Are you charging Article Processing Charges (APC)?
microPublication Biology does not currently charge any APC. We will institute article processing charges (APCs) starting April 2nd 2022, as part of our long-term sustainability plan. We will charge $250 per article, which should cover costs but not new initiatives. No article will be refused because of an author’s inability to pay page charges.
How do you differ from traditional journals?
The major goal of microPublication Biology is to rapidly place research findings into the public domain. Thus unlike other journal platforms, we publish single high quality research results, independent of perceived impact, which can be new research findings, negative results, reproduced/replicated results or “unpublished observations” from prior publications. Single results can stand alone, and do not require a narrative story to placate editors. Placing such findings into the public domain not only advances the scientific endeavor, but also gives credit to the individual(s) that did the work.
Importantly, unlike other journal platforms, information from each microPublication is directly incorporated into community databases (e.g., WormBase) through the use of author populated user-friendly web forms that rely on controlled vocabularies, when available – thus advancing the goal of making the content of each microPublication computable.
What should I do if the data I want to publish does not have a submission form?
For data-types for which we do not have a ready submission form, we provide a simple word template that authors can use to submit their data.
Are microPublications findable on PubMed?
Yes! microPublications are indexed in PubMed Central and are findable in both PubMed Central and PubMed. We are also indexed in EuropePMC.
Can I submit my work to microPublication and bioRxiv?
Yes, you can submit your article to microPublication and deposit it in bioRxiv.
Where can I sign up to be a reviewer for microPublication Biology?
On the ‘Guidelines for reviewers’ page you can find information on how to sign up to be on the reviewer’s list.
Who can be a reviewer for microPublication Biology?
Principal Investigators, Postdocs, and senior graduate students can review articles for microPublication Biology. Before selecting a postdoc or a senior graduate student as reviewer, we ask their supervisor’s approval.
What is the career value of a microPublication?
First off, at this point, you would be crazy to rely solely on microPublications for promotion. We just don’t know yet how academic scientists will respond. If the data won’t be published, microPublications are clearly better than nothing. Digging deeper, let’s consider co-authorships. What is the CV value of a sixth authorship? Certainly worth something, especially if augmented by first-authorships. What did you do to deserve that co-authorship? Probably it was to contribute a figure or a panel in a complex figure, or a supplemental figure. Well, a microPublication is essentially one figure, so we consider it of equal value, and possibly more valuable because you are the first author. Lastly, some microPublications are of high value and will be relatively highly cited. As you can see, microPublications have clear value to your CV already, but perhaps more importantly, to the broader scientific enterprise.
Can I mention ‘unpublished data’ or ‘data not shown’ in my microPublication?
microPublication Biology aims at getting all data to the community, hence we discourage mention of ‘unpublished’ and ‘data not shown’ observations in the manuscript.
Data not shown and unpublished observations should be shown in the microPublication or microPublished as a separate submission.
Can I reuse data published in microPublication Biology in other articles I write?
Yes, you can cite any data published in microPublication Biology as you would cite any other data published in a previously published research article.
Can I submit negative results?
Yes, microPublication Biology accepts negative results.
What are Integrations?
These articles are extended narratives for data published as a microPublication. Each {Integrations} article furthers the discussion of data reported in multiple microPublications. Integrations can include a final experiment that ties published microPublication data into a cohesive report. Authors submitting Integrations should follow all Author Guidelines as stated for normal microPublications.
