期刊名称：BIOLOGY OPEN
 期刊简介(About the journal)
投稿须知(Instructions to Authors)
编辑部信息(Editorial Board)
About the journal
About us
Biology Open (BiO) is an online author-pays Open Access journal that publishes peer-reviewed original research across all aspects of the biological sciences, including cell biology, developmental biology and experimental biology. BiO aims to provide rapid publication for scientifically sound observations and valid conclusions in these allied fields. It is published by The Company of Biologists, a not-for-profit publishing organisation dedicated to supporting and inspiring the biological community.
BiO was launched with the aim of addressing some big issues in publishing. The Directors of The Company of Biologists, practicing scientists, saw a problem for some authors finding homes for papers that were sound, but lacked perceived impact. They also wished to address the issue of reviewer fatigue in the community.
In an in-depth survey of authors, we found:
- 64% of authors are concerned about the speed of peer review and publication
- 56% of authors feel publication delays harm their paper's impact
- 61% of cell science authors face significant challenges finding a home for their papers
Since its launch in 2011, BiO has published more than 600 peer-reviewed papers that have been accepted on the basis that they are technically sound and their conclusions are supported by the data shown – rather than on the perceived importance of the findings.
The scope of BiO reflects The Company of Biologists' acknowledged expertise in cell biology, developmental biology and experimental biology. BiO extends the service delivered by our sister journals – Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology and Disease Models & Mechanisms. Papers rejected from these journals can be transferred, strictly with the authors' approval, to BiO, via a simple one-click manuscript-transfer option. We believe this helps the author community by providing a welcoming home for their papers and helping to avoid additional rounds of submission and review.
For more information on publishing in BiO, please visit our submission, article types and journal policies pages.
All articles published in BiO are published under an Open Access model: the journal’s costs are covered primarily by article publication charges (rather than subscription fees). Therefore, we ask that authors of accepted Research Articles pay a publication charge of $1350 per article (plus VAT if applicable), increasing to $1495 for new submissions or transfers from January 1st 2016.
BiO offers advance online posting of articles on its Advance Articles site, which is updated weekly, and issues are published monthly online. All articles are deposited in PMC by the publisher for immediate release.
What BiO offers
- Rapid editorial decisions made by research-active academics
- Average time to first decision: 20 days (2015)
- Simple one-click transfer option from other Company journals
- Open Access publication of all articles
- Authors retain copyright of their own work under the terms of the CC-BY licence
- All articles deposited by BiO in PMC for immediate release
- Altmetrics and usage statistics available online for all articles
- Post-publication commenting option
- Easy online Open Access payment system
- Not-for-profit publisher
Journal metrics
BiO uses a number of metrics that together provide a rich view of the journal's performance. These include:
- 2014 Impact Factor 2.416
- 5 Year Impact Factor 2.432
- Eigenfactor Score 0.00529
- Article Influence Score 1.124
- Cited half-life 2.0
Online ISSN 2046-6390.
BiO is abstracted and/or indexed (amongst others) by: Biological Abstracts, BIOSIS, CAB abstracts, Chemical Abstracts, Thomson Reuters Web of Science, PMC and PubMed. BiO is a member of OASPA (Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association) and is indexed in the DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals).
Supporting our community
BiO is a journal that strives to support the members and research of the biological sciences community. The journal aims to achieve this not only through the rapid publication of sound research, but also through other means, such as sponsoring international meetings and workshops. It is published by The Company of Biologists – a not-for-profit organisation that provides a range of awards and charitable grants. For example, BiO sponsors numerous meetings and workshops in the field, including Keystone Symposia, Gordon Conferences and EMBO workshops. BiO also sponsors speakers to attend international meetings.
BiO online
All BiO's content is available online, and is fully browsable and searchable. All BiO papers are published as Open Access articles under the unrestrictive CC-BY licence. All articles are deposited by BiO in PMC for immediate release.
BiO is also a participant of the LOCKSS/CLOCKSS project, an international community initiative through which libraries and publishers work together to preserve their digital content for the long-term.
Aims and scope
Biology Open (BiO) is an online-only Open Access journal that publishes peer-reviewed original research across all aspects of the biological sciences. BiO aims to provide rapid publication of papers reporting scientifically sound observations and valid conclusions, without a requirement for perceived impact. The paper should clearly address a non-trivial scientific question. Useful reports of negative results will also be considered for publication. In addition, BiO publishes Methods & Techniques papers – peer-reviewed articles that describe a novel technique or an advance of an existing technique.
