Journal of Integrative Plant Biology
Edited by:
Prof. Chun-Ming Liu
Print ISSN: 1672-9072
Online ISSN: 1744-7909
Frequency: Monthly
Current Volume: 51 / 2009
ISI Journal Citation Reports® Ranking: 2008: 242/276 Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; 91/155 Plant Sciences
Impact Factor: 0.859
TopAuthor Guidelines
1. Aims and Scope
Journal of Integrative Plant Biology (JIPB, formerly Acta Botanica Sinica)，is one of the leading scientific journals in China with a growing international readership. The aim of the journal is to report novel scientific discoveries related to all processes of plant biology, using genetic, chemical, cell and molecular biological tools to understand plants at micro- and macro-scale. Preliminary observations, purely descriptive studies, and reporting single plant-derived chemicals fall beyond the scope of the journal. The journal publishes peer-reviewed papers in 3 categories: invited reviews, research articles, and new technologies. Research articles are published under 6 themes:
♦ Cell & Developmental Biology
♦ Metabolic Biology & Biochemistry
♦ Signal Transduction & Stress Response
♦ Systems Biology & Molecular Physiology
♦ Sexual Reproduction
♦ Molecular Evolution & Ecology
2. Peer-Review Process
JIPB strives to publish papers of high quality and originality with as quick turnaround time as possible. All manuscripts received are subjected to a preliminary examination. Papers beyond the journal's scope or which do not follow the format of the Journal will be returned to the authors without being reviewed. Manuscripts which meet the journals initial requirements will be reviewed by experts in the field and a preliminary decision of whether to accept a manuscript is made within two months. The final decision of acceptance or rejection rests with the Editorial Board. Papers are usually published in chronological order of acceptance.
Manuscripts should be written in a clear, concise, direct style so that they are intelligible to the professional reader who is not a specialist in the particular field. When contributions are judged as acceptable for publication on the basis of scientific content, the Editor and the Publisher reserve the right to modify typescripts to avoid ambiguity and repetition and improve communication between authors and readers. If extensive alterations are required, the manuscript will be returned to the author for revision.
The Editorial Office and the Co-Editor evaluate all manuscripts on submission to determine whether they are appropriate for evaluation by expert reviewers. Reviewers are required to follow the general policy regarding "conflicts of interest". Authors may request reviewers, but should not request people who have a conflict of interest as defined by the policy. Editors are permitted to use any reviewer reasonably believed to be an appropriate scientific expert, except reviewers who would be excluded by the conflict of interest policy. If authors wish to request the exclusion of certain reviewers for other reasons, specific justification must be provided in the cover letter; such requests may be considered at the discretion of the Editor. Decisions will be made as rapidly as possible, and the Journal strives to return reviewers' comments to authors within six weeks whenever possible. If revision is requested, the Co-Editor will evaluate revised manuscripts and determine whether external review is required. The board will normally consider only one revised manuscript, and this manuscript must be submitted within one month unless an extension is granted. In the case that extensive revision including additional experimentation is required, the Journal policy is to decline the manuscript, but editors may choose to encourage resubmission. Resubmissions are subject to the full review process. It is the goal of the Journal to publish manuscripts within four months of submission, but this can only be achieved if the original submission meets all journal requirements.
3. Conflicts of Interest
To moderate ethical behavior among its authors, editors, and staff, JIPB has formed a "conflicts of interest" policy for editors and reviewers. In order to ensure that fair editorial decisions are made, any person who has a conflict of interest should not be in a position to review manuscripts. He or she should decline to be the reviewer before the content of the manuscript is viewed (it is usually obvious when the title and authors of the manuscript are known).
The concept of "conflicts of interest" is defined as:
a) If you and any of the authors involved in the manuscript are close family friends or direct relatives;
b) If you and any of the authors involved in the manuscript are the colleagues of one organization;
c) If you are working on a similar research topic as the content of the manuscript, or you and the authors are competing to answer a similar research question, which may allow you to learn ideas and methods, previously unpublished, from the manuscript..
d) If you and any of the authors have a student-supervisor (including postdoc) relationship within the past five years.
