Instructions for Authors

The Journal of Leukocyte Biology requires that all authors read this section thoroughly and completely and all submissions be made online. After reading the following information, visit www.jlb-submit.org to begin the online submission process.

Scope
Editorial Policies
Manuscript Submission
Submission Types
Manuscript Preparation
Tables and Figures
Online Supplemental Material
Copyright Assignment and
    Publication Costs Agreement Form
Accepted Manuscripts
Author Billing and Reprint Purchases
Reprints


Scope [Back to Top]
The Journal of Leukocyte Biology (JLB) publishes papers devoted to the exploration of cellular and molecular biology of granulocytes, mononuclear phagocytes, lymphocytes, NK cells, and other cells involved in host defense. Papers covering pathophysiology; cell development, differentiation and trafficking; translational and clinical immunology; inflammation, extracellular mediators and effector molecules; and receptors, signal transduction, and genes are also considered. Studies that provide a fresh understanding in any of these fields will be given priority. Articles submitted by authors must be complete studies, not works in progress or reports of new techniques in the absence of new biological or mechanistic insight. Papers with development of methods in the absence of an application of this method towards highlighting a new biological insight or mechanism of action will not be reviewed.

Editorial Policies [Back to Top]
Review Process
Manuscripts are evaluated at submission to ensure adherence to journal guidelines.  Manuscripts may be returned to authors via Quality Control  for correction without scientific evaluation.  Submitted manuscripts are then reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief or an Associate Editor, who will assign it to a Board Member to contact potential referees.   From the time the Editor-in-Chief starts receives a paper, up to the point the Board Member assigns referees, an internal editorial review is completed based on priority to limit referee requests to those manuscripts that are likely to be accepted and/or fit the interests of the journal readership.  Once it is agreed to send the manuscript to referees, the Board Member will make a recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief based on his or her evaluation and that of the reviewers.  The Editor-in-Chief makes a final determination and forwards the final decision to the corresponding author.  Every effort is made to return unreviewed manuscripts within 10 days and reviewed manuscripts within 4 weeks.  Papers submitted by members of the editorial board are handled separately by the Editor-in-Chief and undergo anonymous peer review. After acceptance, all manuscripts are subject to an Art review before publication to reconfirm illustration quality and may result in a delay of publication if figure guidelines and/or quality are not optimal for publication.

Manuscripts Submitted from the Institution of an Editor
Manuscripts submitted from the institution of any Board Member, Associate or Deputy Editor, or the Editor-in-Chief are reviewed by other editors from outside that institution. The Editorial Office ensures confidentiality and equity in reviewing all manuscripts.

Prior Publication
Authors should confirm that no similar paper (including book chapters) has been or will be submitted elsewhere. As an aid to reviewers, any unpublished articles that are related to, or could be perceived to overlap with, the submitted manuscript must be included as supplemental data.

Open Access Option
Authors of accepted manuscripts may have their articles made freely accessible on the journal’s web site and on PubMed Central immediately upon final publication by paying an open access fee. The fee is $2,500 (USD) per article and is in addition to other author fees, such as page charges, color charges, reprints, etc. If you are interested in this option, please click here to download and complete this form.
 
Authors who received funding from agencies with open access publishing requirements should be able to comply with funding requirements by selecting the open access option. (The journal will make a reasonable effort to help authors comply with these requirements, but ultimate responsibility for funder compliance, however, remains with the authors.) For these authors, upon payment of the fee, the journal will deposit the final version of the author’s article in PubMed Central (PMC) and will authorize public posting on PMC and PMC mirror sites immediately upon final publication of the article. Please note that preprint versions of article are not the final versions and will not be deposited.

NIH Public Access Policy
Under the NIH Public Access Policy, NIH requires that all manuscripts (accepted after April 7, 2008) which resulted from research supported in whole or in part by NIH funds be submitted to PMC. The Society for Leukocyte Biology (SLB) will upload final published NIH-funded articles to PMC and will notify PMC to make the article free 12 months after final publication. This time period is consistent with existing policy which makes content publicly available 12 months after print publication, and assures compliance with the SLB copyright agreement. Questions regarding NIH Public Access Policy and the publication of your article in JLB should be directed to Jennifer Pesanelli at jpesanelli{at}faseb.org.

