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News from Journal of Experimental Biology



Journal of Experimental Biology moves to Editorial Manager

Logo: Editorial Manager 

All journals from The Company of Biologists are moving to a new submission system, called Editorial Manager. Editorial Manager is the leading cloud-based manuscript submission and peer review system for scholarly publications. We are making this change as we believe it will benefit authors, editors and reviewers and that it will provide an improved user experience. Use of the current submission system will be phased out, so your manuscript will only ever sit in one submission system. For further details about this change, please visit our FAQ page or contact the Editorial Office.

18 June 2024

 

The Company of Biologists is a signatory to United2Act Against Paper Mills

United2Act logo

Publishers big and small play an important part in protecting research integrity. Like many other publishers, we put systems, tools and processes in place to help us with this, and we are members of a number of organisations dedicated to maintaining standards in publishing ethics.

Unfortunately, there are some players in the scholarly publishing landscape that are not genuine and the problem of so-called paper mills is a threat to authors and publishers alike. According to COPE “[p]aper mills are the process by which manufactured manuscripts are submitted to a journal for a fee on behalf of researchers with the purpose of providing an easy publication for them, or to offer authorship for sale.” Some of these organisations seem genuine on the surface and it can be hard for researchers to spot the bad actors.

It is important that the various stakeholders work together to address the problem of paper mills, which is why we have become signatories of United2Act Against Paper Mills, an initiative supported by COPE and STM. A summit in May 2023 led to several collective actions that all signatories support, and working groups have been set up to develop these plans further.

Find out more about United2Act Against Paper Mills.

22 April 2024

 

JEB launches two new grants for junior faculty staff

To celebrate its 100th anniversary, Journal of Experimental Biology has launched two new grants to support junior faculty staff.

Research Partnership Kickstart Travel Grants aim to support junior faculty staff (e.g. Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Group Leader, Principal Investigator) to travel to another research lab for up to seven days to initiate a new research collaboration and develop, write and submit a major grant application for collaborative research.

ECR Visiting Fellowships provide funding to junior faculty staff (e.g. Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Group Leader, Principal Investigator) to attract an early-career researcher (e.g. graduate student or post-doctoral researcher) to undertake a defined research project in their lab for one to three months.

To be eligible for either of these two grants, applicants must be within five years of setting up their first lab/research group and be working in the field of experimental biology relating to animal comparative physiology or biomechanics.

9 May 2023


The Forest of Biologists — a bio-positive publishing initiative from The Company of Biologists

The Forest of Biologists logo

The Company of Biologists is excited to announce a new biodiversity initiative — The Forest of Biologists — creating, restoring and preserving important woodland habitats in the UK.

For each Research Article and Review article published in the five Company journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms, Biology Open), a tree is planted in a UK forest. For each peer review completed, a piece of ancient woodland is being preserved. All of these trees are represented together in a virtual forest.

Visit forest.biologists.com to see the trees that have been planted and preserved to date and read the Editorial to find out more about the launch of this initiative.

13 March 2023


Journal of Experimental Biology uses Proofig to aid image manipulation checks

Proofig logo

The Company of Biologists has chosen Proofig to help with image manipulation checks across its portfolio of journals in the biological and biomedical sciences field.

All articles accepted by Journal of Experimental Biology and its sister journals undergo rigorous ethics checks, including screening for plagiarism and image manipulation. We use a combination of tools and technology alongside a team of people for best practices in our ethics checks procedures. Proofig will aid our team to analyse a wide variety of images, including western blot bands, all types of microscopies (confocal, light or electron), plates, plants, in vitro and in vivo images.

Find out more about image manipulation on our journal policy page.

1 March 2022



Journal of Experimental Biology has exceeded its Open Access target for 2021

In August 2020 Journal of Experimental Biology, along with its sister journals Development and Journal of Cell Science, committed to becoming a Transformative Journal.

