The following instructions pertain to submissions to the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists’ electronic journals: The AAPS Journal and AAPS PharmSciTech.

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INTRODUCTION

The AAPS Journal

The AAPS Journal (ISSN 1550-7416) is a peer-reviewed online-only journal published by the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. The journal covers all areas of pharmaceutical research, including drug discovery, development, and therapy. The Journal is indexed by PubMed/Medline, Index Medicus, Institute of Scientific Information's Science Citation Index and Chem Abstracts. The AAPS Journal is an open access publication and is freely accessible on the Web.

Editor-in-Chief, Ho-Leung Fung, Ph.D., oversees an international editorial board of leading researchers in the pharmaceutical sciences. Dr. Fung is Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.

AAPS PharmSciTech

AAPS PharmSciTech (ISSN 1530-9932) is a peer-reviewed online-only journal published and owned by the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. The journal's mission is to disseminate scientific and technical information on drug product design, development, evaluation and processing to the global pharmaceutical research community. The Journal is indexed by Medline, Index Medicus, and Chem Abstracts. AAPS PharmSciTech is an open access journal and is freely accessible on the Web.

Editor-in-Chief, Patrick P. DeLuca, Ph.D., oversees an international editorial board comprised of leading scientists in the pharmaceutical sciences. Dr. DeLuca is Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy in Lexington, Kentucky.

TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS

The e-journals of the AAPS accept the following types of manuscripts: Reviews, Original Research Articles, Brief Technical Notes, Rapid Communications, Mini-Reviews, Regulatory Notes, Editorial Commentary/Summaries, and Meeting Notices.

MANUSCRIPT STYLE AND FORMAT

Only manuscripts that meet the following requirements will be considered for publication.

Reviews

Reviews in all areas of the pharmaceutical sciences on the advances in drug discovery, development, and therapy are primarily by invitation of the Editors, but reviews can also be unsolicited and Authors are invited to suggest topics. Reviews are comprehensive, well-referenced papers describing new developments of interdisciplinary significance and highlight unresolved questions and future directions. All Reviews undergo peer review. Content of the review manuscript must be categorized and titled as depicted in the following table.

Reviews are limited to a total of 10 tables and figures. Authors may submit any combination (eg, 2 figures and 8 tables) of tables and figures, as long as the total number of tables and figures does not exceed 10. Reviews containing more than a combined total of 10 figures and tables will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief, but Authors may be asked to reduce the total or combine figures or tables.

Original Research Articles

Research articles should contain innovative, hypothesis-driven research that is supported by sound experimental design, methodology, and data interpretation. There are no limitations for word count for Research Articles, however, authors must strive to present their results as clearly and concisely as possible. Research Articles will be judged on originality, soundness, and presentation to determine their acceptability for publication.

Brief Technical Notes

Brief Technical Notes differ from Original Research Articles in that they are limited in scope. Notes must be of high quality, general interest, and sufficient importance to warrant publication. Notes do not include an abstract and are limited to approximately 1,200 words, 12 references, 3 Figures, and 3 Tables.

Mini-Reviews

A Mini-Review is a brief discussion on a narrowly focused topic of recent experimental research, made accessible to researchers in other areas, and provides a critical yet balanced view of the topic. It should direct the reader to a select number (no more than 30) of key papers in the field. (Personal communications and submitted manuscripts should not be cited.) Mini-Reviews are typically by invitation only, but Authors may propose topics to the Editors.

Rapid Communications

A Rapid Communication is a fast-breaking research update or other news item.

Regulatory Notes

A Regulatory Note provides a summary of regulatory decisions taken regarding a product and the rationales for regulatory decisions regarding that product. Regulatory notes should be accurate, objective, factual, and free of personal bias or conclusions. Regulatory Notes are typically by invitation only, but Authors may propose notes to the Editors. Authors submitting Regulatory Notes must include a Cover Letter and a Copyright Transfer Form. Please refer to the Cover Letter section under Manuscript Organization, and to the Copyright Transfer section under Terms of Manuscript Consideration for detailed instructions.