Competing Financial Interests
All authors are expected to disclose any arrangements that could be considered to pose a financial conflict of interest regarding the submitted manuscript. Potential conflicts of interest must be described in the cover letter.  All funding sources, institutional and corporate, must be credited in the Acknowledgments section.

Microarray/Genomics/Proteomics Data
JLB will not publish descriptive manuscripts that report microarray/genomics/proteomics data, unless such information can be considered of unusual immunological significance and/or include functional experiments that provide novel insight into mechanism. As with other scientific approaches, current experimental, quantitation, verification, and statistical analyses are expected. Microarray experiments should be Minimum Information About a Microarray Experiment-compliant (MIAME). Whereas limited online space may be available for supplemental tables associated with the manuscript, complete microarray data must be deposited in the appropriate public database (e.g., GEO, ArrayExpress, or CIBEX), and must be accessible without restriction from the date of publication. An entry name or accession number must be included in the paper before publication. The accession number should be accompanied by the website address of the databank

Ethics Committee Approval
Human experiments: All work must be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Papers describing experimental work on human participants must include: (1) a statement that the experiments were conducted with the understanding and the consent of each participant, and (2) a statement that the responsible ethical committee has approved the experiments.

Animal experiments: Articles describing experiments on living animals must include: (1) a full description of any anesthetic and surgical procedure used; (2) the source of institutional approval of methods; and (3) evidence that all possible steps were taken to avoid animals' suffering at each stage of the experiment. In experiments involving the use of muscle relaxants, a description of the precautions taken to ensure adequate anesthesia [J. Physiol. (1990) 420, xii–xiii] must be included.

Misconduct
JLB accepts research papers that are original works, no part of which has been submitted for publication or published elsewhere except as brief abstracts. Duplicate publication, falsification, plagiarism, or fabrication will be considered actionable misconduct. Misconduct does not include honest error or honest differences in interpretations or judgments of data. 

If there is a suspicion or allegation of misconduct directed toward any author, JLB reserves the right to forward relevant material to the appropriate authorities at the author's institution for investigation. JLB recognizes its responsibility to ensure that the suspicion of misconduct has been addressed, but the journal does not make such determinations. Issues relating to contested authorship will be handled by the same procedure.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the journal’s editorial conduct and compliance with relevant policies and procedures. When a report of suspected misconduct has been sent to the Editor-in-Chief, the following course of action will be taken. If the manuscript has yet to be published, all work on the manuscript will stop. No immediate action to published material (such as retracting the online preprint) will be taken until the matter is resolved. The Editor-in-Chief will write the corresponding author asking for an explanation in a nonjudgmental manner. Should the author's response fail to resolve the situation satisfactorily, the Editor-in-Chief will contact the institution of the corresponding author. The institution should then make an inquiry and report back to the Editor-in-Chief. Until the matter is clarified, no papers by any authors of the disputed manuscript will be considered for publication.

If scientific misconduct is confirmed by institutional review, the Editor-in-Chief will decide upon the appropriate action. Violations considered severe may warrant official withdrawal of a published article or rapid rejection of a manuscript at any stage before publication. If the infraction is less severe, the Editor-in-Chief will send the corresponding author a letter of reprimand. If no scientific misconduct is found, the manuscript (if unpublished) will be scheduled for publication. For errors in a published article not deemed to be misconduct, an Erratum or Letter to the Editor will be published.

Press Access
Members of the press, public affairs officers, and other science writers may request pre-publication copies of articles. Usually these articles are available on the journal’s web site as preprints. Credentialed members of the press may request free online access to the journal. For further details, please contact Cody Mooneyhan at cmooneyhan{at}faseb.org, phone (301) 634-7104.

