Instructions to Authors

How We Publish
- Scope of the Journal
- Submitting to the Journal
Manuscript Submission Guide
- Article types
Manuscript preparation instructions
Peer Review Process
- Screening for misconduct
- Appeals and complaints
Publication and Research Ethics
Publishing Agreements and Charges
- Publishing agreements
- Charges
After Publication
Contact Us

How We Publish

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (ET&C) is a peer-reviewed journal publishing 12 issues per year online.

Once a paper is accepted and the publishing agreement is signed, the Journal will publish the Accepted Manuscript version of the paper (before copyediting and review of the final proof) within one week on the Advance Articles page. This will be replaced on the Advance Articles page with the Version of Record of the paper (after copyediting and proof review process) when it is available. The Version of Record will be removed from the Advance Articles page when it is published into an issue. Substantial changes to the published Accepted Manuscript may require a correction notice. The Version of Record requires a correction notice for any changes after it is published, even if it is not yet placed in an issue. See the definitions of the Version of Record and other versions of the paper for more details.

Scope of the Journal

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (ET&C) publishes original experimental or theoretical work that synthesizes knowledge, data, and evidence that predicts, measures, and assesses the fate and effects of chemical concentration or non-chemical stressors on organisms or to ecosystems in an ecotoxicological context. Papers published in ET&C must further the scientific knowledge in aquatic, terrestrial, plant or environmental toxicology, environmental chemistry, or hazard or risk assessment.

Full aims and scope information for the journal are available here.

Submitting to the Journal

We appreciate your interest in submitting your manuscript to ET&C and look forward to the opportunity to consider it. ET&C is the leading journal in ecotoxicology and offers authoritative insights and research for an active scientific community. Learn more about the benefits of publishing in the Journal here.

ET&C is an official publication of Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). To publish the Journal, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) partners with Oxford University Press (OUP), a not-for-profit publisher and a department of the University of Oxford. Learn more about how publishing with OUP reinvests in the scholarly community on the OUP Authoring page.

After preparing your manuscript according to the guidance in the Manuscript preparation section, you can submit your work through the Journal’s online submission site. If you have not used our submission site before, you will need to create an account. Additional help and instructions are available on the submissions site as you go through the submission process. More information is available on the ScholarOne Manuscripts FAQ and help page. Please contact us with any questions about submitting your manuscript.

Manuscript Submission Guide

Article types

This journal publishes several different article types:

Original Article—maximum word count: 8,000

Original Articles report research on topics of scientific significance and environmental importance showing new experimental data, new interpretations of existing data, or new theoretical analyses of environmental phenomena. Submissions should not be submitted elsewhere, other than as an abstract or an oral or poster presentation.

In accordance with the journal’s double-anonymous peer review policy, please remove all identifying information from your manuscript. Place all identifying details, author information, and back matter sections within the separate title page.

Each piece should include:

Unstructured Abstract—maximum word count: 300
Keywords—minimum of 3 and maximum of 5
May include tables and figures—maximum of 6 figures and 6 tables, or 12 total
References—maximum of 40
Must include the following back matter sections of information (on the title page):
- Data availability statement: must clarify whether data, associated metadata, and calculation tools are available through an online repository or supplemental files, available from the authors or a third party, or unavailable (with reasoning). Note that all data (including data that are not publicly available) must be made available to the editor and reviewers during the review process, if requested, but will be kept confidential and anonymous. Failure to provide data as requested may be grounds for rejection.
- Author contributions: must include a CRediT contribution statement
- Funding: must acknowledge all funding sources supporting the work.
- Conflicts of interest: must include all potential sources of bias, including affiliations, relationship with funding sources, and any other financial or management relationships that may constitute conflicts of interest.
- Acknowledgments: must acknowledge the assistance of individuals or organizations not identified among the list of authors.
- Any other disclaimer statements

Each submission must contain the following sections and use these terms as the first level section headers: Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, and Discussion (Results and Discussion may be combined).

Critical Review—maximum word count: 15,000

Critical Reviews should assess areas of environmental science and technology research literature of current importance in the field. Submissions should increase readers’ knowledge through perceptive comparisons, thorough literature coverage, and a clear identification of research needs.

Each piece should include:

Unstructured Abstract—maximum word count: 300
Keywords—minimum of 3 and maximum of 5
May include tables and figures—maximum of 6 figures and 6 tables, or 12 total
References—maximum of 60
Must include the following back matter sections of information (on the title page):
- Data availability statement: must clarify whether data, associated metadata, and calculation tools are available through an online repository or supplemental files, available from the authors or a third party, or unavailable (with reasoning). Note that all data (including data that are not publicly available) must be made available to the editor and reviewers during the review process, if requested, but will be kept confidential and anonymous. Failure to provide data as requested may be grounds for rejection.
- Author contributions: must include a CRediT contribution statement
- Funding: must acknowledge all funding sources supporting the work.
- Conflicts of interest: must include all potential sources of bias, including affiliations, relationship with funding sources, and any other financial or management relationships that may constitute conflicts of interest.
- Acknowledgments: must acknowledge the assistance of individuals or organizations not identified among the list of authors.
- Any other disclaimer statements

Critical Perspective—maximum word count: 10,000

Critical Perspectives are personal reviews assessing a controversial topic of interest in environmental toxicology and chemistry. Manuscripts should identify current progress being made or research needed to advance the field.