Editorial Commentary/Summary

Topical issues of public and scientific interest that are usually published by invitation only, but authors may contact the Editor to suggest topics. Authors submitting an Editorial Commentary/Summary must include a Copyright Transfer Form. Please refer to the Copyright Transfer section under Terms of Manuscript Consideration for detailed instructions.

Meeting Notices

A Meeting Notice provides readers with information on an upcoming AAPS or AAPS-affiliated meeting, including title of the meeting, date and time, location, outline and description of meeting topics, and list invited speakers. If possible Meeting Notices should include contact information for the organizers and a URL to the meeting’s webpage. Meeting Notices should be submitted to the AAPS Editorial Office two to three months before the meeting. Authors submitting Meeting Notices must include a Copyright Transfer Form. Please refer to the Copyright Transfer section under Terms of Manuscript Consideration for detailed instructions.

Special Features

Can be accommodated and may contain highly interactive features or large databases. All authors are encouraged to take full advantage of the Web-only capabilities of online publishing, including 3-D, video, and interactive graphics. If a desired technical feature is not covered in the Author's Instructions, please contact the AAPS Editorial Office (AAPSJsubmit@aaps.org) for assistance. All special features must be created by the Author. Please refer to the Figures section under Manuscript Organization for a listing of file types that are supported.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

AAPS uses Editorial Manager™ as its peer review tracking system. Manuscripts must be submitted online by the Corresponding Author to: www.editorialmanager.com/aapspt/. You may be required to register as a new user with Editorial Manager™ upon your first visit. Straightforward login and registration procedures can be found on the website. Editorial Manager™ allows authors to track the progress of manuscript review in real time. Detailed, step-by-step instructions for submitting manuscripts can be found on the website. Manuscripts must be created and saved in Microsoft® Office Word for Windows (Editorial Manager™ and AAPS cannot accommodate files created in the new Microsoft® Office Word .docx file format at this time). All correspondence regarding your manuscript must go through Editorial Manager™.

TERMS OF MANUSCRIPT CONSIDERATION

Full Disclosure

Each manuscript must be accompanied by a cover letter signed by the Corresponding Author on behalf of all the authors. The cover letter should explicitly state that the manuscript has not been previously published in any language anywhere and that it is not under simultaneous consideration by another journal. Moreover, The AAPS Journal will not publish any manuscript unless the chemical structures of all compounds are fully disclosed when they are relevant to the consideration of the science involved, either by reference to prior work providing such data or by enclosure of such data in the manuscript. Please refer to the Cover Letter section under Manuscript Organization for detailed instructions and requirements.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors should reveal to the editor in their cover letter any potential conflict of interest, eg, a consulting or financial interest in a company that might be affected by publication of the results contained in a manuscript. The authors are obligated to ensure that no contractual relations or proprietary considerations exist that would affect the publication of information in a submitted manuscript.

Copyright Transfer

The Copyright Revision Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-533) requires that Authors transfer their copyrights to the Publisher, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, in order to provide for the widest possible dissemination of professional and scientific literature. The original signed Transfer of Copyright form should be mailed to the AAPS Editorial Office at the time of submission; facsimile copies will not be accepted. The Transfer of Copyright form must be received by the AAPS Editorial Office before publication. Corresponding Authors may print and sign the form on behalf of all authors The Transfer of Copyright form can be found at www.aapsj.org/copyright/copyright.pdf.

Ethics in Animal and Clinical Investigations

Investigations using experimental animals must state in the Methods section that the research adhered to the Principles of Laboratory Animal Care. (NIH publication #85-23, revised in 1985). Investigation with human subjects must state in the Methods section that the research followed the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki promulgated in 1964 (www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm) and additionally, the human investigations were approved by an institutional review board or equivalent, and that informed consent was obtained.

Assurances

For all research manuscripts (including educational research), the Author should indicate in the cover letter that the research has been reviewed and approved by the according to the practices outlined in the Ethics in Animal and Clinical Investigations.

