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Scope
Editorial policy
Ethics
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General instructions
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Research Highlights NEW!
Research papers
Preparation of manuscripts
Gene and protein nomenclature
Title page
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Declaration of interest, Funding and Acknowledgements
References
Tables
Figures
Supplementary data
Offprints
Cover art competition
Online submission
Reproduction is the official journal of the Society of Reproduction and Fertility (SRF). It was formed in 2001 when the Society merged its two journals, the Journal of Reproduction and Fertility and Reviews of Reproduction.
Reproduction publishes original research articles and topical reviews on the subject of reproductive biology. Its focus is on cellular and molecular biology of reproduction, including the development of gametes and early embryos in all animal species including the human; developmental processes such as cell differentiation, morphogenesis and related regulatory mechanisms in normal and disease models; assisted reproductive technologies in model systems and in a clinical environment; reproductive endocrinology; reproductive immunology; and reproductive physiology. Emerging topics including cloning, the biology of embryonic stem cells, environmental effects on reproductive potential and health, and epigenetic effects on reproductive and developmental processes are encouraged.
There are no page charges and colour is free.
Reproduction publishes research papers that extend our understanding of mechanisms of reproductive biology. Papers of a descriptive or technical nature will only be published when they open new lines of research and are of interest to the wide readership of the journal.
When submitting your manuscript please explain clearly and succinctly in the covering letter how your research advances present knowledge of reproductive biology. This will be important for the expert editor handling your paper to determine its suitability for the journal.
Papers that are not within the remit of the journal may be rejected by the relevant experts on the editorial board. Decisions to reject papers at this stage will be taken by two editors, normally within a week of the manuscript being submitted. A brief explanation as to why the manuscript does not meet the journal's requirements for publication will be returned to the author.
The editors of Reproduction are committed to publishing high-quality research. In the last three years the number of manuscripts submitted to the journal has nearly doubled. Editorial policy has responded by becoming more selective to ensure that only the highest-quality papers are accepted.
All authors must abide by the standards outlined in the journal's ethical guidelines.
Please note the journal’s policy on self archiving. Acceptance of this policy is a condition of publication.
Articles are considered on the understanding that, if they are accepted for publication, the entire copyright shall pass to the Society for Reproduction and Fertility. All authors are asked to sign a copyright agreement to this effect. To facilitate the processing of your manuscript please submit the completed form with your paper.
For information on how to request permission to reproduce any part of a paper published in Reproduction see the journal's permissions and commercial reprints page.
Include a covering letter (PDF file) stating that the work has not been and will not be submitted for publication elsewhere until the Editorial Board has decided whether to publish the paper.
Acknowledge all of the major sources of funding relevant to the research reported. Please include this before the reference list in the Funding section. See below for more details.
Papers quoted as ‘In Press’ must be provided as additional files.
Give the names of up to five reviewers; include contact details, particularly e-mail addresses where possible. These scientists may be asked to referee the paper.
If you are unable to submit online please contact the editorial office. BioScientifica is not responsible for loss or damage to manuscripts, illustrations and disks.
It will be assumed that submitted manuscripts carry the approval of all the authors.
Reproduction publishes topical reviews on basic mechanisms, recent developments and new hypotheses in the field of reproductive biology.
Articles are commissioned by the Reviews Editor and Reviews Commissioning Group and undergo peer review by experts in the field. If you would like to submit a review please approach the Reviews Editor with a brief outline of your topic. This can be done via our feedback form.
Manuscripts should, in general, conform to the requirements for original research papers and be of interest to specialists and comprehensible to non-specialist students, university teachers, research workers and clinicians. They should be in the range of 20–30,000 characters (excluding spaces and References), with 20–50 references and 2–6 figures or tables. Original summary diagrams and illustrations of proposed models (in colour where appropriate) are encouraged. Line drawings may be redrawn. Boxes can be used to separate detailed explanations and background information from the main part of the text.
Research Highlights are being introduced as brief, high priority, original manuscripts reporting a major discovery or advance in a particular field of reproductive biology. These manuscripts will cover experimental studies offering new insight into reproductive mechanisms likely to be of significant interest across the readership of the journal.
Research Highlights will be processed after review as high priority for rapid publication and will be given due prominence and recognition. Research Highlights will be subject to editorial assessment before being processed for review through the normal channels. If the editorial team concludes that the manuscript is not of sufficient novelty or impact, it will be returned to the authors without review or recommended as a conventional Research paper submission. This initial decision will be made within one week wherever possible.
