Notice to Contributors

Notice to Contributors
(with effect from August 2006)

Journal of Pharmacological Sciences (J Pharmacol Sci) is an international journal intended for the advancement of pharmacological sciences in the world. The Journal welcomes submissions in all fields of experimental and clinical pharmacology, including neuroscience, and biochemical, cellular and molecular pharmacology of the 17 subject categories described below, for publication as Reviews, Full Papers, Short Communications, or Rapid Communications. Manuscripts will be published within the following time periods after their acceptance: 50 - 80 days for Full Papers and Short Communications or 20 - 50 days for Rapid Communications.

Manuscript submission by post should be sent to one of the following addresses (post-marked by December 31, 2006 or earlier):

In Japan:
Hiroshi Iwao, M.D., Ph.D.
c/o Editorial Office, The Japanese Pharmacological Society
Kantohya bldg, Gokomachi-Ebisugawa
Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-0982, Japan
TEL: +81-75-252-4641, FAX: +81-75-252-4618
E-mail: journal@pharmacol.or.jp

In Europe:
Giancarlo Pepeu, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Pharmacology
University of Florence, Medical School
Viale Pieraccini, 6, 50139 Florence, Italy
TEL: +39-055-4271-274, FAX: +39-055-4271-280
E-mail: giancarlo.pepeu@unifi.it

In North America:
Nobuharu Yamaguchi, Ph.D.
Faculty of Pharmacy, Université de Montréal
2900 Édouard Montpetit, C.P. 6128, Succuresale
Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7, Canada
TEL: +1-514-343-7614, FAX: +1-514-343-2102
E-mail: nobuharu.yamaguchi@umontreal.ca

For areas not included above:
　Manuscripts may be addressed to any one of the three editors.

Note: We do not accept any manuscripts submitted as an E-mail attachment.

Electronic manuscript submission is available on our online Web site J-STAGE (http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jphs/). Please consult the Instructions for Electronic Submission (http://jps.pharmacol.org/) before manuscript submission.

Submissions that have been published or accepted, or are under consideration for publication, with essentially the same content, will not be considered. This restriction does not apply to results published as an abstract, letters to editors, or as submissions for symposia, provided that the submission adds significantly to the information available in the previously published submission. Manuscripts must be accompanied by a letter from all authors or from one author on behalf of all the authors containing the following statement: "The attached paper entitled ... has not been published and is not being submitted for publication, in whole or in part, elsewhere."

Manuscripts that reveal a lack of proper, ethical consideration for human subjects or experimental animals will not be accepted for publication. The Journal endorses the Guiding Principles for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals approved by The Japanese Pharmacological Society. Furthermore, we endorse the Recommendations from the Declaration of Helsinki.


Authors are requested to select one or two of the following subject categories to which the manuscript applies and to indicate them in their order of priority on the title page of the manuscript:
　 1. Biogenic active substances
　 2. Receptors/Channels/Transport systems
　 3. Intracellular signaling
　 4. Biochemical pharmacology
　 5. Peripheral nervous system pharmacology
　 6. Cardiovascular pharmacology/Hematology
　 7. Central nervous system pharmacology
　 8. Respiratory pharmacology
　 9. Renal pharmacology
　10. Gastrointestinal pharmacology
　11. Smooth muscle pharmacology
　12. Bone and dental pharmacology
　13. Endocrine pharmacology
　14. Clinical pharmacology
　15. Immunopharmacology/Inflammation
　16. Chemotherapy
　17. Toxicology

Authors are required to suggest four reviewers, who would be the most pertinent to review the submitted paper. Indicate the name, postal address, and FAX number or E-mail address of each. Authors may also supply a list of up to three reviewers that they would like excluded from the review process. The ultimate selection of such reviewers is at the sole discretion of the Editor.

Papers should be in standard English and be typed on one side of A4 (210 mm × 297 mm) paper, using a font size of 11 or 12, with double-spacing (at least 6 mm between lines) and margins of at least 25 mm all around. They should be submitted in quadruplicate (the original and 3 copies). The authors must strictly adhere to the proper format of the Journal for all sections of the manuscript. For authors whose native language is not English, the Journal strongly recommends brushing up the English of the manuscript by consulting an English-speaking scientist before submission to avoid delays in the receiving and processing of the manuscript.

Full Papers should include the following sections in the order listed:

1) Title page - should include the complete title of the manuscript; full names of all authors; their affiliations and addresses; a running title of no more than 40 characters (including spaces); and the name, full postal address, telephone and FAX numbers, and E-mail address of the corresponding author. The subject categories should be typed at the top of the page.

