1.GENERAL

Manuscripts for The Journal of Nutrition must be based on original, unpublished research. Although data may have been reported in part or in abstract form, full reports of the research may not have been accepted or be under consideration by another journal. The Journal of Nutrition does not condone the release of data accepted for publication before the actual publication.

	2.SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

Send five complete copies of the manuscript, a letter of submission, and a copyright release form to:

2.1.The manuscript.  Manuscripts may be returned for revision before peer review if they deviate substantially from accepted format, are poorly written, are difficult to interpret, or are unnecessarily long or complex. Beyond the general guidelines presented here, the best guide to Journal of Nutrition style is recent issues of The Journal.

Regional correspondents, whose role is to assist authors outside the United States, are listed with the editorial staff at the front of The Journal. If requested by authors, they will review manuscripts for appropriateness, scientific merit, methodology, form, and use of English. Acceptance for publication will be determined by the usual peer review and editorial processes.

2.2.Letter of submission.  The letter of submission should include the following:

1. Information about previous or concurrent publication of any part of the work.
2. A statement of financial or other contractual agreements that may cause conflicts of interest.
3. A statement that the paper has been read and approved by all authors.
4. Assurance of written permission from any person mentioned in a personal communication or an acknowledgment.
5. The name, address, telephone number, fax number and Email address of the corresponding author.

2.3.The manuscript submission and copyright release form.  This form must provide all of the information requested and is printed in the January issue of The Journal of Nutrition each year. Authors at different locations may sign separate copies. Original signatures are required from each author. Section 10 of this guide gives copyright information.

	3.RECEIVED AND ACCEPTED DATES

The Journal publishes receipt date, date of completion of the initial review, and date of acceptance of the revised manuscript for each research article. Manuscripts not revised and returned within 120 days will be treated as new submissions.

The date of acceptance will be the date when all requested revisions have been returned to the editorial office.

	4.TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS

4.1.Research articles.  Reports of original research of interest to the general community of nutritional scientists will be published as regular length research articles. Manuscripts that describe new methods and their application to nutritional research will also be considered for publication as research articles.

4.2.Research communications.  Manuscripts that concisely describe the results of studies that are complete but limited in scope will be published as research communications. These manuscripts will have a four-page limit and a special format.

4.3.Reviews.  Reviews of important developments in nutritional sciences will be published. Most reviews published in The Journal of Nutrition will be part of a series entitled "Recent Advances in Nutritional Sciences." Manuscripts will be submitted in response to invitations by the editor. These reviews will be published in a four-page format and will provide a recent rather than historical review of the subject matter. More comprehensive reviews and commentaries will be published as "critical reviews," and the editor invites suggestions of topics and possible authors for both types of reviews.

4.4.Issues and opinions.  Short essays presenting scientific viewpoints on issues in nutrition and limited to three Journal pages will be received by invitation of the editor and will be reviewed. Suggestions of topics and possible authors are welcome.

4.5.Letters to the editor.  Constructive comments on recently published Journal of Nutrition articles and other issues will be considered. When letters concerning a particular paper are received, the author of that paper will be given an opportunity for rebuttal. Both the letter and the reply, including references, are limited to one Journal page and will be reviewed.

4.6.Biographies and historical perspectives.  Biographies are received by invitation of the biographical and historical editors. Suggestions of subjects and authors are welcomed by them and by the editor.

4.7.Other.  Extensive reports of research, monographs, compendia, proceedings of symposia, etc., will be considered for publication. Some may be published as supplements to monthly issues of The Journal. Initial contact and arrangements to cover the cost of publication should be made with American Society for Nutritional Sciences (ASNS) headquarters, 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 530-7050.

	5.MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

All manuscripts must fulfill the basic formatting instructions listed in Table 1. Authors preparing "Recent Advances in Nutritional Sciences," "Research Communications," or "Issues and Opinions" articles should contact the editor for specific instructions to aid them in meeting the specific limit in Journal pages. All manuscripts should be arranged in the following order with each section beginning on a new page.