Originality of Manuscripts

Authors of manuscripts submitted to the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists are obliged to present accurate representation of the research performed along with an objective discussion of the significance of their findings. The author’s submission should be original work that reflects research undertaken with integrity and honesty, and that conforms to ethical practices. Authors should be willing to reply to any reasonable request from editors, referees, and scientist for materials, methods, or data necessary for verification of the conclusions reported in the paper.

Peer Review

All submissions will be reviewed anonymously by at least two independent Reviewers. Authors are encouraged to submit names and email addresses of expert reviewers, but selection remains a prerogative of the Editors. Authors may include supplementary notes to facilitate the review process. If an accepted paper is cited that has not yet appeared in print and is required for evaluation of the submitted manuscript, authors should provide an electronic version for use by the Reviewers. Authors are responsible for all statements in their work, including changes made by the copyeditor after a manuscript is accepted.

Proofing Process

Correction of the proof is the responsibility of the Corresponding Author. The Corresponding Author will receive galley proof access information via email. Editorial changes beyond those marked in the galley proof will not be made and failure to address all queries will delay publication of the article. Substantive changes will delay the production process and may require review by the Editor-in-Chief and may result in charges to the Author(s).

The Corresponding Author should create a Word document of the Author Query [AQ] list found at the end of the galley proof with a detailed response to each of these queries and email to galleys@aaps.org. Written responses to the [AQ] list, but not the entire galley proof may also be faxed to the AAPS Editorial Office at (703) 243-9532, with a cover page indicating the total number of pages in the fax transmission. Make certain that all written responses are legible.

Corrected proofs should be returned within 48 hours of receipt in order to ensure timely publication.

The Corresponding Author is responsible for ensuring that all authors of the manuscript approve the submitted corrections.

STYLISTIC CONSIDERATIONS

The style specifications for the Journal must be followed. Below are general guidelines for manuscript format and style. If in doubt about style, authors should refer to the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style, 9th ed.

Text

The text should be scholarly, readable, clear and concise. Standard nomenclature should be used. Unfamiliar terms should be defined at first mention, and acronyms should be placed in parentheses immediately following the first use of the name in the main body of the text. Manuscripts that were prepared for oral presentation must be rewritten for print. Authors of research papers are discouraged from writing excessively long introduction or discussion sections. Author should avoid the use of personal pronouns.

Word Style

Consult the current edition of Merriam Webster's dictionary at www.m-w.com for guidance on spelling, compounding, and word separation. Foreign words not in general use should be italicized. Foreign words that have become part of standard English usage (eg, in vivo, in vitro, ad hoc, etc.) and are now listed in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary are not italicized. For proper use of chemical and biochemical terms, mathematical equations, mathematical expressions, special symbols, subscripts, superscripts, or Greek letters, please refer to the AMA Manual of Style, 9th ed.

Capitalization

The word "association" must be capitalized when referring to the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. In scientific writing, always capitalize the following: major words in titles and headings of manuscripts, designators (eg, Table 3), eponyms (but not the noun that follows them, eg, Gram stain, Babinski sign), names of tests (eg, Beck Depression Inventory), genus names of organisms (but not the name of species, varieties or subspecies), acts of legislation (eg, Medicare), awards (eg, Nobel Prize), proprietary names (eg, Xerox copier), the title of a person when followed by the person's name (eg, Chair John W. Jones), official names of organizations and institutions (eg, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), geographic places (eg, United States of America), sociocultural designations (eg, Republicans, French people), historical events (eg, Vietnam War).

Abbreviations

In instances where repeated use of an organization or chemical name would become awkward, an official or accepted abbreviation may be substituted. The abbreviation should be placed in parentheses immediately following the first use of the name in the main body of the text. Abbreviations of common pharmaceutical organizations do not require periods or spaces between letters (eg, AAPS, FDA, AMA). Abbreviations of "eg," "ie," and "viz" should not be separated by periods. The names of all cities, states, provinces, and countries should be spelled out when they occur within the text of the article. Postal abbreviations for states are not used. The abbreviation “U.S.” may be used as a modifier only when it directly precedes the word it modifies (eg, U.S. health policies); otherwise, it should be spelled out. Refer to the AMA Manual of Style, 9th Ed. for a list of other abbreviations, or reference the table below.

