Instructions to Authors
About the Journal
Editorial Policies
Submission
Manuscript Preparation: Format, Structure, and Style
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 the latest developments 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.
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.
Plagiarism
Manuscripts submitted may be screened with iThenticate anti-plagiarism software in an attempt to detect and prevent plagiarism. Any manuscript may be screened, especially if there is reason to suppose part or all of the text has been previously published. Prior to final acceptance any manuscript that has not already been screened may be put through iThenticate. Please see more information about iThenticate.
Availability of Data and Materials
Where ethically feasible, Protein & Cell strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files, or deposited in a public repository whenever possible. Information on general repositories for all data types, and a list of recommended repositories by subject area, is available here.
Data and Software Citation
Protein & Cell supports the Force 11 Data Citation Principles and the recommendations of the FORCE11 Software Citation Implementation Group. When data and software underlying the research article are available in an online source, authors should include a full citation in their reference list.
For details of the minimum information to be included in data and software citations see the guidance on Citing research data and software.
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.
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.
Authorship Principles
Please make sure the information of authorships, author affiliations and funding are authentic and confirmed in the final submitted manuscript. Any changes of them require a complete new submission. Further, no change would be allowed as soon as your manuscripts had been accepted.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
AI-assisted technologies such as ChatGPT, may not be listed as authors or coauthors. Authors who use AI-assisted technologies as components of their research study or as aids in the writing or presentation of the manuscript should note this in the cover letter and in the declaration section of the manuscript. Authors are accountable for the work and for ensuring that there is no plagiarism. They must also ensure that all sources are appropriately cited and should carefully review the work to guard against bias that may be introduced by AI. Editors may decline to move forward with manuscripts if AI is used inappropriately. Reviewers may not use AI technology in generating or writing their reviews because this could breach the confidentiality of the manuscript. AI-generated images and other multimedia are not permitted in the Protein & Cell without explicit permission from the editors. For more information about AI, please refer to the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI.
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 published 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 [email protected].
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 and 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.
Figure accessibility and alt text
Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.
Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs.
Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article.
Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text.
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.
OA Licence and 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.
CC BY licence – $2,700 for Review and Research Articles.
CC BY licence – $1,900 for Letters.
CC BY licence – $0 for other article types.
Details of the open access licences and open access charges.
Corresponding authors based in countries and regions, that are part of the developing countries initiative are eligible for a full waiver of publishing fees in our fully open access journals. For further details, please see our APC Waiver Policy.
OUP has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions and consortia which provide funding for open access publishing. This means authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution is participating.