Each piece should include:

Unstructured Abstract—maximum word count: 300
Keywords—minimum of 3 and maximum of 5
May include tables and figures—maximum of 6 figures and 6 tables, or 12 total
References—maximum of 40
Must include the following back matter sections of information (on the title page):
- Data availability statement: must clarify whether data, associated metadata, and calculation tools are available through an online repository or supplemental files, available from the authors or a third party, or unavailable (with reasoning). Note that all data (including data that are not publicly available) must be made available to the editor and reviewers during the review process, if requested, but will be kept confidential and anonymous. Failure to provide data as requested may be grounds for rejection.
- Author contributions: must include a CRediT contribution statement
- Funding: must acknowledge all funding sources supporting the work.
- Conflicts of interest: must include all potential sources of bias, including affiliations, relationship with funding sources, and any other financial or management relationships that may constitute conflicts of interest.
- Acknowledgments: must acknowledge the assistance of individuals or organizations not identified among the list of authors.
- Any other disclaimer statements

Pathways and Predictions—maximum word count: 6,600-10,000

Pathways and Predictions are extensive syntheses of knowledge, data, and evidence that present the scientific foundations for generalizable, and extensible, models or principles useful for predicting future behaviors of chemical contaminants, organisms, or ecosystems in an ecotoxicological context. They may be based on extant literature and/or novel experimentation. However, they are distinguished from other types of manuscripts in the Journal in that they explicitly present the scientific foundations for a prediction model (conceptual or mathematical/computational) that can be applied beyond the bounds of a particular site, chemical, species, or exposure scenario on which they were developed or tested and discuss the intended and/or potential applications. See an example of this article type here.

The following are three sub-types of Pathways and Predictions for authors to select:

Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) reports are manuscripts for which an overview article in the journal is accompanied by supporting content assembled in the open-source AOP-Wiki (aopwiki.org) in accordance with guidance from the OECD Adverse Outcome Pathway Development Programme. AOP reports can provide an overview of individual AOPs, focus on specific AOP components (e.g., selected key event relationships), or discuss small AOP networks. AOP reports have a special set of author guidelines, a fully open review process, and are limited to <10,000 words.
Predictive Approach Summary (PAS) are a concise, front-matter, overview of a predictive approach for which the technical details and supporting evidence are detailed in another publicly accessible source (e.g., model documentation, Github, online database, systematic review documents). These articles should be <6600 words and consist of 1) an introduction/background (300 words) detailing the history and relevance of the work; 2) a brief description of associated data where appropriate; 3) a summary of scientific evidence supporting the predictive model or principle(s) which should include identification of critical gaps, uncertainties, or missing links; 4) potential applications; and 5) details on where to access the more extensive technical details or data relevant to the summary.
Predictive Approach Extended (PAE) are a more extended description of a predictive approach for which reporting of novel research results, not available elsewhere represent a significant component of establishing the approach and/or its potential utility. While focused on generalizable and extensible models or predictions, these articles follow the standard organization guidelines for Original Articles in terms of sections and word length (8,000 words).

Each piece should include:

Unstructured Abstract—maximum word count: 300
Keywords—minimum of 3 and maximum of 5
May include tables and figures—maximum of 6 figures and 6 tables, or 12 total
References—maximum of 40
Must include the following back matter sections of information (on the title page):
- Data availability statement: must clarify whether data, associated metadata, and calculation tools are available through an online repository or supplemental files, available from the authors or a third party, or unavailable (with reasoning). Note that all data (including data that are not publicly available) must be made available to the editor and reviewers during the review process, if requested, but will be kept confidential and anonymous. Failure to provide data as requested may be grounds for rejection.
- Author contributions: must include a CRediT contribution statement
- Funding: must acknowledge all funding sources supporting the work.
- Conflicts of interest: must include all potential sources of bias, including affiliations, relationship with funding sources, and any other financial or management relationships that may constitute conflicts of interest.
- Acknowledgments: must acknowledge the assistance of individuals or organizations not identified among the list of authors.
- Any other disclaimer statements

Focus—maximum word count: 6,600

Focus articles are part of a regular series of timely articles intended to sharpen our understanding of current and emerging topics of interest to the scientific community at large. Focus articles should be written in a succinct, magazine style. We encourage authors to limit the reference list to only the most critical references, to include sidebar material or text boxes that highlight important aspects of your paper, and to use color figures, tables, and/or photos. See an example of this article type here.

Each piece should include:

No abstract or keywords required
May include tables and figures—maximum of 6 figures and 6 tables, or 12 total
References—maximum of 10
Must include the following back matter sections of information (on the title page):
- Data availability statement: must clarify whether data, associated metadata, and calculation tools are available through an online repository or supplemental files, available from the authors or a third party, or unavailable (with reasoning). Note that all data (including data that are not publicly available) must be made available to the editor and reviewers during the review process, if requested, but will be kept confidential and anonymous. Failure to provide data as requested may be grounds for rejection.
- Author contributions: must include a CRediT contribution statement
- Funding: must acknowledge all funding sources supporting the work.
- Conflicts of interest: must include all potential sources of bias, including affiliations, relationship with funding sources, and any other financial or management relationships that may constitute conflicts of interest.
- Acknowledgments: must acknowledge the assistance of individuals or organizations not identified among the list of authors.
- Any other disclaimer statements

Perspectives—maximum word count: 4,000

Perspectives are part of a regular series designed to discuss and evaluate potentially competing viewpoints and research findings on current environmental issues. Two or three authors will separately present their thoughts and opinions on an issue of current importance in the scientific community. We prefer that the three sectors of the SETAC tripartite (academia, government, business) are represented in each Perspective, but this is not required. See an example of this article type here.

Each piece should include:

No abstract or keywords required
May include tables and figures—maximum of 6 figures and 6 tables, or 12 total
References—maximum of 40
Must include the following back matter sections of information (on the title page):
- Data availability statement: must clarify whether data, associated metadata, and calculation tools are available through an online repository or supplemental files, available from the authors or a third party, or unavailable (with reasoning). Note that all data (including data that are not publicly available) must be made available to the editor and reviewers during the review process, if requested, but will be kept confidential and anonymous. Failure to provide data as requested may be grounds for rejection.
- Author contributions: must include a CRediT contribution statement
- Funding: must acknowledge all funding sources supporting the work.
- Conflicts of interest: must include all potential sources of bias, including affiliations, relationship with funding sources, and any other financial or management relationships that may constitute conflicts of interest.
- Acknowledgments: must acknowledge the assistance of individuals or organizations not identified among the list of authors.
- Any other disclaimer statements

Brief Communication—maximum word count: 4,400

Brief Communications should present concise statements representing either a preliminary report or a complete accounting of a significant research contribution. Brief methods papers will be accepted in this category.

