The Journal of Biology and Biological Chemistry (JBBC)

Publisher: AK Verion Press

1. Introduction

The Journal of Biology and Biological Chemistry (JBBC) welcomes submissions of original, scientifically rigorous, and ethically conducted research that advances knowledge in biology, biological chemistry, and related life-science disciplines. The journal aims to provide an international scholarly platform for disseminating significant discoveries, innovative methodologies, and critical insights into biological systems and their chemical foundations.

JBBC welcomes contributions across a broad range of subjects, including molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, microbiology, biotechnology, molecular genetics, structural biology, enzymology, immunology, pharmacology, bioinformatics, computational biology, systems biology, chemical biology, and interdisciplinary biomedical sciences.

The journal encourages research that integrates experimental investigation, theoretical analysis, computational modelling, and data-driven approaches to address important questions in biological and biochemical sciences.

Authors should ensure that their manuscripts demonstrate scientific originality, methodological rigour, reproducibility, appropriate interpretation of results, and clear relevance to the journal's aims and scope.

Before submission, authors should familiarise themselves with these guidelines and the journal's applicable policies on publication ethics, authorship, peer review, conflicts of interest, research ethics, copyright, data availability, and the responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (AI).

2. Types of Manuscripts Accepted

JBBC considers the following categories of scholarly contributions.

2.1 Original Research Articles

Original research articles should present novel and substantial findings supported by appropriate experimental, observational, theoretical, computational, or analytical evidence.

Manuscripts should clearly establish the scientific rationale, describe the methods in sufficient detail to support reproducibility, present the results objectively, and discuss their significance in the context of existing literature.

Research may address biological mechanisms, molecular interactions, biochemical pathways, genetic regulation, microbial systems, cellular processes, biomolecular structure and function, biological data analysis, or other topics within the journal's scope.

Suggested length: 4,000–8,000 words, excluding references and supplementary materials.

2.2 Review Articles

Review articles should provide a critical, comprehensive, and well-structured synthesis of the literature on a significant topic in biology or biological chemistry.

Reviews should evaluate current knowledge, identify emerging developments, assess conflicting evidence, discuss methodological limitations, and highlight research gaps and future directions.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are welcome where appropriate to the subject. Such manuscripts should follow relevant reporting standards and clearly document their search strategies, eligibility criteria, analytical procedures, and methods of evidence synthesis.

Suggested length: 6,000–10,000 words, excluding references and supplementary materials.

2.3 Short Communications

Short communications should report concise but significant findings, novel biological observations, innovative experimental methods, or important preliminary results that warrant timely scholarly dissemination.

Claims must be proportionate to the available evidence, and the manuscript should provide sufficient methodological information to enable meaningful scientific evaluation.

Suggested length: 2,000–3,500 words, excluding references and supplementary materials.

2.4 Methods and Technical Reports

Methods and technical reports should describe novel or substantially improved experimental, analytical, computational, or bioinformatics methods relevant to biological and biochemical research.

Submissions should explain the methodological rationale, validation procedures, performance, reproducibility, limitations, and potential applications of the proposed approach.

Suggested length: 3,000–6,000 words.

2.5 Other Scholarly Contributions

JBBC may consider perspectives, commentaries, brief reports, and other scholarly contributions where these align with the journal's scope and editorial priorities. Their acceptance and formatting requirements will be determined by the applicable editorial policies.

All word limits are proposed editorial guidelines and may be revised by the journal. Authors should consult the current submission instructions for category-specific requirements.

3. Manuscript Preparation and Formatting

Manuscripts should be written in clear, precise, and grammatically correct English. Authors should use consistent scientific terminology, standard biological nomenclature, appropriate SI units, and internationally recognised conventions for presenting biological and biochemical data.

Manuscripts should ordinarily be submitted as editable Microsoft Word documents (.docx), unless the online submission system specifies an alternative format.

Authors should ensure that manuscripts are logically organised, carefully proofread, and complete before submission. Abbreviations should be defined at first use, and scientific names should be presented consistently according to accepted nomenclature conventions.

3.1 Title Page

The title page should contain:

·         A concise, informative, and scientifically accurate manuscript title.

·         The full names of all authors in the agreed order of authorship.

·         The institutional affiliations of all authors.

·         The ORCID iDs of authors who have them.

·         The official institutional or professional email address of the corresponding author.

·         The name and contact details of the corresponding author.

·         Relevant funding information, acknowledgements, and other declarations required by the journal.

All listed authors must have made an appropriate scholarly contribution, approved the submitted version, agreed to the authorship order, and accepted accountability for their contributions and the integrity of the work.

Individuals who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately rather than included as authors solely because of their position, seniority, or institutional affiliation.

3.2 Abstract

The abstract should normally contain 150–250 words and provide a concise, self-contained summary of the study.

It should identify the research background or problem, the principal objective, the essential methods, the most important findings, and the main conclusion.

For original research articles, a structured abstract with headings such as Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion may be used where appropriate to the study and the journal's instructions.