Equations

All equations must be individually formatted using Microsoft® Office Word Equation Editor or the software MathType, and each equation must be numbered sequentially throughout the text. Sequential numbering should be placed to the right of the equation in parenthesis.

Numbers

Numbers must be written as Arabic numerals unless they occur at the beginning of a sentence, in which case the number should be spelled out. The exception to this rule is when the number “one” is used in isolation within the text and substituting an Arabic number would seem awkward (eg, “there was only one logical solution to the problem”). A number containing a decimal must be styled as an Arabic number. All fractions must be written as decimal equivalents.

Precision

Numbers should be reported to reflect the precision of the instrumentation utilized. Calculated numbers, such as means and standard deviations, should be expressed to no more than one significant digit beyond the precision of the instrument.

Measurements

Measurements must be reported in International System of Measurement (SI) units. Dual reporting is acceptable if SI units are placed first and conventional units are placed afterward in parenthesis. Do not use periods when abbreviating units of measure.

Reference Numbers

Reference citation numbers should be superscripted Arabic numeralsand must be called out in numerical sequence. Please take into consideration the placement of Tables and Figures within the text to assure that any callouts within these Tables and Figures will be numerically sequential in the final document. For those citations that occur next to a colon or semicolon, the number should be placed before the colon or semicolon. If located next to a comma or period, the number should be placed after the comma or period. Subsequent citations to the same reference must be indicated by the same number originally assigned to that reference. Do not place parentheses or brackets around the citation numbers.

Personal Communications

If the source of material referred to in an article is from a personal communication, it should be referenced within the text as such in parentheses immediately following reference to the material, followed by the date, eg, (John Doe, personal communication, Month, 2002). Personal Communications should not be included in the References list.

Hypertext Links

Authors may identify uniform resource locators (URLs) for websites that provide the reader with additional information on the topic addressed in the manuscript. Although URLs are an important feature of electronic publishing, authors are encouraged to be selective in their choice of sites to include. Do not include URLs for web pages with newspaper or journal articles that will be removed or archived to another web page. Links to pharmaceutical manufacturers or other sources of product information are acceptable; however, providing a URL to the reader should not be substituted for adequate discussion within the manuscript itself. Do not include links to sites that are not accessible without a password.

MANUSCRIPT ORGANIZATION

Manuscripts must be submitted electronically in English and typed double-spaced. Microsoft® Word document specifications must be set to 8 1/2 × 11 inch (21.59 × 27.94 cm) paper with 1 inch (2.54 cm) margins all around, with the right margins unjustified. Manuscripts must adhere to American Medical Association (AMA) style. Within the document, each page of the manuscript should have consecutive page numbers and be in the following order: Cover Letter, Title Page, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Body, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, References, Tables, Figure legends, and Figures.

IMPORTANT: Authors must submit individual files into Editorial Manager in the following order: 1. Cover Letter, 2. Title Page, 3. Abstract, 4. Keywords, 5. Manuscript Body with References, 6. Table Captions, 7. Tables, 8. Figure Captions, and 9. Figures. Authors should either upload files one-by-one in that order, or renumber files once they have been attached. The files can be renumbered by changing the number in the box to the left of the file name, and clicking "Update File Order."

Cover Letter

The Cover Letter must include the following: a) a statement regarding financial conflict of interest if any, and, a statement of originality of work, b) a statement pertaining to the compliance with Ethics in Animal and Clinical Investigations, and c) a statement of confidentiality compliance. Authors who wish to submit names and emails for the peer review process must also indicate those in the Cover Letter.

The Statement of Originality must verify that the manuscript is not published elsewhere, in any language, and is not under simultaneous consideration by any other journal. The Assurances clause must indicate that the research has been reviewed and approved by an appropriate human or animal research or ethics review committee, or that it has been determined exempt from such review, and the Confidentiality Statement must state: All Authors agree that the contents of the manuscript are confidential and will not be copyrighted, submitted, or published elsewhere (including the Internet), in any language, while acceptance by the Journal is under consideration.

