is set up as a private resource.
Information for accessing the microarray data should be included in the article's Materials and Methods section.
Gene, Protein, and Species Nomenclature
Authors should use standard nomenclature and annotation, following current established conventions for properly presenting gene vs. protein symbols and names, as well as using current scientific binomial species names, in accordance with the appropriate official organization. For human genes, contact the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC). For mouse genes, contact Mouse Genomic Informatics (MGI) for mouse genes. For rat genes, contact the Rat Genome Database (RGD). Other resources are available for other species, and authors are expected to seek out such resources during the manuscript composition process and/or during revision.
Unique Materials and Data Banks
Work published in the APS Journals must necessarily be independently verifiable. Authors describing results derived from the use of antibodies, recombinant plasmids and cloned DNAs, mutant cell lines or viruses, and other similarly unique materials are expected to make such materials available to qualified investigators on request. Authors should also submit published nucleic acid/amino acid sequences to a widely accessible data bank. Sequence data for the United Protein Database (UniProt) should be submitted directly to UniProt using SPIN, a new web-based tool for submitting protein sequences. Also, for other special types of submissions (e.g., genomes, bulk submissions), additional submission protocols are available from the following organizations:
- DDBJ - DNA Data Bank of Japan
- EMBL - EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database
- GenBank - National Center for Biotechnology Information
Links to Data from Article (non-peer-reviewed)
Along with the submitted manuscript, one author, preferably the corresponding author, may provide a working URL from their institutional website that links to additional datasets and/or detailed methods and protocols, and that may be updated from time to time. Only one URL may be provided, taking the reader to a top level screen should materials reside on multiple levels. Materials accessible through this link a) will not be considered part of the manuscript; b) will not be peer reviewed; and c) should not be submitted with the manuscript. This facility is provided by the APS in cases where authors consider that additional materials could be useful to readers seeking to replicate or expand upon the work. However, the Journal Editors and the APS take no responsibility for materials posted and linked to in this way. The declaration in the manuscript pointing to these materials will be included as an ‘endnote’ (following all text and preceding the references in the manuscript) in the following format:
At the request of the author(s), readers are herein alerted to the fact that additional materials related to this manuscript may be found at the institutional website of one of the authors, which at the time of publication they indicate is: [Insert URL here]. These materials are not a part of this manuscript, and have not undergone peer review by the American Physiological Society (APS). APS and the journal editors take no responsibility for these materials, for the website address, or for any links to or from it.
Manuscript Formatting Requirements
File Formats for Online Submission and Publication
Manuscripts may be submitted to the APS Peer Review system in the following formats: Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx), Rich Text Format (.rtf), or PDF. Manuscript submissions should contain all required elements, such as the abstract, all main text, bibliography, figures, figure legends, tables, and table legends, and any proposed supplemental material in a single file.
Organization of the Manuscript
APS accepts manuscripts in one of two formats: double-spaced in wide, one-column, traditional manuscript format, or single-spaced in two-column journal format. You may embed copies of the figures into the text for review purposes, but if you choose to embed figures, any revisions to figures during review (see instructions for Preparing Figures) will require you to upload the newly revised individual figure files to our online submission system, and the copies you had previously embedded must also be updated to reflect the revised figures.
- The pages of the manuscript should be arranged as follows:
- title page
- abstract and keywords
- glossary, if needed
- main text (introduction; Materials and/or Methods, or Experimental Procedures; Results; Discussion, with conclusions)
- appendix, if needed
- text footnotes, if needed
- acknowledgements of grants, disclosures of potential perceived conflicts of interest, itemized author contributions, links to any non-peer-reviewed resources, and/or other acknowledgment of contributors to the research
- references
- figure captions
- tables
- See Manuscript Composition for further description.
- All text should conform to standard American English style and usage. Authors for whom English is not their native language are strongly encouraged to seek the aid of a professional English language editorial service. Be sure that the language in your manuscript is original, without inclusion of any previously published textual passages (including those from authors’ own prior publications). Authors may wish to screen their manuscript for textual similarities prior to submission using fee for service scholarly publishing databases such as iThenticate or other free general screening databases including Plagiarism Checker. Please note that APS does not endorse any screening program nor guarantees that these screening tools will detect all instances of textual overlap.
The following companies specialize in life sciences and medicine (and other areas of science) and will edit your manuscript for a fee. Please note that these companies are not associated with the American Physiological Society.
