SUBMITTING THE MANUSCRIPT

Transfusion Medicine Reviews provides an international forum for the publication of scholarly review articles in English, in the various subdisciplines that comprise transfusion medicine. The scope of the journal covers all basic science and practical aspects of transfusion medicine, including basic science, major laboratory developments, clinical indications for transfusion, immunohematology, hemostasis, and cellular therapies.

Manuscripts may be invited by the Editor on behalf of the Editorial Board, or may be submitted by interested authors. Prospective authors of review articles should submit, to the Editor, an outline of the proposed article and a tentative date for submission. Manuscripts are accepted for consideration on the condition that they are contributed solely to Transfusion Medicine Reviews. No substantial part of a paper may have been or may be published elsewhere. Manuscripts should be written in less than 5000 words for the text (excluding references). The Editors may require authors to further shorten manuscripts by including some detail, figures or tables as supplementary data for publication online (see below). Manuscripts exceeding this limit (for example for a Proceedings summary) will require permission from the Editors. Manuscripts will be reviewed for scientific accuracy by the Editor, referees drawn from the Editorial Board, or other experts. Acceptance of papers for publication will be based on timeliness, authoritativeness, relevance to Transfusion Medicine and clarity of presentation.

Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor are welcomed and will be published, if appropriate. When written double spaced, they should generally be no more than two pages in length.

Announcements
Announcements of meetings, conferences, and the like that are of interest to the readership of Transfusion Medicine Reviews should be sent to the Editor at least five months before the first day of the month of the issue.

Authors must accept the responsibility of conforming to the instructions in "Information for Contributors." Articles, editorials, letters to the editor, and other text material in Transfusion Medicine Reviews represent the opinions of the authors and do not reflect the opinions of the Editor, the Publisher, or the institution with which the author is affiliated, unless the contrary is specified.

Authors submitting a manuscript do so with the understanding that, if it is accepted for publication, copyright of the article, including the right to reproduce the article in all forms and media now or hereafter known, shall be assigned exclusively to the Publisher.

Submit papers and related correspondence to:

Morris A. Blajchman, MD
Editor-in-Chief
Transfusion Medicine Reviews
Email: blajchma@mcmaster.ca

PREPARING THE MANUSCRIPT

Title page
The first page of the manuscript should include the title of paper; full name(s) and address(es) of author(s) clearly indicating who is the corresponding author; you should give a maximum of four degrees/qualifications for each author and the current relevant appointment only; institutional affiliation; name, address, telephone, fax and e-mail of the corresponding author; source(s) of support in the form of funding and/or equipment and a conflict of interest statement.

Conflict of interest statement
All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work. See also External link http://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest.

Keywords
Include three to ten keywords. These should be indexing terms that may be published with the abstract with the aim of increasing the likely accessibility of your paper to potential readers searching the literature. Therefore, ensure keywords are descriptive of the study. Refer to External link http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html for the MeSH thesaurus.

Abstract
The second page should start with the abstract, which should be up to maximum of 250 words and must include the aim of the study, a brief summary of the methods, results and a concluding statement.

Text:
This should start on the third page and should be divided into the following sections: Introduction, Patients (or Materials) and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion.

References:

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

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 and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either "Unpublished results" or "Personal communication" Citation of a reference as "in press" implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Text: Indicate references by superscript numbers in the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.

List: Number the references in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.

Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:

[1] Van der Geer J, Hanraads JAJ, Lupton RA. The art of writing a scientific article. J Sci Commun 2000; 163:51-9.

Reference to a book:


[2] Strunk Jr W, White EB. The elements of style. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan; 1979.

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:


[3] Mettam GR, Adams LB. How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In: Jones BS, Smith RZ, editors. Introduction to the electronic age. New York: E- Publishing Inc; 1999, p. 281-304.

Note shortened form for last page number. e.g., 51-9, and that for more than 6 authors the first 6 should be listed followed by "et al."For further details you are referred to "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals"(J Am Med Assoc 1997;277:927-34), see also External link http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/terms_cond.html

Citing and listing of web references: As a minimum, the full URL should be given. Any further information, if known (author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

PREPARING ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES

Electronic artwork
General points

• 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.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.
• Submit each figure as a separate file.

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: External link http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.

Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please "save as" or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):

EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as "graphics".
TIFF: color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required.
If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply "as is".
JPEG files are accepted for grayscale and color halftone images

Please do not:
• Supply files that are optimized 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.

COLOR ARTWORK
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS, JPEG or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) in addition to color reproduction in print. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see External link http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

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 do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.

Failure to comply with the specifications for preparing illustrations and tables may result in a delay in publication.

VIDEO DATA
Elsevier accepts video material and animation sequences to support and enhance your scientific research. Authors who have video or animation files that they wish to submit with their article are strongly encouraged to include these within the body of the article. This can be done in the same way as a figure or table by referring to the video or animation content and noting in the body text where it should be placed. All submitted files should be properly labeled so that they directly relate to the video file's content. In order to ensure that your video or animation material is directly usable, please provide the files in one of our recommended file formats with a preferred maximum size of 50 MB. Video and animation files supplied will be published online in the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: External link http://www.sciencedirect.com. Please supply 'stills' with your files: you can choose any frame from the video or animation or make a separate image. These will be used instead of standard icons and will personalize the link to your video data. For more detailed instructions please visit our video instruction pages at External link http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. Note: since video and animation cannot be embedded in the print version of the journal, please provide text for both the electronic and the print version for the portions of the article that refer to this content.