By focusing on the timely publication of good-quality sound research, BiO will facilitate dialogue and build a valuable body of work that supports the efforts of the research community. The impact of each paper will be decided by the community itself through usage and discussion.
Authors are encouraged to submit work of appropriate scope and focus directly to BiO, in which case peer review will be undertaken and managed by an international board of research-active academic editors within each discipline.
BiO offers a simple one-click manuscript-transfer option for papers rejected from our sister journals – Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology and Disease Models & Mechanisms, In addition, we have an agreement in place with the journal eLife, who, upon request from the authors, will transfer articles should they be rejected.
Under this service, any existing referees' reports from the original peer review can also be passed to BiO, for a more-rapid publication decision. BiO also accepts the transfer of peer review reports from submissions to other, non-Company, journals. Where necessary, additional peer review may be undertaken.
The Editors of BiO make their editorial decisions independent of the other Company of Biologists’ journals. The criteria for acceptance are very different. BiO Editors and Reviewers are asked to confirm that the experimental work is properly conducted and that the conclusions are adequately supported by the data. We do not require any assessment of the potential impact of a paper. We therefore encourage authors to submit their manuscripts to BiO, even if they have received negative reviews. The transfer of reviews - both positive and negative - can lead to a more-rapid decision and often helps identify simple revisions that would allow a paper to be accepted.
We aim to notify authors of the Editor's decision within ten working days of submission or transfer.
Article Publication Charge
To provide Open Access, the costs of publication in BiO are covered in part by charging a fee to the authors or the research supporters for each accepted article. This Author Publication Charge is $1350 (plus VAT if applicable), increasing to $1495 for new submissions from January 1st 2016, and covers peer review, journal production, online systems employed for the purposes of submitting, trafficking and hosting articles, and the cost of archiving significant volumes of data, including supplementary material files, in perpetuity.
BiO has a small budget for the complete or partial waiving of publication charges for authors in developing countries and others in genuine financial hardship. Corresponding authors based in the countries listed here will be granted a full waiver upon application. Funds for waivers are limited, however, as the journal would not be sustainable without income from author charges to cover its costs.
The decision to publish a paper in BiO is wholly independent of payment or ability to pay, and is based solely on the validity and supportability of the work detailed in each manuscript. Editors and reviewers do not have access to information regarding authors' financial contributions.
Author copyright and article licence
The Company of Biologists applies the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence to all articles and associated material published in BiO. Authors retain ownership of the copyright for their article, but undertake to allow anyone to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and/or copy articles, provided that the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers under the CC-BY licence. The full guidance that applies to this licence can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Instructions to Authors
Submitting a manuscript to BiO
Click here to submit a manuscript
Terms of submission
BiO considers for publication original research that has not been previously published. Submission to BiO implies that this is the case and that the submitted manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
During the submission process, authors are asked to declare that the manuscript has been seen and approved by all authors. Submission also indicates that authors agree to abide by BiO’s publishing policies, including the declaration of any competing interests to the journal on submission of a manuscript.
BiO offers advance online posting of articles on its Advance Articles web site, which is updated weekly, and issues are published monthly online. It is also possible to post the accepted author manuscript within one week of acceptance. Please contact the Editorial Office if you wish to take up this option.
We support the Think.Check.Submit. initiative.
Online submission
Please format your manuscript in accordance with our manuscript preparation guidelines.
For new submissions, we recommend that you submit your paper as a single PDF file that contains all the necessary text, figures and tables. Supplementary data should be compiled into a single separate file. You will be able to check the final submitted version of the PDF; if there are problems with figure resolution, please contact the Editorial Office.
Our submission system converts submitted files (PDFs or individual files) into a PDF file for the review process. The corresponding author must check and approve the PDF to complete the submission process.
During the submission process, you will be asked to provide an email address for each author and suggested reviewer. We are making it a requirement for corresponding authors to submit an ORCID identifier and it is best practice to use an ORCID ID to identify each researcher. Alternatively, for researchers without an ORCID ID, provide an institutional email address, as non-institutional email addresses (e.g. gmail) have to be checked and verified, which may result in delays to your paper.