Abbreviations, Symbols, and Terminology
Abbreviations should be defined at first usage. However, at the discretion of the APS editorial staff, many internationally accepted (or otherwise compellingly conventional) abbreviations do not need to be defined; please consult the list of accepted abbreviations. For word usage, symbols, etc., authors are referred to Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (6th ed., 1994). For chemical and biochemical terms and abbreviations, consult the recommendations of the IUPAC-IUB Combined Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature. Isotope specification must conform to the IUPAC system. Authors are referred to the following articles for style in specialized fields: "Glossary on respiration and gas exchange" (J Appl Physiol 34: 549-558, 1973); and "Glossary of terms for thermal physiology" (J Appl Physiol 35: 941-961, 1973).
Special Symbols
For special characters not available on the standard 104-key keyboard (e.g., Greek characters, mathematical symbols, figure symbols), use the Symbol font or use the "Insert Symbol" function in Microsoft Word; do not use Math font or image files (e.g., GIF) within the text for special characters or text constructions.
Spelling and Editorial Style
Authors should consult Webster's Third New International Dictionary or Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition, for spelling and compounding. The APS Journals follow American English rules for spelling. All manuscripts will be edited by highly trained professional copy editors, according to the APS house style and guidelines.
Trade Names
Proprietary (trademarked) names should be capitalized, with the spelling carefully checked. The generic name or generic descriptor accompany the trade name the first time it appears.
Cell Lines and Reagents
The source of cells utilized (species, sex, strain, race, age of donor, whether primary or established) should be clearly indicated. The source of reagents should be stated (name, city, and state within parentheses) when first cited. If tests to rule out the presence of mycoplasmal contamination were not performed, this fact should be clearly stated. Other data relating to unique biological, biochemical, and/or immunological markers should also be included if available, with their source identified. Publication of results is based on the principle that results must be independently verifiable. Authors are expected to make unique reagents available to qualified investigators either directly or through a recognized distributor. See also Unique Materials and Data Banks and Ethical Policies and Procedures for other requirements.
Manuscript Composition
Title Page
All submissions must contain a title page however brief the article may be (including, but not limited to, brief items such as editorials). The title page must contain the full title of the article; author(s) name(s); all departments and institutions in which the work was done; an abbreviated title for the running head; and the corresponding author's name, e-mail, and physical address for correspondence. Only one author may be designated as the corresponding author.
Title
Make the title succinct and informative. Avoid unnecessary words like "Studies in....". The title must not exceed 160 characters, including spaces between words.
Authors
List all authors' names and their first names or initials exactly as they should be known. Do not include any specific titles (e.g., PhD, MD, and Prof. are not needed). Include a brief itemized list of how each author contributed to the study.
"Group authorship" is allowed, with the name of a group (such as a consortium or program) to be listed as an author, with members of the group listed in the Acknowledgements section; however, the Program Director of the named group must be the one who signs for the group when the group's "author" signature is needed, i.e., on a Mandatory Submission Form or a Change of Authorship Form.
Authors who publish in APS journals may now present their names in non-Latin characters (in their native writing system) along side the standard English transliteration of their name in the main author line of the published article; for example, "Ta-Ming Wang (王大明)". We will accept any non-Latin languages that have standard Unicode characters designated for the native characters. For authors that choose this option, please only provide the native expression for the original written form of the transliterated name; that is, do not include any associated degree, rank, or title information in the native format. This feature is meant for the person's name only, not for ancillary information regarding academic achievement or institutional affiliation. To take advantage of this new feature, please insert the native expression of your name along side the English transliteration in the main title page of your manuscript submission.
See Authorship Changes for more information.
Affiliation
List all departments and institutions in which the work was done, with city and state or country. Identify each author's affiliation by superscript numbers matched to the appropriate institution. Affiliation must reflect the organization(s) supporting the author(s) while the research was done. This may differ from the current affiliations of the author(s), which will be listed in such cases in the Acknowledgment section as the present address(es) of the author(s).
Running Head
The running head is an abbreviated version of the title, which will appear at the top of every page subsequent to the first page. Running heads must not exceed 60 characters including spaces between words.
Contact Information
Only one author may be designated as the corresponding author. A full address for correspondence must be included, with a current, valid e-mail address for the corresponding author. The address of the corresponding author will appear on the first page of the article. Please note that a valid e-mail address is essential to participate in the APS electronic proofing service. Also, provide your phone and fax numbers for use while your article is in production. If the contact information to be used during production differs from that to be included in the final article, indicate this explicitly.
