Annals of Neurology

Author Guidelines

• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors - Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals
• CONSORT Guidelines Download PDF file - 110
• The National Institutes of Health Public Access Initiative
• Research Article Template

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Author Guidelines

Scope 

The Annals of Neurology publishes articles of broad interest with potential for high impact in understanding the mechanisms and treatment of diseases of the human nervous system.  All areas of clinical and basic neuroscience, including new technologies, cellular and molecular neurobiology, population sciences, and studies of behavior, addiction, and psychiatric diseases are of interest to the journal. The Annals is particularly interested in clinical trials and other large-scale studies that inform the practice of medicine. Trials reporting negative data will be considered.

 

 

Editorial Policies 

·         With rare exceptions, the Annals of Neurology does not accept paper submissions. Authors are required to submit manuscripts through our online submission website. If for any reason you are unable to do so, please contact the Managing Editor to discuss the possibility of alternate arrangements.

 

·         Submissions must not be under consideration by any other journal or published previously (apart from abstracts).

 

·         Editorial decisions are not made based solely on the comments of reviewers.  All submissions are thoroughly vetted by Editors prior to peer review.

 

·         The Annals is committed to providing a rapid turnaround for every submission we receive.  We strive for a two-week turnaround for standard peer review followed by an additional week for evaluation by the editorial board.

 

·         An invitation to revise your manuscript is not a guarantee of acceptance for publication.

 

·         Arrangement for an expedited review process must be agreed upon in advance of submission.  If you would like the Editors to consider your manuscript for expedited review (maximum of two weeks to final decision), please send your request at least one week prior to submission to aon@ucsf.edu.  Please include your abstract and a detailed rationale for your request.  We will consider only a handful of manuscripts for expedited review. To ensure your communications are properly routed to the appropriate Editors, all correspondence regarding your submission (including a formal rebuttal to a notice of rejection) must be directed to Adam Stewart, Managing Editor at aon@ucsf.edu. Do not contact the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, or members of the Editorial Board.

 

·         A conflict of interest disclosure form must be completed by each author. The Annals is in compliance with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations regarding conflicts of interest.  Relevant information and a copy of the necessary information can be obtained here: http://www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf

 

·         Animal experimentation must receive institutional approval and be conducted in accordance with the United States Public Health Service's Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.  Submissions from outside the United States must include evidence that human and animal research complies with the standards enforced in the country of origin.

 

·         The Editors strongly encourage authors to deposit microarray data in a public repository, such as GEO or ArrayExpress, so that the data are accessible to qualified investigators.

 

·         Experimental studies of humans require that the protocol has received prior approval by the appropriate body, and that informed consent was obtained from each subject.

 

·         Clinical trial reports must be written in accordance with the CONSORT reporting guidelines. (Download PDF file - 110K).

 

·         Although the Annals does not advocate one particular registry, clinical trials must be registered in a database that meets the requirements set forth by the ICMJE: (1) The registry must be publicly accessible. (2) It must be open to all registrants and managed by a not-for-profit group. (3) The registry must have a mechanism to guarantee accuracy and validity of the information submitted. (4) The registry must adhere to the ICMJE mandates described in the table found on their website: http://www.icmje.org/update_may05.html

Additional information can be found here: http://www.icmje.org/publishing_10register.html
Please include the trial registration number at the end of the abstract.

 

Editorial Office Contact Information:

Adam Stewart, Managing Editor 505 Parnassus Ave, Moffitt 798 – Box 0114 University of California, San Francisco San Francisco, CA, USA. 94143-0114 tel: 1 415.816.0630 email: aon@ucsf.edu

 

 

Manuscript Submission Information

Submission requirements for the Annals of Neurology are in accordance with the ICMJE Uniform Requirements. Please review the following document prior to submission of your manuscript: http://www.icmje.org/urm_full.pdf

 

Submit your manuscripts online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ana where you and your coauthors may view the status of your manuscript as it progresses through the review process.  Notification of the disposition of each manuscript will be sent by e-mail to the submitting author on the day of decision.  The timeframe from submission to first decision ranges from one day to six weeks. 