For revised submissions and accepted manuscripts, please provide all the necessary text and figures as individual files.
Please note that revised manuscripts will be treated as a new submission if they are not submitted within 3 months of the date of the initial decision.
For more information on suitable file formats, please see our Manuscript preparation and Figure preparation guidelines.
For more information on the types of articles that can be submitted to BiO, please visit our Article types page.
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Transfer option
Papers rejected from Development, Disease Models & Mechanisms, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology and eLife can be transferred to BiO, strictly with the authors' approval, for editorial consideration.
For authors who originally submitted to Development, Disease Models & Mechanisms, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology, there is a simple one-click manuscript-transfer option in BenchPress should their paper not be accepted. Under this service, any existing referees' reports from the original peer review can also be passed to BiO, again with the authors' approval, for a more-rapid publication decision. Where necessary, additional peer review may be undertaken.
There is no need to reformat the article or resupply manuscript information.
We encourage authors to transfer their manuscripts to BiO following editorial rejection or rejection after peer review. The criteria for acceptance at BiO are very different. Editors and Reviewers are asked to confirm that the experimental work is properly conducted and that the conclusions are adequately supported by the data. We do not require any assessment of the potential impact of a paper. The transfer of any existing reviews – even if negative – usually enables a rapid decision to be made without the need for further review, as this may help the BiO Editor to identify simple revisions that would allow a paper to be accepted (average time to first decision of 8.5 days for articles transferred with reviews).
For authors who made their original submission to eLife, please click here for more information. BiO also accepts the transfer of peer review reports from submissions to other, non-Company, journals.
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Article publication charge
To provide Open Access, the costs of publication in BiO are covered in part by charging a fee to the authors or the research supporters for each accepted article. This Author Publication Charge is $1350 (plus VAT if applicable), increasing to $1495 for new submissions or transfers from January 1st 2016, and covers peer review, journal production, online systems employed for the purposes of submitting, trafficking and hosting articles, and the cost of archiving significant volumes of data, including supplementary material files, in perpetuity.
BiO has a small budget for the complete or partial waiving of publication charges for authors in developing countries and others in genuine financial hardship. Corresponding authors based in the countries listed here will be granted a full waiver upon application. Funds for waivers are limited, however, as the journal would not be sustainable without income from author charges to cover its costs. Payment requests will be sent to the corresponding author following acceptance of their paper. As well as being paid in pound sterling, payments can be made in Euros or US dollars, and will be converted at the official HMRC currency exchange rate.
The decision to publish a paper in BiO is wholly independent of payment or ability to pay, and is based solely on the validity and supportability of the work detailed in each manuscript. Editors and reviewers do not have access to information regarding authors' financial contributions. BiO is published by the not-for-profit publisher The Company of Biologists, a charitable organisation run by scientists to support the research community.
Manuscript preparation
1. General information
BiO requires authors to submit their manuscripts online using the Bench>Press manuscript processing system. All manuscripts should adhere to the journal’s Terms of Submission.
We request that new papers are submitted as a single PDF file that contains all the necessary text, figures and tables.
Authors are required to read our Journal Policies before preparing their manuscripts and to complete and submit our submission checklist with their manuscripts. This form asks authors to confirm that they have followed best practice guidelines regarding experimental subjects, data reporting and statistics. The checklist is based on the NIH Principles and Guidelines for Reporting Preclinical Research and is intended to help ensure high standards for reporting and to aid reproducibility.
All pre-submission or general editorial queries should be directed to the Editorial Office
BiO supports the polices of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The manuscript preparation guidelines below follow the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals.
Articles that are transferred to BiO from Development, Disease Models & Mechanisms, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology are NOT required to reformat or alter their articles. BiO accepts transferred Research articles in short and long format (e.g. Short reports, Research Reports) and Methods & Techniques type papers (e.g. Tools & Techniques and Resources).
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2. Manuscript length
Research Articles and Methods & Techniques articles: the total length of the article should not exceed 8000 words, including the main text and figure legends, but not the title page, abstract or references. The total number of display items (Figures and Tables) must not exceed eight (8).
Note that final word limits will depend on the paper submitted and are at the discretion of the Editors.
3. Preparing the text and tables
The information below relates to a standard Research Article. For all other article types, please refer to the style and layout guidelines provided on our Article types page.