Each piece should include:

Unstructured Abstract—maximum word count: 300
Keywords—minimum of 3 and maximum of 5
May include tables and figures—maximum of 6 figures and 6 tables, or 12 total
References—maximum of 40
Must include the following back matter sections of information (on the title page):
- Data availability statement: must clarify whether data, associated metadata, and calculation tools are available through an online repository or supplemental files, available from the authors or a third party, or unavailable (with reasoning). Note that all data (including data that are not publicly available) must be made available to the editor and reviewers during the review process, if requested, but will be kept confidential and anonymous. Failure to provide data as requested may be grounds for rejection.
- Author contributions: must include a CRediT contribution statement
- Funding: must acknowledge all funding sources supporting the work.
- Conflicts of interest: must include all potential sources of bias, including affiliations, relationship with funding sources, and any other financial or management relationships that may constitute conflicts of interest.
- Acknowledgments: must acknowledge the assistance of individuals or organizations not identified among the list of authors.
- Any other disclaimer statements

Points of Reference—maximum word count: 1,000

Points of Reference are part of a regular series intended to address an emerging or controversial topic of interest to the scientific community at large; providing authors with a venue to express their opinions of a scientific nature. These brief articles may stimulate additional research and greater discussion. These are not Letters to the Editor that comment on a previously published Journal article. Points of Reference articles are generally not peer reviewed but do require editor approval. See an example of this article type here.

Each piece should include:

No abstract or keywords required
May include one table or figure
References—maximum of 10
Must include the following back matter sections of information (on the title page):
- Author contributions: must include a CRediT contribution statement
- Any other disclaimer statements

Letter to the Editor and Response to Letter to the Editor—maximum word count: 2,200

The Journal welcomes Letters to the Editor from readers offering relevant comments and providing objective and scholarly criticism of recently published articles in the Journal. Contributions should be constructive, professional, and polite. The Journal will only consider submissions pertaining to papers published in the past two years. After the initial Letter to the Editor and Response to Letter to the Editor, no further submissions on the same topic will be considered.

At the discretion of the editors, Letters to the Editor being considered for publication may be sent to the authors of the original article to give them the opportunity to submit a Response to Letter to the Editor. If an author does not submit a Response to Letter to the Editor, the Journal may publish a statement indicating this to readers. To enable readers to evaluate the arguments presented, initial Letters to the Editor and Responses to Letters to the Editor are linked to the original article, are typically published online simultaneously, and may be published together in the same issue.

Submitted Letters to the Editor will undergo an initial assessment by the editors, at which point they may be rejected, sent for revision, or accepted. At the discretion of the editors, Letters to the Editor may be sent for peer review or may be considered without external peer review. Letters to the Editor on the same topic or in response to the same article may be grouped, sent to the corresponding author of the original article for reply, and published at the same time. Authors of Letters to the Editor and Responses to Letters to the Editor may be asked to complete authorship forms, disclose conflicts of interest, and sign publishing agreements (if accepted), as with any manuscript submitted or published in the Journal. The Journal may request revisions to Letters to the Editor and Responses to Letters to the Editor for content, length, clarity, grammar, style, and format.

Each piece should include:

No abstract or keywords required
May include one table or figure
References—maximum of 10
May include the following back matter sections of information (on the title page):
- Acknowledgments: may acknowledge the assistance of individuals or organizations not identified among the list of authors.
- Author contributions: may include a CRediT contribution statement
- Conflicts of interest: must include all potential sources of bias, including affiliations, relationship with funding sources, and any other financial or management relationships that may constitute conflicts of interest.
- Funding: must acknowledge all funding sources supporting the work.
- Data availability statement: may clarify whether data, associated metadata, and calculation tools are available through an online repository or supplemental files, available from the authors or a third party, or unavailable (with reasoning). Note that all data (including data that are not publicly available) must be made available to the editor and reviewers during the review process, if requested, but will be kept confidential and anonymous. Failure to provide data as requested may be grounds for rejection.
- Any other disclaimer statements

Special Series

Special series group together papers resulting from a workshop or papers on a related topic. To propose a special series, please contact the editorial office. For more information, consult the guidelines for proposing a special series.

Manuscript preparation instructions

General guidelines on preparing a manuscript for publication can be found on OUP’s Preparing and submitting a manuscript page. Specific instructions for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry can be found below.

Pre-submission language editing

Authors may wish to use a language-editing service before submitting to ensure that editors and reviewers understand the manuscript. Our publisher, Oxford University Press, partners with Enago, a leading provider of author services. Prospective authors are entitled to a discount of 30% for editing services at Enago, through the OUP-Enago partner page.

Enago is an independent service provider, who will handle all aspects of this service, including payment. Authors are under no obligation to take up this offer. Language editing is optional and does not guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted. Edited manuscripts will undergo the regular review process of the Journal.

Cover letter

Each manuscript must be accompanied with a cover letter describing how the work contributes to the mission and scope of the Journal. This same brief statement on how the manuscript fits with the Journal’s mission is also required as part of the online submission process.

This letter should also disclose any conflicts of interest and describe other manuscripts the authors have published or intend to publish on closely related work, and the relationship of the current work to these other manuscripts.

Title page

To facilitate double-anonymous peer review, the title page should be submitted separately from the rest of the manuscript. The title page is the only document that should reveal the identity of the authors; please remove all identifying information from the manuscript. 