 

Cover letter
At minimum, please include all of the following elements in your cover letter to the editors:

(1) type of submission (Research Article, Brief Communication, etc.), the corresponding author complete with a mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and an e-mail address; (2) a statement certifying that all coauthors have seen and agree with the contents of the manuscript, that the ICMJE requirements for authorship have been met (please see http://www.icmje.org/ethical_1author.html ), and that each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work; (3) certify that the submission (aside from an abstract) is not under review at any other publication; (4) a full statement about all submissions and previous reports that might be regarded as redundant publication of the same or very similar work (any such work should be referred to specifically and referenced in the new paper; copies of such material should be emailed to the Managing Editor after the manuscript is submitted); (5) a statement of financial or other relationships that might lead to a perceived conflict of interest.

Important: If you have other articles in-press or under review with another journal, please e-mail these other manuscripts to the Managing Editor (aon@ucsf.edu) after your manuscript has been submitted.

 

Credits and Permissions

Upon acceptance, we will require (1) notice of informed consent; (2) releases to publish photographs of recognizable persons; (3) written permission to use non-original material (including quotations exceeding 100 words or any table / figure) from both author and publisher of the original material; (4) written permission to name any individual acknowledged in the manuscript but not credited as an author. No article will be published without all required permissions.

 

Conflict of interest

The Annals is compliant with the ICMJE recommendations regarding conflict of interest disclosures. All authors are required to report the following information with each submission: (1) Financial associations with commercial entities that provided financial support for the work reported in the submitted manuscript. The time frame for this disclosure covers the duration of the work itself, from conception and planning to the present. (2) Financial associations with commercial entities that could be viewed as having an interest in the general area of the submitted manuscript. All sources of revenue relevant to the submitted work that accrued either directly to you or to your institution on your behalf should be disclosed. The time frame for this disclosure covers the 36 months prior to submission of the manuscript. (3) Financial associations involving spouses or children under 18 years of age. (4) Non-financial associations that may be perceived as relevant to the submitted manuscript, including personal, professional, political, institutional, religious, or other associations that may be perceived as relevant. This information will be acknowledged at publication.  Rejection of a manuscript or retraction may occur if undisclosed financial interests are found after publication. The required form can be downloaded here: http://www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf

 

Preparation of Manuscripts

 

Coversheet:

The first page of every submission should contain all of the following information: (1) title and running head. Titles should be short, specific, and clear. They should not exceed 80 characters (including spaces). Do not use abbreviations in the title. A running head title for your submission should not exceed 50 characters (2) all authors’ names, degrees and affiliations. Please include first name, middle initial (if provided), last name, and degrees for all authors. Marry authors to affiliations using superscript numbers. Affiliations are specific to the department level: two authors at one institution but in different departments have separate listings; two authors in the same department will have one affiliation. Statements of equal authorship contribution (i.e. two first authors) are acceptable. At least one person’s name must precede a group-attributed authorship (e.g. “Tom Jones for the Meningitis Study Group”). (3) corresponding author’s contact information; (4) number of words in the abstract, and the body of the manuscript (not including abstract or references, figure legends, etc.); (5) number of figures, color figures, and tables; (6) the abstract.

  

Authorship and Contributorship:

Please refer to the ICMJE guidelines for authorship and contributorship: http://www.icmje.org/ethical_1author.html. At the end of your manuscript, please include an Authorship statement summarizing each authors’ contributions to the work submitted.

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgments section. Individuals or consortia members who have contributed materially to the paper but who do not meet the requirement for authorship may be listed under an Acknowledgement subheading (e.g. “clinical investigators”) with a description of their function or contribution. These individuals must give written permission to be acknowledged.

