BioImpacts
Authors’ Guideline
General information about Journal
Structure and Preparation of Manuscripts
Types of Articles
Full Original Researches
Reviews
In Focus Reviews
Minireviews
Communications
Spotlights
Perspective
Notes
Commentaries
Lessons Learned
General Considerations
Full Original Research Articles
Title page
Abstract page
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Theory/calculation
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
Ethical Issues
Conflict of Interests
Acknowledgement
References
Artwork
Text
Tables
Figures
Submission
BioImpacts Annual Award
BioImpacts (BI) “ISSN: 2228-5652; eISSN: 2228-5660” is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary international journal for life sciences. BI publishes original research articles, reviews, commentaries and visions/reflections dealing with all aspects of biological and biomedical researches at molecular, cellular, functional and translational dimensions. Particular interests are given to advanced approaches in the context of “omics” (genomics, proteomics, cytomics and metabolomics) technologies, molecular/cellular imaging approaches and gene/cell therapy. The further aim of BI is to emphasize the transdisciplinarity of the biomedical sciences with nanotechnology, biotechnology, and cell/tissue engineering fields towards molecular detection/sensing and molecular therapy. In addition, BI welcomes translation of basic biomedical/pharmaceutical sciences towards application in clinic. Futuristic conceptual hypothesis and modeling that integrate various fields with biomedical/pharmaceutical sciences are encouraged to be submitted.
§ BI follows ICMJE's Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals as well as World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).
§ Manuscripts should be electronically submitted through Online Submission.
§ A covering letter must be included when submitting a paper and must state the novelty of the paper.
§ BI makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in its publications. However, BI makes no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness or suitability for any purpose of the content and disclaim all such representations and warranties whether express or implied to the maximum extent permitted by law. Any views expressed in this publication are the views of the authors and are not the views of BioImpacts.
§ Guaranteed 21-day rapid review process.
Preparation of Manuscripts should be presented as one of the following format.
A full length original research article (up to ~8000 words, including tables, figures and references) presents novel findings relevant to the Aims and Scope of the Journal.
A full length critical Review (up to ~8000 words, including tables, figures and references (100-160)) provides a summary and discussion of the relevant literature about any topic covered within the Aims and Scope of the Journal.
The In Focus Reviews (up to ~8000 words, including tables, figures and references) present a collection of full papers and/or other article types by different research groups as well as their own opinion as “Expert Opinion” on a theme of interest to the Journal's readership within a special/theme issue.
Minireviews are sharply focused well-focused, well-documented examinations of timely related issues (up to ~4000 words, including tables, figures and references (50-80)). The issues may be of a controversial nature, or may address a more narrowly focused area than those typically covered in a Review.
Communications are preliminary reports (up to ~2000 words, including tables, figures and references).
A Spotlight is a brief, lightly referenced article (up to ~1500 words, including tables, figures and references) about an outstanding area, newsworthy advance or event showing the biological impacts and consequences.
A Perspective is a lightly referenced scholarly opinion based article (up to ~1500 words, including tables, figures and references) about current or future directions in a field which may impose great Impacts.
Notes (up to ~1500 words, including tables, figures and references) are final reports from Articles in that they are limited in scope and present high quality of general interest and of sufficient importance to warrant publication.
Commentaries present the author’s considered opinion (up to ~1000 words limited to one figure/table with four key references) on a scientific or technical subject within the scope of the Journal. If such a Commentary article criticizes an article already published in the Journal, then the authors of the original article will be given a chance to response in the same issue in which the Commentary is published.
Lessons Learned are short articles (up to ~800 words, limited to one figure/table with four key references) which provide authors with a means of informing other scientists about critical issues, experiences and observations (e.g., key insights into an unanticipated manufacturing problem or biological impacts from a preliminary study), the descriptions of which would not be appropriate for any other types of articles. Such an article will be reviewed directly by one of the BioImpacts’ Editors who is expert of such scientific field.
