Submissions

Author Guidelines

Article types

Contributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Original research papers, reviews and short communications. Please ensure that you select the appropriate article type from the list of options when making your submission. Authors contributing to special issues should ensure that they select the special issue article type from this list.

In the following paragraphs you will find a brief description of each contribution.

Research

These articles present original research and address a clearly stated specific hypothesis or question. Papers should provide novel approaches and new insights into the problem addressed. Manuscripts should be 3000 to 5000 words in length and they should have at least 35 references.
These articles should include:

• Introduction: It should be brief and limited to the definition of the problem, the aims and purposes of the research and its relation with other studies in the field. Also the working hypothesis must be clearly stated.
• Materials and methods: It should include relevant details on the experimental design and techniques so that the experiments can be repeated.
• Results: Results should be clearly presented. Tables and figures should only be included if required to fully understand the data.
• Discussion: The aim of this section is the interpretation of the results and their relation to the existing knowledge. The contribution to Biotechnology must be clearly stated. The information given in any part of the text may be cited but not repeated in the Discussion Section. Alternatively Results and Discussion can be presented in one section.
• Acknowledgments: The acknowledgments of the contributions of colleagues can be stated in this section.
• Financial support: The acknowledgments for financial support should be cited here.

Be sure to revise the stylistics details at PREPARATION section.

Review

Review articles must be authored by experts in the field area. They are an attempt by one or more authors to sum up the current state of the knowledge on a particular topic. Ideally, the author searches for everything relevant to the topic, and then sorts it all out into a coherent view of the "state of the art" as it now stands and promotes a personal view on the subject. Review articles should have at least 80 references and they should have between 4000 and 6000 words in length.

Review articles should inform about: the main researchers working in the field; recent major advances and discoveries; significant gaps in the research; current debates; future directions. They include an abstract, an introduction that outlines the main theme, brief subheadings, and an outline of important unresolved questions.

Be sure to revise the stylistics details at PREPARATION section.

Short communications

A short communication is a concise, but independent report representing a significant contribution to biotechnology.

Short communication is not intended to publish preliminary results. Only if these results are of exceptional interest and are particularly topical and relevant will be considered for publication. It should be 3000 words in length, and could include two figures or tables. It should have at least 15 references.

The text should be divided into the following sections: introduction, experimental, results, and discussion. Results and discussion sections may be combined.

Be sure to revise the stylistics details at PREPARATION section.

Archives

Please find our archives at: http://www.ejbiotechnology.info/index.php/ejbiotechnology/issue/archive

 

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Ethics in publishing

Please see our information on Ethics in publishing.

Studies in humans and animals

If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. The manuscript should be in line with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and aim for the inclusion of representative human populations (sex, age and ethnicity) as per those recommendations. The terms sex and gender should be used correctly.

Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

All animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and should be carried out in accordance with the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 and associated guidelines, EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments, or the National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the authors should clearly indicate in the manuscript that such guidelines have been followed. The sex of animals must be indicated, and where appropriate, the influence (or association) of sex on the results of the study.

Declaration of interest

All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential competing interests include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors must disclose any interests in two places: 1. A summary declaration of interest statement in the title page file (if double anonymized) or the manuscript file (if single anonymized). If there are no interests to declare then please state this: 'Declarations of interest: none'. 2. Detailed disclosures as part of a separate Declaration of Interest form, which forms part of the journal's official records. It is important for potential interests to be declared in both places and that the information matches. More information.

Submission declaration and verification

All submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter that includes a brief overview of the manuscript and the corresponding author contact information including full name, institutional e-mail address, phone number, and postal address. It should also specify the number of display items (figures and tables), the number of attachments (manuscript, figures supplementary information if any), and their formats. The cover letter must also include the profile of the social media networks of all authors (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram).

It must include a statement indicating that the article has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint, see https://www.elsevier.com/sharingpolicy); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out; and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. To verify originality, all articles are checked by the originality detection service Similarity Check. https://www.elsevier.com/editors/plagdetect.

Manuscripts previously deposited on preprint servers prior to formal peer review at a journal, are not considered prior publications and will be considered for publication in Electronic Journal of Biotechnology.

Authors should disclose details of preprint posting, including DOI and licensing terms, upon submission of the manuscript.