4. Article Categories, Associate Editors and Co-Editors
JIPB publishes articles in three categories:
• Invited Reviews
Review articles are to be written by people who are established in the area of research and can provide historical overview and future prospective in the particular scientific topic. All review articles will be invited by the Editors (EIC, AE, and HE).
To highlight the "Invited Review", a portrait photo of the corresponding author will be used in the first page of the paper.
Although JIPB does not accept review articles from general submission, but authors may consult the Editors (EIC, AE, and HE) of the particular research area first if he or she is considering to submit a review article to JIPB.
• Research Articles
Full-length research articles should present comprehensive studies and use experimental and statistical tools to answer a biological question. All articles are handled by our Co-Editors.
• New Technologies
Articles published under this category should include new protocols, methods, or new experimental systems.
Associate Editors and Co-Editors
♦ Cell & Developmental Biology
Associate Editor: Prof. Clive Lloyd (John Innes Centre, UK)
Research carried out to clarify cell division, cell differentiation, organogenesis and pattern formation fall into this category.
Co-Editors:
Dr. Tobias I. Baskin (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA)
Dr. Tamas Dalmay (University of East Anglia, UK)
Dr. Anne Mie C. Emons (Wageningen University, The Netherlands)
Dr. Sheng Yang He (Michigan State University, USA)
Dr. Jin-Xing Lin (Institute of Botany, CAS, China)
Dr. Zhongchi Liu (University of Maryland, USA)
Dr. Zhenbiao Yang (University of California, Riverside, USA)
Dr. Zheng-Hua Ye (University of Georgia, USA)
Dr. Ming Yuan (China Agricultural University, China)
Dr. Qi Xie (Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, CAS, China)
♦ Metabolic Biology & Biochemistry
Associate Editor: Prof. Roberto Bassi (Verona University, Italy)
Research carried out to understand primary and secondary metabolisms, metabolic pathways, molecular interaction, and protein structure fall into this category.
Co-Editors:
Dr. Xiaofeng Cao (Institute of Genetics & Developmental Biology, CAS, China)
Dr. Xiao-Ya Chen (Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, CAS, China)
Dr. Katie Dehesh (University of California, Davis, USA)
Dr. Xiaoquan Qi (Institute of Botany, CAS, China)
Dr. Hitoshi Sakakibara (RIKEN Plant Science Center, Japan)
Dr. Ninghua Tan (Kunming Institute of Botany, CAS, China)
Dr. Cheng-Cai Zhang (Aix-Marseille University and CNRS, France)
♦ Signal Transduction & Stress Response
Associate Editor: Prof. William J. Lucas (University of California, Davis, USA)
Research carried out to study inter- and intra-cellular communication, biotic and abiotic stresses, and environmental response in plants fall into this category.
Co-Editors:
Dr. Biao Ding (Ohio State University, USA)
Dr. Xiangdong Fu (Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, CAS, China)
Dr. Toru Fujiwara (University of Tokyo, Japan)
Dr. Zhi-Zhong Gong (China Agricultural University, China)
Dr. Hongwei Guo (Peking University, China)
Dr. Yuxin Hu (Institute of Botany, CAS, China)
Dr. Dong Liu (Tsinghua University, China)
Dr. Johan Memelink (Leiden University, The Netherlands)
Dr. Pieter B.F. Ouwerkerk (University of Leiden, The Netherlands)
Dr. Chuanqing Sun (China Agricultural University, China)
Dr. Zhiyong Wang (Carnegie Institute, USA)
Dr. Daoxin Xie (Tsinghua University, China)
Dr. Hongwei Xue (Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, CAS, China)
Dr. Jianru Zuo (Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, CAS, China)
♦ Systems Biology & Molecular Physiology
Associate Editor: Prof. Klaus Palme (Botany University of Freiburg, Germany)
Research carried out to study complex interactions in plant systems using a systematic approach, and studies of physiological process in plant growth and development using an integrative approach fall into this category.
