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Information for Authors Revised November 2018 *Please note that some URLs may not yet link to live pages.

S. Cranford Editor-in-Chief

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Information for Authors This page describes our policies and provides information that we think will be helpful to you as you prepare manuscripts for submission and publication in Matter. If you have submitted a paper and want information about the status of the paper, please log in to our online manuscript submission system, Editorial Manager (EM). If you run into any problems or if you have specific questions, you can always e-mail us at matter@cell.com or call +1-617-397-2851.

Contents:

• About the Journal

• Editorial Evaluation Timeline o Returns Without Review

• Pre-submission Inquiries

• Relationship Between Cell Press Journals

o Co-submission o Transfer o Alternative Journals (Elsevier)

• Editorial Policies o Preprints o Related Manuscripts o Peer Review o Authorship o Competing Interests o Data and Image Processing o Data Archiving o Studies Involving Animals o Chemical Compounds o Reporting Properties of Devices

• Article Types

• How to Submit Research Articles o Cover Letter o Initial Submission o Handling Editor Assignment &

Request o Confirmation of

Receipt/Assessment

• Format Guidelines o Writing Style o Title o Authors and Affiliations o Author List Footnotes o Contact Info o Summary o Keywords o Introduction o Methods o Results o Discussion o Conclusion

o Experimental/Simulation Procedures

o Acknowledgments o Author Contributions o Declaration of Interests o Data Statement o References and Notes o Figure and Scheme Legends o Figures o Tables o Math Formulae and Equations o Supplemental Information o Computer Code

• MAP Classification

• Appeals

• How to Prepare and Submit Revised/Final Files

o Bigger Picture o Highlights and eTOC Blurb o Graphical Abstract

• Figures o Figure360 o Methods Videos

• Cover Submissions

• After Acceptance o Proofs o Process for Post-Publication

Issues o Additions, Corrections &

Retractions

• Distribution of Materials and Data o Mandatory Data Deposition o Non-Mandatory Data Deposition

• Copyright, Embargoes & Open Access

o Copyright o Prepublication Publicity and

Embargoes o Funding Bodies and Open

Access

• Permissions

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About the Journal

Matter provides a home for influential, innovative, and insightful materials research and showcases how exceptional studies across the broad field of materials science drive transformational technological advancement and facilitate future societal applications, as per our Aims and Scope.

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the readership, contributors should emphasize the importance of their work to the materials science research community in the broadest sense. It is implied that submitted work is based upon original results and has not been published previously.

The Matter editorial team is committed to providing authors with a fast, fair, informed, and responsive review process. Our full time PhD-trained scientific editors work with all authors, reviewers, and advisory editorial board members with the goal of publishing the most interesting discoveries in materials each year.

Due to limited space, only the most noteworthy manuscripts can be published, but we will provide timely assessment and fair evaluation of all submitted works.

If you have any general concerns, questions, or comments, please contact the editor-in-chief, Steve Cranford, directly via scranford@cell.com.

Editorial Evaluation Timeline

The editors at Matter read, consider, and evaluate every submission, and we try our best to get back to the authors as quickly as possible. We are mindful of how long it can take to publish a study, so we work with authors and reviewers to minimize that time. Here is a rough estimate of how long each step in the process usually takes:

Approximate Manuscript Evaluation Timeline

Initial decision to review* 3–5 days after submission

Target review period 2-4 weeks

Decision after review 3–4 weeks after submission

Anticipated timeframe for suggested revisions 2–3 months (with flexibility if needed)

Time to online publication 3–5 weeks after acceptance

Time to print publication Within 3 months of acceptance

*Contributions may also be returned to the authors without external review (see Returns Without Review section below).

We stress that many factors may influence this timeline, and it represents the process under normal circumstances. While we will gladly address any concerns while your manuscript is in submission (within reason), we ask that inquires pertaining to review and final decision respect the above timeframe. If there

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are any significant delays in the process, we will make all attempts to contact the corresponding author(s). If there is extended delay in communication, feel free to send us a not-so-subtle reminder.

Returns Without Review

A manuscript may be returned to the author(s) without external review if, in the opinion of the handling editor(s), one or more of the following apply: the manuscript clearly falls outside the scope of the journal (Transfer could be suggested); the work is of poor scientific quality such that it is clearly not suitable for publication in a scientific journal; the manuscript is of insufficient general interest for the journal and would be better suited to a more specialized journal (Transfer could be suggested); the novelty of the work falls below that required for the journal (Transfer could be suggested); the manuscript represents undue fragmentation of the research into multiple papers; the manuscript contains redundant information or significant amounts of material that has already been published elsewhere or is under consideration by another journal; the quality of the English in the manuscript is so poor as to render the science presented unclear; the manuscript has already been reviewed and rejected by a different Cell Press journal, and the author(s) have made little or no attempt to address the advice that the editor and/or referees have provided already; the conclusions drawn by the manuscript are well known or have been published previously.

Pre-submission Inquiries

Unsure if your paper is suitable for Matter? Send us a pre-submission inquiry at matter@cell.com, and we'll let you know what we think in 2 to 5 business days. Please include a title, an abstract (or abstract draft), and a brief explanation of why your paper is significant and broadly interesting, along with the key findings clearly described.

Relationship Between Cell Press Journals

As the offerings within the general field of physical science at Cell Press is continuously expanding, we believe it prudent to explain the relationship with our sister journals (including Chem, Joule, and iScience), and the related opportunities for our prospective authors.

Co-submission

If you think your paper might be suitable for two Cell Press journals, you can submit the paper for joint consideration. To do this, upload your manuscript to one of the journals. In your cover letter, indicate that you are seeking co-consideration and mention the name of the other journal. You may also indicate the journal of preference. Each journal will evaluate the paper independently. If both journals decide to review the paper, they will agree on reviewers and will make independent decisions based on feedback from those reviewers. The author will then be informed by respective handling journal and scientific editor.

Transfer

We know it can be time consuming to serially submit your paper to multiple journals, restarting the review process each time. Cell Press publishes many journals, and we give you the opportunity to transfer your paper, along with the reviews and the reviewers' identities, from one journal to another. If you have questions about the suitability of your paper for transfer, please contact the editor of the receiving

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journal. If you have general questions about the transfer process, please refer to our FAQs on article transfers. Often, the Editor of the target journal will be able to reach a decision based on the existing reviews. Occasionally, the Editor may seek comments from additional reviewers. Note that transferring a manuscript is not a guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted, as the final publication decision will belong to the editor in the new journal.

While we cannot speak for the editors of our sister journals, we will be happy to reach out to them to inquire about manuscript suitability on an ad hoc basis. Feel free to contact us at matter@cell.com if you feel unsure about a transfer. The goal is to find a suitable home for your manuscript.