Submissions as Research Highlights should be no longer than 20,000 characters (excluding spaces and References) with a maximum of 4 display items (figures/tables). References should be kept to a maximum of 30.
The manuscript should be divided into the following sections: Title page, Abstract (maximum 250 words), Introduction, Results and Discussion (combined), Materials and Methods, Declaration of interest, Funding, Acknowledgements, References, Display item legends, Display items (Figures/Tables). As for all Reproduction papers, additional data may be displayed online as supplementary information.
To further speed up processing and publication time, a brief manuscript providing all the required information necessary can be submitted in any similar format for initial review, although the correct format would be required before publication. An abstract of the manuscript can be emailed to the editorial office via the feedback form in the first instance for a quick response on suitability.
Research papers should be substantial bodies of work describing original research that provides insight into the mechanisms of reproductive biology.
Manuscripts should be concise and clear. As a guideline, the total length of the manuscript should not exceed 45,000 characters (excluding spaces and References). We recommend a maximum of 10 figures and 60 references.
Manuscripts should be divided into the following sections: Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Results, Discussion, Materials and Methods, Declaration of interest, Funding, Acknowledgements, References, Figure legends, Tables, Figures.
Use double spacing throughout (including reference list and figure legends).
Spelling should conform to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary or Merriam-Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary.
Number all pages, and number the lines continuously throughout the entire manuscript down the left-hand side of each page.
Define all abbreviations when first mentioned.
When preparing a revised manuscript, please highlight the changes to your manuscript within the document by using the highlighter function or coloured text.
Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with accepted gene nomenclature.
Gene symbols should be in italics with only the first letter capitalised. Protein designations should be the same as the gene symbols except that all letters should be capitalised and in roman (i.e. not italicised). For example:
Gene symbol: Sox2
Protein designation: SOX2
Gene symbols and protein designations should conform to the Rules for Nomenclature of Mouse and Rat Strains.
Gene symbols should be in italics with all letters capitalised; protein designations should be the same as the gene symbols but not italicised. For example:
Gene symbol: SOX2
Protein designation: SOX2
Gene symbols and protein designations should conform to HUGO Gene Nomenclature guidelines.
Gene symbols should be in italics with all letters in lower case; protein designations should be the same as the gene symbols but not italicised and with the first letter capitalised. For example:
Gene symbol: sox2
Protein designation: Sox2
Gene symbols and protein designations should conform to ZFIN guidelines.
Include a separate title page with the title, authors’ names and full addresses; use superscript numbers after authors’ names for addresses.
Provide a short title of not more than 46 characters (including spaces) as a running head.
Indicate the person to whom correspondence should be addressed (include email address).
The abstract should be a single paragraph of not more than 250 words.
State clearly the objective of the study or review, the methods used (where applicable), and summarize results and conclusions.
Avoid abbreviations and references.
The introduction should set the study in context by briefly reviewing relevant knowledge of the subject; follow this with a concise statement of the objectives of the study.
Sufficient information should be provided so that other workers can repeat the study. If well-established methods are used give a reference to the technique; full details of any modifications should be provided.
Include the source of chemicals, reagents and hormones and give the manufacturer’s name and location (town, country) in parentheses. Give the generic name, dose and route of administration for drugs
Specify the composition of buffers, solutions and culture media. SI symbols must be used, concentrations should be given in mol l-1 and the term % must be defined as w/v or v/v for all solutions. For international units iu should be used (U should be used for enzyme activity)
The full binomial Latin names should be given for all experimental animals other than common laboratory animals. State also the breed or strain and source of animals, and give details of age, weight, sex and housing.
Sufficient details of the experimental design and analysis should be given so that the reader can assess their adequacy and validity for testing the hypotheses of interest. In particular, the numbers of experimental units used and the way in which they have been allocated to treatments should be described. The omission of any observations from the analysis must be justified. Methods of analysis should be described precisely and any necessary assumptions stated clearly, as these may affect the conclusions that can be drawn from the experiment.
Please either (a) declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research reported; or (b) fully declare any financial or other potential conflict of interest.
Please detail all of the sources of funding relevant to the research reported in the following format:
This work was supported by the Medical Research Council (grant numbers xxxx, yyyy); the Wellcome Trust (grant number xxxx); and Tommy's Baby charity (grant number xxxx).
Where research has not been funded please state the following:
This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.
Please be as brief as possible.
All references cited in the text should be included in the reference list and vice versa.
Any unpublished work (personal communications, manuscripts in preparation and manuscripts submitted but not yet accepted for publication) should be referred to in the text and not listed in the references:
(A Stone, unpublished observations), (J Brown, personal communication)
Articles accepted for publication but not yet published may be listed as ‘In Press’ in the reference list.
