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 Overview

The Journal of Physiological Sciences (JPS; ISSN: online 1880-6562, print 1880-6546) publishes original papers as well as review papers, the subjects of which fall within the sections of study listed below with the corresponding names of editors. The papers are accepted for publication by the Editorial Board through a peer-review process. Every manuscript should be written in English, and the format should conform to the current version of JPS. The process of obtaining the results must be ethically sound. Please see the sections on article types, editors, and ethics.

The authors must agree to transfer copyright to the publisher, The Physiological Society of Japan. Membership in the Society is not a prerequisite for publication.

The Journal of Physiological Sciences is published six times a year in both print and online versions. In the online version, an article will be published within 3 days upon acceptance as an “ahead-of-print” version, as an accepted form of manuscript with minimum editing. This ahead-of-print version is to be replaced by a final version that will be copy edited, proofread, and in page layout form, when published in a regular issue of JPS. A digital document identifier (DOI) will be assigned in the ahead-of-print release, and this will not change thereafter.

 Editors

 For Authors

Submission

Submit your new manuscript online through the Editorial Manager system.

https://www.editorialmanager.com/jpsc/

This site provides various online guides for authors. If you still have questions, please feel free to contact the editorial office.

In preparing a manuscript, please follow these instructions.

It is assumed that upon manuscript submission, all authors will have agreed to transfer the copyright of the manuscript to the publisher, The Physiological Society of Japan, upon acceptance.

Authors are advised to keep copies of the manuscript file of each step through the peer-review and printing processes.

Article Types

Invited-Editor Section

We have launched new sections of special topics to which authorities in the subject fields have been invited as editors.

Central Nervous System and Brain Sciences
Dr. Masanobu KANO (Osaka University)
Dr. Arthur KONNERTH (Ludwig Maximilians Universität München)

Cell Sensors and Signaling
Dr. Douglas C. EATON (Emory University)

The invited editor is responsible for peer reviewing manuscripts submitted to this section. Manuscripts will be quickly processed, and authors will receive comments by this editor. When submitting to this section, please specify, for instance, "Invited-Editors Section: Cell Sensors and Signaling."

Preparing a Manuscript

All pages, including the reference list, tables, footnotes, and figure legends must be serially numbered. All figures, tables, and literature in the reference list must be cited in the text.

The Editorial Board will not accept a manuscript that contains material the author or authors have published elsewhere unless it is an abstracted form. The submission must be accompanied by a copy (file) of all authors' material (including preliminary notes, short communications, meeting abstracts, and reviews) published, in press, or submitted elsewhere that overlaps in content with the manuscript submitted to JPS.

Style

The manuscript should be written as concisely as possible and should be organized following the standard format by carefully studying the format and style of printed papers in recent JPS issues. Abbreviations should be avoided unless they help readers, and they should be kept to a minimum; they must be defined when first used (see section 14). Footnotes will not be accepted except for use on the title page. It is strongly recommended that the standard format, as described below, be followed.

1. Title page, containing:
   1. Title (≤50 words).
   2. Author(s)' name(s) and affiliating institution(s) where the work was carried out. Authors may choose their given names to be printed either in full or in initials.
   3. Number of tables and figures.
   4. Running title (≤50 characters and spaces).
   5. The name and address for editorial correspondence including the phone, fax number, and e-mail address.
2. Title. The title must explicitly represent the content of the manuscript. Authors are recommended not to use titles such as “Studies on..., Part I.” The use of subtitles is not recommended. The following abbreviations are allowed in titles:
   
   Chemical symbols, e.g., K⁺, Ca²⁺
   ATP, ADP, AMP, cyclic AMP, GTP, GDP, GMP, cyclic GMP
   DNA, RNA, mRNA, EPSP, IPSP, GABA
   pH, Po₂, Pco₂
   