If you transfer your paper using our online system, you will have a chance to edit your files before they are sent to the receiving journal.

You can always submit your paper to another Cell Press journal without mentioning the first review process. In this case, the manuscript will be evaluated as a regular new submission.

Alternative Publications (Elsevier)

Matter has a close and reciprocal relationship with Elsevier’s lineup of materials journals, including the Materials Today family of publications. Like Matter, the Materials Today family of titles is dedicated to covering the most innovative, cutting edge and influential work of broad interest to the materials science community, with a range of both general and more specialized titles. If your paper is not accepted for publication at Matter, authors are recommended to consider these journals. A handling editor will gladly make a suggestion and facilitate contact if requested. For more information on the array of journals within the wider Materials Today family visit: http://www.materialstoday.com/about.

Editorial Policies

Here we outline the general Editorial Policies of Matter, which are consistent with other physical science offerings at Cell Press. If any clarification is required, please contact us at matter@cell.com.

Preprints

Recognizing the multiple benefits to authors, Matter will gladly consider any manuscripts previously posted on legitimate preprint servers such as arXiv, bioRxiv, BioRN, ChemRxiv, or ChemRN or other emerging preprint platforms (e.g., OSFpreprints). Simply include all relevant information at submission. Authors are advised to add a link from the preprint to the published paper via the Digital Object Identifier (DOI). If there is any doubt regarding copyright, please contact the editorial team prior to submission.

We are interested to hear from researchers about their motivations for posting and to discuss with them whether it is the best approach for their paper. We strongly encourage authors who are planning to submit to us to contact the editors first to discuss their specific paper and situation, particularly if the preprint had significant revision due to peer feedback. For more information about preprint servers and the discussions related to them, please see this Cross Talk blog post.

It behooves us to stress that the preprint policy only applies to the original submitted version of the paper; we do not support posting of revisions that respond to editorial input and peer review or posting of the final published version to preprint servers.

Also, our prepublication publicity policies with regard to coverage in the broader media and limitations thereof still apply to studies posted on preprint servers. We will continue to evolve our policy toward preprint servers as the scientific community dictates.

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Related Manuscripts

If you or your coauthors have any related papers submitted or in-press elsewhere, you need to let us know and include them with your initial submission (or with your revision if they were submitted after submission/review). We ask this because having access to related papers often helps us (and reviewers) to assess the submitted work, and it can help prevent potentially difficult scenarios down the road. Failure to provide copies of related manuscripts may delay the review process and may be grounds for rejection. As a matter of publishing ethics, we cannot consider any paper that contains data that have been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Be aware that sometimes conference proceedings can also be considered as prior publication, leading to grounds for rejection. Conference abstracts are typically acceptable.

Peer Review

Matter implements a single blind review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by a handling Scientific Editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The handling Scientific Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final.

Authorship

Our authorship policy accommodates diverse types of research, providing a framework that makes clear the contributions of each author. There is no universally agreed definition of authorship, but authors should, as a minimum, take responsibility for a particular section of the study. The award of authorship should balance intellectual contributions to the conception, design, analysis and writing of the study against the collection of data and other routine work. If there is no task that can reasonably be attributed to a particular individual, then that individual should not be credited with authorship.

Author Contributions Section To make author contributions transparent, all research articles should include an Author Contributions section. Please describe the contributions concisely and use initials to indicate author identity. We encourage you to use the CRediT taxonomy, which offers standardized descriptions of author contributions. An Author Contributions section is not required for front matter articles.

Corresponding Author and Lead Contact You must designate at least one corresponding author and only one lead contact.

• Corresponding Author: We prefer that each paper has a single corresponding author because we think that the ownership and responsibility that are inherent in corresponding authorship will promote best practices in design and performance of experiments, analysis of results, organization and retention of original data, and preparation of figures and text. That said, we understand that, for some studies, particularly for interdisciplinary ones, multiple authors may bear the responsibilities of a corresponding author. If you feel strongly and have compelling reasons, you may include additional corresponding authors. We may ask you to explain your rationale and to verify that all corresponding authors understand their responsibilities (listed below). We ask that you describe each corresponding author's specific contributions in the Author Contributions section.

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• Lead Contact: The lead contact is the corresponding author who is also responsible for communicating with the journal (before and after publication) and accountable for fulfilling requests for materials, data and resources and for arbitrating decisions and disputes. For research papers with multiple corresponding authors, please designate one (and only one) corresponding author as the lead contact. If there is only one corresponding author, then that author is automatically also the lead contact. The lead contact should be familiar with the Cell Press’ editorial policies and is solely responsible for communicating with the journal and managing communication between coauthors. You should denote the lead contact with a footnote in the author list (e.g., "5Lead Contact").

Responsibilities of the Corresponding Author and Lead Contact All corresponding authors bear responsibilities 1–8 below; the lead contact additionally bears responsibility 9:

1. Supervising the work

2. Being responsible for all data, figures, and text

3. Ensuring that authorship is granted appropriately to contributors

4. Ensuring that all authors approve the content and submission of the paper

5. Ensuring adherence to all editorial and submission policies

6. Identifying and declaring competing interests on behalf of all authors

7. Identifying and disclosing related work by any co-authors under consideration elsewhere

8. Archiving unprocessed data and ensuring that figures accurately present the original data (see Data Archiving section)

9. Communicating with the journal (before and after publication), being accountable for fulfilling requests for reagents and resources, and arbitrating decisions and disputes

Equal Contributions The lead contact is the only designation that we strictly limit to one author. In addition to noting corresponding authors with an asterisk, you may use numbered footnotes to designate senior authors and otherwise equally contributing authors. The following footnote should be used for authors who have made equal contributions: “6These authors contributed equally.” Senior authors can be designated with a footnote, e.g., “6Senior author.” Please use the Author Contributions section of the manuscript to more fully describe each author’s specific contributions.

Authorship Disputes Before submission, the lead contact should ensure that all authors are included in the author list and agree with its order, and that they are aware the manuscript is to be submitted. All authors should discuss and agree on author order and authorship designations. We expect that everyone listed as an author contributed substantively to the paper. We do not adjudicate authorship disputes. These disputes should be resolved by the researchers involved and/or their institutions. Please be civil. If we become aware of a dispute, we will suspend consideration of the paper until the dispute is resolved. In this case (and when authors request changes to authorship), authorship should be approved in writing by all authors.

Changes in Authorship 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 handling editor from the lead contact 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

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sent by the lead contact will be forwarded to the lead contact, who must follow the procedure as described above. Note that publication of the accepted manuscript 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 a formal Correction.

