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INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

Ethics in publishing

For information on Ethics in publishing and Ethical guidelines for journal publication see http://www.elsevier.com/publishingethics andhttp://www.elsevier.com/journal-authors/ethics.

Human and animal rights 

If the work involves the use of animal or human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humanshttp://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html; EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experimentshttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/legislation_en.htm; Uniform Requirements for manuscripts submitted to Biomedical journalshttp://www.icmje.org. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

Conflict of interest 

All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work. See also http://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest. Further information and an example of a Conflict of Interest form can be found at:http://help.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/286/p/7923.

Submission declaration and verification 

All submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter that includes a brief overview of the manuscript and the corresponding author contact information including full name, e-mail address, phone number, and postal address. It should also specify the number of display items (figures and tables), the number of attachments (manuscript, figures supplementary information if any), and their formats.

It must include a statement indicating that the article has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint, seehttp://www.elsevier.com/sharingpolicy ); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out; and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. To verify originality, all articles are checked by the originality detection service CrossCheckhttp://www.elsevier.com/editors/plagdetect .

Changes to authorship 

Modifications to authorship are not allowed, this policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts.

Copyright 

Upon acceptance of an article by the journal, authors will be asked to transfer the copyright to Electronic Journal of Biotechnology, which is committed to maintain the electronic access to the journal and to administer a policy of fair control and ensure the widest possible dissemination of the information. The author can use the article for academic purposes, stating clearly the following: "Published in Electronic Journal of Biotechnology at DOI: XXX".

Retained author rights. As an author you (or your employer or institution) retain certain rights, including copyright; for details you are referred tohttp://www.elsevier.com/OAauthoragreement.

The Copyright Transfer Agreement must be submitted as a signed scanned copy to biotec@ucv.cl. All authors must send a copy of this document.

Role of the funding source 

You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated.

Publication charges 

Papers accepted for publication are subjected to a publication charge of US$1,100 for the first 15 typewritten pages, including figures and tables (file type: ms word; margins: 2,5; font type: Arial; font size: 12; interline: single space). Extra pages are U$100 each, beginning with the 16th page. 

Waives are not considered. 

Full payment is mandatory prior to the publication of the manuscript. 

We will continue as an open access journal and the submission of manuscripts is free.

In order to proceed to payment please click here.

Note: All manuscripts published since Volume 17, no. 1 (January 15, 2014) and also manuscripts received in the Editorial Office from November 1, 2013 are subjected to this publication fee.

Open access 

Every peer-reviewed research article appearing in this journal will be published open access. This means that the article is universally and freely accessible via the internet in perpetuity, in an easily readable format immediately after publication. The author does not have any publication charges for open access. The journal is under a creative commons attribution License 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

Language (usage and editing services) 

Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the English Language Editing service available from Elsevier's WebShop (http://webshop.elsevier.com/languageediting/) or visit our customer support site (http://support.elsevier.com) for more information.

Submission 

Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word, LaTeX) are required to typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.

Submit your article 

Please submit your article via http://ees.elsevier.com/ejbt. If you are unable to provide an electronic version, please contact the editorial office prior to submission, edbiotec@ucv.cl; telephone: +56 032 2273287.

Referees 

Please suggest at least four internationally recognized researchers as referees with their full name, affiliation and email address. At least one of them should be a member of the editorial board of the Electronic Journal of Biotechnology (for a list of board members seehttp://www.elsevier.com/locate/ejbt).

GenBank/DNA sequence linking 

DNA sequences and GenBank Accession numbers: Many Elsevier journals cite "gene accession numbers" in their running text and footnotes. Gene accession numbers refer to genes or DNA sequences about which further information can be found in the database at the National Center for Biotechnical Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine. Elsevier authors wishing to enable other scientists to use the accession numbers cited in their papers via links to these sources, should type this information in the following manner:

For each and every accession number cited in an article, authors should type the accession number in bold text. Letters in the accession number should always be capitalized. (See Example 1 below). This combination of letters and format will enable Elsevier's typesetters to recognize the relevant texts as accession numbers and add the required link to GenBank's sequences.