Title Page

The Title Page must include a clear concise title of the article, authors’ first and surname (no degrees). Each author’s affiliations (at the time the work was completed) should be numerically footnoted and include department, institution or company, city, and state (or nation). The Corresponding Author must indicate his or her complete mailing address, office/cellular phone number, fax number, and email address at the lower left of the Title Page. The Corresponding Author will serve as the point of contact among the editorial office, editors, and other authors.

Abstract

Each manuscript must include an abstract of 250 words or less. For Research Articles, the abstract should include a brief (2 to 3 sentences) statement for each of the following sections: Introduction, Methods and Materials, Results and Discussion, and Conclusion written in paragraph form. Abstracts also must be in one paragraph, with no subheadings, equations, or graphics.

Brief Technical Notes, Editorial Commentaries/Summaries, and Meeting Notices do not require abstracts.

Keywords

Please indicate 3 to 7 keywords taken from the manuscript. Authors are limited to a maximum of 7 words, phrases are not considered as one word.

Introduction

The Introduction should state the objective of the Article and clearly state the hypothesis or purpose statement, how and why the purpose or hypothesis was developed and why the author deems it important.

Body

The use of subheadings to divide the text is encouraged. Primary headings should be in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS. Secondary or subheadings should be in Bold Italicized Title Case. Third level subheadings should be in Italicized Title Case.

The main body of text for an Original Research Article should have 2 primary headings: Materials and Methods, and Results and Discussion. Authors may use secondary headings to create separate sections for the 2 primary headings. Again, subheadings in these sections are encouraged.

Conclusion

The conclusion should be a brief paragraph, containing 3 to 4 sentences, that summarizes the findings presented.

Acknowledgments

Any special funding received for research that is the subject of the manuscript must be included under a section entitled "Acknowledgments" at the end of the text. Any grant funding should include the grant number and name of grantor. If the authors wish to thank colleagues or others who provided assistance with their research or manuscript preparation, those acknowledgments also should be included in this section. Any statements concerning liability for the content of the manuscript may be included here as well (eg, "the ideas expressed in this manuscript are those of the author and in no way are intended to represent the position of…").

References

References to a published source should be provided for all information in the manuscript that contains dates, facts, or opinions other than those of the author. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all citations. References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited in the text, including all call outs in tables and figures. Please take into consideration the placement of tables and figures containing callouts within the text to assure that the reference callouts will be numerically sequential when the files are compiled to create the complete manuscript. Following the table or figure, resume sequential numbering of the references. Cite in the text by the appropriate superscripted bolded numeral eg,¹, ^2-5, ^1,2-8, etc. Do not create a second abbreviated reference or use "ibid" to refer to information cited in a previous reference. Instead, if information from the same source is referred to a second time in the manuscript, cite the same reference number originally assigned to that source.

Each journal citation must include the surnames and complete initials of all authors. For manuscripts with 7 or more authors, the first 3 authors should be listed, followed by “et al.” The names of all periodicals cited must be abbreviated in accordance with abbreviations adopted by the National Library of Medicine and used in Index Medicus. An example and special instructions for specific types of references are provided below. For additional guidance, please refer to the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 9th ed.

If you choose to use a bibliographic software application such as EndNote®, please provide a complete list of references at the end of your manuscript. Complete bibliographic data should not be left on individual pages of your manuscript. For EndNote reference style, you should select the Journal of the American Medical Association format. This will match the AMA reference style required for the AAPS.