Errata
JLB makes every effort publish error-free manuscripts by providing authors with page proofs before publication. There are occasions, however, when it is necessary to publish a correction. Errata may be sent directly to Gail Fallon, Production Manager, at gfallon{at}faseb.org.

Manuscript Submission [Back to Top]
The manuscript submission process starts by pressing the “Submit Manuscript” link on your “Home” page after logging into the system (www.jlb-submit.org). Please be sure to gather all of the following  required manuscript information listed below BEFORE starting the submission process.  All manuscripts should be submitted by the corresponding author.

Ready to Submit
After all the required manuscript information described above has been gathered, go to www.jlb-submit.org and follow the prompts.

Submission Process
The submission process has four steps: Files, Manuscript Information, Validate, and Submit. Each step contains sub-steps that can be accessed by clicking on their respective tabs. Navigating through this “Tab View” will save any entered information each time a new tab is clicked (or if  the boxes “Save and Continue” or “Next” are clicked). The steps and sub-steps are:

1)    Files

2)    Manuscript Information

3)    Validate

4)    Submit

Manuscript Status
After an author approves a manuscript, the status of the manuscript will be available in one of the following ways: 
This procedure will display tracking information about where a manuscript is in the submission/peer-review process.

Revised Manuscripts 
Authors will be allowed nine months to submit a revised manuscript.  Papers that are not returned within nine months of the date of the decision letter will be considered as NEW and will be subject to a complete review.  Revised papers will be re-evaluated by the all or some of the original reviewers and Editors.  Manuscript submission information should adhere to all manuscript requirements, with an additional emphasis on Figure format (see Mandatory Manuscript and Artwork Requirements When Submitting Revised Manuscripts)

Submission Types [Back to Top]
Full-length ArticlesJLB publishes full-length, fully documented research articles. Manuscripts will be reviewed and published according to research subject areas.  Authors must select the corresponding topic at the time of submission:

Publications will be further defined by the type of submission.  The author must select the type of paper at the time of submission:


Other manuscript types are considered for publication by invitation only:

Articles  
Articles are fully documented original research papers between 22,000 and 45,000 characters (not counting spaces and not taking into account Material and Methods or Reference sections) with fewer than 12 display items (Figures and Tables), and fewer than 80 references. Articles contain the following sections, in this order: Title Page, Abstract (250 words), Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Authorship, Acknowledgments, References, Figure Legends, Tables and Figures.

Brief Conclusive Reports
These are short reports of outstanding interest that focus on new and important findings. This format is intended for exciting observations that have the potential to open up new avenues of research and can be described using fewer figures and less text than an Article. They should consist of a 200 word abstract, a brief materials and methods section (~3,000 characters), text as noted below, and should not exceed eight double-spaced pages of 12-point type or 22,000 characters (not counting spaces and not taking into account Material and Methods or Reference sections).  The manuscript should include no more than 6 figures and/or tables, and no more than 40 references. Brief Conclusive Reports contain the same sections as Articles; however, Results and Discussion must be combined. Brief Conclusive Reports contain the following sections, in this order: Title Page, Abstract (200 words), Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Authorship, Acknowledgments, References, Figure Legends, Tables and Figures.

Pivotal Advance
An article or Brief Conclusive Report may be submitted as a Pivotal Advance when authors believe that their work represents a relatively high level of accomplishment. A manuscript submitted for consideration as a Pivotal Advance is subjected to additional review by JLB’s editors for scientific novelty, originality, quality of approach, and overall impact. If a manuscript is accepted as a Pivotal Advance after review, the editorial board member or one of the referees will be asked to contribute a corresponding editorial commentary that will be published online and in print with the article. A manuscript submitted in the Pivotal Advance category that is acceptable for publication, but does not qualify as a Pivotal Advance will be published as regular research article. To have a manuscript considered for the Pivotal Advance category, authors should include a paragraph in their cover letter indicating why they consider their findings to represent a very high level of accomplishment. In addition, a manuscript not submitted as a Pivotal Advance may be selected by the editors to be published as a Pivotal Advance.

