ISSN 0327-9545
printed version
ISSN 1667-5746
online version

Instructions to authors

• Scope and policy
• Form and preparation of manuscripts
• Sending of manuscripts

BIOCELL welcomes articles reporting research on Cell and Molecular Biology, and on the suborganismal and organismal aspects of Vertebrate Reproduction and Development, Invertebrate Biology and Plant Biology. Brief reports are also accepted for publication under special circumstances. Review papers will be considered only after invitation by the Editorial Board.

Manuscripts are considered on the understanding that their substance is not already published or being offered for publication elsewhere.

Manuscripts should be submitted by email to the Editor­in­Chief (Professor R. S. Piezzi, biocell.journal@gmail.com). Receipt will be acknowledged.

All articles are reviewed by two or more referees. The corresponding author is invited to suggest (on the body of the message) up to four names and email addresses of possible reviewers. Acceptance of the manuscript presented is based upon significance and originality of results, and of validity of conclusions. Image quality is also essential.

Manuscripts which have been peer­reviewed are usually sent back to the corresponding author within 12 weeks of submission. Each manuscript is assigned an identification number which will be referred to in all future correspondence.

Manuscripts are examined for compliance with the current instructions before sending them to referees. Articles that do not meet these specifications will be returned to the corresponding author.

Please send them as .doc, .docx or .rtf files. Both pages and lines should be numbered with Arabic numerals. Figures should be sent as separate files (see below, Figures).

Arrange sections of the manuscript in the following order:

1. Title
2. Abstract (not exceeding 200 words)
3. Main text
4. References
5. Tables (numbered in Arabic numerals)
6. Figure legends.

Begin each component on a separate page. Number all pages (starting with the title page), tables and figures in Arabic numerals.

The title page should contain the following:

1. Main title (in capital letters, not exceeding 100 characters, including spaces).
2. Author(s) and affiliation(s): do not include authors’ academic degrees.
3. Running title (not exceeding 50 characters including spaces).
4. Key words: they should be three to five; do not use words which are already in the main title.
5. Title (e.g., Professor, Dr., Mr., Ms.), full name and email address of the corresponding author. This is only intended for correspondence and it will not be used in the printed article.

Main text:

The text should be written in clear, concise English, and it should be easily understandable to a broad readership.

Main headings (as Introduction, Material and Methods, Results (or Systematic Description), Discussion and Acknowledgements, should be centered and in capital letters) while subsidiary headings should be on the left, in italics). Do not number headings.

Accepted abbreviations for statistical parameters are: P, n, SD, SE, df, ns, ANOVA. Avoid other abbreviations as well as footnotes.

Physical units, as well as their symbols and abbreviations, should be those of the Système Internationale d’Unités (International System of Units, SI).

Linnean scientific names should be in italics, while higher than generic taxa should not.

The generic name of drugs should be written in low case.

Gene designations should be in low case and in italics.

References:

References in the text should take one of the following forms:

Fisher and Miller (2007) or (Fisher and Miller, 2007). If there are more than two authors: Fisher et al. (2003).

The list of references must be arranged alphabetically. Journal titles are printed in italics and cited in full with the volume number in bold. Repeat authors' names and journal titles in multiple entries and avoid ibid.

The following examples may help:
Fisher N, Miller J (2007). An ectaquasperm­like parasperm in an internally fertilizing gastropod. Science 256: 1566­1570.

Fisher N, Miller J, Baker A (2003). Connexins in paraspermatogenesis in the Annelida. ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences(USA)256: 1566­1570.

Fisher N (2007). Paraspermatogenesis.University of Cuyo Press, Los Horcones.

Fisher N (2008). Connexins in paraspermatogenesis. In: PerspectivesinInvertebrateReproduction(J Miller, A Baker, eds.), p. 67­86. University of Cuyo Press, Los Horcones.

Tables:
Tables should be on separate sheets, and they should be numbered in Arabic numerals, and cited as such in the Text. Units and the statistics employed should be clearly explained either in the body or in the footnotes to the table. The desired position of each table should be indicated in the text.

Figures:
They should be sent as individual files in TIFF format, in their final size with a pixel density of at least 300 ppi (also oftenly referred to as dpi) for halftones and 600 ppi for line drawings. Images should be prepared with dedicated graphic software, not with a word processor program (digitalization of images produced by an inkjet printer are unsuitable for journal printing). LZW compression format may be used for the initial presentation, but higher quality figures will be required if the manuscript is accepted. If the files exceed 1 Mb, please send them attached to separate email messages. Color figures may be published, but with an additional cost for the author/s. The figure legends should be self explanatory without reference to the text. The desired position of each figure should be indicated in the text. Micrographs magnification should be indicated by scale bars, and the size of the scale bar should be indicated in the legend, not on the micrograph. In planning the illustrations, consider that figures should not exceed 24 cm in length and either 8 cm or 17.5 cm in width (whether they will occupy one or two columns).

Brief notes

These are generally methodological notes, or brief reports that are of wide interest or importance; these are published as rapidly as possible after acceptance. They should not exceed 1,200 words of text, one table or graph and one plate of photographs. Otherwise they must fulfill the instructions for original articles, have a short abstract (150 words) and their sections (i.e., introduction, material and methods, etc.) should not be separated by subheadings.

Galley proofs

They will be sent to the corresponding author in PDF format, for immediate and scrupulous review. A printed copy of the PDF should be used to make corrections, avoiding alterations of the original text. The corrected PDF proof should be scanned and emailed to

Mrs. Lilia Núñez
BIOCELL Production Office
biocell@fcm.uncu.edu.ar

Page costs

Authors will be charged U$S 30 per printed page. An additional charge for editorial handling (U$S 0.02 per word in the original manuscript) will be levied. Up to five half tone plates will be reproduced without additional charge, but special arrangements must be made for color pictures or additional half­tone plates at an additional charge to the author.

Manuscripts and illustrations should be submitted to:

Editorial Secretariat
BIOCELL
IHEM
Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, UNCuyo
Casilla de Correo 56
5500 Mendoza, Argentina
Fax: (54-261) 449 4117
biocell@fcm.uncu.edu.ar

www.cricyt.edu.ar/ihem