 

Abstracts:

Research Article abstracts must be limited to 250 words.  Please note that all Research Article abstracts must be submitted in the following structure:  Objective, Methods, Results, Interpretation.

 

Abstracts for Brief Communications should be limited to 100 words.  Please do not include Research Article subheadings in your Brief Communication abstract. Do not use abbreviations or references in your abstract.

 

Research Articles:

Please limit the length of the main body of your Research Article to 3,000 words (not including the abstract, references, figure legends, etc.) with roughly 40 references.

 

Brief Communications:

Brief Communications should be limited to 1,500 words, with 20 references or fewer, and no more than a total of three tables or illustrations. A study of a single patient (case report) should be in the Brief Communication format.

 

Letters to the Editor and Replies:

Only letters addressing previously published articles will be considered. With only rare exceptions, the editors will not permit publication of a letter containing original data that would need to be peer reviewed. It is our policy to share all Letters to the Editor with the authors of the original work discussed in the Letter, and to permit the authors to submit a Reply, both of which would be published simultaneously. Letters should be limited to 400 words and may include one table or figure, if essential, and five or fewer references.

 

Review articles: 

Reviews will be considered as “Neurological Progress” articles (1,000-3,500 words; up to 80 references).

 

Editorials: 

Editorials should be less than 1,000 words, and will be solicited by the Editors.

 

Point of View: 

A timely “Point of View”, or other special communications, will also be considered and should be limited to 3,500 words with 80 references.

 

Body text for Research Articles and Brief Communications:

Sections appear in the following order: Abstract, Introduction, Methods (or “Patients and Methods” or “Subjects and Methods” or “Materials and Methods”), Results, Discussion, Appendix, Acknowledgement, and References.

 

The main body of all manuscripts, and all tables included with your submissions must be provided in Microsoft Word .DOC format. 

 

Always spell out abbreviations at first mention, and place the acronym or abbreviation in parentheses immediately after.

 

Acknowledgement:

Please place your acknowledgement at the end of your manuscript before the References. Please see authorship and contributorship guidelines above. Please also use this space to describe the role of the study sponsor, if any, in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing the report; and the decision to submit the report for publication. Please include a statement if the supporting source had no such involvement.

 

Potential Conflicts of Interest:

Authors must state explicitly whether potential conflicts do or do not exist. Authors should do so in the manuscript in a separate section following any Acknowledgements and preceding the References. Please provide additional detail, if applicable, to any potential conflicts of interest in your cover letter that accompanies the manuscript.

 

References:

Wiley's Journal styles are now in EndNote. EndNote is a software product that we recommend to our journal authors to help simplify and streamline the research process. Using EndNote's bibliographic management tools, you can search bibliographic databases, build and organize your reference collection, and then instantly output your bibliography in any Wiley journal style. Annals of Neurology Endnote output style is available here. If you need assistance using EndNote, contact: endnote@isiresearchsoft.com, or visit www.endnote.com/support.

 

Type references double-spaced throughout.

 

List up to four authors; if more than four, list three and "et al". Arrange in order of citation, and cite all references by number in the text, superscript and without brackets. Please check all references for errors of citation or attribution.

 

Unpublished data, which include articles submitted, but not in press, and personal communications must be given in parentheses in the text, not as references.

 

Use Index Medicus reference style, giving complete publication data:

·         Sample journal reference: Ahn S, Riccio A, Ginty DD. Spatial consideration for stimulus-dependent transcription in neurons. Annu Rev Physiol 2000;62:803-823.

·         Sample book reference: Volpe JJ. Neurology of the newborn. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2001.

·         Sample reference to electronic content using DOI: Fisher E, Lee J-C, Nakamura K, et al. Gray matter atrophy in multiple sclerosis: a longitudinal study. Ann Neurol 2008;DOI:10.1002/ana.21436

 

Tables:

Tables should be cited in order of appearance.  Please do not repeat table callouts more than twice in a paragraph.  Place callouts in parentheses: (Table 1), (Tables 1 and 2), (Tables 1-4).  Type tables double-spaced on pages separate from the text.  Number pages consecutively with text and provide a table number and title for each.  Please hold the length of all tables (unless they are submitted as supplementary material) to one standard-sized manuscript page.  Tables should be numbered in order of citation in the text.  Data in tables should not duplicate material in the text or illustrations.