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, high-resolution images, machinereadable files of datasets (especially compounds), sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: External link http://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please provide the data 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 our artwork instruction pages at External link http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

PROOFS
One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author (if we do not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post) or, a link will be provided in the e-mail so that authors can download the files themselves. Elsevier now provides authors with PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 (or higher) available free from http://get.adobe.com/reader. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs (also given online). The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site: External link http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/tech-specs.html.

If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return them to Elsevier in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by fax, or scan the pages and e-mail, or by post. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately
- please let us have all your corrections within 48 hours. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.

OFFPRINTS
The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use.

CHANGES TO AUTHORSHIP
This policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts:

Before the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names, must be sent to the Elsevier Journal Manager from the corresponding author of the accepted manuscript and must include: (a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, fax, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will be forwarded by the Journal Manager to the corresponding author, who must follow the procedure as described above. Note that: (1) Journal Managers will inform the Journal Editors of any such requests, and (2) publication of the accepted manuscript in an online issue is suspended until authorship has been agreed. After the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Any requests to add, delete, or rearrange author names in an article published in an online issue will follow the same policies as noted above and result in a corrigendum

ROLE OF THE FUNDING SOURCE
You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated. Please see External link http://www.elsevier.com/funding.

FUNDING BODY AGREEMENTS AND POLICIES
Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors who publish in Elsevier journals to comply with potential manuscript archiving requirements as specified as conditions of their grant awards. To learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit External link http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies

ETHICS
Work on human beings that is submitted toTransfusion Medicine Reviews should comply with the principles laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki; Recommendations guiding physicians in biomedical research involving human subjects. Adopted by the 18th World Medical Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, June 1964, amended by the 29th World Medical Assembly, Tokyo, Japan, October 1975, the 35th World Medical Assembly, Venice, Italy, October 1983, and the 41st World Medical Assembly, Hong Kong, September 1989. The manuscript should contain a statement that the work has been approved by the appropriate ethical committees, institutional review board or other relevant bodies within the institution(s) in which it was performed and that subjects gave informed consent to the work. Studies involving experiments with animals must state that their care was in accordance with institution guidelines. Patients' and volunteers' names, initials, and hospital numbers should not be used.

PATIENT CONSENT
Studies on patients or volunteers require ethics committee approval and informed consent which should be documented in your paper.

Patients have a right to privacy. Therefore, identifying information, including patients' images, names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be included in videos, recordings, written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and you have obtained written informed consent for publication in print and electronic form from the patient (or parent, guardian or next of kin where applicable). If such consent is made subject to any conditions, Elsevier must be made aware of all such conditions. Written consents must be provided to Elsevier on request.

Even where consent has been given, identifying details should be omitted if they are not essential. If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic pedigrees, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort scientific meaning and Editors should so note.

If such consent has not been obtained, personal details of patients included in any part of the paper and in any supplementary materials (including all illustrations and videos) must be removed before submission.

ETHICS IN PUBLISHING
For information on Ethics in Publishing and Ethical guidelines for journal publication see External link http://www.elsevier.com/publishingethics and External link http://www.elsevier.com/ ethicalguidelines.

OPEN ACCESS
This journal offers you the option of making your article freely available to all via the ScienceDirect platform. To prevent any conflict of interest, you can only make this choice after receiving notification that your article has been accepted for publication. The fee of $3,000 excludes taxes and other potential author fees such as color charges. In some cases, institutions and funding bodies have entered into agreement with Elsevier to meet these fees on behalf of their authors. Details of these agreements are available at External link http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies. Authors of accepted articles, who wish to take advantage of this option, should complete and submit the order form (available at External link http://www.elsevier.com/locate/openaccessform.pdf). Whatever access option you choose, you retain many rights as an author, including the right to post a revised personal version of your article on your own website. More information can be found here: External link http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights.

LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE SERVICES
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission please visit External link http://webshop.elsevier.com/languageediting or our customer support site at External link http://support.elsevier.com for more information.

© 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This journal and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use:

COPYRIGHT
Photocopying Single photocopies of single articles may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the Publisher and payment of a fee is required for all other photocopying, including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms of document delivery. Special rates are available for educational institutions that wish to make photocopies for non-profit educational classroom use.

For information on how to seek permission visit External link http://www.elsevier.com/permissions or call: (+44) 1865 843830 (UK) /(+1) 215 239 3804 (USA).

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (for more information on this and copyright see http://www. elsevier.com/copyright). Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.

Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations (please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions). 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: please consult External link http://www.elsevier.com/permissions.

DERIVATIVE WORKS
Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the Publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations (please consult External link http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorsview.authors/permissions ).

Notice: No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical (medical) standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer

AFTER ACCEPTANCE
A typeset article will appear online on ScienceDirect as an article in press once the corrected proof has been received, approximately 4 weeks after acceptance. The article can be cited using its unique DOI.

USE OF THE DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER
The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisher upon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly 'Articles in press' because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information. The correct format for citing a DOI is shown as follows (example taken from a document in the journal Physics Letters B):

doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2010.09.059

When you use the DOI to create URL hyperlinks to documents on the web, they are guaranteed never to change.



Updated June 2011