Competing Interests

Transparency is essential for a reader’s trust in the scientific process and for the credibility of published articles. At Cell Press, we feel that disclosure of competing interests is a critical aspect of transparency. Therefore, we ask that all authors disclose any financial or other interests related to the submitted work that (1) could affect or have the perception of affecting the author’s objectivity or (2) could influence or have the perception of influencing the content of the article. Before acceptance, author groups of all article types (including front matter or back matter) are asked to complete and submit a “Declaration of Interests” form. We also ask that authors disclose any competing interests in the article in a dedicated Declaration of Interests section (see Formatting Guide below). If there is any doubt or uncertainty, please inform the handling editor, or inquire prior to submission at matter@cell.com. Complete details of our Declaration of Interests policy and additional author instructions are available here.

Data and Image Processing

Data processing is sometimes necessary, particularly for photos, images and figures. When it is, please keep it minimal and ensure that the final figures accurately reflect the original data as it was captured and/or produced. In general, please make all processing transparent. Processing methods should be well-accepted in the field or described/justified accordingly. Any simulated or model figures should state the software used for production, editing, and/or processing. Additional image processing guidelines include:

1. Any alterations should be applied to the entire image. When this is impossible (e.g., when a single color channel on a microscopy image is altered) clearly explain the alteration in the figure legend.

2. If you consolidate, edit, or highlight your data in any way, you must make the alterations obvious.

3. Only compare data that are appropriate to compare (e.g., data from the same experiment).

4. Individual images should not be used in multiple figures unless the figures describe different aspects of the same experiment (e.g., multiple experiments were performed simultaneously with a single control experiment). If an image is used in multiple figures, please clearly state the reason in the legend.

Data Archiving

We may ask you for your original, unprocessed data, so please take appropriate steps to preserve your data. We recommend that you save all unprocessed data related to your paper and distribute copies of that data to all co-authors. For modeling and simulation studies, this may include relevant input scripts and/or files (e.g., atomistic potentials, model geometries), or citations/references to relevant repositories. We also strongly encourage you to upload your original data and programming scripts to Mendeley Data, Dryad, GitHub, or other appropriate repositories because access to original data can increase reader confidence in the findings. If issues with your findings arise, failure to produce original data will make resolving those issues much more difficult and can be grounds for retraction (see section regarding Process for Post-Publication Issues).

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Studies Involving Animals

All experiments on live vertebrates or higher invertebrates must be performed in accordance with relevant institutional and national guidelines and regulations. In the manuscript, a statement identifying the committee approving the experiments and confirming that all experiments conform to the relevant regulatory standards must be included in the Experimental Procedures or Methods section (or similar). The sex of animal subjects and cells must be provided. In cases where this is appropriate, the influence (or association) of sex, gender, or both on the results of the study must be reported. Reporting of the age or developmental stage of subjects is also required. The editors reserve the right to seek comments from reviewers or additional information from authors on any cases in which concerns arise. We suggest that researchers carrying out experiments with animals refer to the ARRIVE guidelines and recommendations from an NIH-sponsored workshop regarding experimental design and reporting standards.

Chemical Compounds

If your paper reports a new chemical compound, you must provide the exact structure of the compound. In naming chemical compounds, you can use either IUPAC conventions or informal common names such as rapamycin, cholesterol, and penicillin. To maintain the exceptionally high standards of Matter, submitted manuscripts subject to rigorous peer review will place a major emphasis on experimental procedures and characterization data to avoid ambiguity and uncertainty. It is the authors’ responsibility to provide enough data to support the purity and identity of all compounds reported. Authors are required to name the source, identity, and purity of known compounds, which are central to the study, even if these are purchased from a commercial supplier. Such compounds include:

• Organic and Organometallic Compounds

• Polymers

• Nanomaterials such as Quantum Dots, Nanoparticles, Nanotubes, and Nanowires

• Combinatorial Compound Libraries

• Biomolecules such as Oligosaccharides, DNA/RNA, Peptides, Proteins, and Nucleic Acids

Please refer to the guidelines of Chem for additional details.

Reporting Properties of Devices

A large number of papers received by Matter include, or are focused on, complex systems and/or devices made with new or modified known materials. Authors need to consider basic standards for the information provided about device properties that extends beyond what is usually reported for papers reporting classical bulk materials properties. Typical systems/devices include but are not limited to those reporting photovoltaic, semiconductor transport and gain behavior, luminescence, performance as thermoelectric, battery and capacitor materials, or other functional metrics or utility. Statistics about device properties are required in order to consider a paper beyond initial editorial review. Authors are asked to include the following when writing their manuscript (potentially in Supplementary Information of it is dense in presentation):

• The number of devices examined and the range of results. This can be conveyed in bar graphs (histograms) to represent data for a statistically meaningful number of samples, or could be reported as a specific number of samples with an accompanying specified standard deviation. Matter will not accept a single result that appears to be the best obtained. Such extrema results

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can be highlighted, but it is important to emphasize/convey typical results and the degree of variation so that reviewers and future readers can assess reproducibility, and hence the validity, of the work.

• Sufficient experimental data to reproduce the results and enable valid comparisons with other work. Manuscripts that report systems/devices must provide additional important characteristics beyond those above to enable comparison with prior work by the authors or others. For example, efficiency depends on, but is not limited to, the area and architecture of a photovoltaic device; such parameters should be included in the manuscript, either in the main body or supporting information.

• Careful attention must be given to significant figures of experimental results. The final result cannot exceed the precision of the measurement with the smallest number of significant figures.

The data provided should be sufficient to justify the claims within a reasonable level of scrutiny by experts in the field. The above holds for simulation studies as well, which should show stability with nominal system variance (e.g., slight changes in boundary conditions should not significant change the results).

Article Types

Matter publishes two full length article types: Research and Review. Four front matter formats include Perspectives and Previews, Personnel Matter (lab backstories, PI and Student Bios) and Matter of Opinion (retrospective and editorial works).

Please see our Article Types section for more information.

Most front matter is commissioned by the scientific editors, but proposals for appropriate pieces and formats will be considered. Matter encourages creativity and community discussion and is open to novel formats. We can make it work! Please contact the editor-in-chief, Steve Cranford, at scranford@cell.com to propose a novel or innovative piece or format.

How to Submit Research Articles

You can submit your manuscript by using our online submission system, Editorial Manager (EM). For assistance, please contact us at matter@cell.com or +1-617-397-2851. Click here to start a new submission.

EM will send all communications (including the request for final approval and the confirmation of submission) to the person who is selected as lead contact at submission or, if no name is designated, to the person whose account is used to submit the manuscript. If you want to specify a different author for correspondence after submission, please contact the Journal Associate at matter@cell.com.