The full title page should include:

The title of the paper avoiding abbreviations
All full author names and affiliation addresses
- Full affiliation address elements include: Division/Department (if applicable), University/Institution/Organization Name, City, and Country
Full name and email address of one corresponding author
Statements relating to ethical or integrity policies, which may include any of the following:
- Data availability statement: must clarify whether data, associated metadata, and calculation tools are available through an online repository or supplemental files, available from the authors or a third party, or unavailable (with reasoning). Note that all data (including data that are not publicly available) must be made available to the editor and reviewers during the review process, if requested, but will be kept confidential and anonymous. Failure to provide data as requested may be grounds for rejection.
- Author contributions: must include a CRediT contribution statement
- Funding: must acknowledge all funding sources supporting the work.
- Conflicts of interest: must include all potential sources of bias, including affiliations, relationship with funding sources, and any other financial or management relationships that may constitute conflicts of interest.
- Acknowledgments: must acknowledge the assistance of individuals or organizations not identified among the list of authors.
- Ethical approval statement (if applicable)
- Permission to reproduce material from other sources (if applicable)

Native language author names

If the paper is published, the author name(s) will be displayed online in Latin-alphabet characters as provided to us on the manuscript. If authors wish for an alternative name also to be displayed (for instance, the non-Anglicized Chinese-character version of an author name, or an alternate name by which the author is commonly known) please include that name in parentheses, immediately after the Latin-character name in the manuscript. Note that alternatives names will be presented as supplied on our website and in the article PDF but may not be presented in other locations where the published article appears, such as Pubmed.

Acknowledgments

Authors of all article types (except for Points of Reference, Letters to the Editor, and Responses to Letters to the Editor) are required to submit an “Acknowledgments” section, which should be set as a single paragraph, clearly marked with a separate heading, and included on the title page.

Author names within this section should be given as closed initials with dots (C.J.D.). Do not include study funding or conflict of interest/disclosure information within this section, as that information should instead be included within the Funding or Conflicts of interest sections.

Acknowledgments may consist of: a list of participants, investigators, or study groups within a group study; mention of previous presentations of the material; preprint information; additional contributions or thanks; contributions to the paper that do not qualify for authorship (see Authorship section for additional detail); deceased author details; and/or miscellaneous acknowledgments.

Acknowledgments can include any equal contribution information for the authors and/or thanks to individuals for assistance with the work. Please list in the following order: any thanks to colleagues who assisted in the study; any special contribution circumstances, such as “The authors contributed equally to the study.”; and then any thanks for personal assistance, such as manuscript preparation.

Funding

Authors of all article types are required to submit a “Funding” section that is clearly marked with a separate heading and included on the title page.

Authors must fully declare all funding information relevant to the study, including specific grant numbers. If the funder is listed in the Crossref Open Funder Registry, the funder name should be included exactly as it appears within that database. Where grants were received by specific members of the author group, the authors should be identified using closed initials with dots (C.J.D.). If no funding was received for the study, the authors should still include the section and state “None declared.”

Conflicts of interest

Authors of all article types are required to disclose any conflicts of interest, which should be clearly marked with a separate “Conflicts of interest” heading and included on the title page. For more information, please refer to OUP’s definition of conflict of interest and the Authors’ section of the potential conflicts of interest section.

Any listed authors in this section should be identified using closed initials with dots (C.J.D.). If there are no conflicts of interest to disclose, the authors should still include the section and state “None declared.”

Text abstracts

Text abstracts must be written in English and should be designed to summarise the essential features of the paper in a logical and concise sequence. The abstract should be included within the main manuscript file. Abstracts should be unstructured, have a maximum length of 300 words, should briefly outline the findings that are being presented, and must not contain reference citations or abbreviations.

Abstracts are required for all article types except for Focus articles, Perspectives, Points of Reference, Letters to the Editor, and Responses to Letters to the Editor.

Formatting Requirements

Authors may submit new manuscripts without needing to fully format according to APA style. If the manuscript is returned with a decision for revisions, authors must submit the revised manuscript fully formatted according to journal style specifications.

Style

The journal follows APA style with an author-date citation system. More information on the journal style and reference examples are available here.

Please refer to these style requirements when preparing the manuscript. US spelling should be used throughout, except in quotations and in references.

Abbreviations

Please define nonstandard abbreviations at the first occurrence.

References

Authors may format references in any readable style at submission, but authors will be required to format their references in APA style at revision. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of reference information and may be queried to provide any missing reference elements during proofing. Style files for the APA reference manager are available here.

Tables

Authors must number all tables (e.g., table 1, table 2, table 3) and reference them within the text in chronological order. Tables should be supplied in an editable format (such as Microsoft Word), and not embedded as an image file. Authors must place all tables at the end of the main text. Avoid excessive formatting such as the use of color and shading (which are not replicated in the published web version) and the use of tabbed spacing to indicate alignment. Ensure that any formatting or superscript symbols such as asterisks are explained in the table footnote. Provide units in column or row headers, rather than in the table body.

Figures

Figures should be submitted in one of the following file formats: .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .tiff, .pdf, or .eps. Images prepared as .bmp, .gif, or .doc/.docx files will not be accepted. Authors must include figure titles, legends, and captions within the manuscript file; they should not be included in the image files.

Figure files should be named simply to match their citation (e.g., fig1.tiff, fig2.eps). Authors must submit each figure as a single individual image file. Submit all panels of a multi-panel figure as one single figure file. Each panel should be labelled with a single capital letter (e.g., A, B, C, D – no brackets or periods) in the upper-left corner of each panel. Please also ensure that authors have permission to re-use or adapt any third-party image materials.

Images of maps, charts, graphs, shapes, and diagrams are best rendered digitally as geometric forms called vector graphics. Vector images use mathematical relationships between points and the lines connecting them to describe an image. Because these file types do not use pixels, resolution does not apply to vector images. Save vector images as .eps, .or .pdf files and embed the fonts.

Images of photographs, paintings, or scans can be provided as raster images. Raster images should be saved as uncompressed .tiff files to avoid quality loss; .jpg/.png file formats are acceptable for raster images but may result in a lower resolution. The resolution of raster files is measured by the number of dots or pixels in a given area, referred to as “dpi” or “ppi.”