Once the preprint is accepted for publication, it is the author's responsibility to link from the preprint to their formal publication via its Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

You can find a template cover letter at: http://www.ejbiotechnology.info/CLEJBT.pdf

Use of inclusive language

Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Content should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader; contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition; and use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, stereotypes, slang, reference to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions. We advise to seek gender neutrality by using plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default/wherever possible to avoid using "he, she," or "he/she." We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition unless they are relevant and valid. When coding terminology is used, we recommend to avoid offensive or exclusionary terms such as "master", "slave", "blacklist" and "whitelist". We suggest using alternatives that are more appropriate and (self-) explanatory such as "primary", "secondary", "blocklist" and "allowlist". These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help identify appropriate language but are by no means exhaustive or definitive.

Reporting sex- and gender-based analyses

Reporting guidance

For research involving or pertaining to humans, animals or eukaryotic cells, investigators should integrate sex and gender-based analyses (SGBA) into their research design according to funder/sponsor requirements and best practices within a field. Authors should address the sex and/or gender dimensions of their research in their article. In cases where they cannot, they should discuss this as a limitation to their research's generalizability. Importantly, authors should explicitly state what definitions of sex and/or gender they are applying to enhance the precision, rigor and reproducibility of their research and to avoid ambiguity or conflation of terms and the constructs to which they refer (see Definitions section below). Authors can refer to the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines and the SAGER guidelines checklist. These offer systematic approaches to the use and editorial review of sex and gender information in study design, data analysis, outcome reporting and research interpretation - however, please note there is no single, universally agreed-upon set of guidelines for defining sex and gender.

Definitions

Sex generally refers to a set of biological attributes that are associated with physical and physiological features (e.g., chromosomal genotype, hormonal levels, internal and external anatomy). A binary sex categorization (male/female) is usually designated at birth ("sex assigned at birth"), most often based solely on the visible external anatomy of a newborn. Gender generally refers to socially constructed roles, behaviors, and identities of women, men and gender-diverse people that occur in a historical and cultural context and may vary across societies and over time. Gender influences how people view themselves and each other, how they behave and interact and how power is distributed in society. Sex and gender are often incorrectly portrayed as binary (female/male or woman/man) and unchanging whereas these constructs actually exist along a spectrum and include additional sex categorizations and gender identities such as people who are intersex/have differences of sex development (DSD) or identify as non-binary. Moreover, the terms "sex" and "gender" can be ambiguous-thus it is important for authors to define the manner in which they are used. In addition to this definition guidance and the SAGER guidelines, the resources on this page offer further insight around sex and gender in research studies.

Changes to authorship

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. Modifications to authorship are not allowed, this policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts.

Author Contribution Statement

EJBT requires that all authors take public responsibility for the content of the work submitted for review. The contributions of all authors must be described in the following manner:

The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follows: (Initial of the name and full surname)

• Study conception and design: X Author; Y Author
• Data collection: Y Author
• Analysis and interpretation of results: X Author; Y Author; Z Author
• Draft manuscript preparation: Y Author; Z Author
• Revision of the results and approved the final version of the manuscript: X Author; Y Author; Z Author

An author name can appear multiple times, and each author name must appear at least once. For single authors, use the following wording:

The author confirms sole responsibility for the following: study conception and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of results, and manuscript preparation.

This information must be included in the main text, before the Reference section.

Please bear in mind the following criteria for authorship as set out by the ICMJE and as recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): The author list should contain only those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

1. Have made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the article; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the article; AND
2. Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3. Approved the version to be published; AND
4. Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should instead be listed in an Acknowledgments section.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article by the journal, authors will be asked to transfer the publication rights to Electronic Journal of Biotechnology, submitting the License Agreement as a signed scanned copy to biotec@pucv.cl. All authors must send a copy of this document.

Electronic Journal of Biotechnology is committed to maintain the electronic access to the journal and to administer a policy of fair control and ensure the widest possible dissemination of the information.

The copyright remains with the Authors and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (creativecommons.org), which permits copy and redistribution in any medium or format, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. You are not allowed to use the material for commercial purposes. Elsevier supports responsible sharing

Find out how you can share your research published in Elsevier journals.

Role of the funding source

You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement, it is recommended to state this.

Article Publishing Charge

As an open access journal with no subscription charges, a fee (Article Publishing Charge, APC) is payable by the author or research funder to cover the costs associated with publication. This ensures your article will be immediately and permanently free to access by everyone. The Article Publishing Charge for this journal is USD 1500.

Research4Life Article Publishing Charge waiver & discount options

We automatically apply Article Publishing Charge waivers or discounts to those articles in gold open access journals for which all authors are based in a country eligible for the Research4Life program. Find out more about the APC waiver and discount eligibility here.

Open access

Please visit our Open Access page for more information.

Elsevier Researcher Academy

Researcher Academy is a free e-learning platform designed to support early and mid-career researchers throughout their research journey. The "Learn" environment at Researcher Academy offers several interactive modules, webinars, downloadable guides and resources to guide you through the process of writing for research and going through peer review. Feel free to use these free resources to improve your submission and navigate the publication process with ease.