Abstract
A one-paragraph abstract of not more than 250 words must accompany each manuscript. Longer abstracts may be subject to editorial truncation, to conform to the onventional perceptions of brevity that characterize an "abstract". The abstract should state what was done and why (including species and state of anesthesia), what was found (in terms of data, if space allows), and what was concluded. Even for short editorial-style articles, a brief "abstract" should be provided, if only to identify the topic (e.g., "This is an editorial summarizing recent new developments in physiology.").
Keywords
Include three to five words or short phrases relevant to the article.
Introduction
Provide a brief overview of the scope and relevance of the study, especially with regard to previous advancements in related fields.
Glossary
A glossary may be included (and is often helpful) in equation-laden articles with many different symbols (such as mathematical modeling or computational papers), specifying the units (and/or dimensions) as well as each definition. The glossary will usually precede the Methods section. See this article for an example.
Materials and Methods
Describe techniques, cell/animal models used (including species, strain, and sex), and lists of reagents, chemicals, and equipment, as well as the names of manufacturers and suppliers, including URLS for those supplies obtained online, so that your study can be most easily replicated by others. For studies involving humans, the sex and/or gender of participants must be reported. Also in this section, describe the statistical methods that were used to evaluate the data. If clinical trials were used, a statement of registration is required; also, for all investigations involving humans or animals, a statement of protocol approval from an IRB or IACUC, or an equivalent statement, must be included (see Guiding Principles for Research Involving Animals and Human Beings). All animal or human studies must contain an explicit statement that the protocols were submitted to, and approved by, an institutional review board or committee or that the protocols were performed under a license obtained from such a committee, board, or governing office.
See Abbreviations, Symbols, and Terminology for style information.
Results
Provide the experimental data and results as well as the particular statistical significance of the data.
APS has published an editorial on the use of statistics, and authors are encouraged to consult it.
Discussion
(Sometimes combined with the results in a section called "Results and Discussion"). Explain your interpretation of the data, especially compared with previously published material cited in the References.
Appendix
An Appendix may be included (and is often helpful) in mathematical modeling or computational papers, e.g., to provide details of a solution strategy.
Acknowledgements
The acknowledgements section is where you may wish to thank people indirectly involved with the research (e.g., technical assistance; gifts of samples, reagents, or cell lines; loans of equipment or laboratory space; comments or suggestions during the creation of the manuscript). However, it is important that anyone listed here know in advance of your acknowledgement of their contribution, as documented during the submission process.
Current addresses of authors (which may differ from those in the affiliation line) may be included here.
Do not include "promissory notes." APS Journal policy is against inclusion of implicit or explicit promises that future work will be published.
Do not include dedications (e.g., to persons living or deceased). Dedications of articles are not permitted.
Grants
List the grants, fellowships, and donations that funded (partially or completely) the research. However, industry-sponsored grants should be listed under Disclosures.
Disclosures
Authors of research articles are required at the time of submission to disclose to the APS Publications Office any potential conflict of interest, financial or otherwise. See the description of Conflicts of Interest description. If the article is accepted for publication, information on the potential conflict of interest, or lack thereof, must be noted in the "Disclosures" section.
Endnotes
The endnotes section is the place to list any additional items pertinent to your article, including but not limited to links to non-peer-reviewed data that may be available to readers from your institutional web site.
Citing Unpublished Observations, Personal Communications, and "In Press" Manuscripts
Submitted papers still in preparation or in peer review and/or any other unpublished materials, observations, or personal communications cannot be included in the reference list, which may only list published work. However, such material can be cited in the text, but at submission, authors will be required to confirm that all individuals acknowledged in the manuscript are aware that they are being acknowledged and approve of the manner and the context of the acknowledgement. This includes, but is not limited to the following circumstances:
- to publish information disclosed in a personal communication or unpublished observation;
- to recognize additional individuals who helped in preparation of the manuscript;
- for permission from a copyright holder to discuss information that has been accepted for publication but is "in press" and not yet available, online or otherwise.
For both unpublished observations and personal communications, provide the cited person's last name and all initials.
Reference List
Authors are responsible for accuracy of citations. References must be limited to directly pertinent published works or papers that have been accepted for publication. An abstract, properly identified as "Abstract", may be cited only when it is the sole source.
Reference lists should be arranged alphabetically by author and numbered serially. The reference number should be placed in parentheses at the appropriate place in the text.
The style of citation should be as follows, with journal name abbreviated as in Medline, PubMed, and Index Medicus. Appropriate templates for your citation management software are available from the respective company websites (e.g., EndNote, ProCite, Reference Manager).