3.1 File formats
For manuscript text and tables, our preferred file format is Microsoft Word .docx (or .doc). We also accept Pages (rtf format) and LaTeX.
Please include tables as part of the manuscript file. Tables must be editable and not embedded as an image.
If you are submitting a LaTeX file, please include any component files, such as .st (style file), .cls (class file) and .bib (bibliography file) in your file submission. Please note that LaTeX files will be converted to Microsoft Word files during the production process and that authors will be required to check the conversion of symbols and special characters carefully at the proofing stage.
For mathematical equations, our preferred file format is MathType. We also accept Equation Editor (Microsoft Word) and LaTex.
3.2. Article sections
3.2.1.Title page
This section should include a title of 150 characters or less that clearly and concisely summarises your specific findings and avoids specialist abbreviations, a running title of 32 characters or less, the full names (including middle initials) and affiliations of all authors (including present addresses for authors who have moved), and the corresponding author’s email address. Please note any cases where authors contributed equally to the work. Please also include 3-6 key words for indexing purposes (select key words that will make your manuscript easily searchable).
3.2.2. Summary statement
Provide a brief Summary Statement for use in emailed and online tables of content alerts. The text should be between 15 and 30 words, and should explain, without overstatement, why someone should read the article. Please do not simply repeat the title, and avoid unfamiliar terms and abbreviations, as the text should be comprehensible to non-experts. We reserve the right to edit the text.
3.2.3. Abstract
Provide a brief abstract of no more than 200 words. This should succinctly and clearly introduce the topic of the paper, summarise the main findings and highlight the significance of the data and main conclusions. The abstract is used by abstracting services without modification and is often read more frequently than the full paper and therefore needs to be comprehensible in its own right. Do not include subheadings or references, and avoid any non-standard abbreviations.
3.2.4. Introduction
This section should succinctly provide the background information that is required to set the results into their proper biological context. It should not contain subheadings.
3.2.5. Results
This section should describe the results of the experiments performed and should be broken up by subheadings to organise the findings presented and walk the reader through the results. Reproducibility of results must be included – see our submission checklist for further information. Please ensure that the distinction between new results and published findings/established facts is clear.
3.2.6. Discussion
This section should explain the significance of the results and should place them into the broader context of the current literature. The Discussion may contain subheadings to highlight important areas that are expanded on in the text.
3.2.7. Materials and methods
This section should include sufficient detail to understand and to replicate the experiments performed, in conjunction with cited references. It should be divided into sections, and should include subsections detailing reagents, animal models and statistical analysis. Provide names and locations (town, state, country) for ALL equipment and reagent suppliers. Give Latin names and taxonomic authority (e.g. Linnaeus) for all experimental species. Reporting standards should follow those recommended in our Journal Policies and submission checklist.
3.2.8. Acknowledgements
This section should mention any individuals or groups that are not named as authors but have contributed to the research presented (e.g. in terms of reagents, time, expertise) or writing of the manuscript.
3.2.9. Competing interests
Include a statement to identify any potential influences that readers may need to know about when thinking about the implications of the presented research. For more specific information regarding the affiliations and associations that must be disclosed, please see our Journal Policies page. Authors without financial or competing interests should explicitly assert this and include the statement ‘No competing interests declared’.
3.2.10. Author contributions
An author is someone who has made significant and substantial contributions to a study. BiO requires that the independent contributions of each author are stated in the manuscript. Please refer to Journal Policies for further information on our authorship policies. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that ALL co-authors have checked and confirmed their contribution statement prior to manuscript submission.
3.2.11. Funding
Details of all funding sources must be provided. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to provide the relevant funding information from ALL authors. Please provide the full official funding agency name, i.e. 'National Institutes of Health', not 'NIH', and all relevant grant numbers. Where individuals need to be specified for certain sources of funding, please add initials after the relevant agency or grant number. Please use the following format: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [AA123456 to C.S., BB765432 to M.H.]; and the Alcohol & Education Research Council [hfygr667789]. Where no specific funding has been provided for the research, please state ‘This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors’.
3.2.12. References
All references cited in the text, tables and figure legends should be included in a single reference list at the end of the article. For specific information about reference formatting, please see the References section below.