 

Figure Legends:

Type double-spaced on pages separate from the text and figures.  Provide one legend for each figure, and number legends in sequence. For photomicrographs, indicate the stain and use an internal scale marker.

 

Figures:

Figures should be cited in order of appearance.  Please do not repeat figure callouts more than twice in a paragraph.  Place callouts in parentheses: (Fig 1), (Fig 1 and 2), (Fig 1-4), (Fig 1A to C). 

 

All figures must be submitted in TIFF format at 300 dots per inch (dpi) resolution.  Do not submit your figures embedded in your a Microsoft Word document (i.e., as a .DOC file).  JPG, GIF, PSD, CRD, PCT, PPT, PDF, XLS, BMP, 123 (or other Lotus formats) are all unacceptable. 

 

Figure dimensions should be limited to either 8cm across (1 column width for graphs, MRI scans, etc.) or 17cm across (full page width for schematics or flow charts, and figures composed of multiple photomicrographs, etc.).  Single-column width artwork is preferred; please stack figure panels vertically whenever possible.

 

Vector-based figures (e.g. figures created in Adobe Illustrator) may be submitted in EPS format.

 

Color figures must be submitted in a RGB colorspace. Do not submit color figures as CMYK.

 

To ensure consistency between figures and legends, and to preserve conformity and neatness in style, please be sure your figure panels are labeled in uppercase letters (A, B, C, etc.) using a sans serif font (e.g. Helvetica).  The font size should measure 10 points after the figure is reduced to the appropriate dimensions (8cm or 17cm). Any text within a figure (e.g. the axes of a graph) should be 7 points after final reduction.

 

To ensure that your digital graphics are suitable for print, please visit RapidInspector™ at http://rapidinspector.cadmus.com/wi/index.jsp. This free application will help you to inspect and verify appropriateness of your illustrations for commercial printing.

 

To create high resolution figures from Microsoft PowerPoint or Excel, you will have to (1) export the figure to a Post Script file (this is done through the print menu and requires Adobe Acrobat Professional); (2) using Adobe Photoshop, open the figure in 300, 600, or 1200 dpi resolution and RGB colorspace; (3) using the image size tool, adjust the dimensions of the figure to a maximum width of either 8cm or 17cm across; (4) save the file as a TIFF. 

 

Please do not include extra text (including keys and headings) in the artwork; spell out keys and headings in the figure legend instead.

 

Please reduce negative space as much as possible, removing all excess white space from figures with multiple panels.

 

Photographs of recognizable persons should be accompanied by a signed release from the patient or legal guardian authorizing publication. Masking eyes to hide identity is not sufficient.

 

Part of reproduction and printing costs will be paid by the Annals. The charge to authors is $1,000 for the first page of color and $500 for each additional page containing color illustrations. Color prints should contain any necessary internal labeling (e.g., arrows, bars).

 

Supplementary materials:

Any non-essential content (including text, tables and figures) should be submitted as supplementary material, which is published online-only, and is not factored in to the total word count. Please insert callouts to supplementary material in parenthesis wherever necessary in the body of your text. Please number your supplementary content separately from the essential elements of your paper (e.g. Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, Supplementary Figure 1, Supplementary Figure 2, Figure 4, etc.).  You may submit supplementary tables, text and figures in Microsoft Word format (supplementary figures may be embedded in a Microsoft Word document).  

 

Online Submission

 

Please review these instructions carefully and take note of further instruction provided at the top of each screen of the seven-stage submission process. Submit your manuscript and all figures, tables, and supplementary materials exactly as instructed to avoid a delay in processing your manuscript.

