Aims and Scope.  Accountability in Research: Policies and Quality Assurance is devoted to the examination and critical analysis of systems for maximizing integrity in the conduct of research. It provides an interdisciplinary, international forum for the development of new procedures, standards, and policies to encourage the ethical conduct of research for enhancing the validity of research results. The journal publishes original empirical, methodological, policy, and theoretical papers; case studies; conference reports; and book reviews.

Submission of Manuscripts. Manuscripts may be sent to the Editor-in-Chief: Adil E. Shamoo, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 108 N. Greene St., Baltimore, MD 21201-1503, USA, email: ashamoo@umaryland.edu. Authors submitting Book Reviews or “Descriptive Ethics” articles should submit them to Sheldon Krimsky, Ph.D., Department of Urban and Environmental Policy, Tufts University, 97 Talbot Ave., Medford, MA 02155, USA, email: sheldon.krimsky@tufts.edu . Authors submitting Letters to the Editor or “Normative Ethics” articles should send them to David B. Resnik, Ph.D., National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, PO Box 12233, Mail Drop CU-03, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA, email: resnikd@niehs.nih.gov.  Manuscript submissions are preferred electronically only. The file should be prepared using MS Word or WordPerfect and should be clearly labeled with the authors' names and software program. Each manuscript must be accompanied by a statement that it has not been published elsewhere and that it has not been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted material from other sources and are required to sign an agreement for the transfer of copyright to the publisher. As an author, you are required to secure permission if you want to reproduce any figure, table, or extract from the text of another source. This applies to direct reproduction as well as “derivative reproduction” (where you have created a new figure or table which derives substantially from a copyrighted source). All accepted manuscripts, artwork, and photographs become the property of the publisher. All parts of the manuscript should be typewritten, double-spaced, with margins of at least one inch on all sides. Number manuscript pages consecutively throughout the paper. Authors should also supply a shortened version of the title suitable for the running head, not exceeding 50 character spaces. Each article should be summarized in an abstract of not more that 100 words. Avoid abbreviations, diagrams, and reference to the text.

Manuscript Length. No limit on manuscript length as long as it is justified.

Conflict of Interest. A conflict of interest exists when an author (or the author's institution or employer) has financial or personal relationships or affiliations that could influence or reasonably be perceived to influence (or bias) the author's decisions, work, or manuscript. All authors and reviewers are required to disclose all potential conflicts of interest, including specific financial interests and relationships and affiliations (other than those affiliations listed in the title page of the manuscript) relevant to the subject of their manuscript. Typically these would include (over a period of 3 years): patents applied for received, or held, consultancies, membership on company advisory boards; equity interests in a company that could benefit from the subject matter of the paper, industry funded speaker bureaus. Authors and editors should err on the side of full disclosure and should contact the editorial office if they have questions or concerns.

Animal Subjects. All research that involves research with animals subjects should comply with relevant laws/regulations or institutional guidelines. Authors that subject manuscripts involving research with animal subjects should include a statement that the research has been approved by an institutional animal care and use committee or other research ethics committee, or that the research has been determined to be exempt from animal research review.

Ethics Code of Conduct Policy. Accountability in Research follows the Committee on Publication Ethics' Code of Conduct (http://publicationethics.org/files/u2/New_Code.pdf) for addressing allegations of misconduct related to articles submitted to or published in the journal. Accountability in Research defines misconduct as fabrication or falsification of data or plagiarism.

• 300 dpi or higher
• EPS, TIFF, or PSD format only
• submitted as separate files, not embedded in text files

Color Reproduction. Color art will be reproduced in color in the online publication at no additional cost to the author. Color illustrations will also be considered for print publication; however, the author will be required to bear the full cost involved in color art reproduction. Please note that color reprints can only be ordered if print reproduction costs are paid. Print Rates: $900 for the first page of color; $450 per page for the next three pages of color. A custom quote will be provided for articles with more than four pages of color. Art not supplied at a minimum of 300 dpi will not be considered for print.

Tables and Figures. Tables and figures should not be embedded in the text, but should be included as separate files. A short descriptive title should appear above each table with a clear legend and any footnotes suitably identified below. All units must be included. Figures should be completely labeled, taking into account necessary size reduction. Captions should be in the manuscript text file.

Book: Draper, N. R., and Smity, H. 1981. Applied Regression Analysis (2nd edition). New York: John Wiley.

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