2) Abstract and keywords - 200 words presented in a concise form and including the purpose, general methods, findings, and conclusions of the research described in the paper. A list of 5 keywords or short phrases (a few words per phrase) suitable for indexing should be typed at the bottom of the abstract page. Avoid vague or overly general terms. If necessary, the keywords will be adjusted to the standards of the Journal by the editors without consulting the authors.

3) Introduction - should give a short and clear statement of the relevant background and the rationale of the study.

4) Materials and Methods - should include explicit, concise descriptions of all new methods or procedures employed. Commonly used methods require only a citation of the original source. Description should be such that the reader can judge the accuracy, reproducibility, reliability, etc. of the work.

5) Results - should include experimental data but not extended discussions of its relative significance. Results are more easily grasped by readers if they are presented in graphic or tabular form rather than discursively. Data should not be repeated in the text, tables, and figures.

6) Discussion - should be pertinent to the results. Speculation is to be based on data only; be concise and clear. Lengthy discussions will necessarily mean a delay in accepting manuscripts for publication. The text should be written with a logical connection between the introduction and conclusions.

7) References - The format should be as described in the General Instructions.

Short Communications are completed projects of smaller scope, but may not be used for preliminary publications of the data; therefore, the same material cannot be published elsewhere as an original paper. The main body of the text of these communications should be no more than 1500 words in length, without any subheadings, and manuscripts should contain no more than 3 figures and/or tables and a maximum of 15 references. They should have an abstract not exceeding 100 words in length. The manuscripts normally occupy no more than 4 journal pages (e.g., about 12 typewritten pages including all components). Provide a short running title of no more than 40 characters (including spaces) in length, and 3 keywords or short phrases (a few words per phrase) for indexing (see the Full Papers section). Indicate the number of words used in the main body of the text. Please refer to the General Instructions for references and other manuscript requirements.

Rapid Communications (available up to December 2006) are intended for the rapid, preliminary publication of novel findings and/or current interest. Such papers will be accepted if they merit immediate publication. The manuscript should be accompanied by a letter from the author stating reasons that would justify the publication of the manuscript as a rapid communication. The main body of the text of these communications should be no more than 1000 words in length, without any subheadings, and manuscripts should contain no more than 2 figures and/or tables and a maximum of 10 references. They should have an abstract not exceeding 80 words in length. The manuscripts normally occupy no more than 3 journal pages (e.g., about 10 typewritten pages including all components). Provide a short running title of no more than 40 characters (including spaces) in length, and 3 keywords or short phrases (a few words per phrase) for indexing (see the Full Papers section). Indicate the number of words used in the main body of the text. Please refer to the General Instructions for references and other manuscript requirements.

Reviews will usually be written at the request of the Journal. Occasionally, unsolicited ones will be considered for publication; authors/organizers of such reviews should consult one of the editors, enclosing a one-page typed synopsis, before submitting the article. The unsolicited articles are subjected to editorial assessment of their suitability for publication.
Five types of reviews will be considered: 1) Current Perspectives (up to 10 typewritten pages of main body of the text and a maximum of 30 references; they will normally occupy no more than 6 journal pages): These articles should provide insight into or comments on current directions of research on a topic and/or discuss potential new approaches to an area of investigation. 2) Critical Reviews (up to 40 typewritten pages of main body of the text and a maximum of 100 references): These should cover a current topic of interest that has not been recently reviewed, emphasizing a critical discussion of noteworthy developments in the field; they should not be just a compendium of studies on the topic and should not be only autobiographical. 3) Survey Reviews (up to 60 typewritten pages of main body of the text and a maximum of 300 references): Should be a comprehensive survey of the research on a topic that has not been recently reviewed. 4) Forum Minireviews (no more than 30 journal pages): One set of reviews is put together by an organizer(s) on a particular topic; each set is composed of a maximum of 6 minireview articles (about 15 typewritten pages for all components of each manuscript, as a standard length; 4 - 5 journal pages, each) and a preface. The topic and contributors should be based on one of the Symposia of the Annual Meeting of The Japanese Pharmacological Society or they may be occasionally based on Symposia of special interest to pharmacologists. 5) New Drugs and Recent Techniques (up to 60 typewritten pages of main body of the text and a maximum of 300 references): The purpose of these reviews is to introduce worldwide recently developed drugs and new techniques. These articles should be written in sufficient scientific detail and format to explain the characteristics of the drugs and/or promising techniques evaluating pharmacological actions. The page charge for this type of Review is ¥12,000 (twelve thousand Japanese Yen) per printed page.
Each manuscript should include an abstract, not exceeding 200 words, a running title of no more than 40 characters (including spaces) in length, and 5 keywords or short phrases (a few words per phrase) for indexing (see the Full Papers section). Please refer to the General Instructions for further details.