Unpublished References

Unpublished peer-reviewed, personal communications, including conference abstracts, and papers in preparation or in review, cannot be listed, but can be notated parenthetically in the text. Abbreviations for journal names should conform to those in the Bibliographic Guide for Editors and Authors (American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C.). The style and punctuation of the references should conform to the following examples:

Journal Articles

For references to journal articles, first list the names of the authors beginning with the last name of the first author, followed by his/her initials. The authors' names are followed by the title of the article. The first letter of the title is capitalized, but the remainder of the title should be in lower case letters, except for the first letter of proper names. A period should be placed after the title. Next, give the properly abbreviated title of the journal being referenced. The title of the journal should be in italics followed by a period. One space should be left between the journal and the year of publication. A semicolon should be placed after the year of publication, followed by the volume number in which the article appeared. After the volume number, place a colon followed by the number of the first page of the article, then a dash, then the number of the last page of the article, followed by a period. If the article does not appear on consecutive pages, use a semicolon between each segment of pages (eg, 172-175;179-183;199.)

Journal Article

Conventional print journal:

Electronic journal, eg, AAPS J or AAPS PharmSciTech:

Abstracts

A reference for an abstract takes the same form as a journal reference, with the addition of [abstract] after the abstract title and the abstract number, if available, in the page range slot.

Example:

Song P, Ma F, Orr W, Renukadevi P, Miller D, Geisert E, Yates C. Central and peripheral pharmacokinetics of EDL-1, a novel anti-tumor agent for the treatment of gliomas [abstract]. AAPSJ [serial online]. 2005;S2: Abstract T3308.

Book

Book references are structured in the following order: authors’ surnames followed by nonpunctuated initials, separated by commas, finishing with a period following the final listed author’s initials. Next list the book title, followed by the edition number, if given. (Do not indicate first edition.) List the location (city, state, and country, if outside the United States) of the publisher followed by a colon. Finally, list the publisher and follow with a semicolon, space and then the year published. If citing specific pages within a book, place a semicolon after the year published, and list the page range, ending with a terminating period. Chapter in a book differs slightly from an entire book reference in that the editor(s) of the book are listed after the title of the chapter.

Examples:

Entire Book
Winter ME. Basic Clinical Pharmacokinetics. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2003.

Chapter in a Book

Borchardt RT. Scientific, Educational, and Communication Issues Associated with Integrating and Applying Drug-Like Properties in Drug Discovery. In: Borchardt RT, Kerns EH, Lipinski CA, Thakker DR, Wang B, eds. Pharmaceutical Profiling in Drug Discovery for Lead Selection. Arlington, VA: AAPS Press; 2004:451-466.

Reference to a Website

For references to journals, e-magazines, or other publications on the Internet, state the names of the authors, title of the article, publication title, and volume and publication date in the same format as you would for a journal reference. For references to other information, give the title of the webpage, followed by the name of the organization or website that published the information. For all references to online material, the author should include “Available at:” followed by the uniform resource locator (URL) for the page of the website referenced (eg, www.hcfa.gov/stats.htm), followed by a period. Finally, write “Accessed” followed by the month, day, and year on which the information was obtained from the site, followed by a period.

Program Components Overview. The Cancer Genome Atlas Pilot Project Website. Available at: http://cancergenome.nih.gov/components/index.asp. Accessed January 8, 2006.

Thesis or Dissertation

For references to theses or dissertations, place the title of the thesis or dissertation in italics, followed by the type of thesis or dissertation in brackets. Include the location of the institution, its name, and the year the thesis or dissertation was completed.

Thesis
Thorn MD. A Comparative Review of the Statistical and Research Quality of the Medical and Pharmacy Literature [master's thesis]. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina; 1982.

Patents

Friedman M, inventor, Research Co. Inc., assignee. Treatment of bruxism. US patent 6 632 843. October 14, 2003.

Flores JA, Crowley KL, inventors. Process for the preparation of ketamine ointment. US patent 5 817 699. October 6, 1998.

Articles in Press

Reference format for material accepted for publication but not yet published follows that of a regular journal reference, but replaces the year, volume, and page range with “In press.”

Example:
Areberg J, Christophersen JS, Poulsen MN, Larsen F, Molz K-H. The pharmacokinetics of escitalopram in patients with hepatic impairment. AAPS Journal. In press.