   Certain common peptides, prefaced by “the peptide...,” e.g., “the peptide VIP,” “the peptide ACTH.”
3. Abstract. Each paper must begin with a brief abstract (≤250 words; ≤50 for Short Communication and Technical Note), which succinctly and clearly states what the objective of the research is, what procedures were used, what was found, and what the significance of the findings may be. The abstract should be intelligible within itself, written in complete sentences, and in a form acceptable for abstracting services. It is essential that the abstract be intelligible to scientists in all fields of physiology and be free of highly specialized terms, technical jargon, and meaningless expressions such as “These results are discussed.” References and mathematical equations should be avoided.
4. Key words. ≤5 terms; ≤3 for Short Communication and Technical Note.
5. Introduction. The Introduction should clarify the object of the research and provide enough background information to make it clear why the study was undertaken and what hypotheses were tested. Any reference to the author(s)’ own previous work is desirable only if it has a direct bearing on the subject of the paper; an extensive historical review will be considered inappropriate.
6. Methods. Methods need description only once and must not appear in the legends of figures and tables. Sufficient detail should be given to allow the work to be repeated by others. However, do not include extensive descriptions of commonly used experimental procedures unless they have been substantially modified.
   
   Experiments involving humans and animals. For experiments on human subjects and patients, evidence must be provided in the paper that the experiments were performed only after the investigators had obtained the voluntary consent of the subjects. A full explanation of the experiments must be made to the subjects before their consent is requested. Authors should draw attention to the Code of Medical Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki, 1984, and the Declaration of Tokyo, 1975). Approval in writing is also required for the performance of the experiments from the chairperson or the ethics committee of the university, research institute or hospital. Animal experiments must be performed with the least possible pain or discomfort to the animals. Therefore, a full description of anesthetic procedures must be provided in the paper, including measures taken to maintain a satisfactory level of pain avoidance both during and after the experimental procedures. Muscle relaxants and paralytic agents are not of themselves anesthetics, and they should be used always in combination with drugs known to produce adequate analgesia. Experimental animals must be maintained according to recognized standards to safeguard their welfare. This includes proper housing and food as well as sanitary conditions. In this respect, investigators must be aware of the legal requirements in Japan for animal husbandry. They are also obliged to follow the Guiding Principles for the Care and Use of Animals in the Field of Physiological Sciences.
   
   Papers submitted to The Journal that do not provide evidence of having followed the above requirements will not be accepted for publication in JPS.
7. Online Supplemental Materials. Extensive experimental data, program source codes, animation files, audio files, and similar can be submitted as “online supplemental materials.” Single file size ≤ 5MB, total file size ≤ 10MB, and up to five files. These files are shown online, not printed. A proper file name extension is needed. Submit these files with the main manuscript file on the first submission, and indicate them on the title page footnote.
8. Results. Quantitative observations are often better presented graphically than in tables. Where numerical results are given, the number of significant figures should be related to their accuracy. It is not usually necessary to present the individual results of a large number of repeated tests as long as the number of measurements is stated. Standard deviations and standard errors should be given, when pertinent, with no more than two significant figures. Theory and inference must be clearly distinguished from what has actually been observed, and should not be elaborated in this section.
   
   All tables and figures must be quoted in the text. Experimental results should not be covered in duplicate by the text, tables, and figures.
9. Discussion. Discussion follows the statement of Results and is kept separate from it. This section should include a brief statement of the principal findings, a discussion of the validity of the observations, a discussion of the findings in other published work(s) dealing with the same or closely related subjects, and a statement of the possible significance of the work. An extensive discussion of the literature should be avoided.
10. Acknowledgments. Acknowledgments should be reduced to a minimum, consistent with courtesy. The wording of acknowledgments of scientific assistance or advice must have been seen and approved by the persons concerned.
11. References. References should be limited only to those having direct relevance to the subject of the paper. Normally they do not exceed 40. In the text, references should be cited by the number in square brackets by the order of appearance. In the reference list, references should be entered as follows: reference number, names and initials, full title of article, name of journal, year of publication, volume number, and starting and ending page numbers. The titles of journals must be abbreviated without a period. The form of citation of authors contributing a chapter to books should be similar to that for journals. Provide URL or DOI to references on online materials. Please see Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication. Here are some examples.
    1. Article in a journal
       Katsuki Y, Hashimoto T, Yanagisawa K. The lateral line organ of sharks as a chemoreceptor. Adv Biophys. 1970;1:1-51.
    2. Article in a book
       Tokizane T. Studies on the paradoxical phase of sleep in the cat. In: Tokizane T, Schade JP, editors. Progress in brain research. Vol 21B. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 1965. p. 230-68.
    3. Article online only
       Kim H-Y, Hahm D-H, Pyun K-H, Lee H-J, Nam T-C, Shim I. Effects of acupuncture at GV01 on experimentally induced colitis in rats: possible involvement of opioid system. Jpn J Physiol. doi:10.2170/jjphysiol.S647.
    References should be listed in the order of appearance in the text. Unpublished materials or personal communications should not be included in the reference list, but may be noted in parentheses in the text. It is strongly recommended that authors carefully examine each reference by direct confirmation of the original publications.
12. Tables. Tables should be kept to a minimum and should contain as few rows and columns as possible. Each table has its own serial number and a brief explanatory title. The same information should not be presented in both tabular and graphical forms. The units in which the results are expressed should be given in parentheses at the top of each column and not repeated on each row of the table. Long descriptive headings to columns should be avoided.
13. Figures and legends. All figures should be identified with a serial number. Original figures must be in high resolution for clear rendition. Please refer to the instructions for preparing digital illustrations at http://cpc.cadmus.com/da. The scale calibration of the photomicrographs should be given by scale bars on the micrographs rather than by magnification values in the legend.
    
