About the Journal
Protein & Cell is a fully open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes 12 issues per year online. It provides a forum for prompt publication of original research articles, reviews, and commentaries concerning latest development in multidisciplinary areas in biology and biomedicine.
All papers published in Protein & Cell are made freely available online under an open access licence, with applicable charges. Please refer to the open access section below.
Once a paper is accepted, Protein & Cell will publish a precopyedited, preproofed version of the paper online within 48 hours of receiving a signed licence. This is replaced by a copyedited, proofed version of the paper as soon as it is ready.
Please read these instructions carefully and follow them closely. The Editors may return manuscripts that do not follow these instructions.
Scope of the Journal
Protein & Cell covers all aspects of protein and cell research. The subject areas include, but are not limited to biochemistry, biophysics, cell biology, oncology, genetics, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, neuroscience, stem cell, plant science, protein science, structural biology and translational medicine. In addition, we also address the up-to-date research highlights, news and views, and commentaries covering research policies and funding trends in China.
Contents
Authors retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels, and this does not prevent submission to the journal. For further information see our Online Licensing, Copyright and Permissions policies. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including your published paper’s DOI, as described on our Author Self-Archiving policy page [link to existing journal-specific policy].
Original Articles—Maximum Word Count: 3,500
Manuscript Preparation: Format, Structure, and Style
Presubmission Language Editing
Editorial Policies
Details of Oxford University Press’s editorial policies are available.
Peer Review
Protein & Cell uses double blind peer review. All original articles are subject to strict peer review organized by the editorial team, who will select two or more reviewers with relevant expertise. Should a split recommendation occur among reviewers, more reviewers may be selected upon Editor or the Board member's discussion. Final acceptance or rejection decision will be made by Editor-in-Chief of Protein & Cell. In general, the review process takes up to three weeks from the date of submission, and the Editors will make every effort to reach a decision on a manuscript within this timeline. If revisions are required for further consideration for publication, we generally allow three months for revisions and only one round of revisions will be considered.
Protein & Cell set up the green channel policy towards the manuscripts rejected by other journals. Authors are encouraged to share the reports and decision letter from a previous submission, particularly where the submission was to a leading disciplinary or field journal, where they believe this will facilitate the review process on Protein & Cell. These files can be uploaded as part of the submission process. It is the author’s responsibility to get permission to share the files with Protein & Cell. The editors will comprehensively judge the final version based on these documents, potentially with a faster decision.
Data Policy
The journal requires all authors, where ethically possible, to publicly release all data underlying any published paper as a condition of publication. The data must undergo peer review along with the manuscript as part of the acceptance process. Authors must include a Data Availability Statement in their published article.
Data Availability Statements
Data Availability Statements provide a standardised format to describe the availability of data underlying the research results of the article. The statement may refer to original data generated in the course of the study or to third-party data analysed in the article. The statement should describe and provide means of access, where applicable, by linking to the data or providing the required unique identifier.
Preprint Policy
Authors retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels, and this does not prevent submission to the journal. For further information see our Online Licensing, Copyright and Permissions policies. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including your published paper’s DOI, as described on our Author Self-Archiving policy page [link to existing journal-specific policy].
Self-Archiving Policy
You may self-archive versions of your work on your own webpages, on institutional webpages, and in other repositories. If you want more information about the reuse rights you retain if you publish with us, please visit our Author Self Archiving Policy page.
Conflict of Interest
When submitting a paper, you and your co-authors must declare any potential conflicts of interest. You must do this by including a Conflict of Interest statement in your submitted manuscript] or [by providing the relevant details on our online submission site and by including a Conflict of Interest statement in your submitted manuscript.
A detailed definition of conflicts of interest is available.
Submission
We will consider your manuscript as long as
· it is your own original work and does not duplicate any previously published work, including your own;
· it is not under consideration, in peer review, or accepted for publication in any journal other than Protein & Cell;
· it has not been published in any other journal; and
· it contains nothing abusive, defamatory, libelous, obscene, fraudulent, or illegal.
Authors should observe high ethical standards and obey publication best practices. The following are all unacceptable:
· data falsification or fabrication
· plagiarism, including duplicate publication of your own work without proper citation
· misappropriation of work
We treat any case of ethical or publication malpractice very seriously. We will address them in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines. Further information about OUP’s ethical policies is available.
How to Submit
You must submit your paper via our web-based submission system, which may be found at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/protein-cell. If you have not submitted with Protein & Cell before, you will need to create an account. More information is available on the ScholarOne Manuscripts FAQ and help page. Questions about submitting can be sent to the editorial office at protein_cell@biols.ac.cn.