Transformative Journals proactively champion Open Access publishing and have Open Access growth targets. Over the 2021-2024 transition period, the journals aim to grow the proportion of Open Access research content by at least 5% year-on-year in absolute terms. For 2021, these targets were not only met, but they were exceeded, with Journal of Experimental Biology’s Open Access research content growing by around 15%.

Read & Publish agreements played an important part in reaching these targets – these are agreements made with our library partners to offer authors an additional APC-free Open Access publishing route.

Read more about our status as a Transformative Journal, which allows us to support a range of publishing options for our authors, and check our list of participating institutions to see if you are eligible for APC-free publication of OA Research Articles through our Read & Publish initiative.

4 January 2022


The Company of Biologists joins the UKRN as an affiliate stakeholder

UKRN logo

The Company of Biologists, the publisher of Journal of Experimental Biology and its four sister journals, has joined the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) as an affiliate stakeholder.

The UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) is a national peer-led consortium that aims to ensure the UK retains its place as a centre for world-leading research. They do this by investigating the factors that contribute to robust research, promoting training activities, and disseminating best practice. They also work collaboratively with various external stakeholders to ensure coordination of efforts across the sector.

The Company of Biologists is proud to join a long list of prestigious organisations who together make up the group of UKRN external stakeholders.

1 November 2021


FocalPlane turns 1

FocalPlane is celebrating its first birthday on 1 July. Over the past year the microscopy community site has gone from strength to strength and received great feedback from the community, with 50 contributors and more than 500 registered users. FocalPlane has continued to develop its offering over the past 12 months, introducing two blog series, Journal Clubs and the FocalPlane features… webinar series. Read the review of FocalPlane's first year and watch the how-to video to learn how to access content and contribute to the site.

To celebrate its birthday, FocalPlane is running a new image competition to feature on the cover of Journal of Cell Science. As a special thank you to all those who have registered on the site, FocalPlane is also offering two goody bags. If you haven't already, register by Thursday 8 July for your chance to win. 

1 July 2021


Journal of Experimental Biology facilitates author name changes retrospectively

The Company of Biologists recognises that there are many reasons why an author might want to change their name, including but not limited to marriage, divorce, change in gender identity or change in religion. Having your name changed on academic papers retrospectively means that you are still correctly linked to those papers and your contribution to science is traceable. To support this process, The Company of Biologists, the publisher of JEB, facilitates retrospective name changes on all its journals. Authors can choose to have name changes made with or without a public notification in the journal and it will not require a formal correction of the article in question.

To learn more, visit our journal policy page.

1 June 2021


Read & Publish agreement with Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL)

We are delighted to announce that researchers in 30 developing and transition economy countries can benefit from immediate and fee-free Open Access publishing in Journal of Experimental Biology, and our sister journals Development and Journal of Cell Science, following a Read & Publish agreement with Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL). Researchers will also benefit from free and unlimited access to the journals and their archives dating back to 1853.

Find out more about our agreement with EIFL. 

13 May 2021


The Company of Biologists launches new journal websites

The Company of Biologists has migrated its leading journals to the hosting platform of Silverchair, improving user experience and maximising the discoverability of their content for the biological community.

The Silverchair Platform now hosts The Company of Biologists' five influential journals: Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms, and Biology Open. The journal websites, available via journals.biologists.com have been given an updated, modern design, with additional functionalities, such as split-screen view for easy data reference. Moving platforms has also given the Company’s journals access to a range of partner integrations via the Silverchair Universe.

Read the full press release.

16 April 2021


Immediate fee-free publication of Open Access research articles is now available to corresponding authors at over 150 institutions in 14 countries

Following our new three-year agreement with the Max Planck Digital Library, more than 150 institutions in 14 countries are now participating in our Read & Publish Open Access initiative.

How do Read & Publish agreements benefit researchers and authors?

