Phytochemical Analysis
© John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Editor-in-Chief: Satyajit D. Sarker
Impact Factor: 2.633
ISI Journal Citation Reports © Ranking: 2011: 26/73 (Chemistry Analytical); 34/72 (BIOCHEMICAL RESEARCH METHODS); 48/190 (Plant Sciences)
Online ISSN: 1099-1565
Author Guidelines
For additional tools visit Author Resources - an enhanced suite of online tools for Wiley Online Library journal authors, featuring Article Tracking, E-mail Publication Alerts and Customized Research Tools.
Author Guidelines
Instructions to Authors
General
Manuscript Submission
Copyright and Permissions
English Editing
Presentation of Papers
Writing Abstracts
Reference Style
Illustrations and ChemDraw Rules
Short Abstract for Table of Contents
Colour Policy
Citing EarlyView Articles
Supplementary Material
Article Format Published in PCA
Further Information
Ethical Treatment of Humans and Animals
General
Phytochemical Analysis (PCA) is devoted to the publication of original articles concerning the development, improvement, validation and/or extension of application of analytical methodology in the plant sciences. The spectrum of coverage is broad, encompassing methods and techniques relevant to the detection (including bio-screening), extraction, separation, purification, identification and quantification of compounds in plant biochemistry, plant cellular and molecular biology, plant biotechnology, the food sciences, agriculture and horticulture. The Journal publishes papers describing significant novelty in the analysis of whole plants (including algae), plant cells, tissues and organs, plant-derived extracts and plant products (including those which have been partially or completely refined for use in the food, agrochemical, pharmaceutical and related industries). All forms of physical, chemical, biochemical, spectroscopic, radiometric, electrometric, chromatographic, metabolomic and chemometric investigations of plant products (monomeric species as well as polymeric molecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and carbohydrates) are included within the remit of the Journal. Papers dealing with novel methods relating to areas such as data handling / data mining in plant sciences will also be welcomed.Phytochemical Analysis is intended to serve as a major resource for information on analytical and instrumental methodology in the plant sciences. Together with original articles and accelerated communications, all of which will be both timely and of interest to a wide readership, short review articles describing recent advances in specific areas of plant analysis will be published. Reviews are by invitation only, but the Editor-in-Chief welcomes suggestions for new review topics from potential authors.
Manuscript Submission
All papers must be submitted via the online system. Phytochemical Analysis operates an online submission and peer review system that allows authors to submit articles online and track their progress via a web interface. Please read the remainder of these instructions to authors and then click http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pca to navigate to the Phytochemical Analysis online submission site.IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.
File types. Preferred formats for the text and tables of your manuscript are .doc, .rtf, .ppt, .xls. LaTeX files may be submitted provided that an .eps or .pdf file is provided in addition to the source files. Figures may be provided in .tiff or .eps format.
INITIAL SUBMISSION
NON-LATEX USERS: Editable source files must be uploaded at this stage. Tables must be on separate pages after the reference list, and not be incorporated into the main text. Figures should be uploaded as separate figure files.
LATEX USERS: For reviewing purposes you should upload a single .pdf that you have generated from your source files. You must use the File Designation "Main Document" from the dropdown box.
REVISION SUBMISSION
NON-LATEX USERS: Editable source files must be uploaded at this stage. Tables must be on separate pages after the reference list, and not be incorporated into the main text. Figures should be uploaded as separate figure files.
LATEX USERS: When submitting your revision you must still upload a single .pdf that you have generated from your now revised source files. You must use the File Designation "Main Document" from the dropdown box. In addition you must upload your TeX source files. For all your source files you must use the File Designation "Supplemental Material not for review". Previous versions of uploaded documents must be deleted. If your manuscript is accepted for publication we will use the files you upload to typeset your article within a totally digital workflow.
Copyright and Permissions
If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email prompting them to login into Author Services; where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be able to complete the license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper.
For authors signing the copyright transfer agreement
If the OnlineOpen option is not selected the corresponding author will be presented with the copyright transfer agreement (CTA) to sign. The terms and conditions of the CTA can be previewed in the samples associated with the Copyright FAQs below:
CTA Terms and Conditions http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/faqs_copyright.asp
For authors choosing OnlineOpen
If the OnlineOpen option is selected the corresponding author will have a choice of the following Creative Commons License Open Access Agreements (OAA):
Creative Commons Attribution License OAA
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License OAA
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial -NoDerivs License OAA
To preview the terms and conditions of these open access agreements please visit the Copyright FAQs hosted on Wiley Author Services http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/faqs_copyright.asp and visit http://www.wileyopenaccess.com/details/content/12f25db4c87/Copyright--License.html.
