INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

Plant Physiology, 2019	Last Edited November 6, 2019

• Scope
  • Plant Physiology is an international journal that publishes on the broadest aspects of plant biology. The journal welcomes original submissions that offer new and fundamental insights into the origins, development, and function of plants from the molecular to the whole organism and its interactions within the biotic and abiotic environment. Plant Physiology encourages submissions that span a range of technologies, including those of structural, molecular, and cellular biology, biochemistry, biophysics, bioenergetics, genetics, physiology, and field-based approaches as well as those making use of synthetic, modeling, bioinformatics, and -omics tools. Manuscripts submitted to Plant Physiology must not be under simultaneous consideration or have been published elsewhere, either in part or in whole. Prior publication on preprint servers, as a poster abstract or an oral presentation is not considered previous publication of the research.
    
    Plant Phys normally will not publish work that is:
    
    •  purely descriptive in content
    •  confirmatory, preliminary, or incomplete, including research based primarily on analysis of a single allele or transgenic line.
    •  reports on well-known processes in another species
    •  reports a bioinformatic or –omic analysis, or genetic association study, without functional validation and new mechanistic insights
    
    Permissions policy
    
    Ethics Policy

• Quick guide: Submission requirements

  • Please see Full submission guidelines for more detail

    Plant Physiology is now accepting author-created PDFs at FIRST SUBMISSION!

    Authors can create their own complete manuscript PDFs (including full manuscript text, figures/tables) and upload at submission. These PDFs should be no larger than 25MB (smaller is better). Author-created manuscript PDFs should NOT include supplemental data. Authors will also still need to provide a DOC file of the manuscript text at submission. Please be certain to include line numbering in your author-created PDF.

    Before you submit, please have ready:

    Cover letter: A decision on whether, and how, to handle a manuscript is based initially on this letter

    Do not simply repeat the manuscript abstract

    Clearly state the significance of the work to understanding in plant biology in the broadest terms

    Explain how the work will advance knowledge of plant biology and/or enable research in the future

    Justify any disqualification of potential reviewers (the editors will consider disqualifications only if the reasoning is explained in the covering letter)

    Indicate if the journal is to consider more than one senior author in publication - sound, material justification for multiple senior authorship is needed or the journal will not consider requests

    Manuscript text file

    Author Contributions

    Please include on the first page of your manuscript after the titles and author list a breakdown of the authors' contributions for a first-page footnote. The format should be similar to the following, including information on the various methods used where appropriate: A.A. conceived the original screening and research plans; B.B. and C.D. supervised the experiments; Z.Y. performed the experiments using the GG methods and C.D. performed the experiments based on HH methods; Y.X. provided technical assistance to Z.Y.; A.B. designed the experiments and analyzed the data; B.B. conceived the project and wrote the article with contributions of all the authors; Z.Z. supervised and completed the writing. D.D. agrees to serve as the author responsible for contact and ensures communication.

    Responsibilities of the Author for Contact

    It is the responsibility of the author for contact to ensure that all scientists who have contributed substantially to the conception, design or execution of the work described in the manuscript are included as authors, in accordance with the guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines. It is the responsibility of the author for contact also to ensure that all authors agree to the list of authors and the identified contributions of those authors.

    One-sentence summary

    Figure files: 1 figure per file; include the legend as part of the file

    Help With Digital Art

    Supplemental Materials in one pdf

• Quick guide: Submitting a revision
  • 
    
    Before you submit, please have ready:

    Response to reviewers with annotations to changes in manuscript

    Revised text file with all changes highlighted

    Final, revised one-sentence summary

    Figure files (1 figure per file with legends included)

    vTOC icon

    Funding information

    Next-gen sequence or microarray data (if applicable)

• Research Areas and Editor Expertise

  • These categories are not rigid and you may select an editor from any area
    Editor-in-Chief: Mike Blatt (membrane transport physiology and biophysics, stomata, membrane trafficking, quantitative systems modelling)

  • Biochemistry and Metabolism
    
    
    publishes work on primary and secondary metabolic pathways of plants. Submissions must be novel and significant, providing clear insight into function. Use of large-scale datasets is encouraged provided they contribute mechanistic insight. The design and applications of new macromolecules through synthetic technology is of interest, as are new methods, especially those that, in the longer term, will allow the production of plants that work more effectively for us.
    • Associate Editors
      Julian Hibberd (C3/C4 metabolism, photosynthesis)
      Cathie Martin (flowering, metabolism, diet/health, secondary natural products, enzymology)
      Monitoring Editors
      Alain Goossens (jasmonate signaling, secondary metabolism, synthetic biology )
      Tony Bacic (cell wall biosynthesis, proteomics, functional genomics, cell wall proteins, cell expansion)
      Joerg Bohlmann (wood formation, molecular genetics, biotechnology, cell walls, woody plant genomics, comparative genomics)
      Peter Geigenberger (sugar-sensing, starch metabolism, redox alterations, oxygen stress, metabolic regulation)
      Graham Noctor (reactive oxygen species, glutathione biosynthesis and physiology, N and C metabolism, photorespiration)
      Eran Pichersky (volatiles, secondary metabolism, terpenes, floral biochemistry)
      Markus Schwarzländer (respiration, mitochondria, primary metabolism, redox-active thiols, calcium dynamics, intracellular transport, fluorescent protein sensing)
      Alison Smith (algal physiology and biochemistry, biofuels, photosynthesis, vitamins)
      Frank van Breusegem (oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species, photorespiration, proteases, redox, retrograde signaling)
      Astrid Wingler (carbohydrate metabolism, leaf senescence, sugar-sensing)
      

  • Breakthrough Technologies, Tools, and Resources
    addresses the development and application of new experimental or theoretical methods, tools and resources that are frequently the key for new insights into physiological processes. This area provides a platform for developments in theoretical, analytical and experimental methodologies, and for enabling tools and resources that will find wide use within the plant research community. Such technologies, tools and resources are expected to go beyond incremental improvements to what currently exists and should enable major advances in addressing fundamental questions in plant physiology.
    • Associate Editor
      Gerhard Thiel (membrane biophysics, biophysical sensor technologies, ion channels, algal virus evolution)
      Monitoring Editors
      Matthew Hannah (crop yield, plant breeding and biotechnology, computational biology, omics analysis)
      