Article Type
This journal publishes several different article types.
Research articles: original experimental reports within the journal's scope.
Reviews, Mini-reviews: comprehensive, authoritative descriptions of any subject within the journal's scope. They may cover basic science and clinical reviews.
Vantage points, Perspectives: advanced/preliminary/provocative observation/hypothesis on cutting edge subjects.
News and views, Highlights, Commentaries: up-to-date research highlights and commentaries covering research policies and funding trends in China as well as in other countries.
Letters: a platform to discuss new topics on current interest to Protein & Cell research.
Recollection: historic stories about science and scientists.
Third-Party Permissions
If you wish to reproduce any material for which you do not own the copyright—including quotations, tables, or images—you must obtain permission from the copyright holder. The permissions agreement must include the following documents:
· nonexclusive rights to reproduce the material in your article in Protein & Cell
· both print and electronic rights, preferably for use in any form or medium
· lifetime rights to use the material
· worldwide English-language rights
Further information on obtaining permissions is available.
Manuscript Preparation: Format, Structure, and Style
Presubmission Language Editing
If you are not confident in the quality of your English, you may wish to use a language-editing service to ensure that editors and reviewers understand your paper. Language editing is optional and does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted. Edited manuscripts will still undergo peer review by the journal.
Title Page
Please include the following:
· the title of your paper
· all author names and affiliations
· mailing address and email address of one corresponding author
· a short running head of 50 characters or less
Abstract
Abstracts have a maximum length of 300 words and must not contain reference citations or abbreviations.
Abbreviations
Please define nonstandard abbreviations at the first occurrence.
Tables
You must number all tables (e.g., table 1, table 2, table 3) and reference them in the text. You must place all tables at the end of the main text. Tables should be in an editable format, and not embedded as an image file.
References
You may format references in any readable style at submission. You are responsible for the accuracy of reference information.
Acknowledgments and Funding
Acknowledgments and funding information should be included at the end of your manuscript. Please fully cite any relevant funding information, including specific grant numbers.
Figures
You must include figure titles and legends within the manuscript file—they should not be included in the image file.
You must submit each figure as an individual image file. Submit all panels of a multipanel figure on a single page as one file. For example, if the figure has 3 panels, the figure should be submitted as one file. Each panel should be labeled as a letter (A, B, C, D, etc.) in the upper-left corner of each panel.
Images of photographs or paintings can be provided as raster images. Common examples of raster images are .tif/.tiff, .raw, .gif, and .bmp file types. The resolution of raster files is measured by the number of dots or pixels in a given area, referred to as “dpi” or “ppi.”
· minimum resolution required for printed images or pictures: 350 dpi
· minimum resolution for printed line art: 600 dpi (complex or finely drawn line art should be 1200 dpi)
· minimum resolution for electronic images (i.e., for on-screen viewing): 72 dpi
Images of maps, charts, graphs, and diagrams are best rendered digitally as geometric forms called vector graphics. Common file types are .eps, .ai, and .pdf. Vector images use mathematical relationships between points and the lines connecting them to describe an image. These file types do not use pixels; therefore resolution does not apply to vector images.
Figures prepared as .doc/.docx or .jpeg/.jpg files will not be accepted.
Images must be final size, preferably one column width (8.4 cm). Figures wider than one column should not be sized over 17 cm. The maximum height should not be higher than 20 cm. Numbers, letters, and symbols should be no smaller than 6 points (2 mm) and no larger than 12 points (6 mm) after reduction and must be consistent. Composite figures must be preassembled. The final text should be at least 2 mm in size and the graph lines should be at least 0.5 pt in weight.
Supplementary Material
You must submit supplementary data or supplementary material at the same time as the main manuscript.
· Supplementary material must be cited in the text of the main manuscript.
· Supplementary material will be available online only and will not be copyedited or typeset.
· Style and formatting of supplementary material should be consistent with that of the manuscript.
· Supplementary material should be formatted to function on any internet browser.
· Supplementary material files should be no larger than 2 MB each.
Note
For all structural studies, coordinates and structure factors should be deposited in the Protein Data Bank at the time of manuscript submission. The PDB ID(s) should be included in the manuscript or supplementary materials.
Production
Manuscript Charges
Author Services
You can pay your open access charges immediately after you sign your licence.
OA Licence Charges
Protein & Cell is a fully open access journal, and all articles are published in the journal under an open access licence immediately upon publication. You will need to pay an open access charge to publish under an open access licence. Please see Creative Commons licences for more information.
Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY) licence – $2,500
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