Bhavna Patel
Journal of Tumour Suppressor Genes
The study of cancer has proved to be an extremely diverse and complex area. Tumour suppressor genes (TSG) play a pivotal role in the development of carcinogenesis. There are many TSGs which have been discovered, I will be focusing on the p53 TSG. I intend to discuss the main functions of this gene, including its chemistry and the importance of its presence in preventing cancer. For the practical component my aim has been to design a scientific journal focusing mainly on TSGs. Letters to established international authors and various UK based publishers were sent as part of the market research. From a small response and through analysis of existing journals, a scientific journal was constructed. When designing this journal, the main aspects for consideration were the impact factor (IF), editorial board, and broadness of topic. Upon completing this project, a scientific journal with substantial scope and free online availability, has been produced.
In the presence of DNA damage p53 levels increase.
p53 is phosphorylated which results in no p53-MDM2 complexes being formed. As the p53 is phosphorylated MDM2 can no longer bind to its binding site on the p53. MDM2 is the negative regulator of p53 and it controls level of p53 by degradation and ubiquitin activity.
Ionising radiation damages the DNA, this damage is detected by TSG p53. the TSG p53 plays a pivotal role in cell cycle arrest, repairing DNA damage and apoptosis. p53 transcribes genes for required for DNA repair. However if the damage is not repairable then p53 transcribes genes responsible for programmed cell death.
The cover shows how both tumour suppressor genes and oncogenes control cell growth and proliferation. Oncogenes act as accelerators which lead the cell to proliferate. In order to control cell growth and proliferation the TSGs act as breaks. TSGs are responsible for the inhibition of abnormal cell growth. However mutations in these genes lead to the development of carcinogenesis.
The diagram represents the whole p53 protein. The illustration at the top shows the “hot spots” which are the codon positions that are found mutated very frequently in this phosphoprotein. The illustration below shows the different domains of the p53.
The Journal of Tumour Suppressor Genes provides the latest scientific information on the most recent work carried out on TSG’s. The journal of TSG aims to provide information regarding:
TSG publishes reports of results in any area of Tumour Suppressor Genes. The work that is carried out should be unique and provide an unusual insight to research within its field. TSG is also prepared to publish further research to existing studies so that our readers are always kept informed with latest research.
Not only professional scientists but the general public can also gain an understanding of current scientific interest. The work published is aimed to target a broad audience at all levels of scientific background.
This work should also be of interest to researchers outside the immediate area such as doctors, students, librarians, researchers etc.
The basic criterion for considering papers is whether the results provide significant novel insights and whether it raises provocative questions and hypotheses regarding an interesting biological question.
TSG publishes:
Proposed papers are first proof read before they are considered for publication. These reviews are carried out by an international governing board. The individuals of the board are all esteemed professionals who have carried out intensive research in the fields of tumour suppressors and in cancer. This ensures that the papers that are published are of the highest standard. Papers are published on hard copies and online as soon as they are accepted. The abstracts of the papers are usually sent to journal databases such as Medline and Entrez Pubmed, this is big advantage to have as it provides a wider audience for the journal.
This journal is published by Nature Publishing Group which is at forefront of biological and physical science research. This journal is published monthly.
The journal is published once a month and it publishes scientific articles that are related to the research of tumour suppressor genes. Journal of TSG publishes full papers, rapid/short communications, mini reviews which are related to all areas of tumour suppressor gene research, this includes:
- The cellular structure and functions of TSG,
- TSG and the regulation of the cell cycle,
- Tumour suppressors and the inheritance of cancer,
- Association of the loss/inactivation of TSG and development of malignancy,
- Apoptosis
- Oncogenes
- DNA repair genes
TSG will also occasionally publish letters to editors (which should not be any more than 2 A4 printed sides) and editorials too.
The Format of the paper
The articles to be published in this journal must all be in fluent English, grammar and punctuation must be checked and the presentation of the paper should be of a high standard, once accepted the paper can not be published in any other journal. The paper is peer reviewed by highly qualified scientists who are very experienced in the research area. Peer reviewing ensures that the paper is original and has no false acquisitions which can be misleading.
Types of papers published:
Full paper: The article should be no longer than 9-10 sides of A4 print, and should be in the following format; an abstract (no more 200 words), introduction, literature review, methods and materials, results and analysis, discussion, acknowledgments and references. The article should be clear and concise, any figures should be drawn to minimise space usage.
Rapid/short communications: The article should be no longer than 4 sides of A4 print therefore it must be clear and concise. It should consist of an abstract, literature review, methods and materials, results and discussion, acknowledgements and references.
Mini Reviews: The article should be no longer than 6-7 sides of A4 print. The paper should consist of a brief summary in relation to the topic, a summary of new discoveries about the topic and criticisms on results obtained from previous research in regards to this topic.
Title Page: The title must be short and direct, and it must be bold. This page must comprise of the authors surname followed by first names, the name of the department and the institution address including the postal or zip code, telephone number and an email address. If there is a corresponding author their name and contact details are necessary, state them clearly.
Abstract: This should be brief and succinct, preferably no longer than 200-250 words and it should explain the results obtained from the research carried out. Must be written on a fresh sheet of paper and the keywords should be addressed below the abstract. However utilisation of keywords and citations should not be included in the abstract itself.
Main text of the paper: The order should be an introduction, methods, materials, results and discussion.
Acknowledgements: Must be located at the back of the paper after the discussion. Acknowledge any grants that u may have received when carrying out the research, individuals who contributed to the study, colleagues who may have provided any support etc.
Referencing Format: Must be done using the Harvard style of referencing system. It is important that referencing is done as accurately as possible. Text citation must be illustrated by placing brackets around the surname(s) of the author(s) and the date the paper was published. However if there are more than two individuals involved, the first two names must be cited followed by et al. When using a text books the same format needs to be used.
The following examples show how to reference different sources i.e. books, other related papers used and websites.
Journal Articles:
Text citation: (Donehower et al, 1992) this is the correct way of referencing when more than two authors are involved in the research. (Kapoor & Lozano, 1998) this is the correct way of referencing when only one or two authors are involved in the research.
Reference list :Surname, initial (year) Title of the article. Title of the journal, volume number (issue number), page numbers. This is the correct formatting for references in the list located at the end of the paper.
Books
Text citation: (King R, 2000) within the text u would just write the authors’ name(s)
Reference list: Surname, initial (year) Title, Place of publication: Publisher. [Edition], page numbers
Global Websites:
Text citation: (Kimball J, 2004) within the text you would just write the authors name and year it was published, or when it was last updated.
Reference list: Surname, initial, year of publication, last updated, title of webpage. The exact location of the <URL>.
Illustrations: Each illustration must be provided on a separate piece of paper with clear labelling and numbers. They must have clear legends and the descriptions must be informative. They must be referred to in the text as their individual numbers i.e. Figure 1 etc. It must be clearly marked where each figure needs to be displayed in the paper.
Table: These should also be provided on a separate piece of paper and it must be clearly indicated where these tables must be presented in the paper. The tables must be labelled by number and referred to in the text by their number. The legends must be clear however it is best advised to have a short title that explains the table.
Photographs and microphotograph: All material should be provided on a separate piece of paper A4 print size with legends included. Indication of the scale of the photographs should also be included on the bottom right hand corner.
Image Quality: When submitting the photo images, ensure that they are of a high resolution a minimum of 450 dpi is required in order to make sure the image can be reproduced clearly.
Resolution: A resolution of 450 dpi minimum is required if the figure contains text. However if the figure contains small text (8 point) or any minute details then a resolution of 600 dpi minimum would be beneficial. This is because size and resolution are linked if an image is enlarged to double its size this will then halve the resolution. Therefore if the resolution is too low, the individual pixels will become visible to the eye, this will also cause the edges of diagrams to become blurred or pixelated.
Image formats: For best image quality JPEG, TIFF and PSD images maybe used. BMP images are not sufficient due to there large file size which would increase uploading time. JPEG and TIFF are the preferred file formats for images because they enable editors to easily modify the image size and quality as they see fit. When using adobe images all layers must be submitted. This will make it easier for the images to be edited.
Printing Images: For colour images there will be a charge for the image to be printed in colour. However colour images for online paper are usually free of charge. The black and white images will be free of charge.
Cost: The Author will incur a charge of £45 per printed page once the paper is accepted for publication.
Supplementary information: Authors wishing to submit extra information regarding the paper must be confident that the information is free of any grammatical and factual errors in order for it to be peer review immediately. This additional information will not be published in the hard copy of the journal but will be available for access online. The supplementary information may consist of extra tables, graphs, etc, that were not required for publication.
Submission criteria for the scientific paper
TSG provides an online submission service. However authors who wish to submit their paper via mail may do so (address found at the end of this section).
When submitting a hard copy of the paper via mail, authors are requested to provide a copy on a CD or a floppy disk too. The hard copy should include a cover letter, the text of the paper, tables and figures, this may be inclusive of any supplementary information too.
The cover should state the word count of the paper (exclusive of the abstract, references and the acknowledgements), the number of figures and tables used. A letter should also be enclosed here with the corresponding authors postal address, telephone number and email address. The detail should also include the institution they work in and the department name and contact telephone number of the institution.
When submitting online the preferred paper format would be .doc or .pdf documents for the text and for the images it should be JPEG, TIFF and PSD documents. A cover letter should also be submitted with the files as a separate document.
In order to submit online authors will be required to be registered to our manuscript tracking system. Submitting online is reliable, more time efficient and therefore this ensures a quicker response from the reviewers. By submitting online authors save time in making copies of the paper and money spent on mailing. Another advantage of submitting online is that authors can keep track of the paper during the reviewing process.
Authors are advised to have a fast internet access for maximum performance in uploading their files. Your internet web browser should be set to allow cookies so that your login details can be remembered and accepted.
Authors will need to carry out the following steps to submit online:
Authors will be expected to provide details of themselves, e.g. telephone number, email address, postal address.
A cover letter in which details about the paper must also be provided.
In order to upload files, a screen will present itself which enables you to browse your computer for files you wish to upload.
Once uploaded the paper will be given a novel number.
The final step involves the conversion of the paper to a .pdf file, another screen will appear which confirms that the conversion has been accomplished.
The .pdf file must be checked to make sure the text, figures and tables are in the correct order.
An email will be sent out to authors as soon as the paper has been uploaded successfully.
Once the paper has been received it will be subjected to peer reviewing. This ensures that the paper is of high standard and good quality. Once reviewed the paper will be sent back to the author with feedback and comments.
Authorship and Copyright
Authors must sign a copyright form once the paper has been submitted. TSG can not accept papers if it has been submitted to other journals for review or for any other reason. It is the authors responsibility to make sure that all authors who have participated with writing the paper are willing to submit the paper to TSG.
Once the paper has been accepted.
Authors can view the proof read version of there article before publication which gives them an opportunity to make any necessary changes and corrections can be made. Authors are required to send the proof read version back within 3 days for publication. Authors are advised to carefully check the proof to make sure the layout is correct. As they will not have the opportunity to do so, once the proof has been sent back to us for publication.
Contact details for TSG
Authors wishing to submit a hard copy of their paper must send it to the following address:
Journal of TSG and clinical cancer research
Nature Publishing Group
The Macmillan building
4 Crinan Street
London N1 9XW
Tel: +44 (0)20 7843 4840
Fax: +44 (0)20 7843 4640
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