  • Cell Biology
    publishes on specialized functions of different cell types that support all aspects of plant physiology, signaling, development, morphogenesis and the interactions of plants with their environment. The Cell Biology area welcomes manuscripts that address the cellular mechanisms behind these processes across the scales from molecules to organelles, cells and tissues, as well as manuscripts that integrate these topics with dynamic processes relevant to homeostasis, growth and development. Work that addresses fundamental questions through quantitative analysis of cellular activities is especially welcome.
    • Associate Editor
      Alice Cheung (signal transduction, sexual reproduction, protein targeting, pollen-pistil interactions)
      Monitoring Editors
      Diane C. Bassham (membrane traffic, vacuoles, SNARE and exocyst proteins, autophagy)
      Anja Geitmann (polar development, roots, cytoskeleton, gravisensing, mycorrhizae, systems modelling)
      Eirini Kaiserli (light signaling, photomorphogenesis, photoperiodic flowering, nuclear architecture, nuclear localization and trafficking, transcription)
      Wataru Sakamoto (chloroplast biogenesis, genetics, organelles, photosynthesis, protein degradation)
      Dan Szymanski (cell differentiation, GTPases, cytoskeleton, systems modelling)
      Alex Webb (Ca²⁺ signaling, circadian clocks, cell biology of stress)
      Shaul Yalovsky (signaling networks and transduction, protein targeting, cell development, auxin, GTPases)
      Viktor Zarsky (secretory pathway/endomembrane trafficking, GTP-ases/-binding proteins, tethering complexes, exocyst, phospholipid signalling/phospholipases, NADPH oxidases, pollen tube regulation, cytoskeleton)
  • Ecophysiology and Sustainability
    focuses on plant physiology as it synthesizes genetic, biochemical, biophysical, cellular and tissue level concepts in a whole plant context. The area of Ecophysiology and Sustainability is home for first-rate physiology that includes responses to environment and effects of plants on the environment. It welcomes submissions within the plant side of a continuum that extends to ecology and to crop improvement.
    • Associate Editor
      Graham Farquhar (gas exchange, photosynthesis and nitrogen, modelling, whole canopy physiology)
      John Evans (photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency, light utilization in photosynthesis, acclimation)
      Monitoring Editors
      Carl Bernacchi (canopy level gas exchange, eddy covariance, FACE, crop physiology)
      Tim Brodribb (xylem, leaf, stomata, evolution, photosynthesis, evolution, cavitation, drought, water stress, hydraulics)
      N. Michele Holbrook (xylem, phloem, water relations, transpiration, stomata, source-sink, cavitation, embolism, biomechanics, pit membranes)
      Tracy Lawson (Gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, stomata, photosynthesis, plant phenotyping, environmental stress, stomatal physiology)
      Ronald Pierik (photobiology, photomorphogenesis, shade avoidance, photoreceptor, hormones, auxin, gibberellin, development, phenotypic plasticity, signalling)
      
  • Genes, Development, and Evolution
    addresses molecular, genetic, and genomic studies of important genes and pathways associated with plant function and development. Manuscripts that report on fundamental research of structural and functional genomics, epigenetics and chromatin biology, and evolutionary studies of gene families and plant biological processes are especially welcome. Use of large-scale datasets is encouraged provided they contribute mechanistic insight.
    • Associate Editors
      Jiming Jiang (genome evolution and mapping, epigenetics, comparative genomics)
      Elisabeth (Toby) Kellogg (evolution of development, QTL mapping, genome evolution, development)
      Monitoring Editors
      Klaus Harter (cell development, receptors, ethylene, imaging technology, photobiology, two-component signal cascades)
      Cris Kuhlemeier (leaf development, plant-pollinator interactions, breeding, molecular ecology)
      Jill Preston (evolution of development, stress adaptation, plant reproductive development, molecular evolution, gene expression evolution)
      Neelima Sinha (evolutionary genetics and developmental evolution, long-distance partitioning, molecular evolution, shoot patterning, KNOX genes)
      Christa Testerink (abiotic stress, root growth and development, arabidopsis natural variation, salinity tolerance, phospholipid signalling, auxin transport, root architecture, developmental plasticity)
      Keiko Torii (guard cell development and genetics, protein kinase/phosphatase cascades and signaling)
      Rod Wing (genome biology, comparative evolutionary genomics, sequencing, bioinformatics)
      Jixian Zhai (small RNA, micro RNA, DNA methylation, histone modification, chromatin architecture, epigenomics, and high-throughput sequencing)
      
  • Membranes, Transport, and Bioenergetics
    focuses on the basic physiological processes that generate biological energy and utilize it to carry out work that underpins cellular homestasis, plant growth and development. Manuscripts addressing fundamental aspects of these processes, including photosynthesis and respiration, across scales and using biophysical, biochemical and physiological approaches are encouraged.
    • Associate Editor
      Frans Maathuis (CNGC and Ca²⁺ channel function, electrophysiology)
      Monitoring Editors
      Matthew Gilliham (electrophysiology, membrane transport, ion transport, abiotic stress, stress signaling, nutrition, root biology, stomata)
      Christophe Maurel (aquaporins, hydraulics, membrane protein phosphorylation, membrane transport, water stress signaling, root transport)
      Tony Miller (nitrogen nutrition, electrophysiology, ion-coupled transporters)
      Sébastien Mongrand (lipids, sterols, sphingolipids, plasma membrane, rafts, nanodomains, metabolism, signaling, kinase, lipase, remorin)
      Alexander Ruban (photobiophysics, photosynthetic electron transport, xanthophyll cycle)
      Yi-Fang Tsay (molecular biology of plant nutrition, root development, nitrogen and carbon assimilation, nitrate sensing)
      Nicolaus von Wiren (molecular biology of plant nutrition, root development, metabolomics, iron, boron, phosphorus)
      Elsbeth Walker (nutrient and metal transport, metal stress, biochemical genetics)
      