Co-Editors:
Dr. Kang Chong (Institute of Botany, CAS, China)
Dr. Gerald Edwards (Washington State University, USA)
Dr. Ning Li (Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, China)
Dr. Chentao Lin (University of Los Angeles, USA)
Dr. Cong-Ming Lu (Institute of Botany, CAS, China)
Dr. Martin AJ Parry (Rothamsted Research, UK)
Dr. Qian Qian (China National Rice Research Institute, China)
Dr. Mark Tester (The University of Adelaide, Australia)
Dr. Jianmin Wan (Institute of Crop Science, CAAS, China)
Dr.Jun Yu (Beijing Institute of Genomics, CAS, China)
Dr. Aimin Zhang (Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, CAS, China)
Dr. Jianhua Zhang (Hong Kong Baptist University, China)
Dr. Li-Xin Zhang (Institute of Botany, CAS, China)
♦ Sexual Reproduction
Associate Editor: Prof. Wei-Cai Yang (Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, CAS, China)
Research carried out using integrative approaches to study gamete development, pollination and fertilization, self-incapability, embryo and endosperm development fall under this category.
Co-Editors:
Dr. John Harada (University of California, Davis, USA)
Dr. Chun-Ming Liu (Institute of Botany, CAS, China)
Dr.Yaoguang Liu (South China Agricultural University, China)
Dr. Hong Ma (Fudan University, China)
Dr. Li-Jia Qu (Peking University, China)
Dr. Meng-Xiang Sun (Wuhan University, China)
Dr. Yong-Biao Xue (Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, CAS, China)
Dr. Zhongnan Yang (Shanghai Normal University, China)
Dr. Dabing Zhang (Shanghai Jiaotong University, China)
♦ Molecular Evolution & Ecology
Associate Editor: Prof. Rowan Sage (University of Toronto, Canada)
Research carried out using integrative approaches to study plant ecology and evolution at the chemical, molecular or genomic level fall under this category.
Co-Editors:
Dr. Jiquan Chen (The University of Toledo, USA)
Dr. Hongya Gu (Peking University, China)
Dr. Xing-Guo Han (Institute of Botany, CAS, China)
Dr. Shuang-Quan Huang (Wuhan University, China)
Dr. Yin-Long Qiu (University of Michigan, USA)
Dr. Xiao-Quan Wang (Institute of Botany, CAS, China)
5. Submission of Manuscripts
All authors should submit their manuscripts online at http://www.submit-jipb.net. The BenchPress submission system will guide authors through the process. Additional help is available from http://submit-jipb.net/submission/submissionhelp or from Ms Fenghong Liu in the JIPB manuscript tracking office (+86 (0)10 6283 6133, fenghong@ibcas.ac.cn). Our online submission system will ensure a rapid handling of your paper. For peer-review, word processing files are preferred and will be converted to PDF format. Alternatively, authors may create and submit their own PDF with 1.5 line spacing, which will not be subjected to any conversion. Although there are no file size limitations, note that large files will take longer to upload and convert to PDF depending on the Internet connection. Please try to keep the maximum combined PDF file size under 5 MB. If you are not satisfied with the final conversion results when the submission is proofed, the complete manuscript may be reloaded. Note that Chinese, Japanese, and Korean fonts must be embedded in a PDF document file when submitted; otherwise the editorial office will not be able to view the submitted manuscript.
6. Ethical Considerations
Authors must state that the protocol for the research project has been approved by a suitably constituted Ethics Committee of the institution within which the work was undertaken and that, where appropriate, it conforms to the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki in 1995 (as revised in Edinburgh 2000), available at http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm.
In taxonomic papers, type specimens and type depositories must be clearly designated and indicated. Authors are required to deposit the name-bearing type material in internationally recognized institutions (not private collections).
For articles in which humans formed part of the experiment, the authors should provide the published statement of informed consent.
Research carried out in areas for which research permits are required (e.g. nature reserves), or when it deals with organisms for which collection or import/export permits are required (e.g. protected species), the authors must clearly detail obtaining these permits in the Acknowledgements section.