If you select the OnlineOpen option and your research is funded by The Wellcome Trust and members of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) you will be given the opportunity to publish your article under a CC-BY license supporting you in complying with Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK requirements. For more information on this policy and the Journal’s compliant self-archiving policy please visit: http://www.wiley.com/go/funderstatement.
Authors must sign, scan and upload to the online system:
- To enable the publisher to disseminate the author’s work to the fullest extent, the author must sign a Copyright Transfer Agreement with original signature(s) - without this we are unable to accept the submission. A copy of the agreement to be used (which may be photocopied) can be found on the Wiley Online Library website and through links in the online submission system. Copies may also be obtained from the journal editors or publisher.
- Permission grants - if the manuscript contains extracts, including illustrations, from other copyright works (including material from on-line or intranet sources) it is the author's responsibility to obtain written permission from the owners of the publishing rights to reproduce such extracts using the Wiley Permission Request Form .
The Copyright Transfer Form and the Permissions Form should be uploaded as "Supplementary files not for review" with the online submission of your article.
If you do not have access to a scanner, further instructions will be given to you after acceptance of the manuscript
To enable the publisher to disseminate the author's work to the fullest extent, the author must sign a Copyright Transfer Agreement, transferring copyright in the article from the author to the publisher, and submit the original signed agreement with the article presented for publication. Submission of a manuscript will be held to imply that it contains original unpublished work and is not being submitted for publication elsewhere at the same time. Submitted material will not be returned to the author, unless specifically requested.
English Editing
Papers must be in English. Oxford English Dictionary or American spelling is acceptable, provided usage is consistent within the manuscript.Manuscripts that are written in English that is ambiguous or incomprehensible, in the opinion of the Editor, will be returned to the authors with a request to resubmit once the language issues have been improved. This policy does not imply that all papers must be written in "perfect" English, whatever that may mean. Rather, the criterion will require that the intended meaning of the authors must be clearly understandable, i.e., not obscured by language problems, by referees who have agreed to review the paper.
English Checking Service for Authors from non-English speaking countries. A list of recommended English editing services is available for authors who want to have their paper checked and improved before submission. This list and further information on the service is available at: http://www.wiley.co.jp/editservlist.html. Please note that this is an optional service paid for by the author.
Presentation of Papers
Manuscript style. Use a standard font of the 12-point type: Times, Helvetica, or Courier is preferred. It is not necessary to double-line space your manuscript.Tables must be on separate pages after the reference list, and not be incorporated into the main text. Figures should be uploaded as separate figure files.
- During the submission process you must enter 1) the full title 2) the short title of up to 70 characters 3) names and affiliations of all authors and 4) the full address, including email, telephone and fax of the author who is to check the proofs.
- Include the name(s) of any sponsor(s) of the research contained in the paper, along with grant number(s).
- Enter an abstract of no more than 250 words for all articles. Please see the guidance below on acceptable abstract writing for PCA.
- Keywords. Authors should prepare no more than 10 keywords for their manuscript.
Writing Abstracts
A structured abstract MUST be provided with the manuscript. A structured abstract is a concise summary of the whole paper, not just the conclusions, and MUST be written using the subsections, e.g. introduction, objectives, material and methods, results, and conclusion. For further PCA guidelines for the preparation of such an Abstract, an example is available for download here.The abstract should be no more than 250 words. It is crucial that the abstract conveys the importance of the work and be understandable without reference to the rest of the manuscript to a multidisciplinary audience. Abstracts should not contain any citation to other published works.
Reference Style
Citations in the text should be given in the form of name and year, and listed in the bibliography in alphabetical (and then date) order. Where multiple citations occur at a single point in the text, they should be listed in date (and then alphabetical) order: multiple citations to the same author(s) may be listed in the form (Adam 1993, 1995; Adam et al., 1993, 1999a,b, 2004). It is the duty of the authors to ensure that all references are complete and accurate. Typically, no more than 25 references should be cited in an original research article. Authors should avoid citing lectures or abstracts from conference proceedings, papers published in journals that are not peer-reviewed, and sources that are not normally available to the reader (particularly MSc and PhD theses unless these are available on-line, in which case provide the URL).