The examples given below are shown with numbers because that is the style for most APS Journals, except for the Journal of Neurophysiology (see note, below, after these examples). The first is a standard journal reference; the second is s standard book reference; and the third a standard reference to an "early view" or "prepress" reference, such as the APS "Articles in PresS" (note the use of the “digital object identifier”—doi—in this citation).
1. Pollock DM. Endothelin receptor subtypes and tissue distribution. In: Endothelin Molecular Biology, Physiology, and Pathology, edited by Highsmith RF. Totowa, NJ: Humana, 1998.
2. Scarafia LE, Winter A, Swinney DC. Quantitative expression analysis of the cellular specificity of HECT-domain ubiquitin E3 ligases. Physiol Genomics (April 26, 2001). doi:10.1152/physiolgenomics.00075.2001.
3. Villalobos AR, Parmelee JT, Renfro JL. Choline uptake across the ventricular membrane of neonate rat choroid plexus. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 276: C1288-C1296, 1999.
MORE Example References
References for the Journal of Neurophysiology should be arranged alphabetically by author. The appropriate author name and year for each reference should be included in parentheses at the proper point in the text using the following style (this is ONLY for the Journal of Neurophysiology, NOT for other APS Journals):
- one author (Brown 1982)
- two authors (Brown and Smith 1982)
- three or more authors (Brown et al. 1982).
For the in text citations in the Journal of Neurophysiology, here are some other important details. If more than two references are cited by different authors, separate entries with a semicolon (Brown 1982; Smith 1983). If more than two references are cited by the same first author (or single author), use "et al." where appropriate plus the date, even if the subsequent authors are not the same in all the references (Brown et al. 1982, 1983). Note the use of commas between two consecutive years or nonconsecutive years. Do not use dashes for ranges (Brown et al. 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988). If more than two references with the same year and author(s) are cited, use lowercase letters after the year (Brown 1982a, 1982b). Lowercase letters should be inserted in same-year references in the reference list.
Figure Captions
Every figure must have a descriptive figure caption, to describe to the reader in sentence form the relevant details of the figure, to place it in the proper context of the manuscript. These textual figure captions must be listed in order in the manuscript, following the reference list.
Footnotes
Text footnotes should be numbered consecutively throughout. These should be assembled on a separate page as endnotes.
Tables
Whenever possible, authors are encouraged to submit figures rather than tables. Statistical summary tables should be submitted when possible, rather than tables with many lines of individual values. Lengthy tables of data that cannot be presented in a suitable manner, according to APS standards of print publication, may be extracted and set as a supplement to the online article. These supplements remain an integral part of the article for the reader, as text referring to these tables will remain in the article, and links directly to the supplements will be embedded and prominently indicated at all points of entry to the online article (see Data Supplements).
Submitted tables should adhere to the following guidelines:
- Tables must not duplicate material in text or figures.
- Tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and prepared with the size of the journal page in mind: 3.5 in. wide, single column; 7 in. wide, double column.
- Each table should have a brief title; explanatory notes should be in the legend, not in the title.
- Nonsignificant decimal places in tabular data should be omitted.
- Short or abbreviated column heads should be used and explained if necessary in the legend.
- Statistical measures of variations, SD, SE, etc., must be identified. (Example: "Values are means ± SE.")
- Table footnotes should be listed in order of their appearance and identified by standard symbols: *, †, ‡, § for four or fewer; for five or more, consecutive superscript lowercase letters should be used (e.g., a, b, c, etc.).
Equations
Mathematical equations should be simplified as much as possible and carefully checked.
- Use the slant line (/) for simple fractions (a + b)/(x + y) in the text rather than the built-up fraction a + b[over]x + y, which should only be used if the equation is offset from the text.
- Use subscripts or superscripts wherever feasible and appropriate to simplify the equations.
- Please use notation that is consistent with the standard nomenclature in applied mathematics. As an aid to the reader, please state the convention that you are following, especially if it is uncommon.
- Symbols should be defined as they first appear in the text. A glossary may be included (and is often helpful) in articles with many different symbols, specifying the units (dimensions) as well as each definition. The Glossary will usually precede the Methods section.
- APS style allows punctuation in displayed equations.
Mathematical Models
Presentation of the model(s) must be sufficiently clear to allow physiologists with limited experience in modeling to follow the model development, limitations, and physiological relevance. Assumptions concerning the importance of physiological processes included in the model should be clearly stated.
- If the model equation(s) require solution, the method of solution should be described in sufficient detail to permit readers to duplicate the solution in their own laboratories. Algorithms from commercial software libraries should be so identified. Details of the solution strategy may be summarized in an Appendix.
