All authors are encouraged to submit their original research or review article online: http://authors.elsevier.com/journal/npep

The Editor reserves the right to make editorial and literary corrections. Any opinions expressed or policies advocated do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Editor.

Submission of an article implies that the work described 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, 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and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher.

Conflict of interest statement

All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organisations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work, all within 3 years of beginning the work submitted. If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should state that there are none.

Ethics

Manuscripts that contain the results of human and/or animal studies will only be accepted for publication if it is made clear that a high standard of ethics was applied in carrying out the investigations. Include a statement that the research protocol was approved by a local ethical committee.

Full papers

Papers should be submitted in journal style. Failure to do so may lead to significant delays in publication. Spelling may be British or American.

Papers should be set out as follows, with each section beginning on a separate page: title page, abstract, text, acknowledgements, references, tables, captions to illustrations.

Title. The title page should give the following information: 1) title of the article, 2) initials and name of each author, with highest academic degree(s), 3) name and address of the department or institution to which the work should be attributed, 4) name, address, telephone, fax number and email address of the author responsible for correspondence and to whom requests for offprints should be sent and 5) sources of support in the form of grants.

Abstract. This should consist of not more than 300 words summarizing the contents of the article.

Text. Headings should be appropriate to the nature of the paper. In general those for experimental papers should follow the usual conventions. Other papers can be subdivided as the author desires; the use of headings enhances readability. Normally only two categories of headings should be used.

Proprietary names of drugs, instruments etc. should be indicated by the use of initial capital letters.

Keywords. Three to ten key words should be given below the abstract to be used for indexing purposes.

Reference Format. The accuracy of references is the responsibility of the author. References should be cited within the text by the last name of the author and date (Smith, 1998; Gehlert, 1999). For two authors, the citation should include the last names of both authors and the date (Heinrichs and Richard, 1999). For three or more authors, the citation should include the last name of the first author, et al., and the date (Cooper et al., 1988; Hokfelt et al., 1998).

The reference list should list the references in alphabetical order by the last name of the first author.

For example: Journal articles:
Gehlert, D.R., 1999. Role of hypothalamic neuropeptide Y in feeding and obesity. Neuropeptides 33, 329-338.

Heinrichs, S.C., Richard, D., 1999. The role of cortiotropin-releasing factor and urocortin in the modulation of ingestive behavior. Neuropeptides 33, 350-359.

Books:
Smith, G.P., 1998. Pregastric and gastric satiety. In: Smith, G.P. (Ed.), Satiation: From Gut to Brain. Oxford University Press, New York, pp.10-39.

Hokfelt, T., Bartfai, T., Crawley, J.N. (Eds.), 1998. Galanin: Basic Research Discoveries and Therapeutic Implications, vol. 863. Ann. NY Acad. Sci.

When citing an online journal, include the digital object identifier (DOI), if noted, from the article's title page. Please note the following examples:
Nanduri, B., Zimiak, P., 1998. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 362, 167-174, doi: 10.1054/abbi.1998.1009.

Prasad, R.K., Ismail-Beigi, F., 1998. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. doi: 10.1054/abbi.1998.1026.

Tables. These should be double spaced on separate sheets and contain only horizontal rules. Do not submit tables as photographs. A short descriptive title should appear above each table and any footnotes, suitably identified, below. Care must be taken to ensure that all units are included. Ensure that each table is cited in the text.

Figures

Line figures. All line illustrations should present a crisp black image on an even white background.

Photographic Illustrations and Radiographs. Photomicrographs should have the magnification and details of staining techniques shown. X-ray films should be carefully made to bring out the detail to be illustrated with arrows or symbols identifying the area of importance. Figures should be submitted appropriately lettered in capitals. The size of the letters should be appropriate to that of the illustration, taking into account the necessary size reduction.

Illustrations in colour cannot be accepted unless the cost of origination and publication is paid for by the author.

Patient confidentiality. Where illustrations must include recognisable individuals, living or dead and of whatever age, great care must be taken to ensure that consent for publication has been given. In cases where consent has not been obtained and recognizable features may appear, it will be necessary to retouch the illustration to mask the eyes or otherwise render the individual 'officially unrecognizable'.

Colour figures. Submit colour illustrations as high-quality computer files close to the size expected in publication. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authors.authors/authorartworkinstructions.

Preparation of Supplementary Data

Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data is provided in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit http://authors.elsevier.com/journal/npep and click on Artwork Guidelines.

Units & Abbreviations

Avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract. All unusual abbreviations should be fully explained at their first occurrence in the text. All measurements should be expressed in SI units. Imperial units are acceptable from USA contributors. For more detailed recommendations, authors may consult the Royal Society of Medicine publication entitled Units, Symbols and Abbreviations: A Guide for Biological and Medical Editors and Authors.

Copyright Information Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors/copyright). This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. A letter will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript. A form facilitating transfer of copyright will be provided.

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. Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier's Rights Department in Philadelphia, PA, USA: phone (+1) 215 238 7869, fax (+1) 215 238 2239, e-mail: healthpermissions@elsevier.com. Requests may also be completed on-line via the Elsevier homepage ( http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions).

Proofs

Proofs will be sent/faxed/e-mailed to the corresponding author. It would be appreciated if authors would check the proofs and either fax/e-mail or send corrections to the Publisher within 48 hours of receipt of proofs.

Elsevier will do everything possible to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. Therefore it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are returned to us in one all-inclusive email or fax. Subsequent additional corrections will not be possible, so please ensure that your first communication is complete.

Offprints

Twenty-five offprints will be supplied free of charge.