5.1.Title page.  The following information should be typed double-spaced:

1. Complete title of the manuscript in upper- and lower-case letters
2. First names, middle initials and last names of all authors in upper- and lower-case letters
3. Institutions, including departments, where research was performed. Give the address of each, not including the street address but including the zip or postal code. Indicate clearly which authors are affiliated with which institutions using the following symbols: *, , ** and
4. Name, complete mailing address, telephone number, FAX number and E-mail address of author responsible for proofs and correspondence about the manuscript.
5. Shortened form of the title, 48 characters maximum, including spaces.

The title should be a descriptive and concise declarative sentence naming the species studied but not beginning with "Effects of ... ." Numbered titles for series of papers are not permitted.

5.2.Abstract.  The abstract must be a single paragraph of no more than 250 words summarizing (1) the problem addressed by the study, (2) its relevance to the field, (3) the theory or hypothesis that guided the research, (4) the sample or population, (5) the design/methodology including measures used, and (6) a clear statement of the results and conclusions. Because abstracts are often published alone, abbreviations and citations should be avoided.

List a maximum of five key words for subject classification in The Journal of Nutrition annual index. The species studied should be one of the key words.

5.3.Text.  Besides meeting the requirements in Table 1, the text must be clear, concise and understandable to readers from other fields and other countries. It should use grammatically correct language without euphemism or laboratory jargon. Use declarative sentences and avoid the passive voice. Use the first person when appropriate.

Use past tense when referring to the study on which the paper is based. Reserve present tense for referring to existing knowledge or prevailing concepts and for stating conclusions. Clearly differentiate previous knowledge from new contributions.

Do not italicize (underline) such commonly used phrases as "et al.," "in vivo" or "in vitro." Foreign words and phrases not commonly found in an English-language dictionary should be italicized or underlined in the manuscript. When appropriate, italicize symbols for variables and constants.

5.3.1.Usage.  Do not use the phrases "fed ad libitum" or "ad libitum-fed." It is not the feeding but the consumption that is ad libitum. Use phrases such as "with free access to" or "were given free access to."

Do not use "fast," "fasted" or "fasting" to indicate that food was withheld from experimental animals. Because "fast" means a voluntary abstaining from food, its use should be restricted to studies involving freely complying human subjects. Use phrases such as "food-deprived" and "food was withheld."

Use no more than one solidus (slash or slanting line) for "per" in a symbol expression. For example, to abbreviate "0.6 g Ca per kg per day" use one of the following forms:

Use the solidus only for "per" except in equations. Do not use it to indicate groupings, e.g., the high fiber/low fat diet; use a comma or a dash. Use a colon instead of the solidus for ratios. Although the phrase "and/or" should be avoided in formal writing and can usually be replaced by either "and" or "or," the solidus may be used when this phrase is unavoidable.

Other points of usage for scientific writing are covered in Scientific Style and Format (Huth 1994).

5.3.2.Human and animal research.  In manuscripts describing research on humans, include a statement that the protocol was reviewed and approved by the appropriate institutional committee or that it complied with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 as revised in 1983. Research on animals should include a statement that the protocol was reviewed and approved by the appropriate committee or complied with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NRC 1985). If animals were killed, include a statement describing the method. Do not use such euphemisms as "sacrificed" and "euthanized."

5.3.3.Sections of the paper.  Journal of Nutrition research articles are usually divided into the following sections, titled with centered upper-case headings. Sections should be included in the following order:

Some variation from this basic format is acceptable. For example, the Materials and Methods section may be separated into two sections if this enhances readability. The Results and Discussion sections may be combined into a single Results and Discussion section if appropriate.