We note that Matter only accepts manuscripts in English. Prior to submission, please re-read your manuscript thoroughly, and check for any silly spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors. They are annoying. Seriously.

Cover Letter

The cover letter is your chance to make a first impression; an opportunity to (briefly) discuss the context and importance of the submitted work and why it is appropriate for the journal. In your cover letter, please explain what was previously known (background), the conceptual advance provided by your work (contributions), and the significance to a broad readership (impact). Make us interested! This is one of the

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few chances to “sell” your work to the editor – why is this article a good fit for Matter? Do not repeat segments from the abstract and/or conclusions. In addition to hyping your work, please indicate all contributing authors and their affiliations. You may suggest appropriate reviewers/referees and make up to three requests for reviewer/referee exclusions. Please use the cover letter to notify us of information that is relevant to our handling and evaluation your paper (e.g., related work, time constraints, competition). If you have preference for a particular handling scientific editor, please state the request in the cover letter. Additional information covered in these guidelines (such as existence of a preprint, conflict of interest, etc.) should also be included. The cover letter is confidential and will not be seen by reviewers. It’s a confidential matter (excuse the pun).

Initial Submissions

For initial submissions, you do not need to strictly adhere to our formatting guidelines below. You also do not need to provide a Graphical Abstract, Bigger Picture, Highlights, or eTOC paragraph. However, we do ask that you use double spacing and page numbers. For information about specific article types, please see our Article Types page.

Also, for initial submissions, you can upload your paper as a single PDF (by using the "combined manuscript file" designation in EM). In doing so, you can intersperse the figures and figure legends within the Results section to aid evaluation of your paper. If you choose the single-PDF option, please keep the PDF under 20 MB, and please separately upload the cover letter and any special file types such as videos and spreadsheets. If you do not choose the single-PDF option, EM will build a composite PDF file of individually uploaded items. This PDF will contain links that editors and reviewers can use to download individual high-resolution files. The composite PDF will not contain the cover letter.

Handling Editor Assignment & Request

Your paper will be assigned to an Scientific Editor based on a preliminary screening and the primary topic of your article. Editors attempt to handle manuscripts based on their individual knowledge, experience, and expertise. If you wish for your manuscript to be handled by a specific Editor - for example, in response to a personal invitation from or correspondence with an Editor or their specific area of interest - the lead contact must ensure identify which Editor in the cover letter. We will make efforts to accommodate all requests but cannot guarantee editorial assignment.

Confirmation of Receipt/Assessment

Upon successful submission, the lead contact will receive acknowledgement of receipt of their manuscript. Please keep record of your handling editor and manuscript number for all subsequent correspondence. No action is necessary at this point – lead contacts will be informed of all decisions in a timely manner.

Formatting Guide

Matter is flexible regarding the format of initial submissions. Style and length will not influence consideration of a manuscript. That being said, research articles generally contain the following sections in this order: title, authors, affiliations, author list footnotes, corresponding author(s) e-mail address(es), Summary, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Experimental/Simulation Procedures, Data and Software Availability, Supplemental Information description, Acknowledgments, Author Contributions, Declaration of Interests, References, figure titles and legends, and tables with titles and

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legends. The main text (title through figure legends) should be provided as one document. The Bigger Picture, Supplemental Information, Figures, and Graphical Abstract should be provided separately.

Note: The formatting tips and pointers presented below are gathered from various sources on how to prepare a manuscript with the intent to publish and are merely an opinion from the editorial team at Matter. There is a difference between what is considered good writing, and what will ultimately get a manuscript accepted to a prestigious journal. They are not always mutual objectives.

Writing Style

Scientists and engineers from several disciplines read Matter. Therefore, it is essential that all manuscripts be accessible to all readers interested in materials science. The editors will request that authors rewrite portions of submitted manuscript if it is not accessible to a broad audience. Clarity and conciseness are critical requirements for publications. Spelling and use of periods and commas in numbers should conform to U.S. usage.

Use abbreviations and acronyms sparingly, and all usage should be defined at the first occurrence in the text. Whenever possible, use systematic nomenclature as recommended by IUPAC and IUBMB for chemical compounds and biomolecules, respectively. Names of organisms should comply with genetic conventions, with genus and species names written in italics and spelled out in full on first appearance. Registered trademark names should be capitalized whenever used. Trade and trivial names should not be capitalized. It is not necessary to use the trademark, registered trademark, or service mark symbol to ensure legal protection for the trademark.

Title

The title should capture the conceptual significance for a broad audience. The most effective titles are no more than 10 to 12 words and provide an overall view of the paper's significance rather than the detailed contents of the paper, which can be elaborated upon in the Summary. Titles should be composed of the fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents of the paper.

Titles should avoid use of jargon, uncommon abbreviations, and punctuation. The use of more abstract or creative titles can serve to be an eye-catcher. However, it is dependent on the type of article. Ultimately, it is your choice, but you have to be able to justify it to the editor! Remember, if your article is cited by others, typically the title is the only actual content that appears in a reference (along with authors and journal information).

A concise but descriptive title aids readers finding your article with an electronic search. Titles should be no more than 120 characters total, including spaces, and must be able to be separated onto three lines of no more than 40 characters each (including spaces).

Authors and Affiliations

Author first and last names should be spelled out in their entirety. Middle initials are OK. Institutional affiliations should be signified with footnotes. Affiliations should contain the following information: department(s)/subunit(s), institution, city, state/region (postal code optional), country. Please check author names carefully, because we cannot amend or correct these sections after publication without publishing a formal Correction.

Author List Footnotes

Footnotes are allowed only on page 1 of the text (and in tables). The only required footnote is the Lead Contact footnote. Additional footnotes may note a present address or may indicate equally contributing or senior

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authors, or special author designations. For more on designations and author contributions, please see the Authorship section.

Contact Info

Corresponding authors should be noted with an asterisk (*) in the author list. The e-mail address(es) of the corresponding author(s) should be listed after the author list footnotes, e.g., "*Correspondence: john_doe@cell.com" Corresponding author(s) may additionally include Twitter handles as a means of contact, e.g., “@johndoeCELL”

Summary

The Summary is a single paragraph no longer than 150 words. An effective Summary includes the following elements: (1) a brief background of the question that avoids statements about how a process is not well understood; (2) a description of the results and approaches and/or model systems framed in the context of their conceptual interest; and (3) an indication of the broader significance of the work. We discourage novelty claims (e.g., use of the word “novel” and “first”) because they are overused, tend not to add meaning, and are difficult to verify. All manuscripts submitted to Matter are expected to contain novel components. Please do not include references in the Summary.