Invited and Author-Initiated (Unsolicited) Reviews and Mini-Reviews
The journal publishes full-length invited and uninvited review articles. Format for reviews should follow those described for “Articles.” At time of publication, reviews with <75 references and three illustrations (figures/Tables) or less will be categorized as “Mini-Reviews” whereas those that include added references/illustrations will be categorized as “Reviews.”   All reviews will require a summary sentence that should include scope of review. Authors are encouraged to include words such as “…expands the argument…”, “…focuses on the…”, “….discusses the….”, “….challenges the…”, etc.

Letters to the Editor 
Letters to the Editor commenting on recently published work in the journal (articles, editorials, etc.) are welcomed.  These may be published at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief who reserves the right to make minor changes in the text to improve the composition.  If appropriate, the authors of the original work will be invited to respond and these letters will be published in tandem in the same issue.  Letters to the Editor should be 500-1,000 words, with up to six references, and should follow the formatting conventions for the JLB.

Editorial Commentary
Personal perspectives on published articles are solicited by the Editors. Editorials should provide a focused discussion of the paper from a wider perspective and be provocative and insightful to readers wanting to know about where the field is headed. In order to make this feature complementary to the paper rather than a restatement of conclusions, visuals reviewing current dogmas and gaps in knowledge, tables with open questions, or controversies citing opposing papers are invited and encouraged.  Editorials should be no longer than two published journal pages, i.e., 1,000–2,000 words in length (including figure legends and no more than 10 references) and one illustration figure or table as noted above.  Include a short “perspective-based” title (e.g., “Toll receptors lost in translation,” “Heart and inflammation: new life to old foe,” “BCG and T-regs: who knew?”).  Editorials are intended to serve as an aid to placing findings in a larger context from the perspective of a leader in the field with a focus on future research and the directions these findings may open. As much as possible, editorials should not be conceptually redundant with the discussion angle provided by the article’s authors, nor should they seek to serve as comprehensive reviews. Commentaries may be more insight- and opinion-based.

Editorials require a summary sentence.  Authors are required  to include in summary sentence that describes the scope of commentary with words such as “…expands the argument…”, “…focuses on the…”, “….discusses the….”, “….challenges the…”, etc. 
At submission online authors are requested to copy and paste the first introductory paragraph into the abstract box of the online submission form.

If you would to like to submit a response to a published Editorial Commentary by a “counter-commentary” or Letter to the Editor, please contact the Editor-in-Chief.   

Meeting Article
Invited research articles will follow the guidelines as described above for Articles but are submitted with an established deadline as part of a cluster of articles from a focused scientific meeting.  They will be published under a special section in the Journal referred to in the Table of Contents as “Current Topic Overview” (note review/article .pdfs will not have this label).   All manuscripts submitted under this mechanism must still meet the priority criteria of a regular research manuscript, following peer review and be based on communicating new and important findings in the field (meeting article manuscripts will be labeled as regular “Articles” in final publication).    

Please refer to the instructions for regular Articles above for a detailed description.  As articles, they should contain the following sections in this order: Title Page (title, author listing, etc), Abstract (250 words), Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Authorship (contribution description), Acknowledgments, References, Figure Legends, Tables and Figures.

Meeting Brief Conclusive Report
Invited Meeting Brief Conclusive Reports follow the guidelines above for Brief Conclusive Reports, but are submitted with an established deadline as part of a cluster of articles from a focused scientific meeting. They will be published under a special section in the Journal referred to in the Table of Contents as “Current Topic Overview” (note review/article .pdfs will not have this label).

Please refer to the instructions for Brief Conclusive Reports (above).  As a BCR, they should contain the following sections in this order: Title Page, Abstract (200 words), Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Authorship (description of contributions), Acknowledgments, References, Figure Legends, Tables and Figures.