  • Free and uncapped publishing of Gold Open Access research articles for all corresponding authors under CC-BY licence terms, with authors retaining copyright and automatic deposit of articles in PubMed Central
  • Straightforward article submission process - see our Read & Publish guide for authors

Find out more.

What do authors say?

Dr Gal Ribak, School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Israel:

Publishing in the Journal of Experimental Biology helps to ensure that my paper reaches colleagues in my field. Publishing my paper Open Access ensures that it will also be accessible immediately to everyone else – and it was great to be able to do so for free as my institution has a Read & Publish agreement with The Company of Biologists.

See more author feedback

Which institutions are participating in our Read & Publish initiative?

You can see the list of participating institutions here. If your institution is not on the list, you may wish to contact your library to find out if they plan to participate soon.

Any questions? Please see our FAQ or contact us.

11 February 2021


Six more institutions have joined our Read & Publish initiative

We are delighted to announce that the following institutions - the first in their respective countries - are now participating in our Read & Publish Open Access initiative:

  • Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia
  • German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Germany
  • Montana State University, USA
  • University of Northern British Columbia, Canada
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands

See the announcement.

We are also pleased to welcome a new institution to our Read & Publish agreement with Jisc, bringing the total number of Jisc members participating to 24:

  • University of Bristol, UK

Corresponding authors at these institutions can publish an uncapped number of Open Access research articles free of charge in Development, Journal of Science Science and Journal of Experimental Biology. Unlimited access to the journals and their archives is also available.

11 December 2020


How JEB is supporting our community through the COVID-19 pandemic: update

The COVID-19 outbreak, declared as a pandemic by the WHO in March 2020, has had an unprecedented impact on researchers worldwide. With many labs, institutes and universities now reopening, the Editors of The Company of Biologists’ journals have reviewed the actions announced in March aimed at alleviating concerns that members of our community may have had at that time.

We are sure that everyone will recognise the need for ongoing flexibility as the impact of the evolving pandemic continues to be felt at both home and work.

  • Any reviewer or author unable to meet deadlines set by the journal should contact the Editorial Office for advice on deadline extension.
  • Many authors are likely to still be experiencing disruption to the normal running of their lab that makes experimental revisions challenging. The journal needs to ensure that submissions are held to the same standards as usual and that all conclusions drawn in a paper are supported by the data presented. However, we remind reviewers to limit requests for experimental revisions to those they deem essential for publication in the journal.
  • Where authors are concerned about their ability to respond to reviewers’ reports, we encourage them to contact the Editorial Office to discuss their revision further.
  • Our scoop protection policy means you don’t need to worry about being scooped once you’ve submitted your manuscript – even if your revisions take longer than expected.

We hope these policies will continue to support our communities. Please contact the Editorial Office if you have any questions or concerns.

30 September 2020


Journal of Experimental Biology enhances Open Access author options

We are making changes to ensure that all authors are able to publish with Journal of Experimental Biology, whatever their funder or financial status.

We’re making sure that we provide publishing options that help our authors meet any Open Access mandates coming from their funders or institutions – along with options for those authors who don’t want to publish Open Access.

Along with our sister journals Development and Journal of Cell Science, we’ve therefore chosen to become a ‘Transformative Journal’.

For further information read the full announcement.

4 August 2020


The Company of Biologists announces e-journal price freeze for 2021

In recognition of the unprecedented and ongoing challenges facing the library and research communities worldwide, there will be no increase in The Company of Biologists’ e-journal prices in 2021.

As a not-for-profit publisher committed to maximising the availability of high-quality biological science research, we are keen to support our authors, readers and library customers as far as possible during these difficult times.

We are therefore freezing fees for e-access to our subscription journals – Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology – until 31 December 2021. This applies to both new and existing customers. Article processing charges (APCs) for these three journals will also remain at 2020 levels throughout 2021.

In addition, we are waiving 2021 price increases for the two-year Read & Publish Open Access agreements we have signed with national library consortia – Jisc in the UK, IReL in Ireland, and MALMAD in Israel – and with individual institutions.

