Aims and scope
Development is dedicated to understanding the development, homeostasis and regeneration of plants, animals and other eukaryotes – using both in vivo and in vitro systems. We publish papers of broad interest and utility to the developmental biology community. Research papers (articles and reports) should therefore provide novel perspectives that advance our understanding of developmental, stem cell or regenerative biology. In general, we are looking for papers that give insight that goes beyond the specifics and provide broader conceptual or methodological value to the community. We will consider manuscripts that are descriptive in nature where they lay important groundwork for a field and are of broad relevance to our community. We recognise that the depth of analysis possible in a paper varies with the experimental system being used, and assess manuscripts accordingly. We welcome submission of papers that use computational methods or mathematical models to obtain significant new insights into development, stem cells or regeneration. While we encourage such papers to include experimental validation, this is not a pre-requisite for publication.
Development includes a Techniques and Resources section for the publication of new methods, datasets and other types of resources. Papers describing new techniques should include a proof-of-principle demonstration that the technique is valuable to the developmental biology community but need not include in-depth follow-up analysis. We also welcome the submission of Resource papers, such as those reporting new databases, systems-level datasets or genetic resources of major value to the community. Development also considers protocol-type papers of exceptional interest to the field. Datasets, code and resources must be made available to the community with minimal restrictions upon publication, and techniques must be described in sufficient detail to be easily replicated.
To aid navigability, Development has sections of the journal dedicated to stem cells & regeneration and to human development. The criteria for acceptance into these sections is identical to those outlined above. Authors and editors are encouraged to nominate appropriate manuscripts for inclusion in one of these sections.
The journal also publishes occasional Special Issues on specific topics. These are coordinated either by one or more of our Academic Editors and/or by a dedicated Guest Editor or Editors working under the oversight of the Editor-in-Chief and Executive Editor. Again, the criteria for acceptance into a Special Issue are the same as for any other issue of the journal, with the additional requirement that the paper fits the specific scope of the Special Issue.
In cases where authors are unclear whether a potential submission fits within the journal’s scope, we are happy to provide rapid feedback on a presubmission enquiry - please email us.
Updated 12 February 2024