  • Signaling and Response
    is home for basic research into the molecular mechanisms by which plants perceive, transduce, and convert signals into responses across scales from the molecular and cellular to the whole plant. Manuscripts are particularly welcome that address questions pertaining to plant growth and development, responses to biotic and abiotic stress, and to symbiotic and endophytic interactions. Submissions are encouraged that broaden our mechanistic understanding of receptors, second-messenger systems, hormone signaling, and transcriptional regulation.
    • Associate Editors
      Teun Munnik (signal transduction, abiotic stress, lipid signalling and protein kinases)
      Kim Hammond-Kosack (plant-pathogen interactions, grasses)
      Monitoring Editors
      Jean-Michel M. Ané (Plant-Microbe Interactions, Legumes, Symbiosis, Nitrogen Fixation, Mycorrhiza, Rhizobium)
      Matthias Erb (plant-herbivore interactions, plant-plant interactions, tritrophic interactions, secondary metabolism, plant volatiles)
      Christian Fankhauser (photoreceptors, light-regulated development, phototropism, shade-avoidance, signal transduction, bHLH transcription factors, protein kinase)
      Zhizhong Gong (gene silencing, drought and abiotic stresses)
      Stacey Harmer (circadian rhythms, gene regulation, photomorphogenesis, signal transduction)
      Hailing Jin (siRNAs, host-pathogen interactions, epigenetics)
      Junko Kyozuka (Grass development/Inflorescence development/Shoot branching/Strigolactone/Marchantia)
      Ralph Panstruga (plants pathogens and plant disease resistance, genetics of disease resistance)
      Ronald Pierik (photobiology, photomorphogenesis, shade avoidance, photoreceptor, hormones, auxin, gibberellin, development, phenotypic plasticity, signalling)
      Eric Schaller (ethylene signal transduction, protein targeting, proteomics, signal transduction and hormone action)
      Jurriaan Ton (plant-pathogen interactions, micorrhyzae, epigenetics, defense priming)
      Jianhua Zhang (water stress, water relations, drought, abscisic acid, crop physiology, grain filling, water-saving crop production)
      Yunde Zhao (auxin signal transduction, hormone biochemistry, plant development)
      
  • Systems and Synthetic Biology
    features articles on research to understand and reconfigure the operation of plant functional modules, networks and (sub)systems. Systems and Synthetic Biology encourages submissions of work on computational analysis and modelling in all areas of plant sciences, including ‘omic’ and other system-wide datasets, and on the development and applications of novel pathways through synthetic technology that, in the longer term, will put plants to work for us in new ways. Studies that contain large datasets but are more narrowly focused should be directed to the section most appropriate for the biological function(s) under study.
    • Associate Editor
      Joachim Kopka (metabolomics, metabolite profiling, systems analysis, gene expression)
      Monitoring Editors
      Karl-Josef Dietz (signaling networks, redox alterations, photosynthesis, gene expression, abiotic stress)
      Andrew Hanson (metabolic biochemistry, metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, B vitamin metabolism, primary metabolism, metabolite damage and repair)
      Ning Jiang (transposons, genomic evolution, rice)
      Zoran Nikoloski (constraint-based metabolic modeling of plant metabolism, kinetic modeling of plant biochemical networks, large-scale integration of omics data, flux profiling, genotype-phenotype relationship)
      Poul Erik Jensen (photosynthetic chloroplast gene expression, synthetic biology)
      Jocelyn (Joss) Rose (proteomics, plant defense responses, fruit ripening, cell wall proteins, cell expansion)
      Nicholas Smirnoff (plant and algal metabolism, metabolomics, metabolic engineering, reactive oxygen species, ascorbic acid, antioxidants, high light responses/signalling)
      Eleanore (Elli) Wurtzel ((plant metabolic engineering, maize genetics, carotenoid biosynthesis, biochemical genetics)
      
  • Reviews
    • Associate Editor
      Julia Bailey-Serres (hypoxia, signaling networks, redox alterations, protein synthesis, mitochondria)

• Article types

  • Research Articles

    Full-length Research Articles present original findings with new and fundamental insights into the biological processes of plants and/or set out novel approaches, tools, or resources that will enable scientific progress. Research Articles typically include 6-10 figures and tables, <7000 words in the main text plus the abstract and 30-50 citations, and may include Supplemental Material.

    Research Reports

    Research Reports are a forum for new and original findings and/or methods that are highly focused, and challenge current approaches or thinking in the plant sciences. Like full-length Research Articles, a Research Report must address hypotheses about the origins, development, and/or functions of plants or add substantially to approaches, tools, and resources that enable scientific progress. Ideally, a Research Report should be <6 pages (<3000 words), including 4-5 tables and figures, and <30 citations.

    Letters

    Letters are unsolicited and provide a forum for scientific correspondence on new research findings and ideas that are highly focused. They do not incur publication charges. The Letter format is limited to a maximum of three journal pages (<1000 words). Letter submissions are typically based on analysis of existing literature and/or limited experimentation. Letters should include no more than 2 figures and tables. Any supplemental experimental material must be directly related to these figures and tables. Letters will be considered subject to the extent to which thinking is challenged on topics of interest to the Journal. Letters should include a short title and salutation to the Editor ("Dear Sir," or "Dear Editor,"). Letters do not include an abstract. Instead, the main conclusion and its significance should be summarized in the first paragraph along with sufficient background for the reader to understand the context of the problem. Letters must not include separate sections for methods, results, or discussion, although these components of a Letter may be interwoven within the text and figure legends where necessary. Author names and affiliations should appear at the end of the text before the citations. As appropriate, a summary of author contributions should be included as supplemental material. Citations are limited to a maximum of 20.

