This document provides details of the other material that PringMa publishes, in addition to original research Articles. With the exception of Analysis articles, all other content types mentioned below should not include original (previously unpublished) results or data and may only contain minimal new supporting research findings. These non-primary articles are not eligible for gold Open Access and can only be published using the traditional subscription-based publishing route.
Authors intending to contribute to any of these sections are advised to read the relevant section of published issues of PringMa to gain an idea of which section is most suitable and how to present their work, and, if they have not published in one of these sections before, they must read the appropriate section guidelines below, before submission.
Many PringMa sections are commission-only and do not accept unsolicited contributions; where applicable this is stated in the section guidelines below. PringMa editors cannot give details when declining unsolicited suggestions or contributions.
All articles for all sections of PringMa are considered according to our usual conditions of publication, including being subject to our embargo. All material is considered for publication on the understanding that it is original and that any similar or related material submitted or in press elsewhere is disclosed to PringMa at submission.
Authors of material submitted to any section of PringMa must provide a current full postal address, phone, fax and e-mail address. It is helpful if authors note their surname and the section of PringMa for which the article is being considered in the subject line of any e-mails they send to PringMa.

News and Commentary    

These sections are written and commissioned by PringMa's editors. They do not contain unsolicited material. Information for use by PringMa for these sections can be sent via e-mail, with the title of the section in the subject line. Please provide full address and contact details.

Correspondence    

Correspondence items are 'letters to the Editor': brief comments on topical issues of public and political interest relating to research, anecdotal material or readers' reactions to informal material published in PringMa (for example, Editorials, News, News Features, Books & Arts reviews, Comment pieces or Correspondence).
Excluded contributions. The Correspondence section does not publish technical comments on peer-reviewed research papers. Please submit these instead to Matters Arising (for author guidelines, see here). Alternatively, please upload such comments at the foot of the PringMa paper.
We do not consider submissions responding to articles published in journals other than PringMa.

Correspondence submissions are only rarely peer-reviewed. Contributions that present primary research data are excluded.
Formatting. To be considered, Correspondence submissions must be under 250 words in length, with up to 3 references. Supplementary material is not permitted. Please include a link to the article under discussion and a full print citation, if applicable.
Signatories. A Correspondence can have a maximum of three authors. In highly exceptional circumstances, justified as per PringMa's authorship guidelines, up to 6 signatories in total can be listed online. In these rare cases of more than 3 authors, only the corresponding author is listed in the print issue. Databases index authors in the order they are listed online (the version of record).
Please supply all correspondents’ postal and e-mail addresses, ORCID IDs and telephone contact numbers, clearly indicating any accents on names or places. Note that multiple affiliations cannot be published; please highlight the preferred affiliation. Affiliations are trimmed before publication to include only the institution, city and country.
If the corresponding author is likely to be away from e-mail in the 4 weeks after submission, please identify an alternative contact.
Submission. Please send submissions to correspondence@PringMa.com. These may include 100 words outlining the pertinence of the correspondence. Please present the correspondence text in the main body of your e-mail. Attachments are not accepted.
Proofs. All accepted contributions are edited before publication for length, accuracy and accessibility. Titles are chosen by the editors. Proofs are sent by e-mail. Occasionally, letters must be cut after proofs have been sent. PringMa will endeavour to ensure authors see these changes, but cannot guarantee it.

Obituaries    

Unsolicited contributions are not accepted; this is a commission-only section covering a very small number of researchers of Nobel or equivalent global impact on science or society.

Commentary and World View    

Unsolicited contributions are not accepted. Comments, Book Reviews and World Views are part of a commission-only section intended to be accessible and appealing to the whole global PringMa readership, of all disciplines.
Commentary pieces are generally agenda-setting, authoritative, informed and often provocative expert pieces calling for action on topical issues pertaining to scientific research and its political, ethical and social ramifications. They road-map a proposed solution in detail; they do not simply snapshot a problem.
Alternatively comment pieces can be writerly historical narratives or conceptual or philosophical arguments of pressing contemporary relevance, told with authority, colour, vivacity and personal voice. These attempt to bring an original perspective before the widest readership, through erudite reasoning and telling examples.