Keywords

We encourage you to include up to ten (10) keywords with your paper. These keywords will be associated with your paper on Cell Press platforms and on abstract indexing platforms. These keywords should be listed in the manuscript after the Summary and be separated by commas.

Introduction

Good introductions are succinct and present the background information needed for readers to understand the motivation for the study and the results. No subheadings, please.

The introduction (along with the discussion/conclusion) is one of the few sections where you can argue your hypothesis. Start the Introduction by providing the background for the field — how does it link to your particular research and what was heretofore unknown — alongside your hypothesis for how you will fill that gap in knowledge. The introduction sets up the background for what we are about to learn (the bottom line) and why it matters. Funnel from known (the big picture significance of the field) to unknown (the specific gaps in knowledge) to the specific question being asked by you. The introduction is not meant to be a literature review but rather a means to set up the question

Provide a brief summary of the methods in the introduction - sufficient description to be followed and understood by a researcher in the field. Details relevant to exact procedures to enable reproduction by an independent researcher should be left for Experimental Procedures section, which occurs after the main text body. Methods that are already published should be summarized and indicated by a reference. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.

Relevant theory and equations should also be included here but may be omitted depending on the scope of the work (e.g., if the theory is well-known and accepted). Subheadings for organization purposes are allowed. A Theory section should extend, not repeat, the background to the article already dealt with in the Introduction and lay the foundation for the presented results. Key equations should be listed, but any derivations/calculations should be relegated to Supplementary Information.

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Results

Results should be clear and concise. This section should be divided with subheadings. In our view, good subheadings convey information about the findings, so we encourage you to be specific. For example, say "Factor X Requires Factor Y to Function in Process Z" rather than "Analysis of Factors X and Y by Approach Q." We recommend that you use similar language in your figure titles for clarity and structural harmony.

Discussion

The Discussion should explain the significance of the results and place them into a broader context. It is often helpful to the reader to indicate the directions in which the work might be built on in the future. The Discussion should not simply be a recapitulation of the Results, but rather an interpretation of how each of the experiments supported your central hypothesis. This is your chance to add in supporting findings from the literature and to argue why your study is a conceptual advance over those studies.

The Discussion may contain subheadings and can be combined with the Results section (e.g., Results and Discussion).

Conclusion

The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

In the concluding remarks, define your bottom line. What have you shown? What is the contribution? Be realistic about how much the average reader will take away from an article. Non-experts will retain at most a single message. Clearly indicate the significance. Does the reader need help understanding the significance? If you think your discovery might (in the future) prove to be the explanation for mystery X, don’t make the reader figure out the identity of mystery X. State it explicitly, make clear that the link is only speculation, and explain the basis for making the speculation. Balance the importance of your findings with their implications. Do not make ungrounded claims without supporting data, and do not assert that your results are significant without discussion why they are significant. Ask yourself, would a reviewer in the same field agree with all of your statements? You should be able to explain your paper very concisely in terms of these three points, for example: We have undertaken the study of X which explains Y, this is important for the future study/role/implications of Z.

Experimental Procedures

A little counter-intuitive, the Experimental Procedures, aka the Methods, section of your manuscript – the section describes the work/research you actually performed – is perhaps the least important section of a high impact paper. It appears after the conclusions!

However, it is essential that the reported experimental procedures, simulation and/or modeling approaches and subsequent characterization/data processing techniques provide sufficient details for the reader to be able to reproduce/replicate the research. Authors are requested to include details of the most important experiments/simulations necessary for the understanding of the article and associated results within the Experimental Procedures section. Details should be sufficient such that peers familiar with the techniques can easily understand. Lists of parameters, and further description thereof, along with characterization data, should be placed in Supplemental Information. The Supplemental Information is available to readers once the article is published and will also be made available to reviewers during the peer-review process.

Standard procedures and protocols should only be included in the Supplemental Information and not in the main article. Where possible, the original reference should be quoted unless the procedure employed

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was significantly altered or improved over the original. Reagents or instrumentation from commercial suppliers should only be included when they are essential to the outcome of the experimental procedures described.

Chemical procedures must include specific reagents and solvents and should also give the amounts (e.g., g or mmol) in parentheses. For products, percentage yields, as well as how they were calculated, must be included. In cases where reagents or procedures could pose safety hazards, authors are required to include details within the relevant Experimental/Simulation Procedures section. Where a series of related compounds is included, a minimum of one representative procedure that outlines a specific example in the text or table must be included.

Acknowledgments

Use this section to acknowledge contributions from non-authors and list funding sources. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.). No need to thank anonymous peer reviewers or referees. They already know. Also, no need to thank the handling editors, as it is their job. As this section contains important information and many funding bodies require inclusion of grant numbers here, please check it carefully. List funding sources to facilitate compliance to funder's requirements.

Author Contributions

This section is required for all papers. Please use it to concisely describe each author’s contributions by using initials to indicate each author’s identity. We encourage you to use the CRediT taxonomy, but you can also use a traditional format (e.g., "A.B. and C.D. conducted the experiments; E.F. designed the experiments and wrote the paper.").

Declaration of Interests

This section is required for all papers. Please use it to disclose any competing interests, in accordance with Cell Press's Declaration of Interests policy. If there are no interests to declare, please note that with the following wording: "The authors declare no competing interests." The text in this section should match the text provided in the Declaration of Interests form.

Data Statement

When appropriate due to significant linked data (see Distribution of Materials and Data) authors may include a 'Data availability' section in their manuscript prior to their reference section. The intention of this section is to provide readers with information on where they can obtain the research data required to reproduce the work reported in the manuscript. This may also be a requirement of your funding body or institution.

References and Notes

Include all salient references — reviewers can google references as easily as you can - and selectively referencing is obvious. Be prepared though, no matter how many references you cite, that a reviewer will suggest a “key” reference to be included.

References to be sequentially numbered as they occur in the manuscript.

In-text citations should be written in Vancouver superscript style, e.g., “Multiple reports support this observation1,2" or "This observation is supported by Smith et al.1”

Notes may also be included in this section. They should be numbered along with the references.

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Please use the style shown below for references. Note that each reference should contain only one citation, and "et al." should be used only after ten authors.

• Article in a periodical: Sondheimer, N., and Lindquist, S. (2000). Rnq1: an epigenetic modifier of protein function in yeast. Mol. Cell 5, 163–172.

• Article in a book: King, S.M. (2003). Dynein motors: Structure, mechanochemistry and regulation. In Molecular Motors, M. Schliwa, ed. (Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH), pp. 45–78.

• An entire book: Cowan, W.M., Jessell, T.M., and Zipursky, S.L. (1997). Molecular and Cellular Approaches to Neural Development (Oxford University Press).