Minimum resolution required for color half-tones: 300dpi
Minimum resolution for grayscale half-tones: 600dpi
Minimum resolution for combination half-tones and line art: 600-900dpi
Minimum resolution for monochrome line art (complex or finely drawn): 1200dpi

Please also consider accessibility when designing each figure, so that all images can be easily understood by color-blind and visually-impaired readers. Guidelines for preparing different image-types, including recommendations for color palettes, color contrast, image layout, and text accessibility.

Figure accessibility and alt text

Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work. 

Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs.

Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article.

Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text.

Supplementary material

Authors must submit supplementary material at the same time as the main manuscript. Supplementary material should enhance the written article without being necessary to understand it and must be cited in the text of the main manuscript.

Supplementary materials must be cited in the text of the main manuscript.
Supplementary material will be available online only and will not be copyedited or typeset.
Style and formatting of supplementary material should be consistent with that of the manuscript.
Supplementary material should be formatted to function on any internet browser.
Supplementary items should be submitted as clearly-labeled files that are separate from the main article file(s).
Supplementary material may be hosted on OUP’s website or at one of our preferred partner sites, such as Dryad. Material hosted elsewhere (e.g. the author’s personal or institutional website, Google Docs, YouTube) is not allowed as links may expire.

Promotional options for your work

All promotional options must be included with the original submission. Not all materials will be peer reviewed, please note the specifics in each type below

Foreign language abstracts (optional)

For work from other non-English speaking countries, a foreign-language abstract is encouraged and welcome. It is considered academic content and is presented as part of the article in the HTML and PDF, in addition to the traditional English language abstract. The translated abstract should be compiled by the author and placed after the English abstract in the initial submission; it will be published as part of the article both online and within the PDF. Please note that authors are solely responsible for assuring the accuracy of the translated text.

Featured images (optional)

Authors of all article types are encouraged to submit a featured image, also known as a teaser image or TOC image, as part of the article. The featured image may be a figure selected from the article or an image not included in the article itself. It is presented under the article title in the online Table of Contents (or Advance Access listing) to entice the reader to click through to the article. The featured image can be submitted as a separate file, selecting the appropriate file-type designation in the journal’s online submission system. The file should be clearly named, e.g. featured_image.tiff. See this page for guidance on appropriate file format and resolution for graphics. The author should indicate in the submission system which image (if any) should be presented as the featured image for their article. By default, any submitted graphical abstract will automatically be used as the featured image for the piece (unless an alternate preferred featured image has been indicated.

Teaser text (optional)

Authors of all article types are encouraged to submit teaser text as part of the article, in addition to the main text abstract. The teaser text should be a brief promotional text intended to entice the reader to click through to the article and will be published as part of the article online. The teaser text should be submitted for peer review as part of the main manuscript file, under the heading ‘Teaser text’, before the article’s main text. The teaser text should be no longer than 200 words. As with a main abstract, avoid citations and define any abbreviations.

Open Science badges (optional)

ET&C supports Open Science Badges to acknowledge open science practices. These badges are offered as incentives to share data and materials and preregister research, and signal to the reader that the content has been made available in a persistent location. These badges will feature in the published article. When submitting a manuscript, authors should indicate the desired badge, and include a completed Open Science Badge application form and eligibility will be confirmed upon acceptance.

The two available badges are as follows:

Open Materials Badge: This will be granted to authors who deposit research materials needed to reproduce the reported procedure and analysis in an Open Access repository; for example, the Open Science Framework (for other repositories please consult the Registry of Research Data Repositories). Open materials criteria can be found here, and a link should be given in the submitted paper with a link to the deposited materials.
Open Data Badge: This will be awarded to authors who deposit their data in an Open Access repository (either an entire dataset or part of it, or a transformed dataset, as long as an independent researcher can reproduce the reported results). Criteria for Open Data Badges can be found here, and a link to the deposited data should be included in the paper.

Please note that for both badges, manuscripts should contain a link to data, materials, or preregistered research in the Open Science Framework or other recognized repository.

Peer Review Process

The Journal uses the ANSI/NISO Standard Terminology for Peer Review. If you would like further description of the peer review terms used here, please refer to the most recent standard definitions. If further clarification is needed, please contact the editorial office.

Peer review summary:

Identity transparency: double anonymized
Reviewer interacts with: editor
Review information published: editor identities
Post publication commenting: none

The Journal operates double-anonymized peer review, meaning that the identity of the authors is hidden from reviewers, and the reviewers’ identities are hidden from the authors. The editors know the identity of both the reviewers and the authors.

Once a submitted manuscript passes initial assessment by the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, it will then be passed to a handling editor, who will oversee peer review and make the final decision.

Editors and reviewers must not handle manuscripts if they have a conflict of interest with an author or the content. Editors make every effort to avoid potential conflicts of interest in the assignment of other editors and peer reviewers. For more information, please see the section on Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. During the peer review phase, a manuscript is typically sent to 2 reviewers.

Authors are required to suggest three potential reviewers at submission. However, there is no guarantee the suggested reviewers will be selected by the Journal. Recommended reviewers should be experts in their field and able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript without financial or interpersonal conflicts of interest with any authors. We encourage authors to consider reviewers from a diverse range of backgrounds, including those from under-represented communities and therefore request that authors identify at least one female referee and no more than one referee from North America. Suggested reviewers should not be close colleagues or project partners.

At the time of submission, authors may request that specific individuals not be used as reviewers of a manuscript. Please do so in the cover letter, along with a brief explanation as to why they should be excluded. However, there is no guarantee these individuals will be excluded by the Journal. If a manuscript is accepted for publication, the reviewer comments will not be published alongside the paper.

For full details about the peer review process, see Fair editing and peer review or OUP author information.

Screening for misconduct

Manuscripts will be screened using iThenticate to help detect publication misconduct including plagiarism and redundant publication.

Identity/activity detection

The Journal uses ScholarOne’s Unusual Activity Detection tool to build confidence in the identity of authors and reviewers.