    Figure legends should make the figures understandable without reference to the body text, but repetition of what has been written in the body text should be avoided. Legends should be placed at the end of the body text.
14. Abbreviations and Units. Authors should avoid abbreviations unless they help in the reading of the paper, and they should then be kept to a minimum. Uncommon abbreviations not listed in Table 1 should be defined in the body text and figure labeling by placing them in parentheses on the first occurrence. They should be listed with their full expressions on the title page; they will be printed as a title page footnote. Authors are expected to use the SI system of units but certain traditional units still in common use, such as mmHg, Torr (pressure), Ci (radioactivity), Å (length), and cal (energy), are acceptable.
    
    The metric system should be used for all volumes, lengths, weights, and other measurements. Temperature should be expressed in degrees Celsius (°C, centigrade). Metric abbreviations should be expressed in lowercase without periods (see Table 2).
15. Chemical nomenclature. In general, the conventions in chemical nomenclature adopted by the Biochemical Society should be followed. These are described in The Nomenclature Committee of IUBMB and the IUPAC-IUBMB Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature.
16. Biological nomenclature. The names of species and genera should be in italics. The names of muscles, bones, and similar should be in roman type (i.e., not in italics).

Peer Review

All received manuscripts are subject to peer review by at least two referees appointed by the editor. The results will be sent to the author within 4 weeks after manuscript submission.

Usually the editor recommends revision. When this happens, the author(s) must submit a revised version within three months after receiving the review results. Otherwise the submission will be treated as being retracted by the author. If the manuscript needs extensive and intensive revision, the editor may judge the manuscript as being rejected by recommending resubmission. Should this happen, a resubmission is treated as a new submission, but the review history is inherited. For details, follow the instructions accompanying the correspondence from the editorial office at each stage of the peer review process.

Proofs

Proofs should be corrected and returned promptly, since publication is strictly in the order of the receipt of corrected proofs. Unless otherwise directed, proofs are sent to the author for correspondence as indicated on the manuscript. Proofs are mainly for the purpose of correcting typesetting errors; excessive alterations are not accepted.

Publishing Charge and Reprint

Authors are not charged for publishing their articles, except when special processing is required. Reprints are purchased by ordering on returning the proof at cost price. Color pages are surcharged on the reprint price. If the author purchases no reprints, color pages are charged for. In both instances, ¥45,000/page; ¥70,000/double-side pages.

 Permission for Reproduction and Photocopying

Authors may make copies of their own papers in this journal without seeking permission from the editorial office, provided that such copies are for free distribution only: they must not be sold.

Authors may reuse their own illustrations in other publications appearing under their own name without seeking permission, provided that the material is properly acknowledged; permission to reproduce material from JPS in other publications will not generally be given to third parties except with the consent of the author(s) concerned.

