1. Aims and Scope

Recent advances in molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry and biophysics have led to a spectacular increase in the understanding of biological membranes at the molecular level. Molecular Membrane Biology provides a forum for membrane researchers from diverse disciplines who have a primary interest in the study of biomembranes at the molecular level. Molecular Membrane Biology publishes high quality original papers and reviews that serve to advance knowledge and research in all molecular aspects of membrane structure and function including: receptors and signalling; transporters, pores and channels; synthesis and structure of membrane proteins; translocation and targeting; lipid organization and asymmetry; model membranes, membrane fusion, endocytosis, exocytosis and recycling; cytoskeletal and extracellular interactions, cell adhesion and intercellular interactions, molecular dynamics and molecular modelling of membranes.

Further information about the Journal, including links to the online sample copy and contents pages, can be found on the Journal homepage.

Please click here for the full Editorial Board.

3. Submission of Manuscripts

All submissions should be made online at Molecular Membrane Biology's Manuscript Central site. New users should first create an account. Once a user is logged onto the site submissions should be made via the Author Centre. 

Please submit the main text, together with the legends to figures and any tables, in a single file in Word 2003 or previous (.doc) format. (Manuscripts that are submitted in PDF format cannot be processed for publication.) Figures for the main text, appropriately numbered but without legends, should be submitted in a PowerPoint, TIFF, or JPG file. (Figures that are submitted in PDF format cannot be processed for publication.) Supplementary text, legends to supplementary figures and supplementary tables, should be submitted in an additional, single file in Word format. Supplementary figures should be submitted in a separate PowerPoint, TIFF, or JPG file. For Supplementary movie files, please see below. 

4. Preparation of Manuscripts

Molecular Membrane Biology considers all manuscripts on the strict condition that they have been submitted only to Molecular Membrane Biology, that they have not been published already, nor are they under consideration for publication or in press elsewhere. Authors who fail to adhere to this condition will be charged with all costs that Molecular Membrane Biology incurs and their papers will not be published.

Research article contributions to Molecular Membrane Biology must report original research. Research papers and review papers will be subjected to review by referees. The following guidelines apply:

i. Organise the manuscript as follows:
Page 1 - Give the complete title of the manuscript, and the names, affiliations, postal addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses of all authors. A short title (running head) of not more than 45 characters should be provided.
Page 2 - Give the abstract (up to 250 words), which should summarize the major findings and conclusions. Do not cite references in the summary. Three to five keywords or phrases that encapsulate the significant content of the paper should also be provided on this page, followed by details of the corresponding author.
Page 3 - and subsequent pages - The Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion (or Results and Discussion), Acknowledgements, Appendices (as appropriate), References, Table(s) with caption(s) on individual pages, Legends to Figures (as a list).

ii. Manuscripts should have double spacing (including the References) and 3 cm margins throughout.

iii. Concise, explanatory section headings should be used.

iv. For full details, including referencing, please see Notes on Style.

v. Figures (including associated lettering) should be designed and submitted to fit in portrait orientation within the printable area of either one-column (8 x 23.5 cm) or two-columns (16.8 x 23.5 cm) of the journal. Whole page
Figures submitted in landscape orientation (23.5 x 16.8 cm) are acceptable but should be avoided if possible.

vi. Review papers should be general in character rather than being focussed strongly on work done in the author' laboratory. To ensure that the subject matter is suitable and that it will not duplicate reviews already in hand, please contact the Managing Editor in advance if you are planning to write a review paper.

vii. For all manuscripts non-discriminatory language is mandatory. Sexist or racist terms should not be used.

viii. Papers are accepted only in English.

ix. Authors must adhere to SI units.

x. For information on submitting animations, movie files and sound files or any additional information including indexes and calendars please click here.

xi. Drugs should be referred to by generic names; trade names of substances, their sources, and details of manufacturers of scientific instruments should be given if the information is important to the evaluation of the experimental data. When using a word which is or is asserted to be a proprietary term or trade mark authors must use the symbol ® or TM or alternatively a footnote can be inserted using the wording below:

This article includes a word that is or is asserted to be a proprietary term or trade mark. Its inclusion does not imply it has acquired for legal purposes a non-proprietary or general significance, nor is any other judgement implied concerning its legal status.


5. Ethics and Consent

When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 1983. Do not use patients'names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. Papers including animal experiments or clinical trials must be conducted with approval by the local animal care or human subject committees, respectively.

Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees, unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that the patient be shown the manuscript to be published.

6. Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

It is the sole responsibility of authors to disclose any affiliation with any organisation with a financial interest, direct or indirect, in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript (such as consultancies, employment, expert testimony, honoraria, speakers' bureaus, retainers, stock options or ownership) that may affect the conduct or reporting of the work submitted. If uncertain as to what might be considered a potential conflict of interest, authors should err on the side of full disclosure. Information about potential conflict of interest should be clearly stated at the point of submission (for example in a cover letter, or where available within the appropriate field on the journal's Manuscript Central site). This may be made available to reviewers and may be published with the manuscript at the discretion of the Editors.

7. Disclosure of Sources of funding

All sources of funding for research are to be explicitly stated, at the point of submission. This may be published with the manuscript at the discretion of the Editors.

8. Authorship Contributions

Contributions must be substantial in order to warrant authorship. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. All other contributors should be listed as acknowledgements.

9. Colour and Page Charges

10. Proofs

The Editor reserves the right to proceed to press without submitting page proofs to the author. However, usual practice will involve corresponding authors receiving email notification with a password and Web address from which to download a PDF. Hard copies of proofs will not be mailed. To avoid delays in publication, corrections to proofs must be returned within 48 hours, by electronic transmittal, fax or mail. Authors will be charged for excessive correction at this stage of production.

If authors do not return page proofs promptly, the Editor reserves the choice to either delay publication to a subsequent issue or to proceed to press without author corrections.

11. Offprints and Reprints

Corresponding authors will receive free online access to their article through our website (www.informaworld.com). Reprints of articles published in this journal can be purchased through Rightslink® when proofs are received. If you have any queries, please contact our reprints department at reprints@tandf.co.uk.

12. Copyright

In consideration of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy, Informa Healthcare acknowledges that the broad and open dissemination of NIH-funded research results may benefit future scientific and medical research. Because we value the current and future contributions our journals make to the scientific body of knowledge, we have made certain that our policies accommodate those authors who wish to submit to PubMed Central.

Informa Healthcare's position with respect to public access to NIH-funded work published in Informa Healthcare journals is as follows:

• Informa Healthcare authors may voluntarily submit their funded work to PubMed Central after a 12 month embargo period.
• “Funded work” shall be defined as the final, peer-reviewed manuscript that is accepted by the Editor in Chief of the journal. This manuscript must not be altered by Publisher's copyediting and typesetting services.
• This embargo period begins the day the work is published online at www.informaworld.com.

14. Contacting the Publisher

Molecular Membrane Biology
Informa Healthcare
5th Floor
Telephone House
69-77 Paul Street
London
EC2A 4LQ, UK
Tel: (+44) 207 017 4303
Fax: (+44) 207 017 6914
Email (Please include the Journal name in all correspondence.)