For further details, see the full announcement.

6 July 2020


The Company of Biologists and Journal of Cell Science launch FocalPlane, a new microscopy community site

FocalPlane is the third community site launched by The Company of Biologists, following in the successful footsteps of the Node and preLights.

For anyone with an interest in microscopy, FocalPlane will host news, interviews, opinions, images, tools, job listings and events to help promote interactions and foster connections. The site is free to access and users can register for a free account to post their own contribution.

A Scientific Advisory Board has been appointed to support the site alongside its own dedicated Community Manager.

“We encourage you to make the site part of your online routine, and look forward to many interactions with you all,” says Sharon Ahmad, Executive Editor, Journal of Cell Science.

Visit FocalPlane and read about how the idea for FocalPlane was born.

1 July 2020


JEB introduces cross-referee commenting

As announced in a recent editorial, we have now introduced a new step to our peer review process whereby we invite referees to comment on the other referee reports before the editor makes a decision. The aim of this ‘cross-referee commenting’ step is to help resolve differences between referees, identify unnecessary or unreasonable requests, or – conversely – highlight valid concerns raised by one referee but overlooked by others. See our reviewer guidelines for further information.

11 June 2020


The Company of Biologists signs Read & Publish Agreements with IReL

Researchers at nine institutions in Ireland can now publish an unlimited number of Open Access articles in our three hybrid journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology), immediately and at no cost to them, following a three-year Read & Publish agreement between The Company of Biologists and IReL. IReL is an Irish e-resource licensing consortium, which has been providing online access to journals and databases for libraries in participating publicly funded Irish higher education institutions since 2004. IReL is based in Maynooth University.

Further information can be found on the Read & Publish page.

4 June 2020


The Company of Biologists selects Silverchair to host leading biology publications

Silverchair and The Company of Biologists today announced a new partnership to host the leading, peer-reviewed journals published by The Company of Biologists, improving user experience and maximizing the discoverability of their content for the biological community.

The Silverchair Platform will host The Company of Biologists' five influential journals: Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms, and Biology Open. In addition to receiving an updated, modern design, The Company of Biologists will gain access to powerful, easy-to-use tools for site creation and updating, as well as a range of simplified partner integrations via the Silverchair Universe, all on a single responsive platform.

“The Company of Biologists joins a growing group of nonprofit publisher peers who desire a cost-effective, independent platform that offers them the agility to create new sites, collections, and products as quickly as their needs change and new opportunities emerge”, said Thane Kerner, Silverchair CEO. “We look forward to collaborating with The Company of Biologists' team to serve the needs of scientists and researchers.”

“We are excited to partner with Silverchair for the hosting of our journals”, said Claire Moulton, Publisher at The Company of Biologists. “We believe that joining this platform gives us greater flexibility as we evolve the ways in which we present content to our communities, enhancing our service to readers and authors.”

For further details, see the full press release.

31 March 2020


How JEB is supporting our community through the COVID-19 pandemic

We are, of course, aware that the COVID-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on researchers worldwide, with many labs shutting down either partially or fully. The Editors of all The Company of Biologists’ journals have been considering ways in which we can alleviate concerns that members of our community may have around publishing activities during this time. Here, we detail the actions we are taking at this point:

  • Any reviewer or author unable to meet deadlines set by the journal should contact the Editorial Office and we will be able to extend your deadline. Our Academic Editors may also be somewhat delayed in handling papers as they deal with pressing matters – we hope that all parties will recognise the need for increased flexibility with timelines during this period. Please note that reviewers will still receive automated reminders from our system, but these are not intended to put you under increased pressure so please just let us know if you need extra time.
  • Our scoop protection policy means you don’t need to worry about being scooped once you’ve submitted your manuscript – even if your revisions take longer than expected. Moreover, we will not necessarily reject a new submission if a competing paper has just been published: in these cases, we encourage authors to contact us to discuss how to proceed.
  • We ask that reviewers bear in mind that authors may be unable to conduct experimental revisions for a paper. Obviously, the journal needs to ensure that submissions are held to the same standards as usual, and that all conclusions drawn in a paper are supported by the data presented, but we ask reviewers to limit requests for experimental revisions to those they deem essential for publication in the journal.
  • Where authors are concerned about their ability to respond to reviewers’ reports, we encourage them to contact the Editorial Office to discuss their revision further. Please send us a point-by-point response indicating where you are able to address concerns raised (either experimentally or by changes to the text) and where you will not be able to do so within the normal timeframe of a revision. The Editor will then provide further guidance.

We hope these policies will help to support authors during these difficult times; we will continue to review the situation going forwards. Please don’t hesitate to contact the Editorial Office if you have any questions or concerns.

22 March 2020


The Company of Biologists signs two further Read & Publish Agreements, with MALMAD and SAMS

Building on their first Open Access Read & Publish deal with Jisc, The Company of Biologists has signed two further Read & Publish Agreements. The first one is with MALMAD, an Israeli consortium of leading universities. The second new deal is with SAMS, the Scottish Association for Marine Science. The Read & Publish Agreements allow researchers at participating institutions to not only access full content of the Company's three hybrid journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology), but also to publish an unlimited number of Open Access Research Articles, for corresponding authors.

Further information can be found on the Read & Publish page.

10 February 2020


JEB appoints a new Editor-in-Chief

Following Hans Hoppeler’s announcement of his intention to step down as Editor-in-Chief of Journal Experimental Biology in July 2020, The Company of Biologists initiated a community consultation to search for a new Editor-in-Chief with a strong vision both for the future evolution of the journal and for its role in the community. Following a shortlisting and interview process, we are pleased to announce that Craig Franklin (University of Queensland, Australia) will be the next Editor-in-Chief of JEB.

With research interests in animal ecophysiology and conservation physiology, and a JEB Monitoring Editor since 2011, Craig is already very familiar with the journal and says he is looking forward to his new role: “I am excited by the opportunity to work with a great team of editors and editorial staff to ensure the continuing success of JEB. It would be remiss not to acknowledge the outstanding leadership and direction provided by Hans over the past 16 years. The sense of community among the authors, reviewers and editorial staff is one of the strengths of JEB, and I look forward to working on your behalf.”

Over the next few months, Craig will be working alongside Hans to ensure a smooth handover when Hans steps down at the end of July.

The Company of Biologists would like to thank all members of the JEB community - Editorial Board members, early-career researchers, reviewers, authors and readers – who took part in the consultation and provided feedback, not only on who they would like to see at the helm but also on the journal’s strengths and weaknesses and the challenges that both JEB and the comparative physiology/biomechanics community face in the coming years. We will be sharing some of this feedback in an Editorial later in the year.

28 January 2020


The Company of Biologists announces pilot Read & Publish Agreement with Jisc

The Company of Biologists, publisher of Journal of Experimental Biology, is excited to announce a two-year pilot Open Access (OA) Read & Publish Agreement with Jisc from January 2020.

The Read & Publish deal will permit researchers at participating institutions unlimited access to all three subscription journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology), including the full archive dating back as far as 1853, and will allow the accepted articles of corresponding authors to be published Open Access by default and without limit.

Matthew Freeman, Chairman of The Company of Biologists and Head of the Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford said “We are thrilled to sign our first transitional agreement with Jisc. As a small not-for-profit publisher, the establishment of Read & Publish deals strengthens our support for the biological community and represents an important step in our Open Access journey.”

For more information visit our website. We will announce participating institutions on our website and on Twitter as they are confirmed.

20 November 2019


JEB partners with Publons for peer reviewer recognition

Journal of Experimental Biology is pleased to announce a new partnership with Publons, part of the Web of Science Group (a Clarivate Analytics company). Publons gives reviewers formal recognition of their peer review contributions using the Reviewer Recognition Service.

