International Journal of Biological Sciences publishes papers that are judged, after editorial review, to make a substantial contribution to the understanding of any area of biological sciences. Types of articles include original research papers, short research communications, reviews or mini-reviews, and letters to the editor. The Journal aims at rapid publication of high quality research results while maintaining rigorous review process. Manuscripts (other than those that are of insufficient quality or unlikely to be competitive enough for publication) are reviewed by two or more reviewers. The main criteria for accepting a manuscript for publication are originality, scientific importance and interest.
Scientific studies about citations of papers have indicated much higher citation rate of open access articles (See research paper: Online or Invisible? by Steve Lawrence, edited version in Nature, Volume 411, Number 6837, p. 521). A more recent study suggests that open access articles in the biomedical field are 2-3 times more likely to be cited than closed access articles (Eysenbach G. Citation Advantage of Open Access Articles. PLoS Biol. 2006;4(5) p. e157). Each article published by International Journal of Biological Sciences is open access, and full text is permanently displayed in PubMed Central, freely available to thousands of researchers/scientists that use the archive every day. The full text version in PubMed Central ensures your article will be properly displayed and available for readers for the many generations to come. To cater for international audiences and promote international collaboration, we encourage submissions that present results of collaborative research of more than one countries. Those submissions receive higher attention in editorial review and publication. Authors should submit papers that have been carefully proofread and polished.
The Journal may also publish special issues that focus on research topics of common interest in biological sciences. A guideline for special issue organizers can be found here.