• Final manuscripts for the special issue of NeuroComp 2008 should be submitted as a PDF using the same method as was used to submit abstracts and then the extended abstracts by e-mail to laurent.perrinet@incm.cnrs-mrs.fr.

• An exemple paper may be found in http://incm.cnrs-mrs.fr/LaurentPerrinet/Publications/Perrinet07neurocomp (sorry for the shameless auto-promotion).

• Deadline for final manuscripts is July 15^th, 2009.

• On-line publication is expected in september 2009 in a special issue.

Guidelines for the special issue

Aims and scope of the Journal of Physiology

The Journal of Physiology - Paris: "An International Review Journal for the Neurosciences" covers all aspects of experimental and theoretical neurosciences seeking a better understanding of brain function, including molecular, cellular and integrative neurophysiology, neural control of physiological functions, behaviour, cognition, biologically-based theoretical neural networks and computational neuroscience.

Each issue of the Journal of Physiology - Paris is commissioned by invitation, to provide an overview of an important area of neuroscience research. We will publish both review and research papers from the leading researchers in the field. The journal does not accept spontaneously submitted individual research papers but the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Yves Fregnac (fregnac@iaf.cnrs-gif.fr), welcomes suggestions for topics to be covered.

Manuscripts may be presented as review chapters, or as original research papers based on data that has not been published or submitted previously elsewhere for publication. Unpublished data can be included in the core of review chapters, but if this done, sufficiently detailed information regarding the methods should be provided in order to evaluate the relevance of the results.

Additional information can be obtained from the Editor-in-Chief if necessary : Dr Yves Fregnac, U.N.I.C., CNRS-Bat. 33, 1, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91190 Gif sur Yvette, France, Tel.: +33 (0) 1 69 82 34 15; Fax: + 33 (0) 1 69 82 34 27; E-mail: grant@unic.cnrs-gif.fr

Submission of articles

The manuscript will be subject to the usual international peer review process by the NeuroComp scientific committee. The Invited Editor or Symposium Organiser will return the reviews to the Authors in cases where revision is requested.

Initial submission for the review process is preferred in electronic form, in PDF only.

It is essential to give a telephone number and e-mail address when submitting a manuscript.

Following acceptance of the article the Editorial Office will ask authors an electronic file for transmission to Elsevier, where the preferred formats are Word or LaTeX (see Electronic format requirements, below).

General

Articles must be written in English.

Submission of an article implies that the work has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher.

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer copyright to Elsevier (for more information on copyright see http://authors.elsevier.com). This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by Authors in these cases: contact Elsevier Rights Department, Oxford, UK: phone (+ 44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail: permissions@elsevier.com. Requests may also be completed on-line via the Elsevier homepage (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions).

Preparation of text

Presentation of manuscript

General

The manuscript should be written in English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these).

The text should be double-spaced, aligned to the left margin and not fully justified. The first line of each paragraph should be indented using the paragraph alignment button rather than tabulations or spaces.

Italics should not to be used for expressions of Latin origin, for example, in vivo, et al., per se.

Decimals should be indicated with points rather than commas; use a space for thousands (10 000 and above).

Tables and figure legends should appear on separate pages at the end of the manuscript.

Arrangement of the article

Title Page

This should contain the following details:

• Title.

• Author names and affiliations. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation including the country name, and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.

• Corresponding Author. The name, full postal address, telephone, fax and e-mail address should be indicated for the corresponding author.

• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a "Present address" (or "Permanent address") may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

• Abstract. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions (maximum length 300 words).

• Keywords. Provide a maximum of 6 keywords to be used for indexing purposes.

Subdivision of the article. Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1., 1.1.2., ...), 1.2., etc. (The abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsections may be given a brief heading.

Introduction. State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Experimental/Materials and methods. Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.

Results. Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion. This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them.

Conclusions. The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion.

Acknowledgements. Place acknowledgements, including information on grants received, before the references, in a separate section, and not as a footnote on the title page.

Tables. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Avoid vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables does not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.

References. See separate section, below.

References

Responsibility for the accuracy of bibliographic citations lies entirely with the Authors.

Citations in the text.

Literature citations should be cited in the text as follows: (Brecht and Sakmann, 2002; Koch et al., 1996). Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full.

Unpublished results may be mentioned in the text as 'unpublished results' or 'Personal communication' but should not appear in the reference list. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

List of citations.

The list of references is arranged in alphabetical order.

Please use the following style for the list of references (same style as Neuron):

Articles in periodicals :

Brecht, M., and Sakmann, B. (2002). Dynamic representation of whisker deflection by synaptic potentials in spiny stellate and pyramidal cells in the barrels and septa of layer 4 rat somatosensory cortex. J. Physiol. 543, 49-70.

An electronic publication :

Arabzadeh, E., Zorzin, E., and Diamond, M.E. (2005). Neuronal encoding of texture in the whisker sensory pathway. PLoS Biol. 3, e17.

Article in a book :

Sorenson, P.W., and Caprio, J.C. (1998). Chemoreception. In The Physiology of Fishes, D.H. Evans, ed. (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press), pp. 375-405.

An entire book :

Shepherd, G.M. (1998). The Synaptic Organization of the Brain, Fourth Edition (New York, NY: Oxford University Press).

Preparation of electronic illustrations

Submitting your artwork in an electronic format helps us to produce your work to the best possible standards, ensuring accuracy, clarity and a high level of detail.

A detailed guide entitled "Artwork Instructions" is available in the section "Publishing with Elsevier" on our website: http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork

General points

• Always supply high-quality printouts of your artwork, in case conversion of the electronic artwork is problematic.

• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.

• Save text in illustrations as "graphics" or enclose the font.

• Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times, Symbol.

• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.

• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files, and supply a separate listing of the files and the software used.

• Provide all illustrations as separate files and as hardcopy printouts on separate sheets.

• Provide captions to illustrations separately.

• Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.

Colour illustrations :

The cost of colour is 270 Euros for each colour page.

Please do not:

• Supply embedded graphics in your wordprocessor (spreadsheet, presentation) documentation;

• Supply files that are optimised for screen use (like GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low;

• Supply files that are too low in resolution;

• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Drug names

The generic names must be used, and if commercially available drugs are used, the proprietary name, chemical composition and manufacturer should be stated in full in the Materials and Methods section. The form of the drug used (e.g., base or salt) should always be indicated.

Acceptance

Editorial decisions will be reached within one month. However, this is subject to reception of all the manuscripts corresponding to a given invited issue within the prescribed delays.

Proofs

When your manuscript is received by the Publisher it is considered to be in its final form. Proofs are not to be regarded as "drafts". One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author, to be checked for typesetting/editing. No changes in, or additions to, the accepted (and subsequently edited) manuscript will be allowed at this stage. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. A form with queries from the copyeditor may accompany your proofs. Please answer all queries and make any corrections or additions required.

Offprints

One complete copy of the journal issue and an e-offprint will be supplied free of charge to the corresponding author. Additional offprints can be ordered at a specially reduced rate using the order form sent to the corresponding Author after the manuscript has been accepted. Orders for reprints (produced after publication of an article) will incur a 50% surcharge.