References should include only articles that are published or in press. For references to in-press articles, please confirm with the cited journal that the article is in fact accepted and in press, and include a DOI number and scheduled online publication date. Unpublished data, submitted manuscripts, abstracts, and personal communications should be cited within the text only and not included in the references list. Personal communication should be documented by a letter of permission. Submitted articles should be cited as unpublished data, data not shown, or personal communication.

Figure and Scheme Legends

Legends should be included in the submitted manuscript as a separate section. Each figure should have a brief title that describes the entire figure without citing specific panels, followed by a description of each panel. In writing the figure title, we encourage you to re-use the subheadings of the Results section to make the relationship clear (if possible). For any figures presenting pooled data, the measures should be defined in the figure legends (for example, "Data are represented as mean ± SEM."). Each legend should refer to any supporting items in the Supplemental Information (e.g., "See also Figure S1."). There is no limit regarding figure legend length, but attempts should be made to keep them succinct. Legends should be detailed enough so that each figure and caption can, as far as possible, be understood in isolation from the main text.

Figures

All Figures should be mentioned in the main text in numerical order. Full quality, high-resolution image files are not required at initial submission, but please ensure that images are of sufficient resolution for referees to properly assess the data. There is no charge or fee for color figures.

Figures may either be imbedded into the main text or listed in the end of the paper as a separated section.

Tables

All Tables should be mentioned in the main text in numerical order. Please use the Microsoft Word Table function to make tables; you may need to revise any tables that are not created with this function. Tables should include a title, and the legend and/or footnotes should be concise. Include tables in the submitted manuscript as a separate section.

When creating tables, please adhere to the following guidelines:

• Do not submit tables in Excel or PDF format. Do not place an Excel table in a Word document.

• Format tables with Word's Table function; do not use tabs or spaces to create a table.

• Tables should not include colored text or shading, but embedded graphics with color are OK.

• Do not use line breaks or spaces to separate data within a cell. Use separate cells for all discrete data elements within a table.

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• Number distinct tables as Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, etc., rather than as Table 1a, Table 1b, Table 1c, etc.

• If bold or italic font is used within a table to indicate some feature of the data, please give an explanation of its usage in the legend.

• All abbreviations within a table must be defined in the table legend or footnotes.

• Footnotes should be listed with superscript lowercase letters, beginning with “a.” Footnotes may not be listed with numbers or symbols.

NOTE: If a table is directly related to a scheme or figure (e.g., a condition optimization table), please choose one of the following two options:

1. Table option: Provide the table portion in the main Word manuscript as described above and include the scheme/figure in a separate file (e.g., PDF, TIFF, CDX). The scheme/figure should be clearly labeled as being related to the table (e.g., "Scheme for Table 1.cdx"). In this case, the table will be copyedited, and the scheme/figure will be typeset above the table.

2. Figure option: Combine the scheme and table into a single figure file (e.g., PDF, TIFF, CDX) and label the file as a scheme or figure. In this case, neither the table nor the scheme will be copyedited, and the single file will be typeset as a figure.

Tables may either be imbedded into the main text or listed in the end of the paper as a separated section.

Math Formulae and Equations

Mathematical expressions are, by nature, often complex, which can make them difficult to present in a way that is clear and concise, as well as aesthetically pleasing. Submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by “exp”. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

Supplemental Information

In general, please limit Supplemental Information (SI) to data and other materials that directly support the main conclusions of your paper but cannot be included in the main paper because of space or file-format restrictions. Material that is not needed for reading the paper but which should be available to document experiments or calculations for future researchers should be put into the Supporting Information. This material may include tables, illustrations, derivations, experimental procedures, analytical and spectral characterization data, spectra, modeling coordinates and programs, and crystallographic information files. The Supporting Information may also include additional material or discussion that is primarily of interest to specialized readers.

Please submit supplementary figures, small tables and text as a single combined pdf.

SI should not be used to present data that are preliminary, extraneous or that conceptually go beyond the main point of the paper. Supplementary information is not copy-edited, so please ensure that it is clearly and succinctly presented, and that the style and terminology conform to the rest of the manuscript. Before submitting your supplemental materials, please refer to our complete instructions in the Supplemental Information guidelines. This page also contains information on submitting video and other multimedia files.

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Computer Code

Any novel or custom computer code that could not be easily replicated by other researchers with comparable programming experience must be made available to editors and referees upon request. This is of concern when such code is used to generate key results reported in the manuscript that are central to the main claims. This does not include common algorithms for data extraction and/or file processing that can be accomplished by multiple means (e.g., statistical regression). Any practical issues preventing code sharing will be evaluated by the editors who reserve the right to decline the manuscript if important code is unavailable. For all studies using custom code that is deemed central to the conclusions, a statement must be included in the Methods section, with associated description in Supplementary Information, indicating whether and how the code can be accessed, including any restrictions.

Appeals

Authors who feel that they have strong grounds for appealing a final handling editor’s decision may contact the journal to request the opening of an appeal, after which they may upload a cogently argued rebuttal letter that addresses the referees’ and/or editor’s comments in a point-by-point manner. Decisions are reversed on appeal only if the editors are convinced that the original decision was made in error, or if critical new information or data has been added.

How to Prepare and Submit Revised/Final Files

In addition to the sections required for initial submissions, revised manuscripts must also contain a detailed point-by-point response to the comments of the reviewers and/or editors. The cover letter should briefly summarize how the revised manuscript addresses these comments. In general, we allow 2–3 months for revision; if you think you might need more time, please contact the handling editor for guidance.

The final submission should also contain the Bigger Picture, Highlights, an eTOC blurb, and a Graphical Abstract, described below. These items will appear with the online version of the paper and on the PDF cover page. We have provided a handy checklist for preparing the final version of your paper.

Bigger Picture

A key feature of all Matter articles is the inclusion of a “Bigger Picture” box. The aim of this feature is to provide non-experts with a clearer understanding of fundamental research in materials science, and the future potential of the material system development for translational technologies and societal impact. Goals highlighted in the Matter Aims and Scope. On submission, all authors are required to submit a scientific abstract along with a more general future-impact statement detailing the following:

• Why is the research important? • What are the longer-term ambitions of the research? • Does the research have the potential in the short or long term to make an impact on society? What

field? What application?

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A Bigger Picture statement should be 1 or 2 paragraphs with a maximum of 1,000 characters including spaces. Because of the forward-looking nature of the Bigger Picture box, statements may also be speculative in nature. Authors should ensure that the text is understandable to the non-expert by minimizing technical jargon wherever possible.

Highlights and eTOC Blurb

Highlights are bullet points that convey the core findings of your paper. You may include up to four highlights. The length of each highlight cannot exceed 85 characters (including spaces).