Authors should avoid unsupported claims, excessive methodological detail, unnecessary abbreviations, and references that are not essential to understanding the study.

3.3 Keywords

Authors should provide four to six keywords that accurately represent the principal subject areas, methods, and findings of the manuscript.

Keywords should complement rather than merely repeat the title. Where appropriate, authors should use established scientific terminology to improve indexing and discoverability.

Examples include:

Biochemistry; Molecular Biology; Cell Signalling; Enzymology; Microbial Genetics; Computational Biology.

3.4 Main Text

Original research articles should ordinarily follow the structure below, adapted as necessary to suit the nature of the study.

Introduction

Establish the scientific background, identify the knowledge gap, explain the rationale for the investigation, and state the research objectives or hypotheses. Relevant literature should be critically evaluated and appropriately cited.

Materials and Methods

Describe the biological materials, experimental systems, reagents, instruments, laboratory procedures, analytical methods, computational tools, statistical approaches, and quality-control procedures used.

Authors should provide sufficient detail to permit independent scientific evaluation and, where appropriate, reproduction of the work. Information about biological samples, organisms, cell lines, strains, antibodies, reagents, software versions, databases, and experimental conditions should be included when relevant.

For computational studies, authors should report the software and versions used, model assumptions, parameters, data sources, validation procedures, and relevant limitations.

For statistical analyses, authors should identify the statistical tests, sample sizes, definitions of biological and technical replicates, significance thresholds, and methods used to address multiple comparisons where applicable.

Results

Present the findings objectively and in a logical sequence. Use figures, tables, equations, and supplementary materials where these improve clarity.

Quantitative results should be reported with appropriate measures of variability, uncertainty, and statistical significance. Authors should avoid unnecessary duplication of information across the text, tables, and figures.

Discussion

Interpret the results in the context of existing scientific knowledge. Explain the significance of the findings, address discrepancies with previous studies, acknowledge methodological limitations, and distinguish direct evidence from hypotheses or proposed mechanisms.

Authors should avoid overstating biological, mechanistic, clinical, or translational implications beyond what the evidence supports.

Conclusion

Summarise the principal findings and their scientific significance without repeating the abstract verbatim. Identify important limitations and future research directions where appropriate.

The Results and Discussion sections may be combined when this is more suitable for the manuscript.

3.5 Declarations

Authors should include the following statements, as applicable:

Conflict of Interest: Disclose financial, professional, personal, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived to influence the research. If no relevant conflicts exist, provide an appropriate declaration.

Funding: Identify all sources of financial support, including grant names, funding agencies, and reference numbers where applicable. If no external funding was received, state this explicitly.

Author Contributions: Describe individual contributions using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) where appropriate.

Acknowledgements: Recognise contributions from individuals or organisations that do not meet the criteria for authorship. Obtain permission where necessary.

Ethics Approval and Consent: Provide relevant ethics committee or institutional review board approval details, approval numbers, and consent statements for research involving human participants, identifiable personal data, animals, or other regulated research activities, as applicable.

Data Availability: State where supporting data can be accessed, provide appropriate repository identifiers or links, or explain legitimate restrictions on data availability.

Generative AI Use: Disclose material use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation or research in accordance with the journal's applicable AI policy.

Authors must ensure that all declarations are accurate and consistent with the manuscript and the information entered into the submission system.

3.6 References

References must be accurate, complete, relevant, and appropriate to the claims they support. Authors should verify bibliographic information against the original publications and include a DOI whenever one is available.

The journal should adopt and publish one official reference style. Until that style is formally established, authors should follow the instructions provided by the editorial office rather than treating different reference styles as interchangeable requirements.

In-text citations and the reference list must be consistent throughout the manuscript. Authors should give appropriate credit to original research, avoid excessive self-citation, and ensure that all cited works are relevant.

Fictitious, unverifiable, or AI-generated references that have not been checked against reliable sources must not be included.

4. Biological Materials, Figures, Tables, and Supplementary Materials

4.1 Biological Materials and Experimental Reproducibility

Authors should provide sufficient information to identify and evaluate the biological materials used in their research.

Where relevant, manuscripts should report:

·         The scientific names, strains, species, or cell lines used.

·         The sources, identifiers, authentication procedures, and relevant passage information for biological materials.

·         The origin and preparation of biological samples.

·         Experimental conditions, controls, replicates, and quality-assurance procedures.

·         Relevant reagent, antibody, plasmid, sequence, accession, and database identifiers.

·         Procedures for contamination testing, sample validation, and data quality control.

Authors should report experimental procedures transparently and identify any limitations that may affect reproducibility or interpretation.

Research involving genetically modified organisms, infectious agents, human-derived materials, or other regulated biological materials must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international requirements.

4.2 Figures and Image Integrity

Figures should be clear, legible, appropriately labelled, and suitable for scholarly publication. Authors should provide high-quality image files and editable source files where requested.

As a general technical recommendation, raster images should normally be supplied at a resolution of at least 300 dpi at the intended publication size. Vector formats are preferable for diagrams, molecular structures, and line drawings where supported by the submission system.