    Breakthrough Technologies, Tools, and Resources

    Breakthrough technologies, Tools, and Resources addresses the development and application of new experimental or theoretical methods, tools and resources that are frequently the key for new insights into physiological processes. This area provides a platform for developments in theoretical, analytical and experimental methodologies, and for enabling tools and resources that will find wide use within the plant research community. Such technologies, tools and resources are expected to go beyond incremental improvements to what currently exists and should enable major advances in addressing fundamental questions in plant physiology.

    Updates

    Updates are solicited reviews of recent progress and meant to be resources for research and advanced teaching tools. Updates should not exceed 5000 words in the main body of the text, and may include figures and tables. In addition, Updates may include Boxes with figures, tables, and/or text that highlights particular topics and/or concepts or introduces outstanding questions and/or challenges in the field. Updates are primarily associated with Focus Issues. Authors wishing to contribute an Update to a regular issue must first correspond with the Editor-in-Chief or Associate Editor for Reviews.

    Items for Inclusion in Updates (this text is not counted towards the main body:
    
    Advances Box (900 characters, including spaces, required)
    
    • The Advances box is a short collection of bullet point statements (3-5) that concisely convey to the reader the recent advances in the area, including emerging concepts and/or distinctions, that constitute a main motivation for the discussion developed in the article.
    • As the box aims to focus on recent developments, conclusions and future directions should be discussed in the Concluding Remarks section and/or the Outstanding Questions box.
    • The text in the Advances Box is not called out in the text.
    • The Advances Box does not count towards the total number of allowed display elements in the manuscript.
    
    Outstanding Questions Box (900 characters, including spaces, required)
    
    • Important questions for future research should be summarized in a box (not included in box count or element limit). This is an excellent opportunity to offer input and guidance on new directions for the field.
    • Please write succinct questions in list format, with bullet points to indicate the start of a new concept.
    • The Outstanding Questions Box should not include references.
    • The box should be called out in an appropriate section in the text, generally the Concluding Remarks section, as 'see Outstanding Questions'. This element will be placed as the last box in the paper, although it should not be numbered with the other boxes.
    
    Text Boxes
    • Ideal for providing explanations of basic concepts or theories, giving detailed mechanisms, or discussing case studies.
    • Please cite text boxes in the main text as: Box 1.
    • Boxes should have a single sentence title (no more than 8 words).
    • Text boxes can occasionally contain a small figure or table. Please cite the element in the box text.
    • 400 words max per box.
    • References for citations in the box should be included in the main reference list and must also be cited in the main text.
    • No more than three text boxes per article.
    

    Topical Reviews

    Topical Reviews are usually invited and are intended to provide experts and non-experts alike with the conceptual and technical background behind the most important areas of research at the forefront of plant biology. Topical Reviews are normally limited to 8,000 words in the main body of the text, and may include figures and tables. In addition, Topical Reviews may include Boxes with figures, tables, and/or text that highlights particular topics and/or concepts or introduces outstanding questions and/or challenges in the field.
    
    Items for Inclusion in Topical Reviews (this text is not counted towards the main body):
    
    Advances Box (900 characters, including spaces, required)
    
    • The Advances box is a short collection of bullet point statements (3-5) that concisely convey to the reader the recent advances in the area, including emerging concepts and/or distinctions, that constitute a main motivation for the discussion developed in the article.
    • As the box aims to focus on recent developments, conclusions and future directions should be discussed in the Concluding Remarks section and/or the Outstanding Questions box.
    • The text in the Advances Box is not called out in the text.
    • The Advances Box does not count towards the total number of allowed display elements in the manuscript.
    
    Outstanding Questions Box (900 characters, including spaces, required)
    
    • Important questions for future research should be summarized in a box (not included in box count or element limit). This is an excellent opportunity to offer input and guidance on new directions for the field.
    • Please write succinct questions in list format, with bullet points to indicate the start of a new concept.
    • The Outstanding Questions Box should not include references.
    • The box should be called out in an appropriate section in the text, generally the Concluding Remarks section, as 'see Outstanding Questions'. This element will be placed as the last box in the paper, although it should not be numbered with the other boxes.
    
    Text Boxes
    • Ideal for providing explanations of basic concepts or theories, giving detailed mechanisms, or discussing case studies.
    • Please cite text boxes in the main text as: Box 1.
    • Boxes should have a single sentence title (no more than 8 words).
    • Text boxes can occasionally contain a small figure or table. Please cite the element in the box text.
    • 400 words max per box.
    • References for citations in the box should be included in the main reference list and must also be cited in the main text.
    • No more than three text boxes per article.
    

    Founders' Reviews

    Founders' Reviews are by invitation only. They highlight the work of preeminent scientists in plant biology and provide in-depth perspectives on their fields of research. Like Topical Reviews, they are intended to provide experts and non-experts alike with the conceptual and technical background of research of exceptional importance in plant biology. Founders' Reviews should not exceed 14,000 words with references (but excluding supplemental material), and may include up to 6 figures and tables.

    Letters to the Editor

    Letters to the Editor are usually solicited. Uninvited Editorials and Letters to the Editor on topics of interest or controversy may also be considered for publication. Authors should contact the Editor-in-Chief (Mike Blatt; eic-plantphys@glasgow.ac.uk) before submission.

    News and Views

    Plant Physiology regularly includes short insights to accompany articles of special interest to readers, providing additional background for the non-specialist. News and Views may be solicited by the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editor for Reviews, or the Features Editor, and the Journal will consider unsolicited submissions. Potential authors should contact the Editor-in-Chief (Mike Blatt; eic-plantphys@glasgow.ac.uk) before submission.

• Full submission guidelines
  • Research Article organization

    • Plant Physiology is now accepting author-created PDFs at FIRST SUBMISSION!

      Authors can create their own complete manuscript PDFs (including full manuscript text, figures/tables) and upload at submission. These PDFs should be no larger than 25MB (smaller is better). Author-created manuscript PDFs should NOT include supplemental data. Authors will also still need to provide a DOC file of the manuscript text at submission. Please be certain to include line numbering in your author-created PDF.

