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    GENETICS' SCOPE and PUBLICATION POLICIES up arrow

    The journal GENETICS, published by The Genetics Society of America, publishes high quality, original research presenting novel findings on a range of topics bearing on inheritance. These topics include population and evolutionary genetics, complex traits, developmental and behavioral genetics, cellular genetics, gene expression, genome integrity and transmission, and genome and systems biology. The journal also publishes Review, Commentary (current issues or interest to geneticists), and Perspective (historical) articles, as well as articles focused on the teaching of genetics.

    GENETICS is a peer-edited journal—all editorial decisions are made by the authors’ peers—with a tradition of rigorous peer-review. Full documentation of the data presented and compelling evidence for the conclusions drawn is required.

    CRITERIA FOR PUBLICATION

    Submitted manuscripts are assigned to an Associate Editor, a peer of the authors who manages the review process and decides if the manuscript will be accepted for publication. Manuscripts may be rejected without review if the editors judge it to be outside the scope of the journal. A manuscript will also be returned without being reviewed if it does not follow the GENETICS style guide, or if improper grammar or style precludes its proper scientific review.

    COPYRIGHT

    The corresponding author represents all the manuscript’s authors in signing a copyright transfer agreement. Upon manuscript acceptance, copyright becomes held by the Genetics Society of America. Under no circumstances can an author deposit an article into a departmental or institutional repository, or distribute, use, or modify for any commercial or non-commercial endeavor without the permission of the Genetics Society of America.

    The corresponding author must also obtain permission to reproduce figures, tables, or text from other copyrighted material.

    AUTHORSHIP

    Authors are those who contributed substantially to the research documented in the paper and share responsibility for the resulting article. The names of these researchers should appear in the byline. Those who assisted peripherally but are not authors may be recognized in the Acknowledgments.

    CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

    Upon manuscript submission, the corresponding author must describe any affiliations that may present a conflict of interest in either the choice of Senior Editors, Associate Editors, or reviewers. This information will remain confidential.

    FUNDING AGENCIES AND COMPLIANCE

    All granting agencies must be recognized in the Acknowledgments. This information must include the agency’s complete name, grant numbers, and institutional publication codes (if applicable).

    GENE SEQUENCES

    Authors must deposit all relevant information and data into the appropriate public databases, including but not limited to one of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration members. Note that submission into one of the following sequence database ensures that the others will also receive the sequences:

    Sequences may appear in text or in figures, but long sequences - such as those requiring more than two pages to reproduce – will not be published unless the Associate Editor and reviewers (we) agree that publication is necessary. If the long sequence is not recommended for publication, you can pay an increased (unsubsidized) page charge to have the sequence included in the publication.

    Complete mtDNA sequences will no longer be published in GENETICS, but relevant comparisons will be published if an accession number for the sequence in question is supplied.

    To prevent an article being delayed in publication:

    SHARING OF RESEARCH MATERIALS

    Because the discoveries of science require continual verification, and progress in science depends so strongly upon prior investigations, it is crucial that key research materials developed by one scientist be made readily available to others.

    By publishing in GENETICS, authors describing unique research materials agree to provide them at reasonable cost to colleagues who request them. Examples of unique research materials are strains, gene clones, antibodies (including cell lines producing monoclonal antibodies), and computer programs. A colleague is any active investigator, whether or not in training. The donor may require the recipient to agree neither to use such materials for commercial purposes nor to transfer them to a third party without the consent of the donor.

    PREPARING MANUSCRIPTS FOR SUBMISSION up arrow

    Please read these Instructions for Authors carefully. When you are ready to submit your manuscript for consideration, upload your manuscript online at http://submit.genetics.org.

    Before you upload your manuscript, ensure that it adheres to the guidelines in this document.

    The corresponding author must have permission of all the authors to submit a manuscript to GENETICS for publication. All authors must agree to give the corresponding author the authority to act on their behalf, but all authors are responsible for the article’s content. By submitting a manuscript to GENETICS, the authors guarantee that the manuscript represents original research, that the data are available to the Associate Editor, Senior Editor, and Editor-in-Chief if necessary, and that the manuscript (and its substance) has not been previously published and is not currently being considered for publication by another journal.

    Data entered during manuscript submission is the data that appears in the published-ahead-of-print version (for accepted articles), so be sure to complete all fields.

    MANUSCRIPT TEXT

    Manuscripts must be:

    Title

    The first page should contain:

    For the authors' names, indicate different affiliations with the superscript symbols *, dagger, double dagger, § , **, dagger dagger, double dagger double dagger, §§.