7. Copyright
Papers accepted for publication in JIPB become copyright of the Publisher, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Authors will be asked to sign an Exclusive License Form (transfer of copyright form). In signing the Exclusive License Form, it is assumed that authors have obtained permission to use any copyrighted or previously published material. All authors must read and agree to the conditions outlined in the Exclusive License Form, and must sign the form or agree that the corresponding author can sign on their behalf. Articles cannot be published until a signed Exclusive License Form has been received. Authors can download the form from http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/jipb_elf.pdf
8. Manuscript Preparation
Manuscripts should follow JIPB style, be written in concise and grammatically correct English, and be presented in a manner and at a level that will be accessible to the broad readership of the Journal, not specialists. Papers that do not meet these standards will be returned to the authors without further review. Please consult a recent issue of JIPB for guidance on format, organization, and preparation of figures, legends, tables, and references. Authors who think their manuscript would benefit from professional editing are encouraged to use a language-editing service (e.g. http://www.journalexperts.com/ or http://www.internationalscienceediting.com/). In general, there are no limits to the length of manuscripts published in JIPB; however, papers of more than 10 journal pages will be published only if the Co-Editor judges that the content is sufficiently novel to warrant a longer paper. Ten published pages in JIPB correspond to approximately 30 manuscript pages, including tables and figure legends and an average of six one-column figures. The text should not contain any footnotes and any such material should be incorporated into the text as parenthetical matter.
Original manuscripts must be prepared using a standard word processing program (such as Microsoft Word) and should be prepared with 1.5 line spacing and in 12 point type using one of the following fonts: Times New Roman, Courier, Helvetica or Arial.
For bio-medical manuscripts, the authors should abide by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts (http://www.icmje.org/#obligation).
Please organize your manuscripts in the following order: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Results, Discussion, Materials and Methods, Acknowledgements, References, Figure Legends, Tables and Figures. All figures should be attached to the end of the document file.
Title page
The title page should contain (i) the title of the paper, (ii) a running title of no more than 60 characters including spaces, (iii) the full names of the authors and (iv) the addresses of the institutions at which the work was carried out, together with (v) the full postal and email address, plus fax and telephone numbers of the author to whom correspondence about the manuscript should be sent. The present address of any author, if different from that where the work was carried out, should be supplied in a footnote. JIPB does not allow multiple corresponding authors.
The title should be short, informative and contain the major key words. Do not use abbreviations in the title.
Abstract and keywords
All articles should have a brief abstract (no more than 200 words) that summarizes the questions being addressed, the approaches taken, the major findings, and the significance of the results. It should be concise, complete, and clearly communicate the importance of the work for a broad audience. The abstract should not contain references and the use of abbreviations, which should be defined at first use, should be kept to a minimum.
Five to ten key words or phrases (for the purposes of indexing) should be supplied below the abstract in alphabetical order.
Financial support
The authors may acknowledge the source of financial support, including a declaration of the authors' industrial links and affiliations.
Text
Authors should divide their manuscripts into the following sections: Introduction (not included as a heading), Results, Discussion, and Materials and Methods. The Introduction should provide the necessary background information for the average reader; it should be both complete and concise. Previous publications that form a basis for the work presented must be cited. Citation of reviews is not a substitute for citing primary research articles. Citation of recent research articles is not a substitute for citing original discoveries. An author's own work should not be cited preferentially over equally relevant work of others. Authors' previously published data that are presented along with new data must be identified clearly and cited appropriately; duplicate publication of data (including data previously published as supplemental material) is not allowed without citation. The Results and Discussion can be subdivided if subheadings give the manuscript more clarity. The Discussion should not repeat the Results; instead, the Discussion should explore the implications of the Results, citing relevant published research, and should also be as concise as possible. A Conclusions section is generally not permitted. Statements of "first finding" are generally not permitted in JIPB.
Acknowledgements
The contribution of colleagues or institutions should also be acknowledged. Authors should not thanks anonymous reviewers or acknowledge secretarial services. Other acknowledgements should be kept as brief as courtesy and obligations allow.
References
The Harvard (author, date) system of referencing is used (examples are given below). In the text give the author's name followed by the year in parentheses: Smith (2000). If there are two authors use 'and': Smith and Jones (2001); if cited within parentheses also use 'and': (Smith and Jones 2001). When reference is made to a work by three or more authors, the first name followed by et al. should be used: MacDonald et al. (2002). If more than one work is cited within parentheses, separate citations using a semi-colon (Friedman 1994; Wang et al. 1997), except in the case where the author of the works is the same, in which case the author's name should not be repeated, but the years should be divided with a comma (Smith 2000, 2002).