3.2.13. Figure legends
Figure legends should be listed at the end of the manuscript. The first sentence of the legend should summarise the figure and be in bold. Each figure legend should stand alone and should contain enough information to ensure that the figure is understandable without having to refer to the main text. Figure panels should be labelled with uppercase letters (A, B, C, etc.), and each panel should be described in the legend. Any abbreviations not given in the main text should be defined. For further details on what should be included in figure legends, please refer to our submission checklist.
3.3. Preparing the text
3.3.1. General information
- Prepare manuscripts in English (either US or UK spelling is acceptable but be consistent within the manuscript). Your writing should be comprehensible to editors and reviewers, and your writing style should be concise and accessible. If English is not your first language, please consider using a language editing service prior to submission.
- Ensure that the language in your manuscript is original and does not contain previously published passages of text (including those from your own publications) – see our Journal Policies for more details. All accepted manuscripts are routinely screened using plagiarism-detection software.
- Use 1.5 line spacing and continuous line numbering throughout the paper in order to facilitate online reviewing.
- Please ensure pages are numbered.
- Do not embed figures in the text.
- Cite each figure, table and movie in the text in numerical order. Figure or table parts should be labelled with uppercase letters (A, B, C, etc.). Use the following format for citations: Fig. 1A,B or Figs 1, 2 or Table 1 or Movie 1.
- If necessary, display equations should be cited using the following format: Eqn 1.
- For supplementary figures, tables and equations, cite as Fig. S1, Table S1, Eqn S1.
- Define abbreviations at first mention and include a List of Symbols and Abbreviations used.
- For special characters not available on a standard keyboard (e.g. Greek characters, mathematical symbols), use the Symbol font or the ‘Insert Symbol’ function in Microsoft Word, where possible. For special characters that are not available via this route, please use MathType characters; do not use embedded images (e.g. GIF).
3.3.2. Units and nomenclature
- Units of measurement should follow the SI system, e.g. ml s-1 rather than ml/s. Guidance on using the SI convention can be found here. Type a space between a digit and a unit, e.g. 1 mm (except 1%, 1oC).
- Use s.e.m. and s.d. for standard errors, etc.
- Taxonomic nomenclature: the Latin names and taxonomic authority (e.g. Linnaeus) should be provided for all experimental species. All species names should be italicized.
- Genetic nomenclature: gene names should be in italic type, but the protein product of a gene should be in Roman type. Genetic nomenclature should be in accordance with established conventions and should be approved by the relevant nomenclature curator if applicable. See below for some relevant links.
3.3.3. References
3.3.3.1. References in text
References in the text should be cited using the Harvard (name, date) referencing system.
Each reference cited in the text (including those cited in supplementary information) must be listed in the Reference list and vice versa: please check these carefully.
Literature citations in text are as follows.
- One author – (Jones, 1995) or (Jones, 1995; Smith, 1996).
- Two authors – (Jones and Kane, 1994) or (Jones and Kane, 1994; Smith, 1996).
- More than two authors – (Jones et al., 1995) or (Jones et al., 1995a,b; Smith et al., 1994, 1995).
- Manuscripts accepted for publication but not yet published: list in Reference list as (Jones et al., in press).
- Citation of unpublished work: we discourage citation of unpublished data; if it is necessary, use the format (S. P. Jones, unpublished observations/data). Unpublished data cannot be included in the Reference list.
- PhD theses: cite in the text but do not list in the Reference list; use the format (R. Arthur Goode, Title of thesis, PhD thesis, Institute, Year).
- Website URLs: cite in the text but do not list in the Reference list; provide the URL and, if the website is frequently updated, the date that the site was accessed.
- Personal communications (i.e. the unpublished observations of other scientists): when a person who is not an author on the paper is the source of unpublished data, those data should be cited as a personal communication using the format (full name, institution, personal communication). Personal communications should not be cited in the Reference list and will only be published when substantiated by written permission (e.g. email) from the scientist cited.
3.3.3.2. Reference List
References are listed in alphabetical order according to surname and initials of first author.
- Use the following style:
Journal
Rivera, A. R. V., Wyneken, J. and Blob, R. W. (2011). Forelimb kinematics and motor patterns of swimming loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta): are motor patterns conserved in the evolution of new locomotor strategies? J. Exp. Biol. 214, 3314-3323.
