Editorial process
Upon article submission, a manuscript is assigned to an Editor. If a manuscript does not meet the general criteria for publication, it will be returned to the authors without being peer reviewed, typically within ~5 working days. Before making such a decision, the Editor might discuss a paper with an editorial colleague or with a member of the journal's Editorial Board to seek a second opinion.
If a paper is chosen for review, two or more experts in the field of the paper will be asked to comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the paper, as well as its potential impact on the disease being studied or on work being done by others (e.g. a paper might be valuable as a resource to the larger community using a particular model organism for disease-related research, without necessarily having as strong an impact on a particular disease, and still be considered appropriate for publication). If the paper does not have significant impact in its current form, reviewers will be asked to suggest what changes might increase its impact. The Editors will evaluate the reviews to determine the criteria for publication of the paper in DMM. The goal is to have a decision-making process that is constructive, transparent and fair. We operate single-blind peer review.
Authors of manuscripts sent for peer review usually receive the reports and the Editor's decision within 30 days of submission. Authors can check the status of their manuscripts in the Author Area of the DMM online submission system or by contacting the Editorial Office.
If revisions are a condition of publication, we allow three months for a revised manuscript to be submitted (unless an author has specific reasons for requesting an extension). Articles that are resubmitted after this time are considered as new submissions. We do not accept resubmissions of manuscripts that have been previously rejected for publication by the journal, unless the Editor has specifically indicated that a resubmission would be considered in their decision letter.
Authors may appeal decisions by contacting the Editorial Office if there are strong grounds to believe there have been errors or misunderstandings on the part of the Editor or reviewers. All appeals are carefully considered by the Editor and, if necessary, Editor-in-Chief. Where appropriate, additional advice may be sought from other members of the Editorial team or Editorial Board.
Post acceptance
Upon article acceptance, all manuscripts undergo ethics checking, including screening for plagiarism (using the iThenticate software provided by Crossref) and image manipulation. Most Research and Resource articles are posted on the journal web site as accepted author manuscripts (Accepted manuscripts) before journal copyediting and article layout, and in advance of publication of the online issues in which they will appear. Authors who would prefer their accepted author manuscript NOT to be posted as an accepted manuscript should tick the relevant check box during the submission process.
All accepted articles are copyedited by trained scientific copyeditors. Proofs are sent to the corresponding author in PDF format and authors are given 48 hours in which to check their proofs, answer queries outlined in their proof, and return their proof corrections and license agreement. Articles are then processed for rapid publication on the journal's website in both full text and enhanced PDF format. Any major changes made to a paper after its acceptance can be subject to review and may delay publication.
DMM operates a continuous publication model. As soon as an article is ready to be published, it is immediately released online in the ‘issue in progress’, rather than waiting for other articles in the issue to be completed, resulting in faster access to the final version of the article. Issues build gradually, with articles being added at the top of the contents list as soon as they are ready. After about a month (around the 1st of each month), the issue is closed and becomes the ‘latest complete issue’.
Promoting your paper
DMM plays an active role in increasing the visibility of your paper. Upon recommendation by an Editor, the in-house team may prepare a press release for papers of very special medical and general scientific interest, with the corresponding author’s permission. We are happy to coordinate the publication of articles with a press release organised by your own institute's press department. We are also happy to share or retweet tagged posts or blogs on our own social media. For more information on how to help your paper reach a wider audience, see our guidelines on promoting your paper.
Rejected article transfer to Biology Open
Papers rejected from DMM can be transferred to Biology Open (BiO), an online Open Access journal also published by The Company of Biologists, for editorial consideration. Transfer to BiO is quick (one click) and easy, and your paper will be handled by research-active academic Editors. BiO is quicker than key competitors and authors are able to make changes at proof stage. Find out more about the transfer to BiO option.