Language (usage and editing services)

Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the English Language Editing service available from Elsevier's WebShop.

Authors may be requested to check their manuscript with a Professional English Language Service prior to evaluation.

Submission

Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word) are required to typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.

Submit your article

Please submit your article via https://www.editorialmanager.com/EJBT.

Referees

Please suggest at least four internationally recognized researchers as referees with their full name, affiliation and institutional email address. We recommend that at least one of them should be a member of the editorial board of the Electronic Journal of Biotechnology (for a list of board members see https://www.elsevier.com/locate/ejbt).

GenBank/DNA sequence linking

DNA sequences and GenBank Accession numbers: Many Elsevier journals cite "gene accession numbers" in their running text and footnotes. Gene accession numbers refer to genes or DNA sequences about which further information can be found in the database at the National Center for Biotechnical Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine. Elsevier authors wishing to enable other scientists to use the accession numbers cited in their papers via links to these sources, should type this information in the following manner:

For each and every accession number cited in an article, authors should type the accession number in bold text. Letters in the accession number should always be capitalized. (See Example 1 below). This combination of letters and format will enable Elsevier's typesetters to recognize the relevant texts as accession numbers and add the required link to GenBank's sequences.

Example 1: "GenBank accession nos. AI631510, AI631511, AI632198, and BF223228, a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE675048), and a T-cell lymphoma (GenBank accession no. AA361117)".

Authors are encouraged to check accession numbers used very carefully. An error in a letter or number can result in a dead link. In the final version of the printed article, the accession number text will not appear bold or underlined (see Example 2 below).

Example 2: "GenBank accession nos. AI631510, AI631511, AI632198, and BF223228, a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE675048), and a T-cell lymphoma (GenBank accession no. AA361117)".

In the final version of the electronic copy, the accession number text will be linked to the appropriate source in the NCBI databases enabling readers to go directly to that source from the article.

 

PREPARATION

Editor; 2 reviewers, single anonymized

This journal operates a single anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the Editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final. Editors are not involved in decisions about papers which they have written themselves or have been written by family members or colleagues or which relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest. Any such submission is subject to all of the journal's usual procedures, with peer review handled independently of the relevant editor and their research groups. More information on types of peer review.

Use of word processing software

It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word processor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier). Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics will be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text. See also the section on Electronic Artwork below.

To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor.

Subdivision - numbered sections

Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.

For details on structure revise the section Article types above.

Essential title page information

• Title. Informative using at least 8 nouns. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• Author names and affiliations. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and the e-mail address of each author.
• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, and also post-publication. If possible, indicate an alternative e-mail for contact. Ensure that telephone numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author. The Corresponding author is responsible that every coauthor has contributed to the ms and has accepted to publish the manuscript.
• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a "Present address" (or "Permanent address") may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

Abstract

The abstract of the manuscript should not exceed 250 words and must be structured into separate sections:

• Background, the context and purpose of the study;
• Results, the main findings;
• Conclusions, brief summary and potential implications.

Please minimize the use of abbreviations and do not cite references in the abstract.

In the case of review articles, the abstract should be submitted as one section.

Graphical abstract

A graphical abstract is mandatory for this journal. It should summarize the contents of the article in a concise, pictorial form designed to capture the attention of a wide readership online. Authors must provide images that clearly represent the work described in the article. Graphical abstracts should be submitted as a separate file in the online submission system. Image size: please provide an image with a minimum of 531 × 1328 pixels (h × w) or proportionally more. The image should be readable at a size of 5 × 13 cm using a regular screen resolution of 96 dpi. Preferred file types: TIFF, EPS, PDF or MS Office files. You can view Example Graphical Abstracts on our information site.

Keywords

Authors must provide between six and eleven keywords. Also keywords will be added in order to improve manuscript visibility.

Abbreviations

Define abbreviations that are not standard the first time they are mentioned. Abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their first mention there. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval is required in case the study involves humans or animals subjects.

Human subjects: Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed. Also include the corresponding approval number from the University or Organization.

Animal subjects: Authors should indicate whether institutional and national standards for the care and use of laboratory animals were followed. Also authors must follow ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research Reporting In vivo Experiments). The corresponding approval number from the University or Organization should be included.

For details see section Ethics in Publishing (https://www.elsevier.com/journals/electronic-journal-of-biotechnology/0717-3458/guide-for-authors#6000).

Example:

"Ethical approval: The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of XXX University, with the approval number xxxxxxx".