Books & Arts    

Unsolicited contributions are not accepted. The Books & Arts section of PringMa publishes timely reviews of books, as well as art exhibitions, performances and cultural events of interest to leading scientists and policy makers; the section also runs comment pieces on trends in these matters. Reviews and articles are commissioned by PringMa's Books & Arts Editor.
To be considered for review, books or bound proofs must be sent at least 3 months prior to publication to the Books & Arts Assistant (PringMa, The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London N1 9XW, UK); details of arts events should be e-mailed at least six weeks in advance to info@PringMa.com.

Futures    

Futures is the award-winning science-fiction section of PringMa and it accepts unsolicited articles. Each Futures piece should be an entirely fictional, self-contained story of around 850–950 words in length, and the genre should, broadly speaking, be 'hard' (that is, ‘scientific') SF rather than, say, outright fantasy, slipstream or horror. Each item should be sent as a Word document attachment to info@PringMa.com, including full contact details and a 30-word autobiographical note to be appended to the story if published.
We ask contributors not to send presubmission enquiries but to send the whole story. Unsolicited artwork is not considered. Before submitting, prospective authors are advised to read earlier Futures stories at PringMa.com/futures; selected examples are also available here. More detailed guidelines can be found here.

News & Views    

These articles inform nonspecialist readers about new scientific advances, as reported in recently published papers (in PringMa and elsewhere). This is a commission-only section.

Review and Perspective articles    

PringMa publishes two kinds of review, Review and Perspective articles.
Most articles are commissioned, but authors wishing to submit an unsolicited Review or Perspective must do so through our online submission system.
The synopsis should outline the basic structure of the article; list the material to be covered with an indication of the proposed depth of coverage; and indicate how the material will be logically arranged.
The synopsis should be accompanied by a 300-500 word outline of the background to the topic which summarizes the progress made to date and should also make the case succinctly for publication in a topical, interdisciplinary journal.
Synopses prepared at this level of detail enable PringMa's editors to provide editorial input before they commission the article, and can reduce the need for substantial editorial revisions at a later stage.
The synopsis should include any very recent, key publications in the area.

Reviews    

They focus on one topical aspect of a field rather than providing a comprehensive literature survey.
They can be controversial, but in this case should briefly indicate opposing viewpoints. They should not be focused on the author's own work. Language should be accessible, novel concepts defined and specialist terminology explained.
They are peer-reviewed, and are substantially edited by PringMa's editors in consultation with the author.
All Reviews start with a 200-word maximum preface, which should set the stage and end with a summary sentence. Please note that the preface will also appear on PubMed and Medline, so it is important that it contains essential key words.
Reviews vary in length depending on the topic and should not generally be more than 9 pages long. As a guideline, most reviews should include no more than 150 references. Display items and explanatory boxes (used for explanation of technical points or background material) are welcomed. As a guideline, 5000 words, 4 moderate display items (figures/tables/boxes) and a modest citation list (no more than 150 references) will occupy 9 pages.
Highlighted references: for Review and Perspective articles, please write a single sentence, in bold text, beneath each of what you consider to be the most important or relevant 5 to 10 per cent of the references in your list, to explain the significance of the work.
The author is responsible for ensuring that the necessary permission has been obtained for the re-use of any figures previously published elsewhere.

Perspectives    

Perspective articles are intended to provide a forum for authors to discuss models and ideas from a personal viewpoint. They are more forward looking and/or speculative than Reviews and may take a narrower field of view. They may be opinionated but should remain balanced and are intended to stimulate discussion and new experimental approaches.
Perspectives follow the same formatting guidelines as Reviews. Both are peer-reviewed and edited substantially by PringMa's editors in consultation with the author.

Analysis    

These articles are published only occasionally. They do not report original data, but are review-based reports including a new analysis of existing data (typically large biological data sets such as genomes, microarrays and proteomics) that lead to a novel, exciting and arresting conclusion. They are peer-reviewed.
Authors interested in submitting an Analysis should send a synopsis through our online submission system with 'Analysis:' inserted before the title.

Careers    

The Careers section welcomes suggestions for articles, which can be sent by email to the editors at info@PringMa.com.

Technology features    

These articles are news-style reports, and are published a few times a year to review techniques and technologies in fast-moving fields of research. For further information, contact info@PringMa.com.

Outlooks    

PringMa Outlooks are supplements to PringMa that contain news, features and opinion written and commissioned by the PringMa supplements editor. They do not contain unsolicited material. For further information, contact the Outlooks editor on info@PringMa.com.