Book
Hochachka, P. W. and Somero, G. N. (2002). Biochemical Adaptation: Mechanism and Process in Physiological Evolution. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Book chapter
Feller, G. (2008). Enzyme function at low temperatures in psychrophiles. In Protein Adaptation in Extremophiles (ed. K. S. Siddiqui and T. Thomas), pp. 35-69. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
- If there are more than 10 authors, use 'et al.' after the 10th author.
- Within a group of papers with the same first author, list single author papers first, then papers with two authors, then et al. papers. If more than one reference exists for each type, arrange in date order. Use a and b for papers published in the same year.
- 'In press' citations must have been accepted for publication and the name of the journal or publisher included.
3.4. Preparing tables
Prepare tables in ‘cell’ format and include in the same file as the main text. Tables must be editable and not embedded as an image.
The title of the table should be a single sentence and should summarise the contents of the table. Details referring to one or more isolated item(s) in the table are best given in a table footnote. Units should be given in parentheses at the top of each column (do not repeat in the table).
3.5. Preparing display equations
Our preferred file format for equations is MathType. We also accept Equation Editor (Microsoft Word) or LaTex.
Please number all display equations, consecutively. They should take the form:
(1).
Units should be defined in the text rather than included in the equation.
4. Preparing figures
4.1. General information
Figures should be numbered in a single series that reflects the order in which they are referred to in the text.
Figures should be prepared at the smallest size that will convey the essential scientific information; final figure size is at the discretion of the journal. For further information on how to arrange your figures to optimise viewing by reviewers and readers, download our Figure Layout guidelines.
At initial submission, you may submit a single PDF file containing all text and figures. Once an article has been accepted for publication, you are required to submit separate files for each figure (see below for file formats).
Figure legends should be included in the main text file and not in the figure file.
There are no charges for the use of colour in figures, although gratuitous use of colour in graphs and diagrams should be avoided and colour should only be used to improve scientific clarity.
4.2. Preparing photographic images
4.2.1. General information
Photographic images (also known as bitmap images) are made up of pixels (e.g. light, fluorescence and electron microscopy, gels, and traditional photography)
- The maximum figure size, including lettering and labels, is 180 mm x 210 mm.
- Images should be saved at a resolution of 300 pixels per inch. Any image quality option should be set to maximum.
- For micrographs, use a scale bar to show the magnification and give the length of this in the figure legend.
- Colour: supply images in RGB (not CMYK) mode, as this maximizes colour quality and is how the figures will be displayed online; do NOT use Spot, Pantone or Hex colours and do NOT assign a colour profile.
- Text labelling: use 12 pt bold uppercase letters (A, B, C, etc.) to distinguish figure panels; other labelling should be 8 pt Arial font (sentence case) (headings should be bold); for gene sequences, use Courier font to ensure that each letter is the same width; use Symbol font for Greek characters.
4.2.2. File formats
Our preferred file format is JPEG.
- JPEGs are small, can be uploaded quickly and produce small PDFs that are easy for reviewers to download; JPEG compresses the image in a way that retains the detail that matters most
- If you are unable to provide your figures in JPEG format, we are also able to accept TIFF files; however, please note that TIFFs are very large (10-40 MB per image), slow to upload and can result in large PDFs that reviewers and readers are unable to download.
PowerPoint images: we do NOT accept PowerPoint files. Instead, please save as PDF using the instructions below.
4.3. Preparing graphs and diagrams (line art)
4.3.1. General information
- The maximum figure size, including lettering and labels, is 180 mm × 210 mm.
- Line thicknesses and symbols should be of sufficient size to ensure clarity if the figure is reduced in size.
- For graphs, our preferred symbols are filled and open circles, triangles, squares, or diamonds; where possible, the same symbol should be used for the same entity in different figures.
- Colour: supply line art in RGB (not CMYK) mode, as this maximizes colour quality and is how the figures will be displayed online; do NOT use Spot, Pantone or Hex colours and do NOT assign a colour profile.
- Text labelling: use 12 pt bold uppercase letters (A, B, C, etc.) to distinguish figure panels; other labelling should be 8 pt Arial font (sentence case) (headings should be bold); for gene sequences, use Courier font to ensure that each letter is the same width; use Symbol font for Greek characters.
4.3.2. File formats
Authors should submit their source figures in an editable format (vector graphic) that retains font, line and shape information. This format ensures that we can edit where necessary and produce high-quality print and online PDFs.
We accept the following file formats for graphs/line art: EPS, PDF and WMF.