The Journal will occasionally consider publishing letters to the editor from reader and authors in the "Correspondence" section. Letters should be comments and clarifications on articles that have recently been published in this Journal and be in a concise form. When necessary, please refer to the General Instructions.

General Instructions

References - should be cited in the text by number, in parentheses, in line with the text; the full reference is cited in a numbered list at the end of the paper. The reference list should be prepared with the author's name (list all authors if six or less; otherwise, list the first six followed by et al.), full title of paper, journal, year of publication, volume, initial and final pages.

e.g., Seki T, Ishimoto T, Sakurai T, Yasuda Y, Taniguchi K, Doi M, et al. Increased excretion of urinary 20-HETE in rats with cyclosporine-induced nephrotoxicity. J Pharmacol Sci. 2005;97:132-137.

References to books should include author's name, title of article, editors, title of book, edition, city where the publisher is located, publisher, year of publication, and initial and final pages of cited atricle or section.

e.g., Margineanu DG, Klitgaard H. Levetiracetam: mechanisms of action. In: Levy RH, Mattson RH, Meldrum BS, Perucca E, editors. Antiepileptic drugs. 5th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2002. p. 419-427.

For formats of other published materials, please refer to the Vancouver style (see the "References" section in the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" http://www.icmje.org/index.html).

Papers are not to be cited as "in press" unless they have already been accepted for publication. In such cases, state the name of the journal and attach a photocopy of the accepted manuscript.

Figures and Tables - should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals, with each one displayed on a separate page. These usually will be reduced to fit a single column, 8.3-cm-wide, or at most, a double column, maximally 17.6-cm-wide. Please refer to a current volume of this Journal for general patterns. Any color figure submitted by the author will be processed with the understanding that upon acceptance of the manuscript, the figure will be published in color, with the cost of the reproduction being charged to the author.

Abbreviations and Units - While authors should avoid unfamiliar abbreviations, a limited number of clearly defined abbreviations may be used. Such abbreviations must be defined at the first mention in the text or defined in alphabetical order in a footnote on the first page. When in doubt, avoid unfamiliar abbreviations. For units, the Journal recommends the use of the International System of Units (SI Units). It is desirable to refer to standard abbreviations and units listed in the Instructions to Authors of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Drugs - Generic names should be used in the text, figures and tables.

Materia medica -- Studies discussing materia medica should comply with the guidelines given below; authors must enclose the completed chekclist with the manuscript. Manuscripts not meeting these requirements cannot be submitted to the Journal.

The editors reserve the right to make minor revisions in manuscripts accepted for publication in the interest of clarity, consistency, and readability. However, they cannot accept responsibility for opinions expressed by contributors.

The copyright of the articles published in the Journal is transferred from the authors to the Publisher, The Japanese Pharmacological Society, upon acceptance of the manuscript.

Charges (the indicated price includes the consumption tax) —A charge of ¥4,200 (four thousand two hundred Japanese Yen) per printed page will be made for all manuscripts, except for the Reviews on "New Drugs and Recent Techniques" (¥12,600 per printed page). Cost of color reproduction will be charged to the authors (\63,000 per printed page consisting of one or more color pictures). All reprints are supplied at cost.

English script and rewrite are under the supervision of S.M. Jung, Ph.D., Institute of Life Science, Kurume University, Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan.

Guiding Principles for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals

Approved by The Japanese Pharmacological Society

1. Objective - When animal experiments are designed and conducted by the members of The Japanese Pharmacological Society and other investigators presenting their results in the Journal of Pharmacological Sciences, The Japanese Pharmacological Society recommends compliance with the "Guiding Principles for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" (hereafter called "these guidelines") approved by The Japanese Pharmacological Society as well as the guidelines outlined in the following documents: "Planning with Respect to the Guidelines for the Care and Use of Animals", recommendation of the President of the Science Council of Japan, No. 1513, 1980; and "Animal Experiments in Universities, etc.", notification of the Director-General of the Science and International Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, No. 141, 1987. It is The Japanese Pharmacological Society's intention that all animal care and use should be appropriately conducted on a valid and ethical scientific basis.