§ There are no page charges for publication in the BioImpacts.
§ Manuscript should be written in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these).
§ In general, manuscripts structure should include subdivision with clearly defined and numbered sections (e.g., 1.1. (then 1.1.1., 1.1.2., ...), 1.2., etc.). Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.
§ All manuscripts must be typed double spaced, single column, in size 12 font and adequate margins should be left.
§ No manuscripts submitted to the Journal can exceed 8000 words.
§ Submitted manuscripts to the BioImpacts should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere.
§ Review and Minireview articles should be finalized with last section as “Concluding Remarks”.
§ In Focus Reviews are by invitation only. Authors will be invited by Editor-in-Chief or a “Gest Editor” for contribution in a thematic special issue. These articles should be finalized with last section as “Expert Opinion and Final Remarks”.
Full research papers present original high quality primary research that has not been previously published elsewhere. Download a sample copy.
§ Title - A concise and informative title directed at the general reader. Lengthy systematic names and complicated/numerous chemical formulae should therefore be avoided where possible.
§ Authors’ names - Full names (First, Middle and Last) for all the authors of an article should be given and specified with superscript number(s) for the affiliation(s) (e.g., Mark Junior Smiths1). The name of the corresponding author(s) should be specified with an asterisk after name (e.g., Mark Junior Smiths*). Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly.
§ Affiliation - Affiliation of all the authors should be given and specified with superscripted number before address (e.g., 1 Faculty of …..).
§ Running title - A very short running title should be given.
§ Corresponding author - Full address, telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) and email of the corresponding author(s) should be given.
§ Abstract - A factual concise abstract (up to 250 words) is required for every manuscript. The abstract should briefly state the Introduction and Methods of the research, the Results and Conclusion. An abstract is often presented separately from the article; hence it must be able to stand alone. References should be avoided, but if necessary, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, however if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.
§ Key words – Immediately after the abstract, six relevant keywords should be included using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts. Notice: Readers increasingly use search engines to find literature using keywords; thus recognizable and searchable keywords should be given to maximize the visibility of the article.
This section should clearly and briefly (up to 600 words) provide an adequate background with relevant references, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results. The last paragraph should address the main objectives of the work.
This section should provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced, with details of supplier (i.e., company’s name, city, country) and catalogue number when appropriate. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described. The company’s name, city and country of manufacturer of the major equipment should be given. Unexpected hazards encountered during the experimental work should be noted. Any unusual hazards inherent in the use of chemicals, procedures or equipments in the investigation should be clearly identified. In cases where a study involves the use of live animals or human subjects, the author should include a statement that all experiments were performed in compliance with the relevant laws and institutional guidelines, and also state the institutional committee(s) that has approved the experiments. They should also include a statement that informed consent was obtained for any experimentation with human subjects. As BioImpacts follows ICMJE, please consider their guideline for more information.
§ A theory section should extend (but not repeat) the background to the article already dealt with in the Introduction and lay the foundation for further work.
§ A calculation section represents a practical development from a theoretical basis.
§ Results should be clear, descriptive and concise. Attention should be paid to the matter of significant figures and tables.
§ The same data should not be presented in more than one figure or in both a figure and a table.
§ Basically, as a rule, interpretation of the results should be reserved for the discussion section of a Full Original Research Article.
§ If necessary, results and discussion sections can be combined in a single section in 'Short Communications'.
§ The discussion should explore the significance of the results of the work (without repeating them) in comparison with others similar reports.
§ A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate for 'Short Communications'.
§ Extensive citations and discussion of published literature should be avoided.
The main question of the work should be very concisely stated and the final conclusions of the study may be presented in a short “Conclusions” section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section(s).
