Running title: of about 35 characters, including spaces,
Keywords: up to five key words or phrases
Corresponding Author: author's name, office mailing address including street name and number, phone number, and email address.
Abstract
The abstract should be written for people who may not read the entire paper, so it must stand on its own. The impression it makes usually determines whether the reader will go on to read the article, so the abstract must be engaging, clear, and concise. In addition, the abstract may be the only part of the article that is indexed in databases, so it must accurately reflect the content of the article. A well-written abstract is THE most effective way to reach intended readers, leading to more robust search, retrieval, and usage of the article. Your abstract should:
- provide a synopsis of the entire article;
- begin with the broad context of the study, followed by specific background for the study;
- describe the purpose, methods and procedures, core findings and results, and conclusions of the study;
- emphasize new or important aspects of the research;
- engage the broad readership of GENETICS and be understandable to a diverse audience (avoid using jargon);
- be a single paragraph of less than 250 words;
- contain the full name of the organism studied;
- NOT contain citations or abbreviations.
Introduction
For the introduction, authors should be mindful of the broad readership of the journal. The introduction should set the stage for the importance of the work to a generalist reader and draw the reader in to the specific study. The scope and impact of the work should be clearly stated.
In individual organisms where a mutant is being studied, the rationale for the study of that mutant must be clear to a geneticist not studying that particular organism. Similarly, study of particular phenotypes should be justified broadly and not on the basis of interest for that organism alone. General background on the importance of the genetic pathway and/or phenotype should be provided in a single, well-reasoned paragraph near the beginning of the introduction.
Authors are encouraged to:
- cite the supporting literature completely rather than select a subset of citations;
- provide important background citations, including relevant review papers (to help orient the non-specialist reader);
- to cite similar work in other organisms.
Materials and Methods
Manuscripts submitted to GENETICS should contain a clear description of the experimental design in sufficient detail so that the experimental analysis could be repeated by another scientist. If the level of detail necessary to explain the protocol goes beyond two paragraphs, give a short description in the main body of the paper and prepare a detailed description for supporting information. GENETICS suggests authors supplement their methods with detailed protocols on the open access repository protocols.io.
For example: indicate how many individuals were used, and if applicable how individuals or groups were combined for analysis. If working with mutants indicate how many independent mutants were isolated. If working with populations indicate how samples were collected and whether they were random with respect to the target population.
Statistical Analysis
It is important to indicate what statistical analysis has been performed; not just the name of the software and options selected, but the method and model applied. In the case of many genes being examined simultaneously, or many phenotypes, a multiple comparison correction should be used to control the type I error rate, or a rationale for not applying a correction must be provided. The type of correction applied should be clearly stated. It should also be clear whether the p-values reported are raw, or after correction. Corrected p-values are often appropriate, but raw p-values should be available in the supporting materials so that others may perform their own corrections. In large scale data exploration studies (e.g. genome wide expression studies) a clear and complete description of the replication structure must be provided.
Data Availability
At the end of the Materials and Methods section, include a statement on reagent and data availability. Please read the
Data and Reagent Policy before writing the statement. Make sure to list the accession numbers or DOIs of any data you have placed in public repositories. List the file names and descriptions of any data you will upload as supplemental information. The statement should also include any applicable IRB numbers. You may include specifications for how to properly acknowledge or cite the data. **Please note that for the review process you agree to make data available upon request. If accession numbers/DOIs are not available yet, please indicate where data will be submitted. Accession numbers/DOIs must be available prior to publication.
For example: Strains are available upon request. File S1 contains detailed descriptions of all supplemental files. File S2 contains SNP ID numbers and locations. File S3 contains genotypes for each individual. Sequence data are available at GenBank and the accession numbers are listed in File S3. Gene expression data are available at GEO with the accession number: GDS1234. Code used to generate the simulated data is provided in file S4.
Results and Discussion
The results and discussion should not be repetitive. The results section should give a factual presentation of the data and all tables and figures should be referenced; the discussion should not summarize the results but provide an interpretation of the results, and should clearly delineate between the findings of the particular study and the possible impact of those findings in a larger context. Authors are encouraged to cite recent work relevant to their interpretations. Present and discuss results only once, not in both the Results and Discussion sections. It is sometimes acceptable to combine results and discussion. The text should be as succinct as possible. Heed Strunk and White's dictum: "Omit needless words!"
Example citation \cite{Casillas_2017}.
The text should conform to the style in recent issues of GENETICS. Please follow these guidelines:
In-text citations: Include both names for citations with two authors. Citations with three or more authors name the first author with et al. for the other authors. Cite only articles that are published or in press. To cite personal communications or unpublished results, list all contributors by initials and last name; do not use et al..
Numbers: In the text, write out numbers nine or less except as part of a date, a fraction or decimal, a percentage, or a unit of measurement. Use Arabic numbers for those larger than nine, except as the first word of a sentence; however, try to avoid starting a sentence with such a number.
Units: Use abbreviations of the customary units of measurement only when they are preceded by a number: "3 min" but "several minutes". Write "percent" as one word, except when used with a number: "several percent" but "75%." To indicate temperature in centigrade, use ° (for example, 37°); include a letter after the degree symbol only when some other scale is intended (for example, 45°K).
Nomenclature and Italicization: Italicize names of organisms even when when the species is not indicated. Italicize the first three letters of the names of restriction enzyme cleavage sites, as in HindIII. Write the names of strains in roman except when incorporating specific genotypic designations. Italicize genotype names and symbols, including all components of alleles, but not when the name of a gene is the same as the name of an enzyme. Do not use "+" to indicate wild type. Carefully distinguish between genotype (italicized) and phenotype (not italicized) in both the writing and the symbolism.
To divide the text into sections, only these four levels are allowed:
Level 1: Centered, all capital letters. Use this level for major sections of text, such as Materials and Methods and the Discussion.
Level 2: Freestanding flush-left boldface. Use this level only to group two or more closely related Level 3 headings in long article.
Level 3: Paragraph-initiating boldface, followed by a colon.
Level 4: Paragraph-initiating italic. Level 4 headings may be numbered, but only when the numbers must be cited in the text.