      Indicate in the Cover Letter if the journal is to consider more than one senior author in publication - sound, material justification for multiple senior authorship is needed or the journal will not consider requests

      ITEMS FOR INCLUSION

      Short title not to exceed 50 characters and spaces

      Author for Contact details

      Article title not to exceed 110 characters and spaces

      All author names and affiliations

    • One sentence summary

      • One single, short sentence (200 characters max)

        Provide a single sentence that encapsulates the central findings you present. Use the active voice and avoid including gene names or other acronyms as much as possible. This sentence should be understandable to someone who is not a plant scientist

        State the most important concept to come from your research

        Focus on the biology, not the methods, unless a it a Breakthrough Technologies paper

        Write it for the non-expert

        Use the active voice

        Avoid abbreviations
        Do not use 'we' and phrasing such as 'this paper shows'

        Examples of well-written summaries:

        An acyltransferase reduces cross linking in grass cell walls, yielding grass leaves and stems that can be more easily broken down to make biofuels. [link to article]

        An epiphytic fungus induces plant resistance against pathogens. [link to article]

        Microbial elicitors and the plant defense hormone jasmonic acid differentially modulates the plant's innate immune response. [link to article]

        An inactive invertase may indirectly stimulate the activity of active cell wall invertases. [link to article]

        
        

    Footnotes in the following order:

    • List of author contributions

      Please include on the first page of your manuscript after the titles and author list a breakdown of the authors' contributions for a first-page footnote. The format should be similar to the following, including information on the various methods used where appropriate: A.A. conceived the original screening and research plans; B.B. and C.D. supervised the experiments; Z.Y. performed the experiments using the GG methods and C.D. performed the experiments based on HH methods; Y.X. provided technical assistance to Z.Y.; A.B. designed the experiments and analyzed the data; B.B. conceived the project and wrote the article with contributions of all the authors; Z.Z. supervised and completed the writing. D.D. agrees to serve as the author responsible for contact and ensures communication.

      Responsibilities of the Author for Contact

      It is the responsibility of the author for contact to ensure that all scientists who have contributed substantially to the conception, design or execution of the work described in the manuscript are included as authors, in accordance with the guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines). It is the responsibility of the author for contact also to ensure that all authors agree to the list of authors and the identified contributions of those authors.

      Funding information (if any)
      

      Present addresses (if any)
      

      Email address of Author for Contact
      

    Abstract (250 word max)

    Introduction, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions

    Materials and Methods

    This section should reference all standard procedures but must be complete enough so that results can be verified by other laboratories.

    Accession numbers

    List at the end of the Material and Methods any data or materials available in a public repository. Novel DNA sequences must be deposited in GenBank (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) and accession numbers listed in text. If a number has not yet been assigned at the time of submission, use xxx as a place holder to be updated later.

    Large datasets

    Datasets too large for inclusion in the manuscript must be uploaded as supplementary material.

    Acknowledgments

    • Tables

      • Provide a heading for each column

      • Use Word’s create table feature—not tabs!

      • Color, shading, and graphics are not supported; make it a figure

      Figure legends

      Literature Cited

      • Use plain text (no bold, italics, etc.)

      • Remove Word fields/extra formatting (such as when extracted from Endnote)

      • In Manuscript Text: Cite all references in text by last names and year of publication. Grouped text citations should be arranged from the earliest to most recent year, alphabetized by name within the same year.

      • In Literature Cited section: Alphabetize by first author’s last name and follow Harvard Style reference formating. Also, see recent publications for examples of reference formatting. PLEASE DO NOT NUMBER REFERENCES.

      • References of/to unpublished data, abstracts, posters, or personal communications are NOT allowed.

      • The accuracy in the Literature Cited section is the responsibility of the authors.

  • TOC icons
    • The journal uses a graphic icon to represent each paper on the Table of Contents, which you should submit with the final production version of the manuscript:
      
      
    • 96 x 96 pixels
    • JPEG format (in RGB color mode)
    • Please note that animated GIFS are no longer permitted
    • If using type, ensure it is legible in the final icon.

    Making an icon from a figure

    • Remove unessential text and graphic elements
    • Reduce the figure to its strongest, most important graphic elements
    • Useful tools for creating and editing icons are Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and GraphicConverter. If an original figure is an EPS file, Illustrator can be used to edit graphic elements and adjust the font size and thickness.
  • Abbreviations

    • A list of abbreviations that can be used without defining is at: https://pphys.msubmit.net/html/Abbreviations.pdf.) 

      Introduce all other abbreviations parenthetically after the first use of the term both in the abstract and the text. Abbreviations must be used three times in the text (this includes table and figure legends) or the term must be spelled out.

      Abbreviations in gene and protein names are acceptable when used 3 or more times. Numbers should be closed up in gene names that are spelled out (i.e., APETALA2). Avoid using an abbreviation first, unless spelling out the name of a gene would make the sentence indecipherable. If possible, define genes and proteins and their abbreviations in functional context when first used. Taxonomic prefixes (At, Os, Nt, etc.) should be closed up to the gene/protein names and match the style (italic or normal type) of the name.

  • Figure Preparation

    • · One file per figure; include the figure number and legend

      · Number figures consecutively according to the order in which they are called out in the text

      · Format your figures according to our "Help With Digital Art" document

      · Provide enough information so that the reader can understand them without significant input from the text

      · Designate panels with capital letters, no parentheses, and no periods after letters, in the upper left-hand corner

      · Whenever possible, position panels vertically for one-column reproduction in the Journal

      · Format the width of sequence data in the paper to one column

      Figure manipulation

      Plant Physiology does not allow enhancements or manipulations of micrographs, gels, or other digital images using Photoshop or any other software. Refer to J Cell Biol 158: 1151 (http://www.jcb.org/cgi/content/full/158/7/1151) and the joint Editorial by Cathie Martin and Mike Blatt (http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/163/1/3.full) for guidance on acceptable and unacceptable digital image manipulation. Plant Physiology reserves the right to ask authors to provide supporting data on which figures were based.