5.3.4.Materials and methods.  Documentation of methods and materials used should be sufficient to permit replication of the research. Describe control and experimental subjects, giving age, weight, sex, race and, for animals, breed or strain. Give the name, city and state or country of the suppliers of experimental animals. State the source of specialized materials, diets, chemicals and instruments and other equipment, with model or catalog numbers where appropriate. Specify kits, analyzers and commercial laboratories used. Include the type of method (e.g., colorimetric, RIA, ELISA). Describe standardization, quality control and modifications of the assays. Include the name, city and state or country of the supplier parenthetically in the text. Give information on the purity of the chemicals used.

5.3.5.Diets.  Guidelines and a checklist for investigations of human dietary intake are available in Nelson et al. (1993). These authors suggest that questionnaires used in studies of dietary intake be published where possible, be cited in a reference, or, if these alternatives are not available, that the questionnaires be submitted with the manuscript for peer review.

Detail the composition of control and experimental diets, the means by which this was validated and any pertinent primary and interacting nutrients. When the composition of a diet is published for the first time in The Journal of Nutrition, provide complete information on all components. A table is generally useful. The composition of diets previously described in The Journal may be summarized in the text with a literature citation. The proximate composition of closed formula diets should be given as amounts of protein, energy, fat and fiber.

Components should be expressed in mass concentrations (g/kg diet) or substance concentrations (µmol/kg diet) rather than as percentages.

Refer to the "Guidelines for Describing Diets for Experimental Animals" (AIN 1987a), the two reports of the AIN ad hoc committee on standards for nutritional studies (AIN 1977 and 1980) and the report of the AIN ad hoc writing committee on the reformulation of the AIN-76A rodent diet (AIN 1993) for information concerning experimental diets. Refer to Baker (1987) for a discussion of purified diet formulation.

5.3.6.Numbers.  Use Arabic rather than Roman numerals and cardinal rather than ordinal numbers throughout, including references to tables and figures, e.g., Group 3, not the third group or Group III; Table 1, not Table I. For values less than 1, include a zero before the decimal point.

5.3.7.Statistical methods.  In the Materials and Methods section, describe statistical tests and indicate the probability level (P) at which differences were considered significant. If several tests were used, indicate specifically which groups or treatments were analyzed with each. Indicate whether data were transformed before analysis. Cite references (other than the statistical package) for all analyses other than ANOVA, Student's t test or chi-square test and specify any statistical computer programs used. Give the version of the software and list the supplier parenthetically in the text with city and state or country, e.g., (SAS/STAT Version 6, SAS Institute, Cary, NC).

In tables and figures, present the results of the analysis in the body or use superscripts to indicate significant differences and define the superscripts in a table footnote or the figure legend. Provide the appropriate statistics of variability. Standard ANOVA methodology assumes a homogeneous variance, and, except in instances of unequal numbers (n) per treatment, a pooled SEM rather than individual SEM (i.e., per treatment) should be used to describe variability for response criteria. An estimate of the error variance (SD or SEM) of group means should be displayed in figures. If error variance is tested and found to be heterogeneous, either data should be log transformed before ANOVA or nonparametric tests should be used. In instances when the experimental treatment design involves built-in comparisons, orthogonal single df comparisons (with assessment of interactions if appropriate) should be used in preference to a range test. When quantitatively expressing a dependent variable (y) as a function of an independent variable (x), describe the regression equation used and provide an indication of fit (e.g., r²). For a discussion of variability calculations and curve-fitting procedures, see Baker (1986).

5.3.8.Units of measure.  Most measurements must conform to le Syseme Internationale d'Unies (SI) (American Society for Testing and Materials 1993, Page and Vigoureux 1986, Young 1987). The metric system and the Celsius scale (°C) must be used. Concentrations should be expressed on a molar basis. No prefix other than milli-, micro-, nano- or pico- should be used with liter, e.g., 100 mL not 1 dL. Except for diet composition, limit mass concentrations, e.g., g/L, mg%. Convert to substance concentration, e.g., mol/L. The denominator should be L rather than mL, 100 mL, etc. Do not use M, mM, N, etc.

