Microbial Genomics – FAQs
Contents
- Is my paper covered by the journal’s scope?
- Where is the journal indexed?
- How does the peer review system work?
- Is it mandatory to submit all my data?
- How many genomes do I need to submit to the journal?
- How does Microbial Genomics help authors meet funding body requirements?
- How much are the article processing charges (APCs)?
- Is there support for multimedia content?
- How long will it take to publish my article?
- What if I have any other questions?
1. Is my paper covered by the journal’s scope?
Any high quality, original research that includes or has used a genomic approach to investigate any aspect of microbiology will be considered for publication by Microbial Genomics. To read the full scope, click here.
We are especially keen to encourage submissions in the following areas:
- Fungal or viral genomics.
- Outbreak reports: genomic investigations of disease outbreaks that focus on the data and the process that led to the finding, as well as the finding itself, producing reproducible, robust research.
- Host–microbiota interactions, with a particular emphasis on studies where sequence data provides real biological insights into the role that microbial communities play in host health.
- Experimental evolution studies that focus on evolutionary responses to antimicrobial stresses, as well as those with longitudinal genomic data sets examining evolution in response to treatment and host associated stresses.
- High throughput imaging and metabolomics analysis of interactions and influences of the microbe, both on the host and of the host on the microbe.
- Systems microbiology research that has used a hypothesis-driven, resource-aware approach and combined this with novel, ground breaking applications.
- Novel methods for pan-genomic analysis.
- Functional genomics.
The journal also publishes reviews, mini reviews, methods articles and commentaries. For more information on article types, click here.
2. Where is the journal indexed?
Microbial Genomics is now indexed in PubMed Central (PMC) and Medline (meaning content published in Microbial Genomic is searchable via PubMed), ensuring maximum discoverability of your research.
3. How does the peer review system work?
Microbial Genomics uses a single-blind 'staged' peer review system.
When an article is sent out for peer review, the authors’ names and affiliations are removed from this initial invitation in order to remove any unconscious bias at this stage. If a reviewer decides to accept the invitation, they are then given access to the full manuscript and supplementary data files along with the authors names.
On submission authors will be asked to suggest three suitable referees for their manuscript. They should not include current collaborators or those affiliated with the same institution as the authors. Please ensure that an institutional email address is provided for all suggested reviewers.
4. Is it mandatory to submit all my data?
Authors are required to provide access to all supporting data, which have either led to the conclusions drawn in their paper, or allow the procedure described in the paper to be repeated.
Any data that is needed to repeat any of the stages that lead to the conclusions must be provided; this includes raw data where appropriate.
Data must be deposited in a relevant data depository that is Open Access/freely accessible to the public. If you have large supplementary figures or tables these can be transferred to the journal’s Figshare account via the Editorial Office once your paper has been submitted.
Microbial Genomics has partnered with Microreact, a free data visualisation and sharing platform that allows scientists and health professionals worldwide to better collaborate to understand disease outbreaks. The journal encourages authors to upload their data files to Microreact, which can then provide interactive querying of the data via trees, maps, timelines and tables, and will be published in Microbial Genomics via a permanent web link.
Microbial Genomics will not accept papers that do not provide supporting data for personal reasons or request an embargo period.
For more information and instructions, please see Microbial Genomics' Open Data policy.
If you have any questions regarding open data, please email the Editorial Office at [email protected]
5. How many genomes do I need to submit to the journal?
There is no finite number; we are looking for studies that have included a genomic approach in their methodology.
6. How does Microbial Genomics help authors meet funding body requirements?
An increasing number of funding bodies now mandate that research that they have funded must be accessible to the public (i.e. Open Access). Depending on the funding body, this mandate can be met by publishing in an Open Access journal (Gold Open Access) or through deposition in a repository after an embargo period (Green Open Access). For more information on how the Society supports funding body mandates through our OpenMicrobiology initiative, please click here.
As a Gold Open Access journal, Microbial Genomics supports authors in meeting these requirements by ensuring that the final published article is made freely available for anyone to read online from the time of publication and can be posted to institutional and subject repositories immediately. Microbial Genomics articles are deposited automatically in PubMed Central.
7. How much are the article processing charges (APCs)?
Microbial Genomics operates under a Gold Open Access model, please see 6. above 'How does Microbial Genomics help authors meet funding body requirements?'. Article processing charges are at a reduced cost of £1500 per article.
8. Is there support for multimedia content?
Yes, multimedia content is supported on the journal platform. Microbial Genomics has also recently partnered with Microreact, a free data visualisation and sharing platform. To find out more click here.
9. How long will it take to publish my article?
Upon successful submission of a manuscript the target to first decision is 30 days. This means that authors should receive an initial decision from an Editor within this timeframe. Microbial Genomics has recently moved to a continuous publication model. As soon as the author has approved their copy-edited and typeset proof, the Society will do a final check and publish the article online. By taking away the time to wait for an article to be included in an issue, readers will see the best version of the article as soon as possible, each month the published articles will then be grouped together into an online issue.
10. What if I have any other questions?
More information can be found in the journal’s homepage and our Information for Authors. However you can also contact the Editorial Office directly at [email protected].