"Unpublished results" and "Personal communications" may be cited within the text but NOT included in the bibliography. In the case of personal communications, the full name and affiliation of the communicator and the date of the communication must be quoted, and the written permission of the communicator to publish his/her name in the context of the paper must be available to the publishers. Results included in manuscripts that have been submitted to, but not accepted by, a journal may NOT be included in the bibliographic list but should be cited as "Unpublished results". On-line citations should include date of access. All references must be complete and accurate. Use Index Medicus abbreviations for journal names. For correct abbreviations visit http://authorservices.wiley.com/jendnotes/#c. References should be listed in the following styles:
Journal
Jaki B, Franzblau S, Pauli GF. 2004. An NMR method towards the routine chiral determination of natural products. Phytochem Anal 15: 213-219.Book
Pratt WB, Taylor P. 1990. Principles of Drug Action. The Basis of Pharmacology (3rd Edn.). Churchill Livingstone: New York; 56-78.Chapter in Book
Bede JC, Tobe SS. 1999. Insect juvenile hormones in plants. In Studies in Natural Products Chemistry, Vol 24. Rahman A-U (Ed.). Elsevier: Amsterdam; 369-418.Website
European Community. 2000. Dangerous substances and preparations, marketing and regulations. Commission Directive No. 95/55/EC. European Community: Brussels. URL [http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31995L0055:EN:html]; accessed May 2006.Illustrations and ChemDraw Rules
Upload each figure as a separate file in either .tiff or .eps format, with the figure number and the top of the figure indicated. Compound figures e.g. 1a, b, c should be uploaded as one figure. Tints are not acceptable. Lettering must be of a reasonable size that would still be clearly legible upon reduction, and consistent within each figure and set of figures. Where a key to symbols is required, please include this in the artwork itself, not in the figure legend. All illustrations must be supplied at the correct resolution:- Black and white and colour photos - 300 dpi
- Graphs, drawings, etc - 800 dpi preferred; 600 dpi minimum
- Combinations of photos and drawings (black and white and colour) - 500 dpi
Tables should be part of the the main document and should be placed after the references. If the table is created in excel the file should be uploaded separately.
Chemical structures should be prepared in ChemDraw either 80mm (one column)or175mm (two column) widths. However, the one-column format should be used whenever possible as this allows greater flexibility in the layout of the manuscript.Use this ChemDraw Download or use the following settings:
| Drawing Settings | Text Settings | ||
| chain angle | 120° | font | Arial |
| bond spacing | 18% of length | size | 12 pt |
| fixed length | 17 pt | ||
| bond width | 2 pt | Preferences | |
| line width | 0.75 pt | units | points |
| margin width | 2 pt | tolerances | pixels |
| hash spacing | 2.6 pt | ||
| bold width | 2.6 pt |
Authors using different structural drawing programs should choose settings consistent with those above. Compound numbers should be bold, but not atom labels or captions.
Short Abstract for Table of Contents
In addition to the standard abstract, please supply a short abstract of up to 80 words for publication in the graphical table of contents. [Please note that the typesetters will use the first 80 words of your full abstract if no material is supplied by the authors!]
Colour Policy
When considered necessary by the Editors, two colour pages per article will be printed free of charge. The cost of additional colour illustrations printed in the journal will be charged to the author. If colour illustrations are supplied electronically in either TIFF or EPS format, they may be used in the PDF of the article at no cost to the author, even if this illustration was printed in black and white in the journal. The PDF will appear on the Wiley Online Library site.
Citing EarlyView Articles
To include the DOI in a citation to an article, simply append it to the reference as in the following example:
R. K. Harris, A. Nordon, K. D. M. Harris, Rapid. Commun. Mass Spec. 2007, DOI: 10.1002/rcm.21464.
To link to an article from the author’s homepage, take the DOI (digital object identifier) and append it to "http://dx.doi.org/" as per following example:
DOI 10.1002/pca.1069, becomes http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pca.1069.
Supplementary Material
Data that are (i) not amenable to presentation in a traditional print format, (ii) of interest primarily to specialists and do not require Journal page space, or (iii) particularly useful to the community in electronic (downloadable) form can be published online as supplementary material hosted within Wiley Online Library.