- Applications such as Adobe Illustrator, Canvas, DeltaGraph, Corel Draw, Freehand, MatLab and SigmaPlot provide these formats.
- Please ensure that you 'export' or 'save' with (text/font) information included
- Save text/font information as ‘text’ not ‘curves’ or ‘outlines’.
- If combining images, always 'embed' images; do NOT simply 'link' them. In Adobe Illustrator, copying and pasting or dragging an image directly from Adobe Photoshop will embed the image. Alternatively, if you use the 'Place' command, uncheck 'Link' in the dialogue box. For other software applications, please refer to the documentation (often there will be a 'link', 'proxy', 'OLE' or 'OPI' option, which must NOT be used with EPS files).
- Note that submission of JPEG or TIFF format for graphs/line art may delay production of your article.
4.4. Image manipulation
Any alterations made to figures using computer software must be consistent with our Image Manipulation policy. The images presented in the manuscript must remain representative of the original data, and the corresponding author will be asked to confirm this at submission. Please read our requirements for preparing your figures to avoid a potential delay in the publication process or rejection on the basis of non-compliance with these guidelines. This guide also includes recommendations on improving figure layout to help reviewers and readers appreciate your data.
All accepted manuscripts are routinely screened by our production department for any indication of image manipulation. If evidence of inappropriate manipulation is detected, the journal's Editors might ask for the original data to be supplied and, if necessary, may revoke the acceptance of the article.
4.5. Figure permissions
It is the responsibility of the author to obtain permission to use figures from another publication in any article submitted to BiO and to ensure that any such use is credited to the source. Any fees associated with use of the figure are the responsibility of the author. Written permission from the author and/or publisher of the original material, as appropriate, should be provided at the time of submission, otherwise publication may be delayed. If a figure has been modified from a previously published figure, please check with the copyright owners to see whether permission is required and include a complete citation/reference for the original article.
5. Preparing movies
Our preferred format is .mp4, but we also accept .mov.
Please provide a separate text file containing the titles and captions of all movies. Please keep captions as short as possible and ensure that they explain what is being shown in the movie and any necessary details of how the movie was made.
Movies should be numbered in a single series that reflects the order in which they are cited in the text, e.g. see Movie 1. Movie 2, etc.
In the final online article, all movies are displayed in the supplementary information.
We have a limit of 5 MB for all movie and supplementary information files. If your movies exceed this limit, please contact the Editorial Office for advice before submission; we may be able to reduce the size of your movie files without losing resolution or discuss other options for hosting. For example, if you have movies that exceed our file limits and that are supplementary to the core message of the paper (or if you wish to provide readers with a higher-resolution version of the movie than can be displayed within our file size limits), we encourage you to deposit them in a reliable data repository such as Dryad or Figshare, and link to them from the main paper – please see our guidelines on data deposition for further information. Alternatively, we may consider hosting large movies that are central to the article on the journal’s YouTube channel, again with a direct link from the main paper.
Please note that we reserve the right to make movies or other data forms available on an Open Access basis via The Company of Biologists’ website, YouTube and other online channels. Where we do, the movies and other data forms may on occasion be made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC-BY) Licence (the terms of which are set out at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode). These terms permit the copying and/or adaptation of the movie and the distribution of the movie or any such adaptation by any means and in any medium or format to any other person, including for commercial purposes, provided that you are credited as the original author. There would be no additional cost to you, the author.
6. Supplementary information
6.1 General information
Data that are essential for interpretation of the results of the main paper should be included in the main paper. Supplementary information provides access to supporting data that do not appear in the printed article or PDF but that accompany the final version of a paper online.
These data are peer reviewed and subject to the same criteria as the data that are to be published in the paper itself. During peer review, editors and reviewers are asked to assess whether supplementary information is appropriate and essential for supporting the findings of a paper.
All supplementary data will be strictly limited to a total of 5 MB per article.
We only accept data files – such as datasets, movies, audio, figures and tables – as supplementary information. We do not accept text files that provide additional materials and methods, results or discussions related to the article; these should be included in the article itself. Very large files or those requiring specialist software are not suitable as supplementary information. For large datasets, e.g. imaging data, please see our guidelines on Data deposition.
With the exception of movies and large tables (see sections on Preparing the movies and Supplementary tables), all supplementary information should be collated into a single PDF file. For the convenience of readers, please number each figure/table and place next to the corresponding legend in the PDF.