Log in to our submission site and access your Author Center. If you do not already have an account, please create an account for yourself by clicking on the "Create an Account" button. If you have forgotten your password, enter your email address in the field provided on the login screen and click “go” to have your account information emailed to you.

 

To submit a new manuscript, click the indicated link on the main screen.

 

To submit a revision, click “Manuscripts with Decisions” and click on the link located to the right of your manuscript title.  Prior to submitting your revision, please review the attachment provided with your most recent decision letter from the Managing Editor.

 

1.     Select a Manuscript Type, enter title, running head, and abstract. Enter “none” in the abstract field for letters and other manuscript types that do not require an abstract.  Be sure to respond to all fields marked with a purple “req,” which denotes a required field.  Manuscript submission will fail if any required field is left blank.  Click Next to proceed to step 2.

2.     Please select the most appropriate “domain” for your manuscript.  This is simply used by the Editorial staff to help identify the most appropriate Associate Editor, and has no further bearing on your manuscript.  Enter at least one “keyword” associated with the subject or methods of your submission.  Click Next to proceed to step 3.

3.     Enter all authors' names and contact information.  Click Next to proceed to step 4.

4.     Identify potential reviewers and preferred non-reviewers.  E-mail addresses are essential for this optional step.  You may opt out of recommending preferred or non-preferred reviewers, and there is no guarantee the Editors will follow your recommendation.  Click Next to proceed to step 5.

5.     Paste or attach a Microsoft Word copy of your cover letter.  Enter all manuscript metadata (number of pages, number of words in the body of the text, number of tables, etc.) making sure this information matches the information captured on your coversheet.  Enter any previously assigned Manuscript IDs, if applicable.  Click Next to proceed to step 6.

6.     Your main document, figures, and supplementary material files may be uploaded in batches of five files.  After the first five are uploaded, you will be able to upload five more, and so on.  Please be sure to enter any figure legends, and name your figures as they are named in the text when prompted after uploading your figure files. A separate conflict of interest form is required for each author. The form can be obtained here: http://www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf   

Do not submit any signed copyright transfer forms to the editorial office during the submission process.  Please also remember that offline submissions will only be considered in exceptional circumstances, and must be agreed upon with the Managing Editor in advance of submission.  Click “Next” to proceed to the final step.

7.     The appearance of any red “X” indicates a required field was left blank in the submission process.  The manuscript cannot be submitted until all required information is provided.  Please carefully review your proofs in both HTML and PDF format.  If you notice any problems, please contact the Managing Editor: aon@ucsf.edu. Do not be alarmed if your figures appear small in the HTML proof.  The “Image Spy” link below the figure may be used to zoom in to maximum figure dimensions.  Click the blue “Submit” button to submit your manuscript. At the end of a successful submission, a confirmation screen with your manuscript number will appear and you will receive an E-mail confirming that the manuscript has been received by the Journal.  If this does not happen, please check your submission in your Author Center and/or contact the Managing Editor.

 

Proofs and Reprints

 

Please return your proofs as quickly as possible. Proofs must be returned within three days of receipt. Late return may cause a delay in publication, or cause an article to publish without the author's review of the typeset copy. Please check text, tables, legends, and references carefully. To expedite publication, page proofs rather than galleys will be sent electronically to the author. An order form for reprints will be included with proofs. Email your e-annotated proofs and forms to:

 

Ryan Sheehan

Production Manager,  Annals of Neurology

Wiley

Phone: 1-201-748-7883

E-mail: rsheehan@wiley.com.

 

For additional tools visit Author Resources - an enhanced suite of online tools for WIley InterScience journal authors, featuring Article Tracking, E-mail Publication Alerts and Customized Research Tools.

 

Copyright and Online Open

 

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 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.

For RCUK and Wellcome Trust authors click on the link below to preview the terms and conditions of this license:

Creative Commons Attribution 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.