Our partnership with Publons allows reviewers to easily track and verify every review by choosing to add the review to their Publons profile when completing the review submission form. Publons makes it simple for reviewers to showcase their peer review contributions in a format that can be included in job and funding applications (without breaking reviewer anonymity). Reviews completed previously can also be added by forwarding review receipts (i.e. ‘Review received’ emails) to [email protected].

We are genuinely grateful for the time and expertise volunteered by our reviewers each year. We regularly acknowledge their contributions and support by publishing a list of reviewers who have provided reports in the previous year.

1 August 2019


Joint statement on Plan S implementation guidance

As part of the Society Publishers’ Coalition, The Company of Biologists, publisher of Journal of Experimental Biology, submitted a joint Plan S consultation response.

8 February 2019


Play-in-place movies now available in Journal of Experimental Biology

Journal of Experimental Biology, along with the other journals of The Company of Biologists, has recently introduced the option of playing movies in place in the full text online version of its articles. This means that videos can now be an integral part of any article and that they are placed into the full text online version of the article, making it easier and quicker for readers to access this type of content. In order to provide this service we have partnered with Glencoe Software.

See an example of an article with a play-in-place movie.

20 March 2018


preLights goes live

The Company of Biologists, the publisher of Journal of Experimental Biology, has launched preLights, a new preprint highlights service, run by the biological community.

preLights has a dedicated team of scientists from the community who regularly select, highlight and comment on preprints they feel are of interest to the biological community. You’ll find a summary of each preprint, the reasons it was selected and the selector’s thoughts on its significance. You might also see relevant comments from the preprints’ authors and we strongly encourage website visitors to join in the conversation.

For the latest posts and more information visit https://prelights.biologists.com.

20 February 2018


Journal of Experimental Biology introduces continuous publication

We are very pleased to announce that The Company of Biologists’ journals, including Journal of Experimental Biology, are introducing continuous publication. This means that as soon as an article is ready to be published, it will be immediately released online rather than waiting for other articles in the issue to be completed, resulting in faster access to the final version of the article.

By moving to a continuous publication model, we are making research available for the community as quickly as possible, which is beneficial for both readers and authors.

To learn more about continuous publication, please visit our FAQ page.

4 January 2018


The Company of Biologists supports open citations

At The Company of Biologists, the publisher of Journal of Experimental Biology, we realise how important citations are within a scientific article. Not only do they serve to give credit where credit is due, but they are also key in helping us understand the developments within a scientific field, and encourage the reproducibility and evaluation of research. As The Initiative for Open Citations (I4OC) puts it: ‘Citations are the most important vehicle for the discovery, dissemination, and evaluation of all scholarly knowledge.’

This is why we choose to support this important initiative I4OC and ensure that the citation data in all of our journals is freely accessible. It means that everyone can access the citation data for all articles, even if they cannot access the scientific article itself. This is done by depositing reference lists with Crossref and ensuring the citation data is open, both for future articles, and also for all articles in our online archives.

For more information on this initiative and the publishers who support it, visit https://i4oc.org/.

6 October 2017


Journal of Experimental Biology introduces format-free submission

At Journal of Experimental Biology, we are committed to making submission as easy as possible for our authors. We realise that submitting a paper to any journal can be a lengthy process: authors are asked to comply with detailed journal-specific guidelines without knowing whether the paper will be accepted or even peer-reviewed. We are therefore delighted to announce our new format-free submission policy.

Authors can now submit a paper to Journal of Experimental Biology in any format. We will only ask what is absolutely necessary at submission. What this means is that as long as an article adheres to our guidelines on length and the text and figures are easily viewable by reviewers, we only require information that is necessary to confirm the identities of all authors. This does mean that other requirements, such as file formats and sizes, our submission checklist, and provision of funding information, will move to the revision stage – at which point over 95% of papers will be accepted for publication.