Obtaining permission is not required for photocopying material in the following circumstances:

1. For private study, provided the copying is done by the person requiring its use, or by an employee of the institution to which he/she belongs, without charge beyond the actual cost of copying.
2. For the production of multiple copies of such material, to be used for bona fide educational purposes, provided this is done by a member of the staff of the university, school, or other comparable institution, for distribution without profit to student members of that institution, and provided the copy is made from the original journal. For all other matters relating to the reproduction of copyright material, a written application must be made to the Society.

Permissions to reproduce materials (i.e., figures or tables, as is or being modified) from the articles in JPS are obtained from the Society. Send an email or fax the Society, quoting the source and a description of the publication in which the materials are reproduced. Normally the applications are granted without fees.

Contact:
The Physiological Society of Japan
3-30-10 Hongo
Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033 Japan
Tel: +81-3-3815-1624; Fax: +81-3-1815-1603; E-mail: psj@qa2.so-net.ne.jp

 Subscription

Institutional Subscribers

Institutional subscribers are unconditionally site-licensed to subscribe to the online version without additional fees. Contact: Subscription: E-mail: t_koga@maruzen.co.jp; site-licensing: E-mail: jps@nv-med.com; US$250.00

Individual Subscribers

Individuals can subscribe to the print plus online version at a reduced price, US$80.00. Contact: E-mail: t_koga@maruzen.co.jp

Members of PSJ

JPS members can subscribe to the print plus online version at a special price. Contact: E-mail: psj@qa2.so-net.ne.jp

Table 1. Abbreviations Usable without Definition

Table 2. Units Abbreviations

Prefixes for decimal multiples and submultiples

 Guiding Principles for the Care and Use of Animals
 in the Field of Physiological Sciences

The Physiological Society of Japan (December 5, 2003)

Animal experiments are an unavoidable necessity in pursuing teaching and research activities in the field of physiological sciences. Results obtained from such experiments have contributed much to the understanding and elucidation of the function of living organisms. Their application to medical science and therapeutics has played an important role in the development of human and animal health and welfare. For even greater developments of education and research in physiology, the Physiological Society of Japan (hereafter called PSJ) urges all physiologists performing and participating in animal experiments mainly using vertebrates in Japan to adopt the following guiding principles for animal experiments. It is the intention of the PSJ that all animal experiments should be designed and conducted on a valid scientific and ethical basis, and that sufficient consideration should be given to animal welfare. To ensure that these guiding principles are upheld, presentations at academic meetings of the PSJ and papers to be published in The Journal of Physiological Sciences (hereafter called JPS) should be restricted to those that have been confirmed by the committee for animal experiments of each institute or university or by the PSJ.

Ethical standards for the animal experiments, designed to cover both science and animal welfare, have been described and discussed in the following publications:

In concert with these ethical standards and in view of the recent act of “Rules for the Protection and Care of Animals” and “Plans for the Protection of Beasts and Birds,” we now revise the previous version of “Guiding Principles for the Care and Use of Animals in the Field of Physiological Sciences” of the PSJ (December 19, 1988).

General Principles

Maximum efforts should be made to respect the lives of experimental animals and to treat them humanely with deep concern for their welfare. Efforts should be made to fulfill the following three principles:

(1) To minimize any possible discomfort and stress to experimental animals by improving experimental procedures in all aspects(Refinement). (2) To replace animal experiments with non-animal experiments, whenever possible (Replacement). (3) To obtain scientifically valuable results from the least possible number of experimental animals (Reduction).

Actual Guidlines

1. How to obtain and transport animals

All experimental animals must be obtained from legally approved sources. If and when wild animals are to be used for experiments, they should be captured in accord with rules that do not harm the environment or associated natural resources. In regard to imported animals, only those that are permitted by the Washington Treaty can be used. All experimental animals must be inspected for disease or injury by veterinarians or by individuals who have professional knowledge of animal health care. These inspections must be performed when the animals are received and while they are maintained until use to allow the appropriate personnel to prevent the spread of disease and infection among the animals themselves or between the animals and any personnel who may come into contact with them.

2. Maintenance of the animals

(1) Housing and equipment
Experimental animals should be maintained in clean and well controlled facilities. When, for inevitable reasons, experimental animals will be raised outside of these facilities, the researchers specialized in the care of experimental animals should prepare clean and well controlled room spaces and take special care and attention against loss of animals because of escape or theft. They should also minimize the noises and smells of the animals and protect them and their handlers against infection.