Reference should be listed in alphabetical order. Cite the names of all authors. References to unpublished data and personal communications should not appear in the list but should be cited in the text only (e.g. A Smith, pers. comm., 2000; RW Wang, unpubl. data, 2004). All citations mentioned in the text, tables or figures must be listed in the reference list.
Names of journals should be abbreviated according to the Serial Sources for the Biosis Data Base, available in most libraries or from http://www.biosis.org. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references.
Journals
Briggs WR, Tseng TS, Cho HY, Swartz TE, Sullivan S, Bogomolni RA (2007). Phototropins and their LOV domains: versatile plant blue-light receptors. J. Integr. Plant Biol. 49, 4-10.
Sveshnikova IN (1963). Atlas and key for the identification of the living and fossil Sciadopityaceae and Taxodiaceae based on the structure of the leaf epidermis. Acta Sci. USSR Paleobot. 4, 207-237 (in Russian with an English abstract).
Jiang MY, Zhang JH (2004). Abscisic acid and antioxidant defense in plant cells. Acta Bot. Sin. 46, 1-9.
Books
Sneath PHA, Sokal RR (1973). Numerical Taxonomy. 2nd edn. Freeman, San Francisco, CA.
Nikitin VP (1969). Palaeocarpological Method. Publishing House of Tomsk University, Tomsk (in Russian).
Chapter in a book
van Went JH, Willemse MTM (1984). Fertilization. In: Johri BM, ed. Embryology of Angiosperms. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. pp.273-317.
Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP (1995). Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brener BM, eds. Hypertension: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management. 2nd edn. Raven Press, New York. pp. 465-478.
Appendices
Appendices should be placed at the end of the paper, numbered in Roman numerals and referred to in the text. If written by a person other than the author of the main text, the author's name should be included below the title.
Tables
Tables should be self-contained and complement, but not duplicate information contained in the text. Number tables consecutively in the text in Arabic numerals. Type tables on a separate sheet with the legend above. Legends should be concise but comprehensive: the table, legend and footnotes must be understandable without reference to the text. Vertical lines should not be used to separate columns. Column headings should be brief, with units of measurement in parentheses; all abbreviations must be defined in footnotes. Footnote symbols: a, b, c ... should be used (in that order) and *, **, *** should be reserved for P-values. Statistical measures such as SD or SEM should be identified in the headings.
1) Cover Letter
A cover letter must be submitted along with the manuscript, stating that neither the manuscript nor any part of its content has been submitted for publication elsewhere, except as a brief abstract in the proceedings of a scientific meeting or symposium. Any closely related papers that are in press or that have been submitted elsewhere should be noted in the cover letter and cited in the submitted manuscript as appropriate. If any new gene symbols are introduced, the authors should state that they have conducted a search of the literature and of community databases and whether each new symbol has been registered in the appropriate community database. If authors wish to request exclusion of any reviewers, specific reasons must be provided. We recommend that authors also explain briefly how their work meets the Journal's scope.
The cover letter must also contain a declaration that all authors have contributed significantly to the work and that all authors are in agreement with the content of the manuscript.
If tables or figures have been reproduced from another source, a letter from the copyright holder (usually the Publisher), stating authorization to reproduce the material must be attached to the cover letter.
Availability of materials
Publication in JIPB implies that the authors agree to provide materials that are integral to the results presented in the article, including whatever would be necessary for a skilled investigator to verify or replicate the claims. Authors are generally expected to take advantage of public repositories or commercial vendors to the extent possible.
Author material archive policy
Authors who require the return of any submitted material that is accepted for publication should inform the Editorial Office at the time of submission. If no indication is given, all hardcopy and electronic material will be disposed of two months after publication.
2) Style of the Manuscript
Spelling
The Journal uses US spelling and authors should therefore follow the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.
Units
All measurements must be given in SI or SI-derived units.
Abbreviations
Abbreviations should be used sparingly and only where they ease the reader's task by reducing repetition of long, technical terms. Initially use the word in full, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter use the abbreviation only.
Trade names
Chemical substances should be referred to by the generic name only. Trade names should not be used when it is not essential or ambiguous. If trade names are used, the name and location of the manufacturer must be given.