Example 1: "GenBank accession nos. AI631510, AI631511, AI632198, and BF223228, a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE675048 ), and a T-cell lymphoma (GenBank accession no. AA361117)".

Authors are encouraged to check accession numbers used very carefully. An error in a letter or number can result in a dead link. In the final version of the printed article, the accession number text will not appear bold or underlined (see Example 2 below).

Example 2: "GenBank accession nos. AI631510, AI631511, AI632198, and BF223228, a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE675048), and a T-cell lymphoma (GenBank accession no. AA361117)".

In the final version of the electronic copy, the accession number text will be linked to the appropriate source in the NCBI databases enabling readers to go directly to that source from the article.

Use of word processing software

It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word processor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns.

The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier:http://www.elsevier.com/guidepublication). Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics will be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text. See also the section on Electronic artwork.

To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor.

LaTeX 

You are recommended to use the Elsevier article class elsarticle.cls (http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/elsarticle) to prepare your manuscript and BibTeX ( http://www.bibtex.org) to generate your bibliography.

For detailed submission instructions, templates and other information on LaTeX, see http://www.elsevier.com/latex.

Article structure 

Subdivision - numbered sections 

Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line. 

For details on structure revise the section Types of papers.

Essential title page information 

• Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• Author names and affiliations. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, and also post-publication. If possible, indicate an alternative e-mail for contact. Ensure that telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author. The corresponding author is also responsible that every coauthor has contributed to the manuscript.
• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a "Present address" (or "Permanent address") may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

Abstract 

The abstract of the manuscript should not exceed 250 words and must be structured into separate sections:

• Background, the context and purpose of the study;
• Results, the main findings;
• Conclusions, brief summary and potential implications.

In the case of review articles, the abstract should be submitted as one section.

Keywords 

Authors must provide between three and six keywords, which must not be part of the title of the paper. Phrases and general or broad words such as "pH" or "growth" are not allowed.

Abbreviations 

Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field in a footnote to be placed on the first page of the article. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their first mention there, as well as in the footnote. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

Acknowledgements and financial support 

Indicate Acknowledgments and Financial support in separate sections at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List in acknowledgments those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language or writing assistance, or proof reading the article, etc.).

Nomenclature and units 

Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI) (http://physics.nist.gov/Pubs/SP330/sp330.pdf). If other quantities are mentioned, give their equivalent in SI. Authors wishing to present a table of nomenclature should do so on the second page of their manuscript.

Math formulae 

Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

Footnotes 

Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article. Many word processors can build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Otherwise, please indicate the position of footnotes in the text and list the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.

References 

For original articles (research, short communications, technical notes, biotechnology issues for developing countries), at least 75% of the references must be from the Science Citation Index Expanded and at the same time from the last decade. Also the DOI number must be included at the end of each reference.

Citation in text 

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). References in abstract should be avoid. Unpublished results; personal communications and thesis are not allowed. Citation of a reference as "in press" implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Web references 

As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given.

Reference management software 

Most Elsevier journals have a standard template available in key reference management packages. This covers packages using the Citation Style Language, such as Mendeley (http://www.mendeley.com/features/reference-manager) and also others like EndNote (http://www.endnote.com/support/enstyles.asp) and Reference Manager (http://refman.com/support/rmstyles.asp). Using plug-ins to word processing packages which are available from the above sites, authors only need to select the appropriate journal template when preparing their article and the list of references and citations to these will be formatted according to the journal style as described in this Guide. The process of including templates in these packages is constantly ongoing. If the journal you are looking for does not have a template available yet, please see the list of sample references and citations provided in this Guide to help you format these according to the journal style.

If you manage your research with Mendeley Desktop, you can easily install the reference style for this journal by clicking the link below:

http://open.mendeley.com/use-citation-style/electronic-journal-of-biotechnology

When preparing your manuscript, you will then be able to select this style using the Mendeley plugins for Microsoft Word or LibreOffice. For more information about the Citation Style Language, visit http://citationstyles.org .

Reference style 

Text : Indicate references by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.