Every experimental or clinical study may raise controversial ethical issues (e.g., Institutional Ethical Approval for working with animal or human subjects). Thus, BI expects all authors, reviewers and editors to consider COPE, ICMJE and Equator Network’s reporting guidelines in medical ethics plus scientific writing. If any, authors should state related declaration(s), unless otherwise the following sentence should be given “None to be declared”. Please take a look at following guidelines provided by COPE for editors and reviewers that maybe helpful for authors, too: Flowcharts shows how we behave with unethical papers Redundunt (duplicate) publication in submitted manuscript and published article Suspected plagiarism in submitted manuscript and published article Suspected fabricated data in submitted manuscript and published article See more
Editors and reviewers of BioImpacts declared no conflict of interests and authors must declare any conflict of interests of contributed authors very briefly in a separate paragraph at the end of the paper. All sources of funding should be declared; unless otherwise the following sentence should be given “Authors declare no conflict of interests”.
Example from: Shokraneh F, Ilghami R, Masoomi R, Amanollahi A. How to Select a Journal to Submit and Publish Your Biomedical Paper? BioImpacts 2012; 2(1): 61-68 “Farhad Shokraneh and Roghayeh Ilghami are paid as editors in editorial office of BioImpacts. Also, Alireza Amanollahi is one of the honored editors of Journal of Health Administration. Authors declared that their affiliations may affect content of this paper but this paper does not reflect thoughts of their affiliated journals.”
Authors should acknowledge any scientific, technical, statistical and financial supports. Contributors other than coauthors may be very briefly acknowledged in a separate paragraph at the end of the paper. All sources of funding should be declared.
References should be presented using the journal style (Download BioImpacts EndNote Style). Number of references should be inserted in superscript in the text and numbered at the references list. BioImpacts applies this style from August 15, 2012 and will be followed from first issue of 2013.
Literature references must be cited in the text superscript format immediately after punctuations, e.g.1
References should include only articles that are published or in press.
In the References list, "et al." should be used only after 6 authors.
Software can be cited in text; for an in-text citation, include the name and location of the manufacturer in parentheses.
Unpublished data, abstracts, and personal communications may be cited within the text only. Submitted articles that have not yet been accepted should be cited as data not shown, unpublished data, or personal communication.
Unpublished data may refer only to work from an author of the manuscript being submitted.
A personal communication should be documented by a letter of permission.
Submit your text in DOC or RTF format. Do not embed figures or tables in this document. These should be submitted as separate files.
Tables should be created with a word processor and saved in either DOC or RTF format. Do not embed tables in your text. Tables should be on separate pages and saved as one file in DOC format.
To ensure the highest print quality, the figures must be submitted in either TIF or EPS format according to the following minimum resolutions:
§ 1200 dpi (dots per inch) for black and white line art (simple bar graphs, charts, etc.)
§ 300 dpi for halftones (black and white photographs)
§ 600 dpi for combination halftones (photographs that also contain line art such as labeling or thin lines), figures should be saved as individual files. Vector-based figures (e.g. figures created in Adobe Illustrator) should be submitted in EPS format.
§ Color figures must be submitted in a CMYK color.
§ Authors should ensure that papers conform to the scientific and style instructions given above. In order to accelerate the publication process the Journal requires that manuscripts be submitted online using Online Submission facility of the journal.
§ BioImpacts offer a completely digital submission, review, and production process. At the time of submission of a manuscript, thus, it is advised to prepare production-quality files beforehand to speed up the process. It is advised that authors should follow the given guidelines above, unless otherwise the submission will be returned to the authors for additional revision which may decelerate the manuscript evaluation process and hence delay publication. Thus careful attention is fully appreciated by the editorial members of the journal.
§ Authors are required to register to create an account for submission at the Online Submission site. Authors can also follow on-screen instructions and the system will provide the essential guide through the submission process.
§ After creation of an account, authors are able to exit/re-enter in the account at any stage.
§ All submissions are kept strictly confidential.
BioImpacts grant its annual award “BioImpacts Annual Award” for the most cited article published in BI after a year or two years of publication. For more details see “BioImpacts Annual Award”.