Scientific names
Upon its first use in the title, abstract, text, and materials and methods, the common name of a species should be followed by the scientific name (genus, species and authority) in parentheses. However, for well-known species, the scientific name may be omitted from the article title. If no common name exists in English, the scientific name should be used only.
Botanical nomenclature
All papers must conform to the latest edition of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Upon its first use in the title, abstract and text, the common name of a species should be followed by the scientific name (genus, species and authority) in parentheses.
Genetic nomenclature
Standard genetic nomenclature should be used. For further information, including relevant websites, authors should refer to the genetic nomenclature guide in Trends in Genetics (Elsevier Science, 1998).
Nucleotide sequence data can be submitted in electronic form to any of the three major collaborative databases: DDBJ, EMBL or GenBank. It is only necessary to submit to one database as data are exchanged between DDBJ, EMBL and GenBank on a daily basis. The suggested wording for referring to accession number information is: "These sequence data have been submitted to the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under accession number U12345."
Addresses are as follows:
DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ): http://www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp
EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Submissions: http://www.ebi.ac.uk
GenBank: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
3) Figures
As a step towards becoming an online-only journal, JIPB has launched "all-in-color" for its online content. Authors are strongly encouraged to submit all their plates, figures and graphs in color. Color figures and color diagrams will appear in the online version of JIPB, FREE OF CHARGE (standard page charges apply). Please note that this only applies to the online version of the journal. The authors may still have their articles printed in color, however, the previous charge for color prints will apply and the authors will have to indicate which figure should be in color. Exact page and figure charges are listed below.
We recommend that figures are created using Adobe Photoshop or similar software. Please send .tif files at full size and delete any blank space around the edges of each figure. Resolution of at least 300 dpi is needed for most figures when saved as .jpg or .tif. Color figures should be set up as CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) and not as RGB (red, green, blue) so that the colors as they appear on screen will be a closer representation of how they will print in the Journal. If you use PowerPoint, please send the original PowerPoint files. Use only basic PowerPoint fonts and do not draw lines that are less than .25 points thick. Use shaded or colored fills instead of pattern fills. Images imported into PowerPoint should have at least 600 dpi resolution. All illustrations (line drawings and photographs) are classified as figures. It is preferred that photos are grouped together into one or more plates. Figures should be cited in consecutive order in the text. Each figure should be labeled at the top of the page, indicating the name of the author (s), figure number and orientation.
Line figures should be supplied as sharp, preferably color graphs or diagrams, drawn professionally or with a computer graphics package. Lettering must be included and should be sized to 8 point size (Arial + overstrike) for line figures and photographs; figure numbers should be sized to be 9 point size (Arial + overstrike). Photographs should be supplied as sharp, glossy, preferably color photographic prints and must be unmounted. Individual photographs forming a composite figure should be of equal contrast to facilitate printing, and should be accurately squared.
Magnifications should be indicated using a scale bar on the illustration. All figures must be supplied in camera-ready format.
Figure Legends
Legends should be concise and comprehensive: the figure and its legend must be understandable without reference to the text including definitions of any symbols used and define/explain all abbreviations and units of measurement.
4) Cover Picture Submission
Each cover of JIPB will have an illustration related to one of the articles published. Authors who would like to have a color photograph considered should submit a high resolution image online via Bench>Press when submitting a manuscript, or email the photograph to the manuscript tracking office at fenghong@ibcas.ac.cn. All cover pictures should be relevant to the content of the article published in the issue, and have artistic impression. The decision for the cover selection is made by the Editor-in-Chief. When a photograph has been selected, the author will be contacted by the editorial office for additional information concerning the cover capture. If an author does not hold the copyright for a submitted image, he/she is responsible for obtaining the necessary permission to use the image in JIPB. In return, the color cover will also be used for the offprints of your paper without additional charge.
5) Free Access Articles
JIPB offers two free access articles which are selected by the Editor-in-Chief per issue. They are identified as being available to all free of charge. JIPB also supplies authors with the pay-to-publish service (see http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/static/onlineopen.asp for details). Authors who wish to take up this process are required to complete the OnlineOpen Form.
6) Supplementary Material
Supplementary material is not essential to the article but provides greater depth and background and may include tables, figures, videos, datasets, etc. This material can be submitted with your manuscript, and will appear online, without editing or typesetting. Guidelines on how to prepare this material and which formats and file sizes to use can be found at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/bauthor/suppmat.asp.