Cite references in the text in chronological order and use et al. for more than two authors, eg: (Davies & Smith 1999; Frost et al. 2001; Williams 2001).
List references in alphabetical order. Papers by the same author should be given in the order: (i) single author; (ii) two authors alphabetically according to the name of the second author; and (iii) three or more authors chronologically, with a, b and c etc. for papers published in the same year, in the order in which they are cited in the text.
A maximum of ten authors should be given. Where there are more than ten authors, list the first ten and then use et al.
Reference in the following format:
Kelly RW, King AE & Critchley HOD 2001 Cytokine control in human endometrium. Reproduction 121 3-19.
Byskov AG & Hoyer PE 1994 Embryology of mammalian gonads and ducts. In The Physiology of Reproduction, edn 5, pp 75-86. Eds E Knobil and JD Neill. New York: Raven Press.
An EndNote style for Reproduction can be downloaded via the following link: Reproduction EndNote style.
Either click the link and choose the option to save or right-click and select ‘Save Target As’ from the drop-down menu. Save the file into the ‘Style’ folder within the EndNote program folder (usually found on the computer hard (C:) drive). If using a shared copy of EndNote over a network, the network administrator may need to do this.
Tables should be concise and informative.
The title should be a single sentence at the head of the table and should include the name of the organism studied.
Tables should be self-contained, and not require further explanation; they should be numbered (arabic numbers) and cited in the text.
Give a short heading for each column, and do not use internal horizontal and vertical lines.
Any additional explanatory material should appear as footnotes, cross-referenced to the column entries.
Explain all abbreviations used in the table in the footnotes.
Reproduction is committed to publishing high quality figures.
EPS or TIFF files are preferred; files should be exported in Illustrator compatible format.
Any Photoshop (TIFF or JPEG) or PDF files should be at least 300 dpi at the final published width (avoid using PowerPoint files).
Amino acid, DNA, RNA and PCR primer sequences should use Courier or similar non-proportional font; highlight sections of homology between sequences with grey shading.
Label figure sections as A, B etc in the top left-hand corner.
Indicate magnification by a scale bar in the bottom right-hand corner of the image; give the measurement in the legend.
Use the preferred symbols of closed and open circles, squares and triangles. Ensure that symbols are large enough to be read clearly when the figure is reduced for publication. Do not enclose figures in boxes. Arial font is preferred for text labels.
Include legends to all figures, giving the figure number, keys to any symbols used and the name of the organism studied.
Colour figures and illustrations are printed without charge to the author at the discretion of the editorial office and a member of the editorial board.
Supply colour figure files in the following format:
Additional information regarding the submission of figures can be found here.
Authors with particularly interesting and attractive images should consider submitting them to our cover art competition. See below for more information.
Supplementary data too large for print publication or exceeding the bounds of the manuscript may be submitted for online publication.
Supplementary data files intended for online publication should be submitted online to Manuscript Central as ‘Supplemental File for Review’, and referred to as supplementary data in the text:
(Supplementary Table 1) (Supplementary Figures 1 and 2).
Supplementary information will be reviewed as part of the manuscript, evaluated for its importance and relevance and, if accepted, will be referenced in the text of the article, directing readers to the web site.
There is a charge to the author of 50 GBP (70 EUR/80 USD) for the first file and 10 GBP (15 EUR/16 USD) for each subsequent file. When submitting a manuscript with supplementary data please complete a supplementary data form.
A free PDF will be emailed to the corresponding author. Offprints can be ordered on the form accompanying the proof.
Readers are invited to submit images featuring research in reproductive biology for consideration for use as the cover image of Reproduction.
Figures must be of high quality and resolution of at least 300dpi at the final published size (280 mm × 210 mm).
Readers who provide images that are selected for use on the cover of the journal will be awarded a prize of £100. Images not selected for use may still be used on the Society for Reproduction and Fertility and BioScientifica websites for promotional purposes.
By submitting an image you warrant that you own the copyright and agree to the use of the image as described above.
Images should be accompanied by a short caption of 25–30 words explaining what the image depicts and who should be acknowledged for its production. To submit an image or request further information please contact the editorial office.
Submit online using the Manuscript Central system. This enables you to monitor the progress of your submission. It also means that your paper can be included in the Reproduction Advance Publication service.
Please prepare the content of your article as described above.
If you are unable to submit online, please contact us for further information.
There is no charge for submitting papers nor will there be any subsequent page charges.
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