Example: '… as demonstrated [3,6]. Barnaby and Jones [8] obtained a different result …'

Reference section : Number the references (numbers in square brackets) in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication : 
[1] Van der Geer J, Hanraads JAJ, Lupton RA. The art of writing a scientific article. J Sci Commun 2000;163:51-9. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/doi.

Reference to a book : 
[2] Strunk Jr W, White EB. The elements of style. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan; 1979.

Reference to a chapter in an edited book : 
[3] Mettam GR, Adams LB. How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In: Jones BS, Smith RZ, editors. Introduction to the electronic age. New York: E- Publishing Inc; 1999, p. 281-304.

For more than 6 authors the first 6 should be listed followed by 'et al.'

IMPORTANT: Please provide the article's Digital Object Identifier (DOI) at the end of each reference in the following format: e.g. http://dx.doi.org/10.2225/vol16-issue5-fulltext-12

Journal abbreviations source 

Journal names should be abbreviated according to: 
Web of Science Journal Title Abbreviations:http://images.webofknowledge.com/WOK46/help/WOS/A_abrvjt.html 
CAS Source Index (CASSI) Search Tool: http://cassi.cas.org/search.jsp 
NLM Catalog: Journals referenced in the NCBI Databases:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals

Artwork

Electronic artwork 

General points 

• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.
• Aim to use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or use fonts that look similar.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version.
• Submit each illustration as a separate file. 

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: 
http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. 

You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here. 

Formats 

If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is' in the native document format. 

Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'Save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below): 

EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts. 

TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi. 

TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi. 

TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi. 

Please do not: 

• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colors;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Color artwork 

Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color , then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color on the Web (e.g., Science Direct and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version.

Figure captions 

Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title ( not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. 

The figures (photographs, drawings) must be numbered with Arabic numerals. Footnotes can be included below the figure.

Figures that include more than one image should be labeled as a, b, c, etc. (lower case, use black or white bold according to the figure).

Graphs

Graphs should be cited as figures and must be numbered with Arabic numerals. Footnotes can be included below the figure.

Graphs that include more than one image should be labeled as a, b, c, etc. (Arial lower case). They must be in 2D and have a title. In case they have legend, it must be placed below the image. They should be built with Arial font and in the color palette called "Trek" (warm earth colours). See page layout in MS Office 2007. For the Spanish version the colour palette is called "Viajes". Graphs must be send in editable formats (MS excel if possible. We also accept Sigma plot and Origin) in order to make formal changes (colour, fonts, size, etc.).

Examples:

Colum chart: 

Line Chart:

Submission checklist

The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item. 

Ensure that the following items are present: 

One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:

• E-mail address
• Full postal address 

All necessary files have been uploaded, and contain: 

• Keywords
• All figure captions
• All tables (including title, description, footnotes) 

Further considerations 

• Manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'
• References are in the correct format for this journal
• All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)
• Printed version of figures (if applicable) in color or black-and-white
• Indicate clearly whether or not color or black-and-white in print is required.
• For reproduction in black-and-white, please supply black-and-white versions of the figures for printing purposes. 

For any further information please visit our customer support site athttp://support.elsevier.com.

Use of the Digital Object Identifier

The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisher upon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly 'Articles in press' because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information. Example of a correctly given DOI (in URL format; here an article in the journal Physics Letters B ): 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2010.09.059 

When you use a DOI to create links to documents on the web, the DOIs are guaranteed never to change.

Online Proof Correction 

Corresponding author will receive an e-mail with a link to our online proofing system, allowing annotation and correction of proofs online. The environment is similar to MS Word: in addition to editing text, you can also comment on figures/tables and answer questions from the Copy Editor. Web-based proofing provides a faster and less error-prone process by allowing you to directly type your corrections, eliminating the potential introduction of errors.

If preferred, you can still choose to annotate and upload your edits on the PDF version. All instructions for proofing will be given in the e-mail we send to authors, including alternative methods to the online version and PDF.

We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately - please upload all of your corrections within 48 hours. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.

You can track your submitted article athttp://help.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/89/p/8045/.

You can track your accepted article athttp://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle.

You are also welcome to contact Customer Support via http://support.elsevier.com.