    Use a numbered footnote to indicate an author's present address. Indicate a dedicatory footnote (if desired) with boldfaced type.

    List sequence accession numbers in an unnumbered footnote on page 1 using the following wording:

    Sequence data from this article have been deposited with the EMBL/GenBank Data Libraries under accession nos. XXXXXX-XXXXXX.

    A paper otherwise found acceptable will not be published until accession numbers are provided.

    The second page contains:

    Abstract

    Your abstract serves many purposes. An abstract is written for people who may not read the entire paper, so it must stand on its own merits. It is the first part of the article that the reader sees, and the impression that it creates often determines whether s/he will go on to read the whole article; it must, therefore, be engaging, clear and concise. In addition, the abstract may be the only part of your paper indexed in scientific databases and, therefore, must accurately reflect the content of your article. A well-written abstract is THE most effective way to reach your intended readers, leading to more robust search, retrieval, and usage of your work.

    The abstract is a synopsis of an entire article. Your abstract should follow the chronology of your article, and should begin with the broad context of the study, followed by specific background for the study, its purpose, methods and procedures, core findings and results, and the conclusions. Your abstract should emphasize new or important aspects of your research and should engage the broad readership of GENETICS. It should be understandable to a diverse audience; jargon should be avoided. Ideally, it should “flow”, and the use of linking/transition words and phrases, e.g. “however”, “unexpectedly”, “in addition”, can help it to do so.

    Abstracts are a single paragraph, must be fewer than 225 words, and may not contain citations or abbreviations.

    Text

    The text must be as succinct as possible and conform to the style in recent issues of GENETICS. Present and discuss results just once, not in both the Results and Discussion sections.

    With in text citations include both names for citations with two authors. In citations with three or more authors, name the first author and use et al. Cite only articles that are published or in press. To cite personal communications or unpublished results, list all contributors by initials and last name; do not use et al.

    In the text, write out numbers nine or less except as part of a date, a fraction or decimal, a percentage, or a unit of measurement. Use Arabic numbers for those larger than nine, except as the first word of a sentence; however, try to avoid starting a sentence with such a number.

    Use abbreviations of the customary units of measurement only when they are preceded by a number: “3 min” but “several minutes.” Write “percent” as one word, except when used with a number: "several percent" but “75%.” To indicate temperature in centigrade, use ° (for example, 37°); include a letter after the degree symbol only when some other scale is intended (for example, 45°K).

    Italicize names of organisms only when the species is indicated: Neurospora, but Neurospora crassa or N. crassa. Italicize the first three letters of the names of restriction sites, as in HindIII. Write the names of strains in roman except when incorporating specific genotypic designations.

    Italicize genotype names and symbols, including all components of alleles, but not “+” indicating wild type and not when the name of a gene is the same as the name of an enzyme. Carefully distinguish between genotype and phenotype in both the writing and the symbolism.

    To divide the text into sections, only these four levels are allowed:

    FIGURES AND TABLES

    Figures

    To prevent publication delay, these guidelines should be followed when you submit your manuscript figure files. A summary is included below and detailed information is available in the individual sections.

    Figures include drawings, graphs, mating-type charts, complex chemical formulas, and other sketches.

    File Format

    Acceptable file formats are TIFF (.tiff), JPEG (.jpg), Microsoft Word (.doc), Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt), EPS (.eps), PDF (.pdf), or Adobe Illustrator (.ai).

    Formats not supported include: LaTex/Tex, Bitmap (.bmp), PICT (.pict), Excel (.xls), Photoshop (.psd), Canvas (.cnv), Corel Draw (.cdr), and locked or encrypted PDFs (.pdf).

    Resolution, Contrast, and Size

    All files must conform to the resolution ranges specified below:

    RGB, CMYK, and Grayscale are all acceptable. Halftones should be high contrast with sharp detail, because some loss of detail and contrast is inevitable in the printing process. Good contrast is particularly important for chromatographs, such as gel separations. Additionally, each file must be no larger than 10 MB and figures should be 10-20 cm in width and 1-25 cm in height. Graph axes must be exactly perpendicular and all lines of equal density (.5 point minimum).

    Labels and Legends

    Labels may be used for figures with multiple parts. If so, use A, B, etc. in non-bolded type to label the parts for easy reference within the text. If a figure has important areas to highlight, arrows or numbers can be used to draw attention to these areas. If the figure is submitted in unattached parts, include a scan of how these should be arranged in the printed version.