      A few pointers:

      * separate multiple images when collected into a single figure

      * apply contrast, brightness, or color adjustments uniformly to an entire image (or image set if combined)

      * targeted alteration is prohibited
      

    Image data and micrography

    must provide information about the acquisition and processing of the images, including:

    · Make and model of microscope

    · Type, magnification, and numerical apertures of the objective lenses

    · Imaging medium

    · Fluorochromes and related material

    · Make and model of any camera systems

    · Acquisition software and version

    · Software used for image processing subsequent to data acquisition. Please include details and types of operations involved (e.g., type of deconvolution, 3D reconstitutions, surface or volume rendering, gamma adjustments, etc.).

    All micrographs must include a bar to indicate the scale. In general, images representing experimental data must be supported by statistical analyses based on multiple datasets.

    NOTE ON PREPARING FIGURES FOR COLOR VISION-DEFICIENT READERS

    Many readers of the Journal (1 in 12, on average) have some form of color-deficient vision; therefore, when preparing your figures, please observe the following guidelines to ensure that all readers will be able to comprehend your data.
    1. In fluorescent double-staining micrographs and DNA chips, do not use the combination of red and green; use magenta and green instead.
    2. For micrographs with triple or more channels, additionally show either grayscale image of each channel or the combination of the two most important channels in magenta and green.
    3. For graphs and line drawings, label elements on the graph itself rather than making a separate color-coded key. Do not try to convey information in color only, but use BOTH color and shape (solid and dotted lines, different symbols, various hatchings, etc.).
    4. For more information, see the following web site: http://jfly.iam.u-tokyo.ac.jp/color/
  • Cover figure submissions.

    • Each cover of Plant Physiology will have an illustration selected from one of the articles published in that issue. Authors who would like to have a color photograph considered should submit an image online via EJPress when submitting a manuscript or e-mail submissions to the manuscript tracking office at awolf@aspb.org. The image will be forwarded by the manuscript office to the Editor-in-Chief for consideration. If your photograph is selected, you will be contacted by the Production Manager (Jon Munn; jmunn@aspb.org) who will provide additional instructions.

  • Statistical analysis

    • All datasets must be complete and include details of relevant statistical analyses (means, standard deviations, etc.) as well as methods of data normalization, transformation, statistical tests and the statistical package or program used. Statistics and error bars must be applied for independent experiments and not for replicates within a single experiment. In general, a minimum of three biological replicates are required. For a detailed discussion of error bars in experimental biology, see Cumming et al., J. Cell Biol. 177: 7-11.

• Large-scale datasets and other supplemental data

  • Supplemental data

    All supplemental data must be included at submission and will be peer reviewed.

    Where possible, combine all supplemental materials and legends into one PDF.

    Supplemental materials are subject to the same copyright restrictions as published manuscripts and cannot be presented elsewhere without proper citation.

    All materials included as Supplemental data must be cited in the manuscript with direct reference to each item, such as Supplemental Figure S1, Supplemental Table S1, etc.

    Include a list of all Supplemental data at the end of the Materials and Methods section under the heading "Supplemental Material" along with a brief descriptive title.

    Supplemental materials that cannot be submitted via eJPress are occasionally hosted by authors, or for authors, on a third-party hosting site. For supplemental data of this nature, it is the responsibility of the authors to both provide instruction for access to this material within the manuscript under the heading "Supplemental Material" and remove or disable access to this material upon completion of the peer-review process. Authors providing this sort of supplemental data are responsible for the security of the data and accept that third-party access to the confidential account may be a risk. We encourage reviewers to use an anonymous web-browsing site, such as http://anonymouse.org, to further promote confidentiality.

    Large-scale datasets

    Manuscripts that contain gene expression profiling data are required to describe the experiments according to MIAME guidelines (Brazma et al. 2001 Nature Genetics 29: 365-371; http://www.mged.org).

    Unreplicated gene expression profiling experiments will not be accepted for publication. Transcript profiling must include the complete set of genome sequences analyzed, ESTs identified, and genes queried in transcript profiling. Data supporting transcript profiling experiments must include complete sequence information.

    Independent validation is expected for electrophoresis, proteomic and MS-based experiments, where biologically important differences in protein (gene) expression are reported.

    Include the methods, search and statistical parameters, and details of any software used in mass spectrometry to create peak lists. For MS/MS, include the number of peptides used to identify the protein as the sequence and charge state of each peptide. For peptide mass fingerprinting, the number of peptides that match the sequence and the total percent of sequence coverage should be quoted. Reports of post-translational modifications should include the methods used to discover the modification(s). When mapped to amino acid(s) by fragmentation analysis, data should be reported as ambiguous if mapping to a single amino acid is not possible. Refer to "Minimum Information About a Proteomics Experiment" for further information ( http://www.psidev.info/MIAPE).

    At the time of publication, supplemental data must be placed in a permanent public repository if one is available, or if none is available, in Plant Physiology. Examples of accepted public gene expression repositories are SRA (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra,) GEO (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo), and ArrayExpress (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress).

    Spreadsheets

    Data should be presented in a single spreadsheet with multiple tabs.

    Next-generation sequence data

    As with microarray data, complete data sets from next-generation sequencing must be deposited in an accepted format in a permanent public repository with free access (e.g., GEO or NCBI's Short Read Archive sequence database). This includes data from small RNA, mRNA, specialized RNA libraries, ChIP-seq, whole-genome re-sequencing or genotyping, whole-genome bisulfite sequencing, etc. Links to web sites other than a permanent public repository are not an acceptable alternative because they are not permanent archives.

• The process: what to expect
  • Peer review

    Manuscripts are assessed for Journal standards, scientific merit and content by the appropriate Associate Editor and one or more Monitoring Editors before a decision is taken to review a submission. Submissions may be returned at this point without review.

    A Monitoring Editor is assigned who normally secures two reviews for each manuscript. Reviewers are asked to evaluate manuscripts for the importance and timeliness of the research, rigor of the experimental evidence and protocols, and validity and significance of the conclusion. Reviewers are also asked to comment and append to their reviews in light of the other reviewer’s assessment.