The eTOC blurb is a short summary that describes the context and significance of the findings for the broader readership. Please see the "In Brief" links in the Table of Contents for examples. The blurb should be 80 words or fewer.

On the EM page where you are asked to upload your files, please choose "Bigger Picture, Highlights, and eTOC Blurb" and upload a single Word document containing both items.

Graphical Abstract

A Graphical Abstract is an image that summarizes the main findings of a paper. It adds a rich, visual component to the start of a paper, helping readers to quickly appreciate and understand the central message. Graphical Abstracts may be submitted at any stage but are only required with the final submission. The image should be 1200 pixels square at 300 dpi (or proportionally lager) with Avenir or Arial font sized at 12–16 points; smaller fonts will not be legible online. Please refer to our Digital Image Guidelines and the Cell Press Graphical Abstract Guidelines for more details and recommendations.

Figures

Digital figure files submitted through Editorial Manager must conform to our digital figure guidelines or you will be asked to revise them. Please be aware that we may resize figures during the production process. If you have any questions about figures, please contact Erik Frenz, Managing Editor of Matter, at efrenz@cell.com.

Figure360

Figure360 is a 2- to 3-minute video that helps readers grasp the major points of a figure quickly and effectively. Given their utility, we encourage you to prepare F360 videos for your paper. Each F360 video covers one figure and is published alongside that figure. You may submit one video for each figure in your paper. For additional information, examples, and instructions on how to create a F360 video, please visit our Figure360 page for authors.

Methods Videos

We encourage you to make a Methods Video for your paper if you report any methods that are challenging or nuanced or if you have an experimental setup that is hard to describe. These videos are short (≤1 min) and are intended to improve reproducibility and transparency. For examples and guidelines, go here.

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Cover Submissions

After acceptance, authors are welcome to submit potential cover images related to their manuscript.

Cover submissions should be informative and may be based on or resemble figures in the article, but they

should be creative and artistic. Authors may submit several different images for consideration. The editors

make their selection on the basis of the aesthetic quality of the image and the scientific scope of the study.

For more information, see our Cover Submission Guidelines.

After Acceptance

Congratulations – your manuscript has just been accepted. You’re not finished yet…

Proofs

Once your article is accepted, a set of proofs will be made available to the lead contact to address any queries or issues that arise during the production process. This is also the last opportunity to change any typos or grammatical errors that may have survived the review and revision process.

One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by e-mail to the lead contact or a link will be provided in the e-mail so that authors can download the files themselves.

PDF proofs can typically be annotated directly; for this you will need to download the free Adobe Reader, version 9 (or higher). Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs (also given online). The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site. If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to any queries) and return them via 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 any queries) on a printout of your proof and scan the pages and return via email.

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. 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.

Process for Post-Publication Issues

We will thoroughly investigate any issues with data or figures that we publish. Although we do not monitor the internet or social media, we follow up on all clearly documented concerns that are directly brought to our attention (from authors or concerned readers, named or anonymous). If we think that there is reason to investigate, we will discuss the concerns with the lead contact. This process generally involves asking for the original, unprocessed data, along with descriptions of how the experiments in question were performed and how the figures were prepared. We will assess these materials, and we may consult with external referees or other objective experts uninvolved in the original review process. There are several potential outcomes of the process:

1. First, we may take no further action; in this case, we may publish an Editorial Note to describe the process and explain why we are taking no further action.

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2. Second, if we think the issues are resolvable with a Correction, we may ask the authors to prepare a Correction statement.

3. Third, if we uncover serious issues, we may ask the authors to retract the paper, and we will work with them to prepare a Retraction statement.

4. Fourth, if the timeline to a potential resolution seems long, we might publish an Editorial Expression of Concern to alert the community that an investigation is ongoing.

At any point during this process, if our analysis uncovers potentially serious issues, we will generally ask authors to alert their institution and funding bodies.

Correcting the scientific record is a priority for us. Because we consider the investigation process confidential, we don’t report back in detail to the person who contacted us with the concern. Because the process can include gathering and evaluating original data, discussing with authors, and collaborating with institutional investigations, it can take some time. If, during the process, the lead author becomes unresponsive or contrarian, we reserve the right to act without explicit author approval. We are committed to making sure that the investigation moves forward quickly, but because these are serious and important matters, we prioritize reaching the outcome that best serves the scientific community over reaching the fastest outcome.

Additions, Corrections & Retractions

Additions and Corrections may be used to address important issues or correct errors and omissions of consequence that arise after publication of an article. Such Additions and Corrections may be requested by the author(s) or initiated by the Editor after discussions with the lead contact or corresponding author. Readers who detect errors of consequence in the work of others should contact the corresponding author of that work. All Additions and Corrections are subject to approval by the Editor, and minor corrections and additions will not be published. All Additions or Correction are free to view and are linked to the article of record that they correct.

We will not publish an addition/correction that does not affect the contribution in a material way or if the issue does not significantly impair the reader's understanding of the contribution, such as a spelling mistake or grammatical error.

Beyond relatively benign Additions and/or Corrections (which happen… we’re all human), we will respond to any suggestions of scientific misconduct or to convincing evidence that the main substance or conclusions of a published manuscript is erroneous, through consultation/communication with the lead contact and corresponding author(s). This may require the publication of a formal ‘retraction’ or correction. Authors who wish to enquire about publication of a correction for their article, or who have serious concern that they believe may warrant retraction, should contact the journal editorial office directly, matter@cell.com.

Retractions may be requested by the article author(s) or by the journal Editor(s) but are ultimately published at the discretion of the Editor. We will consider issuing a retraction notice if: (1) we have clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (for example, data fabrication) or honest error (such as a miscalculation or experimental error), (2) the findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission or justification (that is, cases of redundant publication), and/or (3) the publication constitutes plagiarism the publication reports unethical research.

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Distribution of Materials and Data If you publish at Cell Press, you must be willing to distribute materials and protocols to qualified researchers, with minimal restrictions and in a timely manner. This includes any non-proprietary computational or simulation models. Any restrictions must be disclosed in the cover letter and in the Experimental Procedures or Methods (or similar section) at the time of submission. You may request reasonable payment for maintenance and transport of materials.

Matter supports uninhibited sharing of data associated with your research publication where appropriate and promotes the linking of data with your published articles.

We encourage you to provide one-click access to your data by linking your article with external databases. When you provide accession numbers for your data, please use the following format: "Database: xxxx" for single accession numbers and "Database: xxxx, yyyy, zzzz" for multiple accession numbers (e.g., "GenBank: NM_000492"; "GEO: GSE6364"; "PDB: 1TUP, 1KW4, 3H5X"). See database linking for more information and a full list of supported databases.