    Additionally, label all figures in numerical order with Arabic numerals, and please cite figures within the text in numerical order. When preparing your manuscript for publication, the copyeditors will insert or relocate a citation, or will renumber figures as needed. Within the label, be sure to distinguish between similar characters, such as the letter l and the number 1 or the letter O and the number 0.

    Acceptable type for the labels and legends is Helvetica, size 10 point in a bold weight. The label heading (Figure #) should be in all Caps.

    Figure legends must start with a brief title leading into text. All conventional symbols used to indicate figure data points are available for typesetting; unconventional symbols should not be used. Mathematical variables (both in the figure legend and figure) should be italicized and all genotypes must be italicized. Any additional symbols that are normally italicized should continue to use italic rather than underlined roman characters.

    Tables

    Tables are considered to be figures, but they have special requirements. Within the tables, try to minimize shading, color type, line drawings, graphics, or other illustrations. Instead, prepare a separate, numbered figure to accompany the table. Histograms should not be used to present data that can be captured easily in text or small tables, as they take up much more space. Tables cited in the both the Materials and Methods and Results sections will be set only in the Results section. They will appear in the Materials and Methods only if they are cited in that section and nowhere else.

    Format

    The only acceptable file format is Microsoft Word (.doc), and each table must start on a new page, with long tables presented on several pages.

    Layout

    Tables may contain the following sections:

    Tables should have clearly defined boxheads and bottom lines that are .5 point in weight. Use shorter horizontal rules within the boxhead to indicate unambiguously which subheadings are subordinate to a higher-level heading. Do not use vertical or diagonal rules and do not use horizontal rules between the boxhead and the closing rule. Each column in the boxhead should have a title, and each boxhead entry should refer to material beneath it and not to material to the right.

    Labels and Legends

    Labels for the table should be in all Caps and should be Helvetica font, size 10 point. Material within the table should also be in Helvetica font, size 10 point and be double-spaced. Any totals and sums should be in boldface type. If a legend is present, it must precede any footnotes and should follow the font requirements for the labels and table text.

    REFERENCES

    The References section lists only articles that are published or in press. References must be formatted as they appear in a recent issue of GENETICS. Parenthetical references are cited in text chronologically. For author names, order references alphabetically by first author with a space between an author's initials. For multiple citations with the same first author, first list single-author entries by year using 1996a, 1996b, etc., as needed. Then list two-author entries alphabetically by second author. Finally, list entries by three or more authors (cited in the text as "FIRST et al. 1996") only by year and without regard to number of authors or alphabetical rank of authors beyond the first. For articles with more than five authors, list the first five names and then "et al."

    Sample journal article citation:

    Bridges, C. B., and E. G. Anderson, 1925 Crossing over in the X chromosomes of triploid females of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 10: 418–441.
    (Note spaces between authors' initials and after the boldface colon.)

    Sample book citation:

    Sturtevant, A. H., and G. W. Beadle, 1939 An Introduction to Genetics. W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia.

    Sample chapter-in-book citation:

    Beadle, G. W., 1957 The role of the nucleus in heredity, pp. 3–22 in The Chemical Basis of Heredity, edited by W. D. McElroy and B. Glass. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore.

    SUPPORTING INFORMATION

    We encourage authors to submit supporting information that enhances the published manuscript and which may be of interest to other investigators. Examples include tables, figures, movies, and extended Materials and Methods sections.

    File Submission

    You can submit files online at http://submit.genetics.org during the initial manuscript submission, or when the final manuscript source files are uploaded. Files are checked prior to advanced online publication to ensure conformity with GENETICS' style guidelines. If any changes are required, we will return the file(s) to you for corrections. The editorial office will publish all supporting information as it is submitted, without editing, proofreading, or alteration.

    Please refer to each piece of supporting information at least once in the manuscript, and use Figure S#, Table S#, or File S#. Enclose each citation in parentheses at the end of the sentence in which the supporting information is referenced.

    For supporting information, please number each page with # SI. The number should be located at the top, outside edge of the page and use New Baskerville type and be 9 point in size. Additionally, please center your author information at the top of each page. For papers with three or more authors, please use the first author's first and middle initials and full last name followed by et al. For papers with two authors, please include both names with the format of first and middle initials and full last name.

    examples

    J.R. Smith et al.

