Click for reviewer guidelines

Please consider these points (when appropriate) in your review and note any concerns in your Comments to the Editors:

Considerations of figures:

· Do the gels or blots in figures contain a molecular-weight size marker, and a space above and below the band of interest from the original image?

· Do the legends to all figures include specific “n” for each treatment group in each experiment, and a description of statistics used to analyze each experiment?

• Were figures created with the highest effort and professionalism and are they publication quality?

Considerations for Methods Section:

 Cell Lines

· Do the methods state the Source of cells utilized (species, sex, strain, race, age of donor, whether primary or established)?

· Do the authors declare whether cell line authentication was performed and by what method (e.g., STR profiling)?

· Do the authors declare whether testing for mycoplasma contamination was performed and the results of the tests?

 Reagents and Unique Materials

· Does the data confirm the specificity of the unique biological, biochemical, and/or immunological markers? Is this submitted as “Supporting Data” or cited, if the data already exists?

 Antibodies

· Do the authors state the source of antibodies (company name, distributer, developer, etc.)?

· Is there one representative full blot detailing the validation of each antibody used in the study for protein specificity, excluding loading controls? * Validation data should be submitted as Supplemental Data. If the data already exists, please reference the published article.

Animal Studies

· Is there a statement that the animal use protocol was submitted to, and approved by an institutional committee or that the protocol was performed under a license obtained from such a committee, board, or governing office?

· Are there precise details of all experimental procedures (drug formulation and dose, anesthesia and analgesia used, method of euthanasia, etc.)?

· Have steps been taken to minimize subjective bias in the study design (randomization, blinding, etc.)?

· Have the animals used in the study (species, strain, sex, age, source of animals, genetic modification status, housing, diet, etc.)?

· Have controls been used in the study (littermate, purchased, identical conditions, contemporaneous, historical, etc.)?

Human Studies

· Is there a statement that the protocol was submitted to, and approved by, an institutional review board or the protocol was performed under a license obtained from such a committee, board, or governing office?

· Is the sex and/or gender of participants stated by the authors?

Contents:

Review Process
Navigating the System
Review Manuscript
Getting Help
Manuscript Status

Review Process

The manuscript submission and peer review process is broken down into the following steps:

1. The Author submits a manuscript.
2. The Editor assigns Reviewers to the manuscript.
3. The Reviewers review the manuscript.*
4. The Editor drafts a decision to be sent to the Author.

As a Reviewer, you are responsible for step #3.

* If reviewers have conflicting recommendations for a paper, an editor may open a consultation session between him/herself and the reviewers in order to discuss the paper. This opens up a conversation within the submission system. The reviewers in the conversation remain anonymous to each other during the conversation. If you are invited to take part in a session, you will receive an email with a link to join at your convenience. If you receive an invitation, please join in a timely manner.

Navigating the System

There are two ways to gain access to the system. First, if you know your login name and password, you may log into the system from the home page. Alternatively, if you have received an email request to review, you may use the encrypted link from this email to be logged in and taken directly to the manuscript.

When you log into the system, you will be taken to your "Home" page. If you have been asked to review any manuscripts, you will see a link (or several links) with a red arrow on your desktop under the "Reviewer Tasks" header. Clicking this link will display the "Manuscript Details Screen," containing:

• Detailed Information about a specific manuscript.
• Links to the manuscript and associated figures/images.
• A list of "Manuscript Tasks" or links allowing you to:
  • Accept/Decline Reviewer Position
  • Check Status
  • Review Manuscript

If there are no red arrows visible on the "Home" page, then you are finished. There is no pending work you need to worry about.

Review Manuscript

Once you are logged into the system, click on a manuscript link preceded by a red arrow to view the "Manuscript" screen as described above. At the bottom of this screen under "Manuscript Tasks," you will see a red arrow next to a "Review Manuscript" link. Clicking on this link will display the review form. Please be sure to fill in all required information.

Please Note: Since reviews are not saved until you hit the Submit Recommendation button (below), we suggest that you compose your review using your normal word processor and copy/paste the review into this form. This will insure that you have a local copy in case of computer error. Please save a copy of your review offline for your records before you enter it online.

Getting Help

If you need additional help, you can click on the help signs spread throughout the system. A help dialog will pop up with context-sensitive help.

You may also contact the Journal Staff at any time by clicking the "Send Manuscript Correspondence" link under the "More Manuscript Info and Tools" header on the manuscript details screen.

If you need additional help, you can click on the help signs spread throughout the system. A help dialog will pop up with context-sensitive help.

You may also contact the Journal Staff at any time by clicking the "Send Manuscript Correspondence" link under the "More Manuscript Info and Tools" header on the manuscript details screen.

If you still need assistance, please contact The American Physiological Society via email at mcapers@physiology.org or by calling 301-634-7189.

Manuscript Status

You can get the status of your assigned manuscript(s) via:

1. Logging into the system with your password.
2. Clicking on the link represented by the manuscript tracking number and abbreviated title.
3. Clicking on the "Check Status" link at the bottom of the displayed page.

Please press HOME to continue.