Use SI units exclusively or use one of the two other acceptable options. (1) Use SI units and, if appropriate, provide conventional units parenthetically in the text and give conversion factors in table footnotes and figure legends. (2) Use conventional units, if appropriate, and provide SI units parenthetically in the text and give conversion factors in table footnotes and figure legends.

5.3.9.Nomenclature.  Use the following nomenclature standards:

1. Chemical and biochemical terms and abbreviations must conform to the recommended usage of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB).¹
2. Enzymes should be identified with their EC numbers and systemic names conforming to the enzyme nomenclature policy of the IUBMB (IUBMB 1992).
3. Names for vitamins and related compounds should follow the AIN nomenclature policy (AIN 1990).
4. Abbreviations for amino acids must follow the AIN nomenclature policy (AIN 1987b). Use these abbreviations in tables and figures, but not in the text.
5. Designations for unsaturated fatty acids should comply with the IUPAC-IUBMB nomenclature,¹ which recommends the (n-x) system, where x represents the number of carbon atoms from the end of the acyl chain to the nearest double bond. The parentheses must always be included, even when referring to "(n-x) fatty acids" in the text.

Use the complete names of chemicals with complex formulas in the text. Formulas may be used in tables and figures.

5.3.10.Abbreviations.  Because abbreviations make text difficult to read, especially for readers from other fields and other countries, avoid abbreviations unless absolutely necessary. Table 2 is an abridged list of abbreviations that may be used without definition in Journal of Nutrition articles. Other standard abbreviations are listed in Scientific Style and Format (Huth 1994). Cumbersome terms may be abbreviated when necessary after first being defined in the text.

Please observe the following guidelines when creating new abbreviations:

1. Avoid all but the most standard abbreviations in the abstract (see section 5.2).
2. Use as few as possible in one article (<5).
3. Do not abbreviate simple terms such as cholesterol, dry matter and triglycerides.
4. Do not begin sentences with abbreviations or use them in titles or subtitles.

Define all abbreviations on first use in the text in the following manner:

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) was found ... .

If there are three or more abbreviations defined in the text, include an abbreviation footnote. This footnote should be associated only with the first abbreviation defined in the text and should be constructed in the following manner:

¹Abbreviations used: apo, apolipoprotein; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid.

Include all abbreviations used in the text section of the paper in alphabetical order, followed by their definitions. Abbreviations used in tables and figures must be separately defined in the legend or a footnote for each table or figure.

Use the standard abbreviations for SI prefixes found in Table 3 and those for units of measure in Table 4. Abbreviations and unit symbols should not be followed by a period or pluralized (e.g., 532 mg, not 532 mg. or 532 mgs).

5.3.11.Acknowledgments.  Technical assistance and advice may be acknowledged in a section at the end of the text. Obtain written permission to mention each person named and include assurance that this permission has been given in the letter of submission. List financial support in a footnote to the title (see section 5.5.1), not in the acknowledgments.

5.4.Literature cited.  Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all literature citations. Personal communications, articles that have not yet been accepted and unpublished data cannot be included in the Literature Cited section but should appear parenthetically in the text. Personal communications must be written and permission to use them obtained in writing. Include the affiliation of the person providing the communication in the text. Avoid using abstracts as references when possible. Identify them as abstracts when they must be used (see number 3 below).

Articles accepted for publication but not published may be cited as "in press" (see number 5 below). Such papers must have actually been accepted when final revisions are completed on the current article.

References to oral reports, bulletins, theses and other materials should be included in the Literature Cited section.

Abbreviate journal names according to BioSciences Information Service (1994). If a journal is not listed in this source, abbreviate according to the rules of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI 1985) or spell the journal name in full. Do not italicize journal or book titles.

In the text, cite references by author and year of publication:

Rats were fed as previously described (Brown 1992). We analyzed lipids by the method of Smith and Jones (1989).