- For simulations, sources or estimation methods for all parameter values should be presented and the numerical values given in the text or a table. A sensitivity analysis must be performed for important parameters (covering ranges of values relevant to the manuscript) to determine how the model predictions are affected by numerical parameter values.
- If the model is used to estimate parameter values, measures of the uncertainties associated with the estimated parameter values should be presented.
- For models intended for use in a predictive setting, validation of the model with a data set not used for model parameter estimation (i.e., cross-validation) is recommended. Sensitivity analysis or parameter uncertainty determination is an important component of modern modeling practice that allows assessment of the validity of a model.
- Results obtained with the model(s) should be compared with appropriate physiological data, either from literature or from new experiments. Simulation results may be examined for prediction of changes or trends in physiological variables similar to those reported for in vitro or in vivo studies. The discussion should include information on the physiological significance of the model study, limitations of the model, and suggestions for new modeling and/or experimental studies.
Special Instructions for Physiology in Medicine
Manuscripts submitted for the Physiology in Medicine series should discuss a relatively narrow aspect of basic physiology as it relates to the pathophysiology or treatment of a specific disease (or group of diseases). The disease in question should be one that the specialist in internal medicine commonly encounters in his/her practice. By emphasizing a strong connection between laboratory research and clinical medicine, we hope to stimulate interest in translational research among clinicians and to encourage medical students and young physicians to follow a scientific pathway in their careers. However, authors should be aware that the PIM articles will be designed to appeal primarily to clinicians who may not be specifically trained in current laboratory methods so that descriptions of laboratory methods and physiologic processes must be accessible to an intelligent, medically trained non‐expert.
The main point of the article should be to describe how important scientific discoveries or principles have affected our understanding of a disease, with implications for diagnosis or treatment. We intend for these articles to be highly focused, usually making only a few teaching points, but doing so in a way that makes the knowledge stick in the readers’ memory. In addition to describing important aspects of laboratory research that have elucidated physiologic mechanisms, the manuscripts should also detail the ways in which this knowledge has had an impact on our understanding of the way diseases develop, are diagnosed, or treated in everyday practice.
Manuscripts for this series must be evidence based (with appropriate citations) rather than being based on expert opinion, although an expert interpretation of diverging points of view are often illuminating. We encourage the use of glossaries for explanation of terms that might be unfamiliar to the clinician. Liberal use of figures (if scientifically necessary in color) is also encouraged. We think that manuscripts in this series are often enhanced by collaboration between a bench researcher and a clinician and for this reason, we encourage joint authorship.
Manuscript length should not exceed 2500 words plus tables and figures, with no more than 70 references. Graphics should be used liberally and should avoid excessive complexity. Because the articles are meant to be informative and to engage the clinician, they should be focused but not definitive, archival reviews. Each manuscript should conclude with a paragraph that summarizes the importance of the discussion for the clinician in easily understandable language.
References should be listed and cited in the style of the journals of the American Physiological Society. Authors should refer to the Instructions for Authors appropriate for the specific APS journal to which the PIM article will be submitted.
Data Supplements
Video and audio files, long data sets, program code, and similarly cumbersome material that cannot be feasibly published in the standard house style of the journals may be submitted for inclusion in the online journal (without charge to the author) as supplemental material. Such material must be submitted for peer review along with the manuscript and must meet the approval of the journal Editor. For all supplemental materials, authors should include a caption for each file, explaining the purpose and content of the file.
Material that can be set into an article in standard APS house style, such as figures, tables, text (such as methods or results), equations, and other material that can be easily copyedited and typeset into our final-published PDF page, may NOT be submitted as supplemental data. Such material must be incorporated into the article as standard figures or tables or relegated to "supporting information" for submission and review purposes only and not for final publication.
See Links to Data from Manuscript for instructions for provision of links from an author’s manuscript to non-peer reviewed data on an author's institutional website.
Questions regarding data supplements may be directed to the Online Production Editor.
For microarray data deposits, see MIAME Standard for Microarray Data.
Audio/Video
Authors are responsible for compiling their own digital audio or video. Each file should be no more than 10 megs in size. Authors may be required to resubmit video files with shorter running time, smaller frame size, or lower resolution in order to conform to the recommended file size.
Contact the Online Production Editor for further assistance or questions.
Long Data Sets
Long data sets should be submitted in Microsoft Excel or in Microsoft Word table format. Authors should include a title and legend explaining the content and purpose of each data set.