    The Monitoring Editor weighs the reviews with his/her own assessment. A decision letter will be e-mailed to the Author for Contact once the Monitoring Editor has made his or her decision and will include the reviewers’ comments.

    Manuscripts may be:

    Accepted with or without minor revision

    Returned with revisions requested – when substantial editing and/or re-analysis is required (may go out for re-review)

    Plant Physiology permits only two cycles of revision, the second only for minor corrections. The Monitoring Editor will normally decide to accept or reject a resubmitted manuscript on the basis of the authors' response to the reviewers' comments during the first revision cycle. Manuscripts that are rejected after revision will not be reconsidered for publication.

    Declined with encouragement to resubmit – usually when additional experimental work is needed (will go out for review if resubmitted)

    If the manuscript is declined with encouragement from the Monitoring Editor to resubmit, the resubmission must be submitted online and will be handled like a new manuscript. A resubmission must be noted as such with its previous tracking number. A decision for encouragement to resubmit is usually applied to work of merit but deemed to require extensive revision and/or additional experiments.

    Declined with comments

    Once a manuscript is accepted, the editorial office will let the Author for Contact know if additional files/documents are needed. At this time, first author(s) will be invited to submit short profiles to be published alongside their manuscript.

    If a manuscript is accepted pending revisions, the revised manuscript must be uploaded via the eJP system no later than 60 days after the decision letter is sent or it will be treated as a new submission. Extensions of this period may be agreed to by the Monitoring Editor if justification is provided in advance.

    Revised and resubmitted manuscripts are normally assigned to the same Monitoring Editor unless authors specifically request otherwise or the Monitoring Editor is unavailable.

    Questions regarding the status a manuscript or the peer review process should be directed to the Manuscript Manager, Ashton Wolf, at awolf@aspb.org.

  • Proof

    Proofs are handled electronically. The author for contact will receive an e-mail with instructions and a link when the proofs are ready for review. Please follow the instructions, answer all queries, and mark the corrections directly on the PDF using Adobe Acrobat reader. Use the same link to upload the corrected proofs. The author for contact will also receive an e-mail from aubilling.djs@sheridan.com that will have a link to an online reprint order form and an estimated invoice for review. Please note that this is an estimate only and a final, updated invoice will be generated after the issue goes to press. The author should expect notification of proofs via e-mail within 2 to 3 weeks of the acceptance date.

• Policies

  • ORCID IDs

    Plant Physiology now requires all Authors for Contact of Accepted articles to have an ORCID ID prior to production of the article. ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes an author from other researchers and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submissions, supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities, ensuring that your work is recognized. For more information about ORCID, please visit http://orcid.org/about/what-is-orcid/mission.

    Corrections and retractions

    If necessary, corrections of significant errors in published articles will be published in a later issue of the journal. Authors are requested to bring any errors to the attention of the Production Manager as soon as possible. Corrections published in the journal will also be linked to the original article. Articles may be retracted by their authors, academic or institutional sponsor, editor, or publisher because of pervasive error or unsubstantiated or irreproducible data. A correction or retraction, so labeled, will appear in a prominent section of the journal, listed in the contents page, and include the title of the original article. The text of a retraction will explain why the article is being retracted and include a bibliographic reference to it.

    Preprint policy

    Plant Physiology will review manuscripts that include data posted on an author’s website or posted on preprint servers such as the bioRxiv. Final published manuscripts will reside on the Journal site. Once the published article has appeared online at the Journal site, a toll-free link providing barrier-free access to the HTML and PDF versions of the article will be e-mailed to all authors. These links may be deposited in open access institutional repositories.

    Companion Articles

    Plant Physiology will consider the joint handling and publication of papers as part of a group. Normally, manuscripts handled as a group will be assigned to one Monitoring Editor and will usually be seen by at least one reviewer in common. If you wish two or more manuscripts to be considered jointly, you must indicate with each manuscript that it is part of the group online and include the list of titles and associated authors in the cover letters for each of the manuscripts. If the manuscripts come from different laboratories, both of the cover letters for the respective manuscripts must also give consent for joint handling.

    We will make every effort to work with authors in publishing manuscripts in a group as back-to-back papers. However, we can make no guarantee at the time of submission, as it may happen that one or more manuscripts in a group is delayed through review and revision or may not be accepted for publication. In all cases, we will consult with authors on how best to progress papers in a group as they are accepted for publication.

    NIH Public Access Policy

    Plant Physiology deposits the final version of published articles in PubMed Central for release 12 months after the date of publication. If a paper was funded in whole or in part by the National Institutes of Health, this fulfills the requirements of the NIH Public Access Policy. However, authors of NIH-funded papers, if they choose, may deposit the peer-reviewed, accepted version of their manuscript in PubMed Central, provided the release date is set for 12 months after the date of final publication in the Journal.

    OPEN articles

    The journals of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) make all articles free 12 months after publication. Authors can purchase immediate free access in one of the following ways:

    1. Authors for Contact publishing in Plant Physiology who are members of ASPB have their articles made freely available upon publication as a member benefit. Nonmembers who work at a subscribing institution pay $950. Nonmembers working at an institution without a subscription pay $1500. ASPB retains copyright.

    2. For authors whose funders require that the work be published under a Creative Commons or similar license, ASPB offers a CC-BY license for $2000. The CC-BY license allows noncommercial and commercial reuse of all or part of a paper without restriction.

    On behalf of all authors, the ASPB journals deposit final published articles in PubMed Central for release 12 months after the date of publication (unless a free-access option applies).

    Permission to reuse part or all of a copyrighted work published in an ASPB journal is granted without fee for personal or educational use, provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear the full citation, the journal URL (www.plantphysiol.org; www.plantcell.org ), and the following notice: “Copyright American Society of Plant Biologists.” Please request permission in writing from the Copyright Clearance Center (www.copyright.com) if the use is commercial or if you wish to make multiple copies other than for educational purposes. Please note that the ASPB journals allow authors to reuse their content for any purpose (noncommercial or commercial) without written permission from ASPB, so long as the original source and a copyright notice are cited.