Meeting Overview Reviews and Mini-Reviews
Invited Meeting Overview Reviews should cover the content of a recent presentation in the context of the field in general and be in Review Article style, but are submitted with an established deadline as part of a cluster of articles from a focused scientific meeting  Description of primary research not yet published should not be included since a review format does not allow authors to present data as in a research Article (a leading reason for rejection of an overview).  

Meeting Overview Reviews should address emerging or evolving concepts related to the field; i.e., they should not merely reiterate well-established concepts that do not need critical review. Readers see these critical overviews as an aid in defining future directions for the field rather than an exclusive summary of the author’s presentation at a meeting.

At time of publication, reviews with <90 references and three illustrations (Figures/Tables) or less will be categorized as “Mini-Reviews” whereas those that include added references/illustrations will be categorized as “Reviews.”   All reviews will require a summary sentence that should include scope of review such as “…expands the argument…”, “…focuses on the…”, “….discusses the….”, “….challenges the…” etc. 

Manuscript Preparation [Back to Top]
Manuscripts should be submitted in Word, WordPerfect or Rich Text Format (RTF).  Times, Times New Roman, Courier, Helvetica, Arial, and the Symbol font for special characters are the recommended fonts. Other fonts included in the standard U.S. editions of Microsoft Office and WordPerfect are likely, but not guaranteed, to successfully convert. All other fonts may not convert at all or may appear blocky and hard to read when converted. Proprietary fonts or fonts with licensing restrictions are not recommended and may not convert at all.  For best quality conversions of special characters and symbols, use the Symbol font. Characters and symbols from any of the fonts in the standard U.S. editions of Microsoft Office and WordPerfect are likely, but not guaranteed, to successfully convert as well. Line numbers in WordPerfect files are not guaranteed to appear in converted PDFs. The most common cause of fonts and special characters converting incorrectly is improper licensing or installation of those fonts on the user's PC. Whenever possible, use the fonts and symbols in the standard U.S. Editions of Microsoft Office.

Manuscript Organization
Articles should be organized as follows: Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, Authorship, References, Figure Legends, List of Abbreviations, Tables and Figures. For Brief Conclusive Reports, Results and Discussion must be combined. Reviews should be organized as follows: Title page, Abstract, text with labeled subtopics, Concluding Remarks, Acknowledgments, Authorship, References, Figure Legends, List of Abbreviations, Tables and Figures. Page numbers must be incorporated at the bottom of each page of the text document.  Explanatory footnotes should not be used; include the information within the text of the manuscript.

Format requirements
Text must be in a 12-point font (not compressed) and double line-spaced throughout. Each of the bulleted elements listed below should start on a new page; all elements should appear in the order listed.

Title Page:

Abbreviations Page: The abbreviations page should immediately follow the title page and should contain an alphabetized list of all abbreviations used in the article, as well as each abbreviation's definition.

Abstract:  The abstract should not exceed 250 words (200, if a Brief Conclusive Report).  Include rationale, objectives, a hypothesis (if primary research is described), species of cells/animals involved, main findings, and conclusions.  We suggest authors start the abstract with a sentence similar to “This study tested the hypothesis that…” and conclude with a statement which indicates whether or not the hypothesis was supported.

Introduction: The introduction should provide readers with  backgroundon the research reported in the manuscript. It sets the stage for the paper by putting your topic into perspective for readers.

Materials and Methods: The Materials and Methods section should contain experimental protocols and describe the origin of any unusual or special materials, tissue, cell lines, or organisms. It is appropriate in this section to provide data to support the identity or purity of reagents, the reliability of methods, the sensitivity of an instrument, or the essential features of a genotype. Companies mentioned in this section should include the name of the company and location (city, state/province, and country). Authors should put most of the experimental detail into the Materials and Methods section, leaving the Results section for exposition of the experimental design and results.

Results:  Data included should be original, fully labeled, and essential to the report.  Text should be presented with concise, accurate subheadings. (In Brief Conclusive Reports, Results and Discussion sections are combined.)