    J.R. Smith and S. Doe

    File Size and Format

    Submit supporting information in individual non-PDF files that are each no larger than 5MB in size. Additionally, please upload one non-pdf file that combines the supporting information. This file will be converted to a PDF and appended to the manuscript for the final publication. A Microsoft Word file is suggested so that minor formatting changes can be made if required.

    For videos, compress as needed to reduce the file size. If submitting multiple computer applications, please submit them in one compressed folder. You may contact the editorial office directly with any questions about the suitability of a file. File formats typically submitted include:

    Supporting Figures

    Supporting figures include images, drawings, graphs, complex chemical formulas, and other sketches.

    Supporting figures should display a title and legend centered below the figure. Please present the title (FIGURE S#.—) in initial and small caps and include the capital S, Arabic number, period, and em dash. You should place the legend on the same line as the title. The title and legend should use New Baskerville type in a regular weight and be 9 point in size and single-spaced.

    When necessary, label multiple parts of a figure with A, B, C, etc, and when in the legend you refer to a part of the figure, place the letter within parentheses at the beginning of the sentence.

    Supporting Tables

    Supporting tables should display a number and title at the top of the table. Please present the number (TABLE S#) centered at the top of the table in all caps, with the title centered below the number. You should use initial caps for the first word of the title and not use a period unless the title is a complete sentence. The number and title should use New Baskerville type in a bold weight and be 9 point in size and double-spaced.

    The table body should use New Baskerville type in a regular weight and be 9 point in size and spaced one and a half points. You may display totals and sums in a bold weight.

    If you display a legend or footnote(s) below the table, please use New Baskerville type in a regular weight that is 9 point in size. The first line of the legend should be indented 0.15 inches and the text should be double-spaced. Footnote text should be single-spaced. Where applicable, use *, **, and *** to indicate conventional levels of statistical significance.

    To order the information, please use table lines that are 0.5 point in weight and have clearly defined boxheads. Use shorter horizontal rules within the boxhead to indicate which subheadings are subordinate to a higher-level heading. Do not use vertical or diagonal rules, and do not use horizontal rules between the boxhead and the closing rule. When possible, each column in the boxhead should have a title, and each boxhead entry should refer to material beneath it and not to material to the right.

    Supporting Files

    Supporting files refer to any supporting information that is not a figure or table. Examples include additional Materials and Method sections, reference papers, computer programs, and movies.

    If applicable, the first page of the supporting information should display a title. Please present the title (FILE S#) centered at the top of the page in initial and small caps. The title should use New Baskerville type in a bold weight and be 9 point in size and double-spaced. If included, a legend and author names should follow the same type recommendations and may be centered below the title. Body text should use New Baskerville type in a regular weight and be 9 point in size and double-spaced.

    References and other sections or information not discussed here should follow the style of recent issues of GENETICS.

    Summary

    Supporting Figures Supporting Tables Supporting Files
    Number

    FIGURE S#.—

    Indent 0.15 inches, below figure

    New Baskerville, 9pt

    Regular weight

    Single-spaced

    TABLE S#

    Center top of page

    New Baskerville, 9pt

    Bold weight

    Double-spaced

    FILE S#

    Center top of page

    New Baskerville, 9pt

    Bold weight

    Double-spaced
    Title/Legend

    Follows number

    New Baskerville, 9pt

    Regular weight

    Single-spaced

    Center below number

    New Baskerville, 9pt

    Bold weight

    Double-spaced

    Center below number

    New Baskerville, 9pt

    Bold weight

    Double-spaced
    Labels

    Capital Letters (A-Z)

    Not applicable

    Not applicable
    Body

    Not applicable

    New Baskerville, 9pt

    Regular weight

    1.5 line spacing

    Bold weight for sums and totals

    New Baskerville, 9pt

    Regular weight

    Double-spaced
    Table Lines

    Not applicable

    0.5 wt.

    Defined boxheads

    No vertical or diagonal lines

    Not applicable

    RESUBMISSIONS

    Resubmission of Rejected Manuscripts is permitted a single time, unless repeat submission is encouraged by the Associate Editor. When submitting a previously rejected paper, authors must fully disclose the paper's history with the journal. Authors are expected to use the reviewer's comments to revise rejected papers before submitting them anew.

    EDITORIAL STYLE

    GENETICS editorial style conforms to the The Chicago Manual of Style (The University of Chicago Press) and Harbrace College Handbook (Harcourt) as interpreted and modified by the editors and Dartmouth Journal Services. The copyeditors rely on a variety of supplementary resources due to the diverse content of the journal: