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About Journal of Biology

Aims and scope

Research articles

Journal of Biology on the world wide web

Portability of peer review

Publisher and editorial organization

Aims and scope

Journal of Biology is an international journal that publishes biological research articles of exceptional interest or importance, together with associated commentary. Original research articles that are accepted for publication are published in full on the web within two weeks, and are immediately made freely available to all. Articles from the full spectrum of biology are appropriate for consideration, provided that they are of substantial interest or importance, or are likely to have a significant and lasting impact on their field.

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Research articles

Journal of Biology aims to provide the best possible service to authors of original research articles, and strives to achieve the fairest system of peer review, with a dedicated in-house staff and the help of an Editorial Board of internationally renowned scientists. Key peer-review policies include the following:
  • no article will be rejected without taking into account the advice of a practising scientist in the field
  • no suitable article will be rejected on the grounds of article length, or lack of space
  • every effort will be made to ensure that at least one of the three peer-reviewers for each article is selected from a list of ten provided by the author
  • where appropriate, a suitably qualified researcher will be nominated by the Editorial Board to act as Expert Advisor for a particular article, so as to advise on or resolve issues arising during the peer review process

Journal of Biology offers a very fast publication schedule whilst maintaining rigorous peer review; the use of recommended electronic formats for article delivery expedites the process. All submitted research articles are subjected to immediate rapid screening by the editors, in consultation with the Editorial Board or others working in the field as appropriate, to ensure they are likely to be of the level of interest and importance appropriate for the journal. Contributors who are in doubt about the suitability of their manuscript are welcome to send a presubmission enquiry. The editors will provide an initial response to all presubmission enquiries and submitted manuscripts within two working days and will make every effort to give authors a decision following peer review within four weeks of an article's submission. Accepted articles will be published online within two weeks.

All published articles are accompanied by a variety of commissioned commentaries, which will be available immediately on publication, free of charge, over the web. Copyright for research articles is retained by the author, who is free to distribute the article electronically or after printing, or to ask the publishers to do so. Discussion and debate concerning articles published in Journal of Biology is actively encouraged; readers have the facility to append comments to articles, and all such communications are moderated by the editors.

The electronic version of each article takes advantage of all the possibilities available in this medium, including:

  • the opportunity to publish large datasets, large numbers of illustrations and moving pictures
  • the opportunity to publish extensive methods, references and discussions
  • display of tabular data in a form that can be read directly by other software packages (e.g. statistical programs)
  • creation of relevant links (e.g. to PubMed, sequences, or other papers available on the web)

Complete research articles are published online. The citation for the article appears on the PDF and the full text of the complete article.

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Journal of Biology on the web

The website is updated continually to respond to the needs and interests of the users and to new technologies as they develop, including:

  • links throughout the site to other relevant information (e.g. references to PubMed, author names to e-mail and personal/lab websites, etc)
  • full searchability of information contained in the site
  • registered users can store searches, receive updates, forward articles to others and enter into discussion about articles

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Portability of peer review

Journal of Biology is affiliated with other biology journals published by BioMed Central such as Genome Biology and BMC Biology. If referees judge that a manuscript is sound but not of exceptional interest and therefore not appropriate for Journal of Biology the referee reports can be shared with Genome Biology, BMC Biology and other journals in the BMC series. Transferring a manuscript from one journal to another will not incur delays. Conversely, if a manuscript submitted to BMC Biology or a subject-specific journal within the BMC series is judged to be of exceptional interest by the referees and editors, we may offer publication in Journal of Biology.

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Publisher and editorial organization

Journal of Biology is published by BioMed Central, part of Springer Science+Business Media. BioMed Central has a commitment to providing permanent barrier-free access to research articles over the web. The journal is edited by an internationally recognized Editorial Board. The editor can be contacted through the editorial office

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