Discussion:  This section should expand on the information included in the results section.  Care should be taken not to merely reiterate statements made in the previous section but to discuss the pertinence and import of the findings.  (In Brief Conclusive Reports, Results and Discussion sections are combined.)

Figure Legends:  Include a short title after the figure number and follow with a short explanation (ideally no more than 150 words) which provides sufficient detail to make the data intelligible without reference to the text. Methods described in detail in the Materials and Methods section should not be repeated in the legend. 

Authorship: List contributions made by each of the authors to the article. People listed as authors must be able to justify their participation in the study and should have substantially contributed to the study’s conception, design, and performance. Co-Principal Investigators may be identified here as well.

Acknowledgments: Acknowledgements should be made only to those who have made a substantial contribution to the study. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from individuals acknowledged by name since readers infer their endorsement of data and conclusions. Sources of funding must be placed in this section.

References:  Reference citations should appear in numerical order in brackets throughout the text. The reference list should be double-spaced on a new page at the end of the paper, and references should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited. List all authors and inclusive pages. 

Unpublished experiments, personal communications, or papers submitted for publication should not be included in the reference list but should appear parenthetically in the text as “unpublished results.” Written approval by the person(s) cited in personal communications must accompany the manuscript. (You may upload these approvals in the supplemental file section of the manuscript submission system. If this approval exists only in physical form, please scan it and upload as a PDF.)  Papers accepted but not yet published may appear in the reference list with the name of the journal followed by the words “In press.” One copy of each reference in press must be submitted with the manuscript. (These copies may be submitted in the supplemental file section of the manuscript submission system.) 

Abbreviations of journals should conform to those used in Index Medicus, National Library of Medicine. The following style should be used:

Tables and Figures [Back to Top]
Tables
Number tables consecutively with Arabic numerals in the order of their appearance in the text. Tables must be typed double-spaced and submitted in a separate document in either .doc or .rtf format. Each table must have a short descriptive title. Footnotes should be labeled with lowercase superscript letters. Tables should always use rows and columns to correlate two variables. Double space tables on pages separate from the text and make them self-contained and self-explanatory. Do not divide into sub tables and do not use vertical rules. Label each table at the top with a Roman numeral followed by the table title. Insert explanatory material and footnotes below the table. Designate footnotes using lowercase superscript letters (a, b, c) reading horizontally across the table. Supply units of measure at the heads of the columns. Abbreviations that are used only in a table should be defined in the footnotes to that table.

Figure File Formats
TIFF and EPS produce the best images, but PPT and PDF formats are acceptable.When submitting the first version of a manuscript, the recommended DPI for images is 72. Figures for subsequent revisions should be publication quality. All figures should be sized to fit on a standard piece of paper (8.5 x 11 inches or A4). The system will attempt to resize figures larger than these dimensions, but is not always successful. Editors may return manuscripts with figures not sized to these specifications prior to review or re-review. For best results, the width of the image should be close to 8 inches or the height should be close to 10 inches, whichever is the longest dimension. In Photoshop, to change the print dimensions and resolution of an image: Choose Image>Image Size. To maintain the current proportions of image width to image height, select "Constrain Proportions." This option automatically updates the width as you change the height, and vice versa. Under document size, enter new values for the height and width. If desired, choose a new unit of measurement. Note that for width, the columns option uses the width and gutter sizes specified in the units and rulers preferences.

Please do not embed images in word processing files.  Images may be embedded in PowerPoint files, and PowerPoint files may be submitted for conversion. 

If you submit an image file with layers, some items may not be visible in the converted PDF. In a flattened image, all visible layers are merged into the background which greatly reduces the file size. Flattening an image discards all hidden layers. To flatten an image in Photoshop, make sure that all layers you want to keep are visible then choose layer>flatten image or choose flatten image from the layers palette menu.

If you are not satisfied with the results of your image conversion, try submitting a PDF that you have created yourself. In this manner, you will know exactly how the image will appear during the peer review process. Original figures should be numbered with Arabic numerals and treated consecutively in the text. Authors are expected to pay the net cost of publishing color figures, which is $450 for the first printed page of color and $300 for each additional page.