Appeals and complaints

Authors may appeal an editorial decision. To do so, please contact the editorial office, providing as much specific detail as possible about why the original decision should be reconsidered. Every appeal will receive a response within a reasonable timeframe. Please do not resubmit the manuscript in the interim.

To register a complaint regarding non-editorial decisions, the Journal’s policies and procedures, editors, or staff, please contact us. Complaints will be taken seriously and will be carried forward following COPE guidelines and processes and/or sanctions will be enacted if deemed appropriate.

Publication and Research Ethics

Authorship

Authorship is limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the design and execution of the work described. Any contributors whose participation does not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged but not listed as an author. The Journal will contact all listed authors at the point of submission to confirm their role. For a detailed definition of authorship, please see the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) definitions of authors and contributors.

The Journal does not allow ghost authorship, where an unnamed author prepares the article with no credit, or guest/gift authorship, where an author who made little or no contribution is listed as an author. The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance on investigating and resolving these cases. For more information, please see the OUP Publication Ethics page.

Natural language processing tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) do not qualify as authors, and the Journal will screen for them in author lists. The use of AI (for example, to help generate content, write code, or process data) should be disclosed both in cover letters to editors and in the Methods or Acknowledgements section of manuscripts. Please see the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI for more details.

After manuscript submission, no authorship changes (including the authorship list, author order, and who is designated as the corresponding author) should be made without the approval of the editor. All co-authors must agree on the change(s), and neither the Journal nor the publisher mediates such disputes. If individuals cannot agree on the authorship of a submitted manuscript, contact the editorial office. The dispute must be resolved among the individuals and their institution(s) before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. If an authorship dispute or change arises after a paper is accepted, contact OUP’s Author Support team. COPE provides guidance for authors on resolving authorship disputes.

If authors intend to use Read and Publish funding to publish a manuscript under an open access license, note that changing the corresponding author to access those funds is not permissible. For more information on Read and Publish funding, see the open access charges section.

ORCID iD

Authors are encouraged to provide their ORCID iDs (Open Researcher and Contributor IDs) at submission and take advantage of the benefits of participating in ORCID. If authors do not already have an ORCID iD, they can register for free via the ORCID website.

As ORCID identifiers are collected, they are included in papers and displayed online, both in the HTML and PDF versions of the publication, in compliance with recommended practice issued by ORCID. ORCID functionality online allows users to link to the ORCID website to view an author’s profile and list of publications. ORCID iDs are displayed on web pages and are sent downstream to third parties in data feeds, where supported.

If authors have registered with ORCID, they can associate their ORCID iD with their submission system account by going to their account details, entering their ORCID iD, and validating their details. Learn more about ORCID and how to link it to an author account.

CRediT

The Journal requires the use of the contributor roles taxonomy (CRediT), which allows authors to describe the contributor roles in a standardized, transparent, and accurate way. Authors must choose from the contributor roles outlined on the CRediT website and supply this information upon submission on the title page and within the submission system. Authors may choose multiple contributor roles per author. Any other individuals who do not meet authorship criteria and made less substantive contributions should be listed in the manuscript as non-author contributors with their contributions clearly described. Following manuscript submission, any changes to contributor roles require the approval of the editor.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

Authors

The Journal requires all authors to disclose any potential conflict of interest at the point of submission. Conflicts of interest should be clearly labeled and included on the title page and cover letter. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that conflicts of interest of all authors are declared to the Journal.

A conflict of interest exists when the position, activities, or relationships of an individual, whether direct or indirect, financial or non-financial, could influence or be seen to influence the opinions or activities of the individual. For more information, refer to OUP’s definition of conflict of interest. The Journal follows the COPE guidance for any undisclosed conflict of interest that emerges during peer review, production, or after publication.

Peer reviewers

Individuals that have a conflict of interest relating to a submitted manuscript should recuse themselves and will not be assigned to oversee, handle, or peer review the manuscript.

If during peer review an editor, reviewer, or author becomes aware of a conflict of interest that was not previously known or disclosed they must inform the Editor-in-Chief immediately.

Editors and Editorial Board members

At initial submission, the corresponding author must declare if the Editor-in-Chief, an Editor, or an Editorial Board Member of the Journal is an author of or contributor to the manuscript. Another Editor without a conflict of interest will oversee the peer review and decision-making process.

If accepted, a statement will be published in the paper describing how the manuscript was handled. The statement will read “[Author name] holds the position of [role] for [Journal] and has not peer reviewed or made any editorial decisions for this paper."

Previously published material

Authors should only submit a manuscript(s) to the Journal if:

It is original work by the author and their co-author(s).
It is not under consideration, in peer review, or accepted for publication in any other publication.
It has not been published in any other publication.
It contains nothing abusive, defamatory, derogatory, obscene, fraudulent, or illegal.

The submitting author must disclose in their cover letter and provide copies of all related or similar preprints, dissertations, manuscripts, published papers, and reports by the same authors (i.e., those containing substantially similar content or using the same, similar, or a subset of data) that have been previously published or posted electronically or are under consideration elsewhere at the time of manuscript submission. Authors must also provide a concise explanation of how the submitted manuscript differs from these related manuscripts and papers. All related previously published papers should be cited as references and described in the submitted manuscript.

For previously published materials including tables and figures, please see the Reusing copyrighted materials section.

Preprints

Authors retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels and this does not prevent submission to the Journal. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including adding a published paper’s DOI. For full details on allowed channels and updating a preprint, please see our Author self-archiving policy.

Reusing copyrighted material

Authors must obtain permission for any material used within a manuscript for which they are not the rightsholder, including quotations, tables, figures, images, data, or software. In seeking permissions for published materials, first contact the publisher rather than the author. For unpublished materials, start by contacting the creator. Copies of each grant of permission should be provided to the editorial office of the Journal. The permissions agreement must include the following:

Nonexclusive rights to reproduce the material in the paper in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Rights for use in print and electronic format at a minimum, and preferably for use in any form or medium
Lifetime rights to use the material
Worldwide English-language rights

If authors have chosen to publish under an open access license but have not obtained open access re-use permissions for third-party material contained within the manuscript, this must be stated clearly by supplying a credit line alongside the material with the following information:

Title of content
Author, Original publication, year of original publication, by permission of [rightsholder]
This image/content is not covered by the terms of the Creative Commons license of this publication. For permission to reuse, please contact the rights holder.