Please note that supplementary data files are not copyedited by BiO and therefore authors must ensure that all files are checked carefully before submission and that the style of terms and figures conforms to that of the article. Modification of supplementary information after publication will require a formal correction.
Refer to each piece of supplementary information at least once within the text of the main article.
6.2. Supplementary figures
Figures in PDF, EPS, JPEG and TIFF format are acceptable – see guidelines on Preparing figures for further information.
Number supplementary figures using the format Fig. S1, Fig. S2, etc. and include a legend for each figure. If a supplementary figure relates to a particular figure in the text, please cite it as close to this figure as possible. For the convenience of readers, please place each figure next to the corresponding legend in the supplementary information PDF.
6.3. Supplementary tables
Tables should generally be submitted as a Microsoft Word (.docx) file. However, if your table is very large, or you wish readers to be able to export and/or manipulate the data, we would prefer you to submit is as a Microsoft Excel file. Please see our guidelines on Preparing tables for further information.
Number supplementary tables using the format Table S1, Table S2, etc. Use a separate numbering system from that used in the main article and include a title for each table.
Editorial Board
Editor-in-Chief
Jordan W. Raff (Milstein Professor of Molecular
Cancer Biology, University of Oxford, UK)
Deputy Editors
Anna-Katerina Hadjantonakis (Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center, New York, USA)
John R. Speakman (Deputy Editor-in-Chief;
University of Aberdeen, UK)
Editors
Daniel Durocher (University of Toronto, Canada)
Fanni Gergely (University of Cambridge, UK)
Jack P. Hayes (University of Nevada, USA)
Catherine L. Jackson (Institut Jacques Monod, Paris, France)
Yishi Jin (University of California, San Diego, USA)
Patricia J. Keely (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA)
Steven Kelly (University of Oxford, UK)
Jennifer Nichols (Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, UK)
Luca Scorrano (University of Padua, Italy)
Founding Editors
John Gurdon (University of Cambridge, UK)
Alan 'Rick' Horwitz (University of Virginia, USA)
Tim Hunt (CRUK, London, UK)
Martin Raff (UCL, London, UK)
Cheryll Tickle (University of Bath, UK)
Managing Editor
Rachel Hackett (Cambridge, UK)
Editorial Assistant
Derah Saward-Arav (Cambridge, UK)
Editorial Administrator
Sue Chamberlain (Cambridge, UK)
Advisory Board
Kathryn V. Anderson (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center,
New York, USA)
M. Madan Babu (MRC-LMB, Cambridge, UK)
Ben Barres (Stanford University, USA)
Alexander D. Bershadsky (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel,
and Mechanobiology Institute, NUS, Singapore)
Wendy Bickmore (MRC IGMM, University of Edinburgh, UK)
Mina Bissell (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
University of California, USA)
Julio E. Celis (Danish Cancer Society Research Center,
Copenhagen, Denmark)
Stephen C. Ekker (Mayo Clinic, USA)
Gillian Griffiths (Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, UK)
Sarah C. Hake (University of Calfornia, Berkeley, USA)
James W. Hicks (University of California, Irvine, USA)
Justin P. Kumar (Indiana University, USA)
Jane Langdale (University of Oxford, UK)
Laura Machesky (The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research,
Glasgow, UK)
Alfonso Martinez Arias (University of Cambridge, UK)
J. Richard McIntosh (University of Colorado, Boulder, USA)
Ira Mellman (Genentech, USA)
Andrea Musacchio (Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund, Germany)
Philip Munday (James Cook University, Townsville, Australia)
Sudipto Roy (A*Star Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore)
Stephen M. Secor (University of Alabama, USA)
Benny Shilo (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel)
Rick Shine (University of Sydney, Australia)
Kai Simons (Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology
and Genetics, Dresden, Germany)
Claudio Stern (UCL, London, UK)
Pavel Tomancak (Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology
and Genetics, Dresden, Germany)
Miguel Torres (CNIC, Madrid, Spain)
Jessica E. Treisman (Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine,
New York, USA)
Michael D. Tyers (University of Edinburgh, UK)
Graham Warren (Max F. Perutz Laboratories, Vienna, Austria)
Ting Xie (Stowers Institute for Medical Research, USA)
Yongbiao Xue (Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China)
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