Acknowledgements and Financial support

Indicate Acknowledgments and Financial support in separate sections at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List in acknowledgments those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language or writing assistance, or proof reading the article, etc.).

Formatting of funding sources

List funding sources in this standard way to facilitate compliance to funder's requirements:

Financial support: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA [grant number zzzz]; and the United States Institutes of Peace [grant number aaaa].

It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions on the program or type of grants and awards. When funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding.

If no funding has been provided for the research, please include the following sentence:

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Nomenclature and units

Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI) (http://physics.nist.gov/Pubs/SP330/sp330.pdf). If other quantities are mentioned, give their equivalent in SI.

Math formulae

Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

References

For original articles (research, short communications), at least 75% of the references must be from the Web of Science Core Collection and at the same time from the last decade. Also the DOI and PMid number (if available) must be included at the end of each reference.

Citation in text

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). References in abstract should be avoided. Unpublished results; personal communications and thesis are not allowed. Citation of a reference as "in press" implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Web References

As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, PMid, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

Preprint references

Where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, the formal publication should be used as the reference. If there are preprints that are central to your work or that cover crucial developments in the topic, but are not yet formally published, these may be referenced. Preprints should be clearly marked as such, for example by including the word preprint, or the name of the preprint server, as part of the reference. The preprint DOI should also be provided.

Reference style

Text: Indicate references by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.

Example: '... as demonstrated [3,6]. Barnaby and Jones [8] obtained a different result ...'

Reference section: Number the references (numbers in square brackets) in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication:

[1] Tighe PJ, Ryder RR, Todd I, et al. ELISA in the multiplex era: Potentials and pitfalls. Proteom Clin Appl 2015;9(3-4):406-422. https://doi.org/10.1002/prca.201400130 PMid:25644123

For more than 3 authors the first 3 should be listed followed by 'et al.'Abbreviated titles of journals must be provided.Provide the article's Digital Object Identifier (DOI) and the PubMed reference number (PMid) at the end of each reference, when available.

Reference to a book:

[2] Strunk Jr W, White EB. The elements of style. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan; 1979.

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:

[3] Mettam GR, Adams LB. How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In: Jones BS, Smith RZ, editors. Introduction to the electronic age. New York: E- Publishing Inc; 1999, p. 281-304.

Artwork

Electronic artwork

General points

• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.
•  Aim to use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or use fonts that look similar.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version.

Formats

If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is' in the native document format.
Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'Save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts.
TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.

Please do not:

• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colors;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Color artwork

Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color, then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge that these figures will appear in color on the Web (e.g., Science Direct and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version.

Figure captions

Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

The figures (photographs, drawings) must be numbered with Arabic numerals. Footnotes can be included below the figure.

Figures that include more than one image should be labeled as a, b, c, etc. (lower case, use black or white bold according to the figure).

Graphs

Graphs should be cited as figures and must be numbered with Arabic numerals. Footnotes can be included below the figure.

Graphs that include more than one image should be labeled as a, b, c, etc. (Arial). They must be in 2D and have a title. In case they have legend, it must be placed below the image. They should be built with Arial font. Graphs must be send in editable formats (MS excel if possible; we also accept Sigma plot and Origin) in order to make formal changes (color, fonts, size, etc.).

Videos

Articles can include a video (360^o videos can also be considered) as part of the main text or as supplementary material. The publication of this material has no extra charge.

The resolution must be 4k (3840x1920) or similar and the audio must be in perfect English. The author should upload the video to YouTube, check the option "allow incorporation" and submit the link.

Also it is required a title and a frame of the video posted on YouTube (photo).

Submission checklist

The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.

Ensure that the following items are present:
One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:

• Institutional e-mail address
• Full postal address

All necessary files have been uploaded:

• Cover letter
• Keywords
• All figure captions
• All tables (including title, description, footnotes)

Further considerations

• Manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'
• References are in the correct format for the journal
• All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)

For any further information please visit our customer support site at https://service.elsevier.com.

 

AFTER ACCEPTANCE

Online Proof Correction

Corresponding authors will receive an e-mail with a link to our online proofing system, allowing annotation and correction of proofs online. The environment is similar to MS Word: in addition to editing text, you can also comment on figures/tables and answer questions from the Copy Editor. Web-based proofing provides a faster and less error-prone process by allowing you to directly type your corrections, eliminating the potential introduction of errors.

If preferred, you can still choose to annotate and upload your edits on the PDF version. All instructions for proofing will be given in the e-mail we send to authors, including alternative methods to the online version and PDF.

We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately - please upload all of your corrections within 48 hours. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. PROOFREADING IS SOLELY YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.