In the text, when citing an article that has more than two authors, use "et al.," e.g., "Brown et al. (1992) investigated ... ." When citing multiple references together, include them in alphabetical rather than chronological order, e.g., "Other investigators (Allen and Zander 1992, Crawford 1983, Smith et al. 1989) found ... ." Use a comma between multiple citations in the text and a space only between authors and dates.

For multiple citations in one year from the same authors, use 1990a, 1990b, etc., including them in the order they appear in the Literature Cited section. If two or more references from one year have different authors with the same last name, use initials as well.

In the Literature Cited section, cite references alphabetically, without numbering. Do not use "et al." but include all authors' names for every article. Styles for different types of citations are as follows:

1. Journals: Jones, A. C., Brown, B. C. D. & Little, C. (1992) Title of the article. Journal 11: 111-113.
2. Books: Brown, B. C. D. & Jones, A. (1992) Article title. In: Book Title (Little, C., ed.), vol. 2, pp. 1-20. Publisher, city and state or country.
3. Abstracts: Jones, A. C., Brown, B. C. D. & Little, C. (1992) Title of the abstract. Journal 11: 111 (abs.).
4. Theses: Jones, A. C. (1992) Title of the Thesis. Doctoral thesis, university name, city and state or country.
5. In press articles: Jones, A. C., Brown, B. C. D. & Little, C. (probable publication year) Title of the article. Journal (in press).

5.5.Text footnotes.  Number text footnotes consecutively, including those on the title page. Footnotes to tables are numbered separately for each table. Text footnotes should be compiled on a separate page and should be used for the following types of information:

5.5.1.Footnotes to the title: 

1. Earlier presentation at symposia or meetings, giving the name, date and location of the presentation. If an abstract was published, cite all authors, year, title, journal, volume and page number.
2. Acknowledgment of financial support of research
3. Institutional approval of paper for publication and its identification in an institutional series.

5.5.2.Footnotes to an author's name: 

1. Author for correspondence and reprint requests
2. Current address of an author if different from the affiliation given.

5.5.3.Footnotes to the text: 

1. Abbreviation footnote (see section 5.3.10)
2. Composition of diets and vitamin and mineral mixtures if not presented in a table.

5.6.Tables.  Use tables only when they are the best way to present material. Design them to be interpretable without reference to the text. See current issues of The Journal for style. The following guidelines apply:

1. Type tables and their footnotes (numbered independently of text footnotes) double-spaced. If this requires more than one page, indicate "continued" at the bottom of the page and "continued, Table n" at the top of the next.
2. The title should be a concise but full description of the contents of the table. Information concerning methods should be in footnotes. Include explanatory material in a footnote to the table rather than in the title.
3. Statistics of variability (e.g., SD, pooled SEM) and the significance of differences among the data should be shown.
4. Indicate units of measure clearly, two lines above the first value in each column or centered over all columns to which the unit applies. Do not put units in the title or in a footnote.
5. Cite tables sequentially in the text. Boldface the first reference to each table.
6. References cited in tables should be included in the Literature Cited section.

Tables adapted or reproduced from another source must acknowledge that source in a footnote and be accompanied by written proof that the copyright bearer has granted permission for use of the table.

5.7.Figures.  Use figures only when they are the best way to present material. See current issues of The Journal for style. The following guidelines apply:

1. All figures will be reproduced at one-column width (9 cm) unless complexity of the figure demands a two-column width (18.5 cm). Figures that are not complex enough for a two-column size but that would be illegible after reduction to one column will be returned to the author for revision.
2. Legends for all figures in the manuscript should be compiled and typed double-spaced on a separate page and not on the figures themselves. Titles should be in the legend and not on the figures.
3. Each legend should contain enough detail, including statistics, to ensure that the figure is interpretable without reference to the text.
4. Affix a label to the back of each figure with the manuscript title, author's name and figure number, and clearly indicate the top. Do not write on the front or back of the original figures. Figures without appropriate labels will be returned.
5. Abbreviations, units and symbols must conform to Journal style.
6. Do not apply transfer lettering to the surface of a glossy print.
7. Freehand and typewritten lettering are not acceptable.