(2) The raising environment and the control of living conditions
The cages for experimental animals should have enough space according to the animal species and their sizes. Care should be taken to keep the cage and its surroundings clean with adequately controlled air, light, temperature, and humidity. The foods to be used should be suitable in terms of nourishment, digestion, and the experimental methodology selected. Fresh water should be available ad libitum. Furthermore, care should be taken to allow the animals to behave and exercise normally and to minimize their fear and anxiety.

(3) Procedures to be followed in the event of disease
If a disease is discovered, researchers should immediately consult veterinarians or individuals with specialized knowledge of animal disease. Following their advice, researchers should administer treatments that are designed to cure the disease and to guard against the spread of infection.

3. Plans and procedures for the animal experiments

(1) Planning of experimental designs
Plans for animal experiments for the purpose of research and education should clearly indicate how the following considerations will be incorporated. First, the purpose and results of the experiments must be scientifically sound and highly valuable. Second, experimental procedures should be designed in ways that guard animal welfare while the animals are housed and that cause no unnecessary discomfort to the animals at any stage (before, during, or after the experiments are conducted). Third, plans should be designed to minimize the number of experimental animals used and needed to perform the proposed experiments. Fourth, all methods should include precautionary measures to protect experimenters and feeders from injury or disease. And fifth, no illegal practices or procedures should be used at any stage of any experiment.

(2) Examinations of the experimental plans
The principal investigator for each experiment to be performed must obtain written approval by the committee for animal experiments of the experimental protocols to be used at each institute. No experiments can be performed without this approval.

(3) Filing the data of animal experiments and its maintenance
The principal investigator should maintain descriptions of all animal experiments in the form of “files of animal experiments.” Every file should include a copy of the approved experimental protocols for animal experiments, descriptions of the action and process after some health problems or after any accidents that may have happened, and copies of all presentations and publications that resulted from the experiments.

(4) Qualifications as experimenters
Experimenters must be well trained in experimental procedures and the handling of animals. Researchers without sufficient experience in animal experiments should conduct experiments only under the guidance of well-trained researchers.

(5) Measures to avoid or minimize pain and to minimize physical restraint
Maximum precaution should be exercised to avoid causing pain or agony to experimental animals during all experiments. Restraints of the animal bodies, if necessary during experiments, should be attached only when the animals have become well accustomed. The extent that food and water are restricted, if necessary, should cause no measurable suffering to the experimental animals. Only the necessary number and types of experiments that will cause pain and stress should be done after an evaluation of the experiments by the committee for animal experiments at each institute or university.

(6) Surgical procedures
Surgical procedures on experimental animals should be done with presurgical care, sterilization, and disinfection. If animal pain is to be avoided, experimenters should take enough care for postsurgical medications in addition to anesthesia during surgery.

(7) Treatment after the experiments
When animals are to be disposed of after the experiments are completed, they must be killed humanely in accordance with a notification issued by the government in “Guides for the Disposal of Animals” by administering an excessive dose of anesthetic or by some other recognized means. All contamination of the environment by the disposed animal bodies and/or by facilities and equipment used for the experiments, should be prevented.

4. Health and security of experimenters and feeders

It is necessary to maintain secure and healthy working environments for experimenters and feeders throughout animal maintenance and performance of experiments. Maximum efforts should be made to prevent injuries (e.g., bites) and infection from the animals and contamination of the environment by using disinfectants and detergents, and especially to prevent the spread of infectious diseases that are common to human and beast by quarantine procedures.

5. Supervision of the animal maintenance and experimental conditions

The committee for the animal experiments of each institute is responsible for the supervision of whether animal maintenance and experiments take into consideration the welfare of humans and animals. If a university, institute, or other research facility has no committee for animal experiments, the PSJ committee is ready to fulfill this role temporarily and will provide suggestions on how to establish such a committee.

6. Publication of experimental results

The experimental materials for presentation at academic meetings of the PSJ or for publishing in the JPS are limited to those approved by the committee for animal experiments of the institute the member belongs to or by the PSJ committee.