As part of this change, and recognising the importance of comprehensive Materials and Methods sections to aid transparency and reproducibility, we are also removing the Materials and Methods section from our length limit to an article. The aim is to allow authors the space they need to describe their methods in sufficient detail for readers to fully understand and replicate the experiments conducted.

For further details, please refer to our Manuscript Preparation guidelines, or get in touch with any queries.

19 April 2017


Journal of Experimental Biology supports preprints – two-way integration with bioRxiv

         

The Company of Biologists and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s preprint server bioRxiv are delighted to announce two-way integration of their manuscript submission systems, operated by Bench>Press (HighWire Press).

Authors depositing a manuscript in bioRxiv can now transfer their paper directly to any of The Company of Biologists’ journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models &Mechanisms and Biology Open) through a simple transfer portal – avoiding the need to re-enter information or upload files in multiple submission systems.

In addition, authors submitting a manuscript to any of The Company of Biologists’ journals can deposit their article in bioRxiv through a simple one-click process in the journal's submission system. Once deposited through this optional service, the unrefereed manuscript will become free for anyone to read almost immediately, regardless of the editorial decision made at the journal. It will be citable with a bioRxiv DOI, and its usage can be tracked. This system has been in place at Development for several months. Feedback has been positive and the service is now being extended to all the Company’s journals.

Through these services, The Company of Biologists aims to support authors in making their research available to the community at an early stage – before peer review and formal publication.

17 November 2016


ORCID iD required for corresponding authors

We have recently signed the ORCID agreement, joining the growing number of publishers who recognize the value of widespread ORCID adoption and require ORCID iDs to be provided at submission by their authors.

ORCID provides a unique identifier for all researchers that can be linked to their different research works and activities across multiple platforms. It also serves to distinguish authors with similar names and simplify searching of publications databases (such as PubMed, Scopus, etc.) to avoid retrieving articles by authors with the same name.

During the submission process, the corresponding author will be required to provide an ORCID iD and we encourage authors to use ORCID iDs to identify each researcher.

Register for a free ORCID iD.

16 March 2016


Data accessibility made easy with Dryad

    

We are delighted to announce that The Company of Biologists journals, including Journal of Experimental Biology, are partnering with the Dryad data repository to support authors in making the data underlying their research available to the community, and to better integrate data accessibility with manuscript submission.

For many years, Journal of Experimental Biology has encouraged authors to make data that cannot be included as ‘flat’ figures available to readers upon publication. Several appropriate field-specific repositories exist where authors can deposit data for community access. Journal of Experimental Biology journal policies require that such data are made available at the time of publication, and encourages authors to deposit at an early stage so that referees can review the data behind the paper.

However, issues of data availability apply across all fields and data types and, in many cases, there is no specific repository for the deposition of data. In some cases, relevant data can be made available as part of the Supplementary Information, but this is not always appropriate (particularly given the large file sizes that are often involved). To overcome this problem, a number of general purpose data repositories have been developed that allow researchers to submit data packages in almost any format, and can be accessed and cited by the community. In addition, they allow your files to be permanently and safely archived. Where appropriate, Journal of Experimental Biology encourages authors to submit data to repositories such as Dryad and figshare.

Our partnership with Dryad will now allow authors to submit their data packages at the time of manuscript submission, so that the data can be made securely available to referees and then automatically made public, if and when the paper is published. Dryad charges a small fee, but waivers are available for submissions from low-income or lower-middle-income economies. Data packages are given a permanent, citable DOI and bidirectional linking between the data and the paper will help readers easily access the relevant files. We are not changing our policies regarding deposition, but hope to make it easier for authors to deposit data where they wish to do so. Our staff and editors can provide advice to authors on what types of data should ideally be made available, so please feel free to get in touch with any queries. See Dryad's FAQs for more information. We welcome your feedback on this new partnership.

11 February 2016

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