Data sets must be made freely available to readers from the date of publication and must be provided to editors and peer reviewers at submission for the purposes of evaluating the manuscript. In addition, we offer the opportunity for authors to make underlying data not included in the paper itself or deposited in a database available to the scientific community by posting them on Mendeley Data and then including a link in the published paper. For more detailed instructions, click here.

To facilitate reproducibility and data reuse, this journal also encourages you to share your software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, methods and other useful materials related to the project.

Mandatory Data Deposition

For the following types of data, submission of the full dataset to a community-endorsed, public repository is mandatory. Accession numbers must be provided in the Data and Software Availability section after the Experimental Procedures. Examples of appropriate public repositories include:

• Protein Sequences: UniProt

• DNA and RNA Sequences: GenBank/European Nucleotide Archive (ENA)/DDBJ, Protein Data Bank, UniProt

• DNA Sequencing Data (traces and short reads): NCBI Trace and Short-Read Archive, ENA's Sequence Read Archive

• Deep Sequencing Data: Deposit in GEO or ArrayExpress upon submission to the journal

• The sequences of all RNAi, antisense, and morpholino probes must be included in the paper or deposited in a public database with the accession number provided in the paper.

• Human Genomic Data Reporting Newly Described SNPs and CNVs Identified in Control Samples: dbSNP, the Database of Genomic Variants Archive (DGVa), or the Database of Genomic Structural Variation (dbVAR)

• Human Sequence Data: dbGaP or similar repository. If, due to IRB restrictions, data collected for the paper cannot be made accessible in a public repository or shared upon legitimate request, please let us know in the cover letter at the stage of submission. If there are no IRB restrictions to sharing, we expect data deposition in a public repository.

• Microarray Data: GEO or ArrayExpress upon submission to the journal. Data must be MIAME compliant, as described at the MGED website specifying microarray standards.

• Structures of Biological Macromolecules: The atomic coordinates and related experimental data (structure factor amplitudes/intensities and/or NMR restraints) must be deposited at a member

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site of the Worldwide Protein Data Bank. Electron microscopy-derived density maps must be deposited into the EMDB through one of the partner sites (Protein Data Bank in Europe or EMDataBank). Atomic coordinates fitted to EM maps must also be deposited to a wwPDB member site. The corresponding database IDs must be included in the manuscript. Authors must agree to release the atomic coordinates and experimental data when the associated article is published. Additionally, when your paper is selected for external peer review, we will ask you to provide the PDB Validation Report(s) if your paper reports any structure(s) determined by X-ray crystallography before we contact reviewers. We will use these reports for peer review purposes, and they will not be part of the final published paper. You can read more about this requirement here.

We note that the listed repositories are unrelated to Cell Press and due diligence is suggested prior to their use. If an emerging repository is unlisted here, please inform the editorial team at matter@cell.com for its future potential inclusion.

Non-mandatory Data Deposition

We encourage you to submit the following types of data to public databases. Some of these databases allow anonymous referees the ability to access the data. When there is no public repository or if your dataset is too large to submit to the journal online, please contact us for advice.

• Proteomics Data: PRIDE, PeptideAtlas

• Protein Interaction Data: IMEx consortium of databases, including DIP, IntAct, and MINT

• Chemical Compound Screening and Assay Data: PubChem

• Flow Cytometry Data: Flow Repository

• Atomistic Potentials: NIST Atomistic Potential Repository

• Materials Data: NIST Materials Data Repository

• Theoretical Predictions: Computational Materials Repository

We note that the listed repositories are unrelated to Cell Press and due diligence is suggested prior to their use. If an emerging repository is unlisted here, please inform the editorial team at matter@cell.com for future potential inclusion.

Copyright, Embargoes and Open Access

An overview of the rights that Cell Press authors retain, the options for sharing articles at various stages, and the duration of embargo periods, as well as open access options, is available here.

Copyright

Manuscripts are considered for publication with the understanding that no part of the work has been published previously in print or electronic format and the paper is not under consideration by another publication or electronic medium. Upon official acceptance of a manuscript, authors will be asked to complete a "Journal Publishing Agreement." For gold open access articles, authors retain copyright of their work, which is published under a Creative Commons license (see below).

Prepublication Publicity and Embargoes

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We want to make sure that your paper gets the attention it deserves, so we work with the popular and scientific media to promote coverage of your paper. As part of this process, we ask that you refrain from talking to the media until one week before the online publication date of the paper. If you do speak with the media at that time, please inform them that the paper is under media embargo until 11 AM (US, ET) on the date of publication. This includes posting accepted manuscripts on a personal homepage or blog prior to publication. After publication, we encourage author announcements and posts on social media platforms such as Twitter.

We encourage you to present your work at scientific meetings and conferences, but we ask that you not discuss the findings with the media beyond the formal presentation. This policy covers work that is intended for submission, currently under consideration, or in press at a Cell Press journal.

Additionally, before your paper is published, please do not discuss it or cite it as in press in review articles. However, you can discuss your embargoed paper with other scientific journals if the paper will be covered in review or news material that is intended to coincide or follow publication of your paper.

If you have any questions about our prepublication policies or if your institutional press office wishes to issue a press release, please contact our Press Officer Joseph Caputo (jcaputo@cell.com).

Funding Bodies and Open Access

We have worked with institutions and funding bodies to help authors comply with open access policies. Please see our Funding Body Policies page for complete information on gold and green open access options for each funding body, as well as information about deposition to PubMed Central.

Publishing gold open access in Cell Press subscription journals is only available to authors covered by a funding body agreement; the gold open access fee for funding bodies is $5,200.

Content of all Cell Press research journals is free, in final published form, on our website 12 months after publication; the embargo period for green open access and deposition of the author-accepted manuscript in an institutional or subject repository is 12 months.

We are aware of the evolving nature of open access publishing and our policies will evolve based on the broad needs of the scientific community. Regardless of how you choose to publish your article, the journal will apply the same peer review criteria and acceptance standards.

Permissions

If you want to use excerpts or images, original or adapted, from articles that you have published in a Cell Press journal, you do not need to ask our permission. Our policy only requires that you cite the original publication.

If you want to use excerpts from copyrighted work in your Cell Press submission, you must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and cite the original publication. For information about how to request permission to use copyrighted material, including work published elsewhere at Elsevier, please visit our permissions page.

If you have adapted a published figure, you may or may not need permission from the copyright owner, depending on how much the adaptation resembles the original. When in doubt, check with the copyright owner and cite the original article.

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Obtaining permission can take several weeks. To avoid any delays to publication, we recommend that you seek permission before or at the time of submission.