2. Scope of application - These guidelines apply to all animal experiments designed and performed by the members of The Japanese Pharmacological Society and other investigators publishing in this Journal.

3. Facilities for animal experiments - Animal experiments should be conducted in well-controlled and administered institutions that are furnished with the necessary equipment.

4. Handling of laboratory animals - When handling animals, the investigators must have sufficient knowledge concerning maintenance methods and the animals' physiology, ecology, behavior and breeding.

5. Planning animal experiments - When the investigators design a plan for animal research, the minimum number of experiments to achieve the purpose of the research should be considered. Sufficient consideration should also be given to the valid selection of animal models and experimental procedures. Moreover, laboratory animals must be treated with appropriate consideration in terms of their environment (cage size, number of animals per cage, temperature, humidity, lighting, etc.).

6. Attention to animals in experiments - From the standpoint of animal welfare, sufficient effort should be made to minimize the anxiety and pain of laboratory animals during experiments.

7. Care of animals after experiments - After an experiment is completed, the animals should be released from pain immediately. Procedures should be carried out in strict accordance with the notification issued from the Prime Minister's Office, No. 6, 1980: "Standards Relating to the Care and Management, etc. of Experimental Animals".

8. Special attention to hazardous substances - Animal experiments using physically and chemically hazardous substances or pathogens should be carried out in strict accordance with appropriate caution, related regulations, etc. Special attention should be given to the maintenance of safety and to the prevention of environmental pollution. In this matter, investigators must work together with the administrative officers of their institutions.

9. Others - Other research procedures should be carried out not only in strict accordance with the guidelines of the investigator's own institution, but also following the guidelines issued by the Science and International Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, No. 141, 1987: "Animal Experiments in Universities, etc.".

Guidelines/Checklist for authors submitting papers discussing materia medica
to the Journal of Pharmacological Sciences

Please perform the experiment and prepare the manuscript according to these requirements, and enclose the completed checklist with the manuscript. When you will submit your manuscript via our E-submission system, send this list to the Editorial Office by FAX or E-mail separately from the manuscript.

--- Check in the bracket ---

1.
1) [__] The species name of the materia medica should be written in Latin in italics and the person who originally named the materia medica should also be indicated; the family name of the materia medica should be listed in parentheses.
2a) [__] In the case that the substance used in the study is extracted and/or purified, the person who identified the collected substance should have his/her name and affiliation indicated.
2b) [__] In the case that the substance used in the study is purchased, the manufacturing company and lot number should be indicated.

2.
1) [__] The specimen number of the materia medica used in the study should be recorded and stored for 10 years.
2) [__] The storage location (affiliation/organization, etc.) of the specimen used in the study should be clearly indicated.
This information will allow the substance to be used by other researchers should requests be made.

3. [__] The detailed method of extraction and the yield of extracts should be clearly indicated.

4.
1) [__] To indicate the chemical components, usually HPLC profile should be clearly indicated. If HPLC is not available, other profiles such as TLC analysis should be indicated.
2) [__] To as great an extent as possible, which peak indicates what compound should be clarified.
That said, these information need to be reviewed for publication in the journal.

5.
1) [__] To evaluate the pharmacological efficacy of extracts, the standard drug(s) should be evaluated at the same time as a reference (positive control).
2) [__] The in vitro activity of an extract should be detected at concentrations lower than 100 microgram/ml.
Use of reference medications will facilitate comparison of the efficacy of the compound to established standard drugs. With such data, the readers can better appreciate the efficacy and underlying mechanism of the extract under study.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Signed (_______________________________________________)

Journal of Pharmacological Sciences

Author's Checklist for Manuscript Submission

Please consult the “Notice to Contributors” and complete the following checklist so that your manuscript will conform to the style and usage of the Journal of Pharmacological Sciences before submission and enclose this sheet with the manuscript. You may reproduce this page.

--- Check in the bracket ---

[__] General

• typing format: A4 / a font size of 11 or 12 / double-spaced (at least 6 mm between lines) throughout / sufficient margins
• submit in quadruplicate (1 original and 3 copies of each component of the manuscript) / copies of photographs should be the same quality as the originals
• enclose a statement indicating that the manuscript is original one that has not been presently submitted to another journal or previously published (see the Notice to Contributors, 3rd paragraph)
• enclose a list of four potential reviewers (see the Notice to Contributors, 6th paragraph)
• enclose the checklist for the authors of the paper discussing materia medica

