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Twin Research

Instructions to authors

Scope
Twin Research is the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies. Twin Research communicates the results of original research covering the broad spectrum of multiple birth research. It also provides timely state-of-the-art reviews on all aspects of twin studies. Topics covered in the journal include:

• human genetics
• neonatology
• psychology
• paediatrics and child psychology
• adult psychology and psychiatry
• obstetrics and gynaecology
• epidemiology
• methodology
• statistics
• sociology of twins and their families

Submission of Manuscripts
Four complete copies of each manuscript, including figures and tables, should be submitted directly to the editorial office (see below). The original manuscript and one set of high quality figures should be marked as such. Please enclose a covering letter including the corresponding author's complete address, e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers. To expedite the review process, authors may recommend three to five reviewers. Please provide the name, address, telephone and fax numbers and area of expertise for each. Note that recommended reviewers will be used at the discretion of the Editor. Acknowledgement of receipt of the manuscript by the editorial office will be sent to the corresponding author, including an assigned manuscript number which should be included in all subsequent correspondence. When sending in a revised manuscript, this should be clearly marked as such and should include the manuscript number.

Editorial Office

Editor-in-Chief
Nicholas G Martin, Ph.D.
Queensland Institute of Medical Research
Post Office, Royal Brisbane Hospital
300 Herston Road
Brisbane 4029
Australia

Phone: +61 7 3362 0278
Fax: +61 7 3362 0101
Email: nickM@qimr.edu.au

Editorial policy
All contributions and general correspondence regarding editorial matters should be addressed to the Editor and sent to the Editorial Office. Manuscripts submitted to the journal must represent reports of original research. Manuscripts will be sent of anonymous review by at least two referees, who will either be members of the editorial board or other of similar standing in the field. Authors will be notified of acceptance, rejection or need for revision within 6 weeks. When a manuscript is returned to the corresponding author for revision, it should be returned to the Editor within 2 months, other wise it may be considered withdrawn. Accepted manuscripts will appear in the journal within 3 months, whenever possible.

Copyright
Authors will be asked before publication to assign the world copyright of their manuscript to Nature Publishing Group. Therefore all manuscripts submitted must be accompanied by a signed statement that the article is original, is not under consideration, or has not been previously published elsewhere and its content has not been anticipated by any previous publication.

Preparation of the Manuscripts
All manuscripts should be in English, legibly typed on one side only of American eight and a half by 11 inches or A4 paper. All sections of the manuscript should be double-spaced with one inch margins on all four sides. Please subdivide manuscripts into the following sequence of sections: Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgement, References, Tables, Figure legends. Number each page (title page is 1). Please indicate the position of each figure and table in the margin. Full-length papers of over 45 pages (including tables and figures) are discouraged. Papers not following the indicated format may be returned. In general, the requirements are those recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors in the booklet "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals" (Brit Med J 1997; 314: 1-10).

Submission on Disk
Once accepted for publication the final version of the manuscript may be submitted on disk as long as it meets the following criteria:

1. the manuscript on disk must be the final accepted version
2. a double spaced hard copy accompanies the disk and matches the disk version exactly. If the disk version varies from the hard copy, the hard copy will be used. the disk contains text only, excluding tables, figures or graphic files
3. disk should be 3.5 inches (90mm)
4. the preferred programme is Wordperfect for Windows (saved as 5.1) Microsoft Word for Mac or Psychiatric Care; ASCII
5. tables should be provided in hard copy form as conversion usually makes re-keying and tagging necessary
6. non-ASCII characters (Greek, maths symbols, foreign accents etc) should be coded in the text eg <x> and the full key of these codes placed in a separate file (.splextension) eg: <x> represents maths symbol chi squared. This will enable a rapid and full search and replace
7. avoid using sub-directories/folders for these files, keep them at the top directory level
8. do not include automatic pagination. Manuscript pages should be numbered by hand on the hard copy version
9. do not use compression
10. use endnotes, not footnotes
11. use double-line space between paragraphs, not first line indent
12. do not use double-line space between items in lists or references
13. follow journal style for references, capitalisation etc
14. all disks must be labelled clearly with journal name/author/manuscript number/file name and programme used.

We do not guarantee that the disk will be used or that it will expedite publication. However, we will ensure that all manuscripts will be handled by the most expedient method. Please ask the Production Controller of Twin Research for further details if necessary, before submitting material on disk (tel: +44 1256 329242; fax: +44 1256 810526, e-mail: d.cole@nature.com).

Title page/keywords
The title should be as brief as possible with no abbreviations. Include each author's surname and initials and complete addresses in English, including department, institution, city with postal code and country (indicating clearly which author is at which address.) A corresponding author should be indicated with telephone, fax numbers and e-mail address provided. Please also provide a running title of not more than 50 characters. Please provide 5-10 keywords using standard MeSH-Medline subject headings for indexing purposes. Terms not contained within the title are preferred.

