Cell Research

Preparation of manuscripts
The manuscript should be double-spaced throughout using 11pt Times New Roman/Arial. Number all pages, beginning from title page, and followed by abstract, introduction, results, discussion, materials and methods, acknowledgments, references, figure legends and figures/tables. Gene symbols should be italicized; protein products are not italicized. Non-standard abbreviations should be defined in brackets when first used in the text.
Title page: The title page should include: full title (a brief declarative statement of the major findings of the research), running title (no more than 60 characters including spaces), name of each author, affiliation, city with postal code and corresponding author’s contact information.
Abstract: The abstract should briefly (no more than 250 words) describe in complete sentences the scope of the investigation, the results obtained and the major conclusions. Abbreviations and reference citations should be avoided. 3-7 keywords should be given after the abstract.
Introduction: The introduction should give a brief background knowledge related to the research and should be as concise as possible.
Results: The results should clearly describe the experimental data in tables and figures.
Discussion: The discussion should focus on the interpretation and significance of the findings with concise objective comments.
Materials and Methods: The materials and methods should be described clearly and referenced in sufficient detail.
Acknowledgments: The acknowledgments should be brief and include financial supports along with the numbers of grants.
Gene nomenclature: Authors should use approved nomenclature for gene symbols, and use symbols rather than italicized full names (Ttn, not titin). Please consult the appropriate nomenclature databases for correct gene names and symbols.
For proposed gene names that are not already approved, please submit the gene symbols to the appropriate nomenclature committees as soon as possible, as these must be deposited and approved before publication of an article.
References
The references should include only articles that are published or in press. The references are each numbered, ordered sequentially as they appear in the text. List all authors unless there are more than 6, in which case only the first 3 should be given, followed by “et al”.
Please use the following style for references:
Article in a Journal:
1 Zarubin T, Han JH. Activation and signaling of the p38 MAP kinase pathway. Cell Res 2005; 15:11-18.
Chapter in a Book:
2 Hirsimaki P, Arstuka AU, Trump BF, Marzella L. Autophagocytosis. In: Trump BF, Arstuka AU, eds. Pathobiology of cell membranes. New York: Plenum Press, 1983:201-236.
A book:
3 Kryger M, Roth T, Dement W, eds. The Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine. 2nd Edition. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1994.
Online Publication:
4 Jelinic P, Stehle JC, Shaw P. The testis-specific factor CTCFL cooperates with the protein methyltransferase PRMT7 in H19 imprinting control region methylation. PLoS Biol 2006; 4: e355.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0040355

Figures
Figures and images should be labeled sequentially, numbered and cited in the text. Figures should be referred to specifically in the text of the paper but should not be embedded within the text. The use of three-dimensional histograms is strongly discouraged when the addition of the third dimension gives no extra information. If a table or figure has been published before, the authors must obtain written permission to reproduce the material in both print and electronic formats from the copyright owner and submit it with the manuscript. This follows for quotes, illustrations and other materials taken from previously published works not in the public domain.

  Line Art Monochrome Colorful

Format   TIFF/PSD/JPG  

Color encoding Gray CMYK CMYK

Resolution(dpi) >1000 >600 >300

For submission, TIFF, PSD, AI, JPEG and EPS are recommended acceptable formats for the figures, which should be submitted separately. Use quality graphic programs such as Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, or Freehand to create your figures. Standard figure sizes are 85mm (single column) and 175mm (double column). The full depth of the page is 210mm. Provide figures at about the size they are to be printed. Please use Helvetica or Arial fonts for the creation of figures.

Figure legends
Titles and legends to figures must be submitted for all figures. They should be brief and specific, and should appear on a separate manuscript page after the Reference section. Use scale markers in the image for electron micrographs, and indicate the type of stain used.

Tables
Tables should be labeled sequentially as Table 1, Table 2, etc. Each table should be typed on a separate page, numbered and titled, and cited in the text. Reference to table footnotes should be made by means of Arabic numerals. Tables should not duplicate the content of the text. They should consist of at least two columns; columns should always have headings. Authors should ensure that the data in the tables are consistent with those cited in the relevant places in the text, totals add up correctly, and percentages have been calculated correctly. Supply tables as Word, Excel or HTML files (one table per file). Include the table title and legend in the table file.

Supplementary information
All supplementary items, including figures, movies, tables, and data (extended Materials and Methods) should have a title or legend that briefly describe the data shown. Please cite each supplementary item in the main text at least once. It is posted on the journal's web site and linked to the article when the article is published, so the file sizes must be as small as possible to make it easy to download. Supplementary information is not subedited, so authors should ensure that it is supplied ready and correct for publication online.

File formats
File formats for manuscript files, figures and tables that are acceptable for our electronic manuscript submission process are given on the online forms. Please follow our artwork guidelines for submitting figures, and use a common word-processing package (such as Microsoft Word) for the text.