Article Formats Published in PCA
Phytochemical Analysis publishes Research Articles, Reviews and Correspondence. Submitted manuscripts should not have been previously published and should not be submitted for publication elsewhere while they are under consideration by Wiley. Receipt of papers will be acknowledged. Submitted material will not be returned to the author, unless specifically requested.
Research Articles
Reasearch Articles have to be structured in the following way:
INTRODUCTION
No sub-sections are allowed in this section. Focus on the novelty of the methodology employed and provide explicit reasons for the need to originate, develop, improve or compare methodologies (i.e. a justification of your work). Detailed reviews of the uses or biological activities of the plant material(s) studied, or of compounds derived there from, are not required. The full name (in italic font) and authority of each plant species must be provided at first mention: thereafter, plant species may be referred to in an abbreviated form unless such an abbreviation is ambiguous. Local or trivial names of plant species may be provided in the Introduction, but should not be used within the text of the manuscript as an alternative to the species name. Note that pharmaceutical preparations of the form Angelicae Radix should not be in italic font.
Use Chemical Abstracts nomenclature for chemical names and structures. Proprietary names should be accompanied by the appropriate symbol (® or ™) the first time that they are mentioned. Common acronyms for biomedical names are acceptable, but all others must be defined when first mentioned. Do not use abbreviated names or formulae (i.e. H2O, EtOAc, NaCl) for common chemicals or reagents. Non-standard units must be defined.
EXPERIMENTAL
Second level sub-sectionsMust be in bold, upper/lower case, and the text should follow on the next line.
Third level sub-sections. Must be in bold, italic, upper/lower case, and the text should follow on the same line. Provide full details of all novel techniques employed (including the names and addresses of manufacturers and suppliers of specialised chemicals or apparatus). There is no need to provide particulars of any standard procedures that have been used (a reference is sufficient): any significant modifications of the referenced method should, however, be given. State the grade of reagents employed where appropriate. Details concerning the authentication of all plant materials employed in the study are required, and voucher specimens must be available (provide the name and address of the herbarium and the reference number of each specimen). Any safety precautions regarding the experiments described must be brought to the attention of the reader. If the described research involved the use of animals or humans, a statement must be included to indicate that the work was carried out according to all local, national and international regulations and requirements, and that permission of the appropriate Ethical Committee has been obtained.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Second level sub-sections
Third level sub-sections
Sub-sections should appear on a separate line from the following text. The Results and discussion should focus on the novelty of the methodology employed and its advantages with respect to techniques previously used (if any). All novel quantitative methods described must be fully validated according to accepted International criteria and must be accompanied by full statistical data in support of such validation. Results deriving from the application of the developed methodology are welcomed but should be summarised as far as possible: such applications must not form the focus of the paper. Phytochemical Analysis does not support a Conclusions section.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Authors may wish to thank those who have provided assistance during the course of the described study or with the preparation of the manuscript. Written permission to use their names in the context of the paper must be obtained from all persons who are individually acknowledged in the manuscript. Acknowledgement of financial support should appear on the Title page.
Reviews deal with topics of current interest in all relevant areas of phytochemical analysis. Rather than an assemblage of detailed information with a complete literature survey, a critically selected treatment of the material is desired; unsolved problems and possible developments should also be discussed. Although review articles are generally written upon invitation of the editor, unsolicited manuscripts are also welcome provided they are in keeping with the character of the journal. Review authors should contact the Editor-in-Chief.
The editors invite correspondence to be published, at their discretion.
Further Information
For accepted manuscripts the publisher will supply proofs to the submitting author prior to publication. This stage is to be used only to correct errors that may have been introduced during the production process. Prompt return of the corrected proofs, preferably within two days of receipt, will minimise the risk of the paper being held over to a later issue. Free access to the final PDF offprint of your article will be available via Author Services only. Please therefore sign up for Author Services if you would like to access your article PDF offprint and enjoy the many other benefits the service offers. Further offprints and copies of the journal may be ordered. There is no page charge to authors.
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Ethical Treatment of Humans and Animals
All human and animal studies must be approved by an appropriate ethics committee or review board (depending on local arrangements), and a statement to this effect should be included in the methods section, or the reasons why it was not necessary if this is the case. All clinical investigations must have been conducted according to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki (http://www.wma.net).

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