9. Manuscript Processing
All manuscripts received will be subjected to a initial validity check, including the quality and the format, by the Managing Editor. Those that pass the first examination will be assigned to an Associate Editor. The Associate Editor will make an initial evaluation of the scientific content. He will also check the language and make sure that the manuscript is written in clear and concise English.
If the Associate Editor finds the manuscript acceptable he will assign a Co- Editor from his theme, who will evaluate the manuscript in detail. The Co-Editor assigns three or more peer reviewers for each manuscript. The reviewers evaluate the manuscript in terms of the importance of research questions, the rigor of the experimental evidence and protocols, and the significance of the conclusion. All manuscripts tentatively accepted will be forwarded to the Associate Editor for a final decision. It is important to note that the Editor-in-Chief of JIPB reserves the right of changing the final decision on any submission at any stage.
A decision letter will be emailed to the corresponding author once the Associate Editor /Editor-in-Chief has made the final decision. The critique provided by the reviewers can be viewed by the corresponding author online at http://www.submit-jipb.net. If the manuscript is accepted without revision, the editorial office will contact the corresponding author if additional files/documents are needed.
If the manuscript needs revision, the corresponding author will have to read the comments carefully and make corresponding changes, and explain point-by-point what has been changed, and why if the reviewer's recommendation has not been followed. Revised manuscript files should be uploaded using the manuscript handling system.
A manuscript that contains good scientific content but requires extensive revision will, as a matter of JIPB policy, be declined. If the manuscript is declined with encouragement from the Co-Editor to resubmit, the resubmission must be done online within the time-frame asked. A note should be included, indicating that it is a resubmission together with its previous tracking number clearly stated.
If at any time during the review process the corresponding author has a question regarding the status of a manuscript or the nature of the peer review process, please contact the Manuscript Manager: fenghong@ibcas.ac.cn.
10. Proofs
The editorial office will notify the corresponding author via e-mail to electronically retrieve page proofs. The corresponding author will have access to one PDF file, which will contain: (a) PDF pages (includes figures and tables) and (b) a reprint order form. The corresponding author should return (a) the proofread and corrected original proof, (b) original figures if applicable, and (c) the completed reprint order form. Although the editorial staff may change the wording based on their understanding, the corresponding author is fully responsible for the final content of the manuscript. The proof is the last chance to correct mistakes. With the exception of typographical or minor clerical errors, no changes will be made in the manuscript at the proof stage. You may correct any of the mistakes made by editorial staff for free, however, correcting more than five of your own mistakes will be subject to additional charges (US$ 2 each), and even re-evaluation by the Co-Editor.
11. Offprints
From January 1, 2008, thirty offprints will be supplied to the corresponding author once required. A charge of RMB￥ 500 (US$ 70) will be levied for each article. For offprints of more than 30, extra charge will also be levied.
12. Publication Fees
There is no fee for submitting a manuscript to JIPB. However, a charge of RMB￥ 300 (US$ 45) for each printed page, RMB￥ 1800 (US$ 230) for each color figure (or figure plate) will be levied on accepted manuscripts. Checks should be made payable to West Haidian District Subbranch, Beijing Branch, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC); Account No: 0200004509088100989; Address: 65 West Road, Beisihuan, Haidian District，Beijing, 100083; Swift code: ICBKCNBJBJM. If authors have difficulty paying the publication costs, please contact the Editorial Office. The Editorial Board may waive the page charges under special circumstances.
13. Correction and Retraction
If necessary, corrections of significant errors in published articles will be published in a later issue of the Journal. A correction published in the print journal will also be published as a correction in the online journal and will be linked to the original article. Articles may be retracted by their authors, academic or institutional sponsor, editor, or publisher because of pervasive error or unsubstantiated or irreproducible data. A correction or retraction, so labeled, will appear in a prominent section of the Journal, and will be listed in the content page; it will also include the title of the original article. The text of a retraction will explain why the article is being retracted and will include a bibliographic reference.
14. Contact Us
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions (jipb@ibcas.ac.cn).
![[Top Arrow]](/bw/images/top_arrow.gif "To Top of Page"){kind=icon}