Videos
Inclusion of videos with the online version of the published paper is at the discretion of the editors; the editors also may determine that some videos should be published online as supplemental information. Discs, videotape, etc. containing videos or audio will not be inserted into or mailed with the printed journal.
Video submissions for viewing online should be in one of the following formats: .avi, .mpg, or .qt, or .mov. Videotape and film are not accepted.
Videos should be brief whenever possible (2–5 minutes). Longer videos will require longer download times; editors, reviewers, and readers may have difficulty playing online. Videos should be restricted to the most critical aspects of your research. A longer procedure can be restructured as several shorter videos and submitted in that form.

Please compress files to use as little bandwidth as possible and to avoid excessive download times. It is recommended that video files be no larger than 5 megabytes.
A caption with a brief description should be provided for each video and submitted in a separate document in either .doc or .rtf formats.
If a paper is accepted for publication authors may wish to supply the editorial office with several different resolutions of the video files for posting online. This allows viewers with slower connections to access the video.

Mandatory Manuscript and Artwork Requirements When Submitting Revised Manuscripts
When submitting revised manuscripts for re-review to the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, following these instructions will ensure the fastest and highest quality publication of your article, if your article is given final acceptance for publication.

Text Files: Revised Manuscripts, Tables, and Figure Legends
Authors should follow the same instructions for preparing manuscripts as they did when first submitting to the journal. In short, manuscripts and tables should be submitted in MS Word (.doc), and Rich Text (.rtf) formats only.  At this stage, other formats, such as .pdf, will not be accepted for text files.

Image Files: Figures
Each figure must also be submitted as a separate file (i.e. figure 1 is its own file, figure 2 is its own file, etc.) and must be clearly named and labeled (i.e figure 1 is labeled figure 1 and named figure 1). Figure files for revised manuscripts must be submitted in the following formats:
Figure File Formats:
1)    Vector EPS files:  Vector graphics provide the highest quality for figures that contain any text or wording.
2)    Rastered TIFF files:  Tiff files must be supplied at the following resolutions:
        a)    Halftones (pictures) - 300 dpi.
        b)    Combination halftones (combination of pictures and text labeling) - 600 dpi.
        c)    Monochrome/line art images (pure black and white with no grayscale) - 1200 dpi.
3)    PDF files:  PDF files must be created using the proper Acrobat Distiller options. Complete instructions for creating optimized PDF files can be found by clicking here.
4)    Microsoft PowerPoint: PowerPoint files will be accepted, but must be created properly if they are to be used for publication. Artwork embedded into PowerPoint must meet the same resolution requirements as TIFF files. Fonts allowed in PowerPoint files are Arial, Helvetica, Times new Roman and Symbol.

DO NOT supply files in other formats, such as GIF, JPEG, BMP, PNG, etc. Other image file formats are usually poor quality and not intended for print publication. Supplying files in any format other than vector EPS, rasterized TIFF, “press quality” PDF, or PowerPoint will cause the manuscript to be returned prior to review, possibly causing publication delays. any software products exist that can produce figure files suitable for publication, including programs that can be downloaded for free online. Of all products available for free and for purchase, Adobe software is highly recommended for processing and submitting your digital artwork. 

Color: 
Color artwork must be supplied as RGB and NOT CMYK.

Figure Size and Layout:
1)    Figures must be cropped and supplied as close to final size as possible.  Preferred size is 3.5 inches for 1-column images, 5 inches for 1½-column images, and 7.25 inches for 2-column images.
2)    Multiple panel layouts must only have .25 inch space between parts.  Layouts must contain as little “white space” as possible.  To view sample layouts click here.

Fonts and text size:
1)    Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman and Symbol are required fonts for digital artwork.  Deviating from these standard fonts will cause publication delays as figures will be returned to authors for correction.  All fonts must be embedded when saving files.
2)    Figure text size must be 7-10 pt. 
3)    Figure part labels (i.e. A, B, C, etc.) must be 12 pt. Helvetica Bold and placed in a white square in the upper left corner of all figure parts. Please be sure to use capital letters for figure part labels.