Tables

Table must be created in Microsoft® Word table format. Data must be placed in separate cells of the table to prevent text and numbers from shifting when the table is converted for publication on the Internet. Empty cells may be inserted to create spacing. Tables should not duplicate information provided in the text. Instead, tables should be used to provide additional information that illustrates or expands on a specific point the author wishes to make. Each table should be self-explanatory and begin on a separate page in the document. Tables should be numbered, referred to by number in the text, and appear in consecutive numerical order within the text. The table number and a concise title should be placed above the body of the table. Scientific units should be given according to the SI system. If non-SI units are deemed useful, give a conversion factor in a footnote; do not use dual reporting in tables. If a 3-digit number is in a column containing a number with 4 or more digits, punctuate it with a space, and likewise for a number with 3 digits to the right of the decimal. Any descriptive footnotes should be placed at the bottom of the table. Use the following symbols to indicate footnotes. The first footnote should be indicated by an asterisk (*); second, by a dagger (†); third, double dagger (‡); fourth, section mark (§); fifth, parallel mark (||), etc. Tables with appendices, lists, and excessive footnotes are not within the AMA style and should be avoided.

Figures

Figures should be numbered using Arabic numerals, based on the order in which they are presented in the text. Figure legends should be concise and self-explanatory. All illustrative materials for the figures should be submitted as high-resolution .gif, .jpg, .bmp, .png, or .tiff files. Figure files created in Microsoft® Word or PowerPoint are not accepted.

The key to any symbols in a graph or chart should be included as part of the illustration itself, rather than in the legend. Lines in graphs should be bold enough to be easily read after reduction, as should all symbols used in the figure. Data points are best marked with the following symbols, again assuring that they will be readily distinguishable after reduction: ○ ● □ ■ △ ▲. In the figure legend, please use words rather than the symbols; eg, “black circles = group 1; white squares = group 2; black bars = blood glucose; white bars = C-peptide.” Bars should be black or white only, unless more than two datasets are being presented; additional bars should be drawn with clear bold hatch marks or stripes and dashes; not shades of gray.

If figures contain illustrations that have been published elsewhere, a letter of permission to reprint from the original publisher must accompany the manuscript.

A graphic image embedded into a Microsoft® Word file has a resolution of only 72 dpi (computer screen resolution). As a result, when printed, the clarity of these images will be compromised. Each high-resolution graphic image (.gif or .jpeg) should be saved and will be required to be submitted in a separate file from the manuscript text. Save the original image at a high resolution (ie, 1200 dpi or higher) and with the image quality set at maximum. Original (first generation) graphics are the preferred files to work with because they have the highest resolution (ie, at this point the image has not been compressed to reduce its size). If necessary, high-resolution graphics can be reduced to a lower resolution for use on the Web. However, low-resolution graphics cannot be improved and will result in poor online and printed images and cannot be accepted.

In general, an image can be categorized as either a photograph or a graphic (eg, line drawing of a chemical process, a map depicting pharmacy sites, a bar graph). Always save photographs in “RGB” mode. For optimum conversion results, save all color graphics in “CMYK” mode and all black-and-white graphics in “grayscale” mode.

Use the chart to choose an appropriate file format. Caution: never save a .jpg file in CMYK mode; use RGB (computer monitor display) mode. If a graphic image has been saved in RGB mode and must be converted back to CMYK mode for printing, there may be a change to the color resulting in less than satisfactory final graphics.

Use Arial font (minimum 10 point, maximum 14 point) for any lettering within the graphic images; be consistent with font usage in all figure files. Figures, symbols, lettering, and numbering should be clear and large enough to be legible when reduced and should be part of the figure, not a text box addition. There should be no use of table formats or “boxes” around figures. As a general rule, the original graphic should be 8 inches in width, large enough to span both columns of a Journal page. (Note: high-resolution graphics will appear larger on a computer screen than they actually are. Refer to the “image size” dialog box in the graphic software program to determine the graphic’s actual size.)

Use a professional graphics program such as Adobe® PhotoShop to edit and/or save photographs and graphics. Because of difficulties with exporting graphics from Microsoft® PowerPoint, original graphics (those imported into PowerPoint) must be saved in an acceptable file format (see chart above). Microsoft® PowerPoint and Word files will not be accepted.