For Authors

Instructions for authors

BioDiscovery is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal for the communication of high-quality original research and reviews that present or highlight significant advances in all areas of biology and medicine.

Each article type published by BioDiscovery follows a specific format, as detailed in the corresponding instructions for authors. To view the instructions please choose an article type from the list.

The instructions for authors include criteria for publication, information about preparing a manuscript for submission to BioDiscovery, and the online submission process. BioDiscovery complies with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ uniform requirements for manuscripts. Information about BioDiscovery’s polices can be found in the “About” section of the website.

Submission Process

Manuscripts must be submitted by one of the authors of the manuscript, and should not be submitted by anyone on their behalf. The submitting author takes responsibility for the article during submission and peer review.

Please note that BioDiscovery levies an article publication charge on all accepted articles. For further details see Pricing.

Please submit your manuscripts via email: editor@BioDiscoveryjournal.co.uk.

In your submission please provide:

• the name, affiliation and e mail addresses for all authors;
• cover letter;
• title page;
• manuscript body text;
• figures (if any);
• tables (if any);
• supplementary information (if any).

You can also provide the names and contact details (including email addresses) of potential peer reviewers for your manuscript. These should be experts, who will be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Any suggested peer reviewers should not be recent or current collaborators, and should not be members of the same research institution. Suggested reviewers will be considered alongside potential reviewers recommended by the Editorial Board members.

For assistance with the process of manuscript preparation and submission please contact the editorial office.

BioDiscovery publishes the following types of articles:

(Click to read about the different article types)

Reference Style

Journal article:
1. Lim PK, Bliss SA, Patel SA, Taborga M, Dave MA, Gregory LA et al. Gap junction-mediated import of microRNA from bone marrow stromal cells can elicit cell cycle quiescence in breast cancer cells. Cancer Res 2011;71: 1550-1560.

Journal article, e-pub ahead of print:
2. Rogers AE, Le JP, Sather S, Pernu BM, Graham DK, Pierce AM et al. Mer receptor tyrosine kinase inhibition impedes glioblastoma multiforme migration and alters cellular morphology. Oncogene 2011; e-pub ahead of print 29 January 2011; doi:10.1038/onc.2011.588.

Electronic Journal:
3. Vetsigian K, Jajoo R, Kishony R Structure and evolution of Streptomyces interaction networks in soil and in silico. PLoS Biol 2011; 9: e1001184

Complete book:
4. Walden R, Tomlinson B.Cardiovascular Disease. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press, 2011.

Chapter in book:
5. Kosary C. Chapter 16: Cancers of the Ovary in SEER Survival Monograph: Cancer Survival Among Adults: US SEER Program, 1988-2001, Patient and Tumor Characteristics. NIH Pub. No. 07-6215 NCI: Bethesda, MD, USA, 2011, pp 133-144.

Abstract:
6. Lennon S, Strong A. Wnt signaling and cancer development: therapeutic implications. Neoplasma 2006; 53(Suppl 1): 123 (abstract 456).

Letter to the Editor:
7. Braillon A. (2008) Re: is a screening interval of every 4 years for prostate cancer acceptable? [letter]. J Natl Cancer Inst 2008;100: 222-223.

Tables. Tables must be titled, should consist of at least two columns and the columns should have headings. Number the tables sequentially and site them within the text. Reference to table footnotes should be made by means of Arabic numerals. The tables may be included at the end of the manuscript text file after the figure legends or supplied as a separate file. Present each table on its own page. Large tables should be submitted as separate files. Tables occupying more than one printed page should be avoided, if possible. Larger tables can be published as Supplementary Information.

Figures. Figures and images must be numbered sequentially and cited in the text. They should be submitted as a separate file. Figure legends should be concise. Include the figure legends in the manuscript text file after the references. If a figure has been published before, the authors must obtain written permission to reproduce the material in both print and electronic formats from the copyright owner and submit it with the manuscript. The original source must be cited in the figure caption or table footnote.

Supplementary Information. Supplementary information is peer-reviewed material directly relevant to the conclusion of an article. Supplementary information may consist of data files, extensive tables, graphics, movies, or animations. The size of the files should not exceed 20MB. Submit supplementary information files in their final format as they are not edited or changed and will appear online exactly as submitted. When submitting supplementary information files include the text “Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the BioDiscovery website www.biodiscoveryjournal.co.uk”.