Our publisher, Oxford University Press, provides detailed Copyright and Permissions Guidelines, and a summary of the fundamental information.

Misconduct

Authors should observe high standards with respect to research integrity and publication ethics as set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Falsification or fabrication of data including inappropriate image manipulation, plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the author's own work without proper citation, and misappropriation of work are all unacceptable practices. Allegations of ethical misconduct, both directly and through social media, are treated seriously and will be investigated in accordance with the relevant COPE guidance.

If misconduct has been established beyond reasonable doubt, this may result in one or more of the following outcomes, among others:

If a submitted manuscript is still under consideration, it may be rejected and returned to the author.
If a paper has already been published online, depending on the nature and severity of the infraction, either a correction notice will be published and linked to the paper, or retraction of the paper will occur, following the COPE Retraction Guidelines.
The relevant party’s institution(s) and/or other journals may be informed.

Manuscripts submitted to the Journal may be screened with plagiarism-detection software. Any manuscript may be screened, especially if there is reason to suppose that part or all the of the manuscript has been previously published.

COPE defines plagiarism as “when somebody presents the work of others (data, words or theories) as if they were their own and without proper acknowledgment.”

COPE defines redundant/overlapping publication as “when a published work (or substantial sections from a published work) is/are published more than once (in the same or another language) without adequate acknowledgment of the source/cross-referencing/justification, or when the same (or substantially overlapping) data is presented in more than one publication without adequate cross-referencing/justification, particularly when this is done in such a way that reviewers/readers are unlikely to realize that most or all the findings have been published before.”

COPE defines citation manipulation as “behaviors intended to inflate citation counts for personal gain, such as: excessive self-citation of an authors’ own work, excessive citation to the journal publishing the citing article, and excessive citation between journals in a coordinated manner.”

Data fabrication is defined as intentionally creating fake data or misrepresenting research results. An example includes making up data sets.

Data falsification is defined as manipulating research data with the purpose of intentionally giving a false representation. This can apply to images, research materials, equipment, or processes.

Examples include cropping of gels/images to change context and omission of selected data.

If notified of a potential breach of research misconduct or publication ethics, the Journal editor and editorial office staff may inform OUP and/or the author’s institutional affiliation(s).

Ethical research

The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on ethical oversight. We take research integrity seriously, and all research published in the Journal must have been conducted in a fair and ethical manner. Wherever appropriate, the Journal requires that all research be done according to international and local guidelines.

Human subjects

When reporting on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration, which were developed by the World Medical Association. For non-interventional studies, where ethical approval is not required or where a study has been granted an exemption by an ethics committee, this should be stated within the manuscript with a full explanation. Otherwise, manuscripts must include a statement in the Methods section that the research was performed after approval by a local ethics committee, institutional review board and/or local licensing committee, or that such approval was not required. The name of the authorizing body and any reference/permit numbers (where available) should also be stated there. Please be prepared to provide further information to the editorial office upon request.

Human subjects must give written informed consent, or if they are minors or incapacitated, such consent must be obtained from their parents or guardians. Consent forms should cover not only study participation but also the publication of the data collected. Also, any patient or provider information should be anonymized to the extent possible; names and ID numbers should not be used in the text and must be removed from any images (X-rays, photographs, etc.). Please note blanking out an individual’s eyes in a photograph is not an effective way to conceal their identity. In studies where verbal, rather than written, informed consent was obtained, this must be explained and stated within the manuscript. If informed consent is not required or where a study has been granted an exemption, this must be included in the Methods section along with the name of the authorizing body. The Journal does not routinely collect consent forms, but authors should be prepared to provide written consent forms signed by the participants or other appropriate documentation to the editorial office upon request. For further guidance and examples, please refer to COPE’s guidance on consent.

Animal subjects

Studies involving animals require approval from the relevant institutional ethics committee or institutional animal use and care committee, and the research must be conducted in accordance with applicable national and international guidelines. All such manuscripts must include a statement in the Methods section providing details of the name of the committee(s) that approved the study, as well as the permit or animal license numbers where available. Where a study has been granted an exemption, this must be stated in the Methods section along with the name of the authorizing body. Please be prepared to provide further information to the editorial office upon request.

ARRIVE guidelines

Authors are encouraged to consult the ARRIVE guidelines recommended by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3R).

Euthanasia or anaesthesia methods

Where applicable, any euthanasia or anesthesia methods must be carried out in accordance with applicable veterinary guidelines. These methods must be described in detail in the manuscript.

Laboratory animals

Manuscripts describing research involving laboratory-based animals must include details on housing, husbandry, and steps taken to reduce suffering. In studies where experimental animals were euthanized, details must be provided on humane endpoints. Details on the planned behavioral observations or physiological measurements used to determine the humane endpoint must be described. Authors are advised to consult the NC3Rs guide on Humane Endpoints and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines for the Humane Slaughter of Animals.

C4DISC partnership

The Journal, SETAC, and OUP aim to create a community that fosters diversity, equity, and inclusion. As part of our commitment to these principles, OUP is a proud partner of the Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC). C4DISC works with organizations and individuals within the scholarly communications landscape to foster equity, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility across the publishing industry and its published outputs.

The Journal is proud to adopt the Joint Statement of Principles of C4DISC.

Inclusive language

As defined by the Linguistic Society of America, “Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities”. We encourage authors to consider using inclusive language and images when preparing a manuscript. For guidelines, please see the C4DISC Guidelines on inclusive language and images and/or bias-free language guidelines from APA Style.

Accessibility

Written, visual, and audio content in the submission should be accessible to all. Please see the C4DISC guidelines for making text, images, charts, tables, and audio and video accessible.