    Authorship

    Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to (a) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data; (b) on drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (c) on final approval of the version to be published. Conditions a, b, and c must all be met. All authors must have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content, consistent with the authorship policy adopted by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and published in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, 1994. Manuscripts must include Author Contributions following any Acknolwedgments. The Author Contributions must list the contributions of each author contributed to the research and/or the writing of the manuscript. Note which of the following tasks each author performed: designed the research; performed research; contributed new analytic/computational/etc. tools; analyzed data; or wrote the paper. After submission, any change in authorship will require the agreement of all coauthors.

    Plant Physiology permits multiple authors be identified as senior authors. Requests for multiple senior authors must be made and justified at the time of submission. Please include any requests for multiple senior authors in the Cover Letter at the time of submission. The request must be approved by the editor.

    Plant Physiology requires that one author only takes responsibility for contact with the journal and with readers. The Author for Contact takes responsibility for communicating with the journal and with the public; he/she is responsible also for ensuring that all all scientists who have contributed substantially to the conception, design or execution of the work described in the manuscript are included as authors, in accordance with the guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines; the Author for Contact also ensures that all authors agree to the list of authors and the identified contributions of those authors.

    Ethics

    Please click on the following link for information regarding ASPB policies and procedures for handling allegations of author misconduct: http://www.aspb.org/publications/aspb-journals/policies-procedures/.

    Conflicts of Interest

    Please click on the following link for ASPB's statement on potential conflicts of interest for editors and reviewers: http://www.aspb.org/publications/coi.cfm.

    Distribution of materials

    Plant Physiology requires that all materials described in a manuscript be made freely available to academic investigators for non-commercial research purposes. Upon request, all novel materials described in the publication must be made available in a timely manner for non-commercial research purposes, subject to requisite permissions from any third-party owners of all or parts of the material. Obtaining permission from third parties is the responsibility of the requestor. No restrictions or conditions may be placed on the use of any materials described in a paper published in Plant Physiology that would limit their use for non-commercial research purposes. The provision of novel enzymes, antibodies, and material products described in the manuscript can be reasonably limited in case that substantial effort is required for their isolation or preparation. All manuscripts submitted to Plant Physiology  must include the following statement as an unnumbered footnote: "The author responsible for contact and ensuring the distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the Journal policy described in the Instructions for Authors (http://www.plantphysiol.org) is (are): J.D. Author (author@college.edu)." Contact Information for this author must be provided.

    To facilitate sharing of materials, authors may choose to use one of the following services.

    Addgene (http://www.addgene.org)

    Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center (http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/pcmb/Facilities/abrc/a/a>)

    Maize Genetics Cooperation Stock Center (http://maizecoop.cropsci.uiuc.edu)

    ASPB provides these links as a service to our author community. The Society does not take responsibility for or endorse the services these companies offer and cannot attest to the quality of their work. If you have questions, or if you do use one of these services and would like to send ASPB feedback on your experience, please contact Nancy Winchester, ASPB Director of Publications, at nancyw@aspb.org.

• Gene nomenclature

  • Plant Physiology adheres to community standards for gene and protein nomenclature. The two-letter prefix indicating species (e.g., At, Zm, Os) is not part of the gene symbol and is used to prevent possible confusion between species. For Arabidopsis mutant genes, authors must follow the guidelines for naming genes outlined by Meinke and Koornneef ([1997] Community standards for Arabidopsis genetics. Plant J 12: 247-253), and register new mutant gene symbols at http://www.arabidopsis.org/doc/submit/functional_annotation/123. This URL also provides other useful information and links on plant gene and protein classification.

    Other resources include:

    http://www.arabidopsis.org/portals/nomenclature/guidelines.jsp (Arabidopsis)

    http://www.maizegdb.org/maize_nomenclature.php (Maize)

    http://wheat.pw.usda.gov/ggpages/wgc/98/ (Wheat)

    http://tgrc.ucdavis.edu (Tomato)

    http://www.chlamy.org/nomenclature.html (Chlamydomonas)

    VandenBosch, A., and Frugoli, J. 2001. Guidelines for genetic nomenclature and community governance for the model legume Medicago trunculata. MPMI 14, 1364-1367.

    http://www.brassica.info/info/reference/gene-nomenclature.php (Brassica)

• Fees and charges
  • ARTICLE PUBLICATION FEES

    Research Articles (Non-ASPB Members): $2100

    Research Articles (ASPB Members): $1800

    Research Reports (Non-ASPB Members): $900

    Research Reports (ASPB Members): $800

    OPEN ACCESS FEES

    OPEN: $1500 if Author for Contact's institution does not subscribe

    $950 if Author for Contact's institution subscribes to Plant Physiology

    FREE if Authors for Contact (AFC) is a member of ASPB.

    For authors whose funders require that the work be published under a Creative Commons or similar license, ASPB offers a CC-BY license for $2000. The CC-BY license allows noncommercial and commercial reuse of all or part of a paper without restriction.

    Join ASPB: http://www.aspb.org/membership/

• Required Manuscript Elements

  • Article Type Required Manuscript Elements Word Count (main text) Short Title (50 char. or less) Author for Contact Details Article Titles (<110 char.) All Author Names and Affiliations Sentence Summary (<230 char.) Author Contributions List Funding Information Abstract (<250 words) Intro, Results Discussion, Conclusions Advances and Outstanding Questions Boxes Materials and Methods Accession Numbers Acknowledgements Figure Legends in MS Literature Cited Research Articles <7000 words Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Research Reports <3000 words Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Breakthrough Technologies <7000 words Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Letters <1000 words Y Y Y Y Y Y IA <20 News and Views <2000 words Y Y Y IA <20 Letters to the Editor <1000 words Y Y Y IA <20 Updates <5000 words Y Y Y Y Y IA IA IA IA Y Y Y Y Topical Reviews <8000 words Y Y Y Y Y IA IA IA IA Y Y Y Y Founders Reviews words Y Y Y Y IA IA IA Y IA Y KEY IA = IF APPLICABLE