Abstract
The second page of the manuscript should contain only an abstract in a single paragraph of not more than 200-250 words. Abbreviations and reference citations should be avoided.

Introduction
The introduction should assume that the reader is knowledgeable in the field an should therefore be a brief as possible and should not exceed 1500 words.

References
References should follow the Vancouver format. In the text, they should appear as numbers starting at 1. At the end of the papers they should be listed (double-spaced) in the numerical order corresponding to the order of citation in the text. All authors should be quoted. Abbreviations for titles of medical periodical should conform to those used in the latest edition of Index Medicus. The first and last page numbers for each reference should be provided. Abstracts and letters must be identified as such.

1      Clements R, Gravelle IH., Radiological appearances of hydatid disease in Wales. Postgrad Med J 1986; 62: 167-173.

2      Greenberger JS. Long-term hematopoietic cultures. In: Golde W. (ed) Hematopoiesis. Churchill Livingstone: New York, 1984, pp 203-242.

Tables
These should be typed on separate sheets and numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. Tables should be self explanatory and include a brief descriptive title. Footnotes to tables indicated by lower case letters are acceptable. but they should no include extensive experimental detail. It is helpful to indicate with an arrow in the margin of the manuscript the most appropriate position for each table.

Illustrations and Photographs
As illustrations will be scanned electronically for inclusion in the journal, care must be taken when preparing artwork of publication. All figures should be referred to in the text as Figure 1, etc and should be no larger than 8 and a half by 11 inches. Please do not send valuable or original artwork as we cannot be responsible for lost or damaged figures. Write the title of your paper, the name of the first author, and the figure number lightly in pencil on the back of each figure. Photographs should be of sufficiently high quality with respect to detail, contrast and fineness of grain to withstand some reduction and the inevitable loss of contrast and detail inherent in the printing process. Please indicate the magnification by a rule on the photograph. Inclusion of colour plates will be subject to a special charge. The author will have the opportunity to approve both costs and proofs of colour illustrations prior to printing. In the manuscript, indicate with an arrow in the margin the most appropriate position for the figure.

Electronic Submission of Artwork
To ensure optimum quality please follow these guidelines when submitting artwork on disk.

1. Macintosh files prepared to the correct size (max width 80mm single column or up to 160mm double column) in Adobe Photoshop and supplied as a TIFF file
2. other formats which can be accepted are open files (not EPS) of Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand
3. IBM/PC TIFF files (in graphic format only not document)
4. minimum resolution for scanned graphics to be 300dpi for tone work and 600 dpi for line work. If any figures have to be produced in colour, save as CMYK and not RGB
5. if the artwork has been created to the correct size the labelling placed around the illustration should be 8pt Univers. If an illustration has been created to a larger size than that stated, the labelling should be set to the correct percentage for reduction at page make-up
6. preferred media for delivery: CD-ROM, Optical 600mb or 1.3gb (5.25 inches), Syquest 88mb or 200mb (5.25 inches), Macintosh and PC 3.5 inches floppy disks (up to 1.44mb) or 5.25 inches (up to 1.2mb).

The disk must be clearly marked with journal name/ author/ manuscript number/ file name and programme used and accompany the manuscript to which it refers. Hard copies of the illustrations must be included for identification. Any illustrations containing blots from gels, histochemical stains or pen traces, that have been prepared via a computer programme cannot be reproduced from a laser printout, as this creates a cross-hatched pattern. Such material must be submitted on disk as above, unless unscanned continuous tone originals are supplied.

Abbreviations
These should be defined in parentheses after their first mention in the text, except for the use of accepted abbreviations, such as SI Symbols, which need not be defined. Use generic names when referring to drugs; trade names may be given in parentheses at first mention.

Reviews
Scholarly reviews of topics within the scope of Twin Research will be considered for publication after paper review. Please send a one page letter of inquiry to the Editor before preparing your manuscript, to make sure that a similar review is not in press.

Proofs
Manuscripts will be scheduled for publication upon receipt of proofs. Extensive changes to the proofs will result in publication delay. Important new information that has become available between acceptance of the manuscript and receipt of the proofs may be inserted as an Addendum in proof with the permission of an Editor. Proofs must be checked immediately for typographical errors and returned to the publisher along with the copyright assignment form.

Offprints
An offprint order form will accompany the proofs. The publishers will supply 25 offprints free of charge to the corresponding author.

Business Matters
Business correspondence and enquiries relating to advertising, subscriptions, backnumbers or reprints should be addressed to the relevant person at Nature Publishing Group, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, UK.(In the US call toll free on 1-800-747-3187)

Last Updated 13 November 2000