Availability of data and materials

Where ethically feasible, the Journal strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. Authors are required to include a data availability statement in their paper. When data and software underlying the research article are available in an online source, authors should include a full citation in their reference list. For details of the minimum information to be included in data and software citations see the OUP guidance on citing research data and software.

Whenever possible, data should be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files or deposited in a public repository. Visit OUP’s Research data page for information on general repositories for all data types, and resources for selecting repositories by subject area.

Read the full SETAC journals data transparency policy here.

Data availability statement

The inclusion of a data availability statement is a requirement for papers published in the Journal. Data availability statements provide a standardized format for readers to understand the availability of original and third-party data underlying the research results described in the paper. The statement should describe and provide means of access, where possible, by linking to the data or providing the required unique identifier. More information and example data availability statements.

Choosing where to archive your data

Authors are highly encouraged to select a repository that issues DOIs as this helps to facilitate persistent linking to the dataset from the research article. You may refer to online resources such as FAIRsharing.org and re3data.org for lists of data repositories, including information on certification status and services offered.

Digital preservation

Content published in the Journal will automatically be deposited into digital preservation services, including CLOCKSS, the Global LOCKSS Network, and Portico. This ensures the long-term preservation of the work. Through LOCKSS, participating institutions can sustain access to content if the Journal were to otherwise be unavailable, even for a short period of time. Should the Journal ever cease to publish, or content would otherwise become permanently unavailable, long-term access to the archives of CLOCKSS and Portico would be triggered. Until such a trigger event were to occur, this content is not available to the public through CLOCKSS and Portico.

Self-archiving policy

Self-archiving refers to posting a copy of the work on a publicly accessible website or repository. Under certain circumstances, authors may self-archive versions of the work on their own webpages, on institutional webpages, and in other repositories. For information about the Journal's policy, and to learn which version(s) of the paper are acceptable for self-archiving, please see our Author self-archiving policy. The Journal institutes a 12-month embargo on self-archiving the accepted manuscript.

Publishing Agreements and Charges

Authors, please read each section on the publishing agreement (also called a license) and charges carefully.

Publishing agreements

After a manuscript is accepted, authors will be asked to sign either a copyright transfer agreement or an open access (Creative Commons) license through our licensing and payment portal, SciPris. The Journal offers the option of publishing under either a non-open access (standard) license or an open access (Creative Commons) license. There is a charge to publish under an open access license, which allows the paper to be freely accessible to all readers immediately upon online publication. Editorial decisions occur prior to this step and are not influenced by payment or ability to pay. The standard license makes the paper available only to Journal subscribers and there is no license charge. This license grants OUP an exclusive license to publish and distribute the content. There is no transfer of ownership of the copyright. Authors retain copyright for the content.

Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If authors are unsure whether they are required to publish open access, they should check with their funder or institution before selecting the license.

Papers can be published under the following license types:

Standard license to publish (Oxford University Press (OUP) Journals, Standard Publication Model)
Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY)
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license (CC BY-NC)
United States Government License

Please see the OUP guidance on Licenses, copyright, and re-use rights for more information regarding these publishing agreement options.

Complying with funder mandates

Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If authors are unsure whether they are required to publish open access, they should clarify any such requirements with their funder or institution before selecting a license. Further information on funder mandates and direct links to a range of funder policies.

Charges

Open access charges

Please see the details of open access licenses and charges. If authors select an open access license, then authors must pay the open access charge or request to use an institutional agreement to pay the open access charge through our licensing and payment portal, SciPris.

Read and Publish

OUP has a growing number of open access agreements with institutions and consortia, which provide funding for open access publishing (also known as Read and Publish agreements). This means corresponding authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out which institutions have an open access agreement.

To be eligible for one of OUP’s Read and Publish agreements, the corresponding author must provide their qualifying institution as their primary affiliation when they submit their manuscript. After submission, changing the corresponding author in order to access Read and Publish funding is not permissible.

Color charges

The Journal does not charge for color.

Page charges

The Journal does not have page charges.

Member discounts

Corresponding authors who are members of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry may be eligible for discounts on publication charges. Please provide the member identifier when prompted at the time of manuscript submission.

Open access charge discount:

Member Charges for CC BY OA or CC BY-NC OA: 20% off after publication

After Publication

Changes to published papers

The Journal will only make changes to published papers if the publication record is seriously affected by the academic accuracy of the published information. Changes to a published paper will be accompanied by a formal correction notice linking to and from the original paper. As needed, we follow the COPE guidelines on retractions.

For more information and details of how to request changes, including for authors who wish to update their name and/or pronouns, please see OUP’s policy on changes to published papers.

Promoting your work

As the author, you are the best advocate for your work, and we encourage you to be involved in promoting your publication. Sharing your ideas and news about your publication with your colleagues and friends could take as little as 15 minutes and will make a real difference in raising the profile of your research.

You can promote your work by:

Sharing your paper with colleagues and friends. If your paper is published open access, it will always be freely available to all readers, and you can share it without any limitations. Otherwise, use the toll-free link that is emailed to you after publication. It provides permanent, free access to your paper, even if your paper is updated.
Signing up for an ORCID iD author identifier to distinguish yourself from any other researchers with the same name, create an online profile showcasing all your publications, and increase the visibility of your work.
Using social media to promote your work. To learn more about self-promotion on social media, see our social media guide for authors.

Find out how Oxford University Press promotes your content.

Press releases

If you would like to arrange an embargo date so that a press release can be issued simultaneously with the publication of your paper, you must do so before your manuscript is accepted. The Journal publishes the accepted manuscript shortly after acceptance, and this process cannot be interrupted. No version of a paper may be temporarily withdrawn once published. Please contact the editorial office to arrange an embargo date.

Contact Us

For questions regarding submission and review, including appeals, authors can reach the editorial office by email at [email protected].

After a paper has been sent to production, authors can contact [email protected] for questions regarding the production process or publication. Please see the Changes to Published Papers section if authors need to request a substantive correction to a published paper.