File formats
The following word processor file formats are acceptable for the main manuscript document:

• Microsoft word (DOC, DOCX)
• Rich text format (RTF)

Users of other word processing packages should save or convert their files to RTF before uploading. Many free tools are available which ease this process.

Figures and illustrations
Illustrations should be provided as separate files, not embedded in the text file. Each figure should include a single illustration and should fit on a single page in portrait format. If a figure consists of separate parts, it is important that a single composite illustration file be submitted which contains all parts of the figure. There is no charge for the use of colour figures. The following file formats can be accepted:

• DOCX/DOC (single page only)
• PPTX/PPT (single slide only)
• EPS
• PNG
• TIFF
• JPEG
• BMP

Movies:
Video clips should be in QuickTime or AVI format; MPEG movies may also be acceptable.

Language Style

BioDiscovery accepts manuscripts written in English and spelling should be British English. The authors should make sure that their manuscripts are written in good English language. Reviewers may advise rejection of a manuscript if it is compromised by grammatical errors. BioDiscovery will do only limited copyediting. Non-native speakers of English may choose to make use of a copyediting service (if further information is needed please contact us).

There is no explicit limit on the length of articles submitted. There is also no restriction on the number of figures, tables or the length of the supplementary information that can be included with each article online. Figures and tables should be numbered in the order in which they are referred to in the text. Authors should include all relevant supporting data with each article.

Abbreviations. Abbreviations should be used as sparingly as possible. They should be defined when first used and a list of abbreviations can be provided following the main manuscript text.

Typography

• Double line spacing should be used.
• Type the text unjustified, without hyphenating words at line breaks.
• Use hard returns only to end headings and paragraphs, not to rearrange lines.
• Capitalize only the first word, and proper nouns, in the title.
• All pages should be numbered.
• Use Vancouver reference format (see examples above)
• Endnotes are allowed, but Footnotes are not.
• Please do not format the text in multiple columns.
• Special characters may be included. If you are unable to reproduce a particular special character, please type out the name of the symbol in full. Please ensure that all special characters used are embedded in the text, otherwise they will be lost during conversion to PDF.

Units. SI units should be used throughout (litre and molar are permitted).

Publishing Ethics

The manuscript submitted to BioDiscovery must be original work and is not currently being considered for publication by another journal.

Authorship. It is a responsibility of the corresponding author that all named authors have agreed to its submission. Any changes to the authors’ list after submission needs to be supported by a declaration of the corresponding author that the change is approved by all authors.

Experiments with humans and animals. The authors must confirm that experiments with humans and animals reported in the original research manuscript were performed according to the relevant regulations. Include a statement in the manuscript identifying the institutional and/or licensing committee approving the experiments. For experiments involving human subjects, authors must also include with their submission a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained from all subjects.

Peer review

BioDiscovery offers two peer review systems, which the authors can choose from: the traditional closed peer review and open peer review.

The closed peer review consists of a brief review of the submitted manuscript by a member of the management team, who appoints a member of the Editorial Board to organise the peer review. Typically, the initial review takes 2 – 3 days. If a decision is made that the manuscript falls in the scope of BioDiscovery and has the quality standards required, a peer review process is triggered. At least two reviewers with expertise in the research field are involved in the process. The reviewers suggested by the authors may be used alongside with the ones chosen by the BioDiscovery Editor. Based on the reviewers’ suggestions and the recommendation made by the member of the Editorial Board, the management team makes final decision for the publication of the manuscript. Typically the peer review process is completed in two weeks.

The open peer review system is a two-stage publication process. In the first stage, manuscripts that pass a quick screen by the editors are immediately published on the BioDiscovery’s website. They are then subject to interactive public discussion alongside formal peer review. Reviewers’ comments (either anonymous or attributed), comments by other members of the scientific community (which must be attributed) and the authors’ replies are also published on the BioDiscovery’s website. In the second stage, the peer-review process is completed and, if the manuscript is formally accepted by the editors, the final article is published in BioDiscovery.

Appealing process

Authors who strongly object the reviewers’ opinion and the final decision in relation to the publication of their article may appeal by writing to the Managing Editor. Authors should provide detailed responses to the reviewers’ comments. The Managing Editor may approach the Editor-in-Chief and other members of the Editorial Board for opinion. If necessary additional reviewers may be appointed. Decisions of the Editor-in-Chief are final.