Figures adapted or reproduced from another source must acknowledge that source in a footnote and be accompanied by written proof that the copyright bearer has granted permission for use of the figure.

Special requirements for different types of figures and the number of each to send are included in the following sections.

5.7.1.Line drawings.  Submit original, high quality line drawings (laser printed or glossy print) in a protective envelope. A photocopy of each line drawing must be attached to each of the five copies of the manuscript. Submit original prints, not photocopies, of DNA/RNA blots and electrophoretic gels.

5.7.2.Black and white photographs.  Six glossy prints of each black and white photograph must be submitted, one attached to each of five manuscript copies and one in a protective envelope. Photomicrographs should have internal scale markers.

5.7.3.Color photographs.  Authors bear the cost of publication of color photographs. Cost information may be obtained from the technical editors. Submit six glossy prints of each figure as with black and white photographs. Photomicrographs should have internal scale markers.

	6.PROOFS AND CORRECTIONS

Read proofs and the edited manuscript carefully and answer all queries. Make only essential changes, marking only on the proof. Authors will be charged for changes other than correction of typographical or editorial errors. Modifications made by the technical editors for style, grammar and readability may not be changed by the author unless scientific meaning has been compromised.

Return proof, manuscript and completed reprint order form within 48 hours after they arrive. Failure to observe this deadline can result in delayed publication. Return the reprint order form even if reprints are not ordered, indicating on the form that no reprints are desired.

	7.AUXILIARY PUBLICATION

To conserve space in The Journal, unusually lengthy descriptions of experimental procedures, extensive data, extra figures and other important supplementary information may be deposited without charge to the author with the American Society for Information Science, National Auxiliary Publications Service (NAPS), through the editorial office. The material to be deposited with NAPS should accompany each copy of the manuscript submitted and it should be clearly labeled as "material for deposition with NAPS." A footnote will be included in the paper to give information on the availability of photoprint or microfiche copies at moderate cost.

	8.DISK SUBMISSION

Authors will be asked to submit a computer diskette after all requested revisions have been made and are encouraged to submit a disk with the original submission of the manuscript. The following word processing programs are compatible with The Journal of Nutrition publication services: PC Word Perfect 5.1, 6.0, 6.1, 7.0; PC Word 6.0, 7.0; MAC Word Perfect; MAC Word.

	9.PUBLICATION COSTS TO AUTHORS

9.1.Page charges.  Accepted manuscripts will be published with the understanding that authors will pay a page charge of $60 per page to help defray publication costs, billed when author proofs are mailed. Authors lacking funding from grant or other sources may request a waiver at that time. Requests for waivers will not delay publication but must be countersigned by an appropriate institutional official verifying that no funds are available for paying page charges. Information concerning page charges may be obtained from the ASNS business office.

9.2.Reprints.  Partial support for the cost of publication is included in the cost of reprints. Information concerning cost of reprints will be sent by the ASNS business office on request.

A reprint order form with rate list will be sent with author proofs. Reprints are prepared only when ordered by authors and are printed when The Journal is printed. Authors should order enough for their total reprint requirements at this time. If authors order at least 100 reprints and their supply subsequently becomes exhausted, they may request permission to reproduce a specific limited number of additional reprints.

	10.COPYRIGHT

The American Society for Nutritional Sciences, publisher of The Journal of Nutrition, holds the copyright on all Journal articles. The 1978 copyright law requires that specific copyright transfer be obtained from all authors of each paper. Transfer of copyright forms that can be photocopied are printed in the January issue of The Journal. An original signature is required from each author. Copies of the completed form may be signed by each author independently, if necessary. All signed transfer of copyright forms should be included when manuscripts are submitted.

Authors retain the following rights:

If no reprints were ordered at the time of publication, permission to reproduce the article will be granted upon payment of the appropriate reprint charge. The abstract of any article may be reproduced in any form, or translated, without specific permission, provided that the original citation is included.