[__] Title Page

• indicate the type of the paper: Full Paper, Short Communication, or Rapid Communication
• select one or two subject categories (see the list in the Notice to Contributors)
• title: avoid using the trade name of a drug / should not contain abbreviations except for very standard ones / should indicate the experimental animal / a drug for which a generic name has not yet been given can be designated by a combination of letters and numbers only when accompanied by a specification of its pharmacological property (e.g., anti-allergic drug, AB-123)
• provide full names of all authors / provide affiliations and addresses of all authors / identify each author with the appropriate address by numerical superscripts
• provide information about the corresponding author
• provide a running title of no more than 40 characters and spaces
• indicate the number of words used in the main body of the text (Short Communication or Rapid Communication only)
• provide any necessary footnotes (e.g., change of address)

[__] Abstract Page

• limit Abstract to 200 words for Full Paper, 100 words for Short Communication, 80 words for Rapid Communication
• do not cite references in Abstract by reference numbers, but use full citation; omit the article title
• provide keywords: 5 items for Full Paper, 3 items for Short Communication and Rapid Communication / avoid vague or overly general terms

[__] Text

• main- and subheadings: refer to current style in this Journal
• drug names: use generic names; if a generic name has not yet been given, provide the full chemical name at the first mention
• ionic charge should be shown throughout (e.g., Ca²⁺ channel)
• provide names of sources (including city, state (USA) and country (except for Japan)) for experimental apparatuses, reagents, unusual animals, and cell strains
• unpublished data, personal communication, etc. in the text: specify the source of the information (e.g., Y. Yamada et al., unpublished data)

[__] References -refer to current issues-

• list references in numerical order according to the first mention in the text
• "in press" citation must have been accepted for publication; designate journal title
• "unpublished observations", "personal communication", "submitted manuscript": do not list in "References", but insert in appropriate places in the text with source name
• "encyclopedia", "patent", and "thesis" are not valid reference citations
• state "(text in [specify language used] with English abstract)" for a paper with text written in languages other than English but with English abstract
• avoid citing any paper written in a language not normally used for international scientific publications (including Japanese) and does not have an English abstract; if you must cite such a reference, state your justification for including this reference, on a separate sheet, and specify the language in the reference list

[__] Figures -refer to current issues-

• supply Figs. of sufficient quality for direct printing
• all figure elements (letters, numbers and symbols, etc.) should be sufficiently large and clear so that they can be easily read after reduction
• in Fig. legends, do not use the pictorial representation of the actual graphic symbols themselves or actual patterns, but describe them in words (e.g., closed circle, dotted column) or commonly usable marks (e.g., *, #); alternatively, give the explanations of symbols/patterns of Figs., if representing them pictorially
• magnification of electronmicrographs should be indicated by a calibration bar on the photographs themselves to ensure that, after any necessary reduction, the scale is reduced in the correct proportion
• symbols indicating statistical significance: the number of symbols used to indicate a particular probability (P value) should be consistent throughout the manuscript; the same probability should be represented by the same number of symbols in the Figs. and Tables, and the number of symbols should increase as the P value decreases
• avoid unnecessary three-dimensional representation of data in bar graphs
• type legends for Figs. double-spaced on a separate sheet
• for a Fig. consisting of separate panels: do not provide a separate title for each panel, but rather provide one comprehensive title; explanations of panels to be provided in the legend following the title
• color photograph: indicate desired final printing size / cost of color reproduction is charged to authors

[__] Tables -refer to current issues-

• type each Table double-spaced on a separate page; do not insert in the running text
• type a brief informative title above the Table and footnotes at the foot
• do not use vertical lines

[__] Short Communication

• to determine if your study is appropriate for publication as a Short Communication, carefully read the Notice to Contributors
• type text without subdivision into sections
• Abstract of 100 words or less
• main body of the text of 1500 words or less (on the title page, indicate the number of words used)
• no more than 15 references
• no more than 3 Figs. and/or Tables
• other manuscript requirements: see above (General - Tables)

[__] Rapid Communication

• to determine if your study is appropriate for publication as a Rapid Communication, carefully read the Notice to Contributors
• enclose a letter explaining why the manuscript merits publication as a Rapid Communication
• type text without subdivision into sections
• Abstract of 80 words or less
• main body of the text of 1000 words or less (on the title page, indicate the number of words used)
• no more than 10 references
• no more than 2 Figs. and/or Tables
• other manuscript requirements: see above (General - Tables)

Signed ( ________________________________ )

Copyright The Japanese Pharmacological Society

Copyright(C) The Japanese Pharmacological Society All Rights Reserved.