Text size will change if figure needs to be reduced or increased.  Supplying 1 column figures at sizes greater than 3.5 inches will result in smaller text when size is decreased.  The same rule applies for increasing figures.   

Cover Submissions:
The journal cover includes space for an illustration that changes every month. We invite you to bring to our attention any illustrations that you feel would make a particularly attractive cover. These may be figures from your paper or designs that reflect its subject matter.  A brief cover legend should be submitted with the image. Additional information can be obtained from Amy Huter-Imming at jlb{at}journalstaff.com.

Online Supplemental Material [Back to Top]
Essential information that cannot be presented in the printed journal, such as large data sets or videos, can be included as supplemental material. Supplemental figures and tables that are not essential to the conclusions of the paper, but are both useful and important, may also be included online. Supplemental material must be cited both at the relevant place in the manuscript and in the legends of any related figures.  A paragraph providing a brief description of each item must appear at the end of the Materials and Methods section under the heading “Online Supplemental Material.” 

All material submitted as supplemental material should have a legend or short explanation explaining what is included.  Figures and videos must also be accompanied by a text legend. All supplemental material will be peer reviewed with the manuscript and approved by the editors, but supplemental material will be posted online “as is” without copy editing, layout or any other revision or modification by journal staff.

“Extended Methods” may be published online when needed. Extended Methods may not replace or repeat the Materials and Methods section of the main paper.   Extended methods should be noted in Materials and Methods Section of the main text as available online.

Links to supplemental material will appear in two places in the online journal: in the Table of Contents and in the information on the first page of the full-text article. In the print version, the availability of additional online material will be indicated in a footnote on the first page of the article: “The online version of this paper, found at www.jleukbio.org includes supplemental information.”

Copyright Assignment and Publication Costs Agreement Form [Back to Top]
Authors are required to sign a Mandatory Copyright Assignment and Publications Agreement Form when they submit a manuscript. Authors of NIH-funded manuscripts must submit the appropriate NIH form with the journal’s Mandatory Copyright Assignment and Publications Agreement Form attached.

Accepted Manuscripts [Back to Top]
With the cooperation of the authors, research papers are published online within 3–4 weeks of acceptance or receipt of the final and complete version, including figures and files in the correct formats.  Manuscripts are normally published in final online format and in print within 3-6 months of receipt of the proofs and all pertinent information.

Proofs
Galley proofs are supplied to the corresponding author as a PDF, along with instructions. Proofs must be returned within 48 hours. 

Costs
Excessive alterations to page proofs may lead to additional charges to authors.  Page charges for published articles are as follows:

Up to 8 pages:
For SLB members: $35/per printed page
For non-SLB members: $50/printed page

9+ pages:
For SLB members: $70/per printed page
For non-SLB members: $100/printed page

PLEASE NOTE: You have the option of joining the Society for Leukocyte Biology when you submit your accepted paper. Click here for an application form.

Color:
The first page of color will be billed at $450. Additional pages in the same articles will be billed at $300 each. Checks should be made payable to the Journal of Leukocyte Biology. 

Author Billing and Reprint Purchases [Back to Top]
Authors will be billed using an online payment system. For those who cannot pay by credit card, this system allows authors or their representatives to obtain an invoice, as well as instructions for paying by check or wire transfer. Please note: Authors needing an invoice must obtain one through the online bill payment system, as staff are unable to generate invoices in any other way. The corresponding author will receive an e-mail 1-2 weeks before the month of publication containing instructions to pay online. Authors cannot be billed in advance of this time.

Reprints [Back to Top]

Reprints may be ordered in multiples of 50. Authors will be given the opportunity to purchase reprints through the online bill payment system when they pay their publication charges. Non-authors should contact lkimble{at}faseb.org to purchase reprints of published articles.