Permitted file formats may include TIFF, PNG, JPEG, PDF, or other formats specified by the journal.

Figure captions should explain the content of each figure, define relevant abbreviations and symbols, identify experimental groups, and provide sufficient information for readers to understand the figure without repeatedly consulting the main text.

Microscopy images should include appropriate scale bars and relevant acquisition information. Image processing must not distort, selectively conceal, or misrepresent the underlying data. Adjustments should be applied consistently and disclosed where scientifically relevant.

Authors must not fabricate, selectively manipulate, or deceptively alter scientific images. Original, unprocessed image data should be retained and supplied when legitimately requested during editorial assessment.

4.3 Tables

Tables should have concise, informative titles and clearly labelled columns. Units, abbreviations, statistical measures, and relevant experimental conditions should be explained in the table or its footnotes.

Tables should be submitted in an editable format rather than as screenshots wherever possible. Data should be reported accurately, and the same information should not be reproduced unnecessarily in multiple formats.

Statistical results should be presented transparently, with appropriate sample sizes, measures of variability, and explanations of statistical significance where applicable.

4.4 Supplementary Materials

Supplementary materials may include:

·         Additional experimental protocols and validation data.

·         Microscopy images, gels, blots, chromatograms, and analytical results.

·         DNA, RNA, and protein sequences and associated accession information.

·         Additional statistical analyses and datasets.

·         Molecular structures, computational models, and simulation outputs.

·         Bioinformatics workflows, source code, scripts, and reproducibility files.

·         Extended tables, figures, and supporting methodological information.

All supplementary files should be clearly labelled, appropriately cited in the main manuscript, and checked for completeness and consistency.

Authors must ensure that supplementary materials do not contain confidential information or material they lack permission to publish. Relevant metadata, data dictionaries, and instructions for accessing or interpreting files should be included where necessary.

5. Data Availability, Sharing, and Reproducibility

JBBC encourages transparent reporting and responsible sharing of research data, materials, analytical methods, and code, subject to ethical, legal, privacy, and safety requirements.

Authors should deposit supporting datasets in suitable public repositories whenever appropriate and provide persistent identifiers, accession numbers, or links in the manuscript.

Examples of relevant resources include:

·         NCBI databases for nucleotide and sequence-related data.

·         GenBank and the Sequence Read Archive for relevant sequence and sequencing data.

·         Protein Data Bank for eligible macromolecular structures.

·         Gene Expression Omnibus for relevant functional genomics datasets.

·         ProteomeXchange resources for eligible proteomics datasets.

Authors should select repositories appropriate to the data type and comply with relevant community standards and repository requirements.

Where data cannot be made publicly available because of privacy, confidentiality, legal, ethical, or other legitimate restrictions, the Data Availability Statement should explain the reason and, where possible, describe the conditions under which access may be requested.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that reported results can be traced to the underlying evidence and that shared data and code are sufficiently documented to support independent assessment.

6. Peer Review and Editorial Assessment

JBBC intends to maintain a rigorous and impartial peer-review process that supports scientific quality, research integrity, and constructive scholarly evaluation.

The journal's operational peer-review model, including whether reviews are double-blind, single-blind, or conducted under another clearly defined arrangement, should be stated explicitly in its published editorial policies.

All submissions are subject to an initial editorial assessment for relevance to the journal's scope, originality, completeness, methodological quality, ethical compliance, and adherence to submission requirements.

Manuscripts considered suitable may be sent to independent reviewers with relevant subject expertise. Reviewers may evaluate the scientific validity, novelty, reproducibility, interpretation, and significance of the work.

Editorial decisions are based on the available evidence, reviewers' assessments, the journal's standards, and the editor's independent judgment. Manuscripts may be accepted, rejected, or returned for revision.

Peer review does not guarantee acceptance. Authors must respond accurately and professionally to reviewers' comments and identify the changes made in revised submissions. Any disagreement should be supported by a clear scientific rationale.

7. Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

JBBC expects all submitted work to comply with recognised principles of research integrity and responsible scholarly publishing.

Authors must ensure that their submissions:

·         Represent original work and appropriately acknowledge prior research.

·         Are not under simultaneous consideration by another journal, except where explicitly permitted by the journal.

·         Do not contain plagiarism, fabricated data, falsified results, deceptive image manipulation, or misleading attribution.

·         Include appropriate ethics approval, consent documentation, and regulatory compliance statements where required.

·         Accurately disclose funding, conflicts of interest, and author contributions.

·         Comply with applicable copyright, licensing, privacy, and data-protection requirements.

·         Present results honestly and acknowledge relevant limitations.

·         Include appropriate citations for methods, datasets, figures, and other sources.

7.1 Human-Participant Research

Research involving human participants, human biological samples, identifiable personal information, or human-derived data must comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

Authors should provide the name of the approving ethics committee or institutional review board, the approval reference where applicable, and relevant informed-consent statements.

Where consent was waived or was not required, authors should explain the basis for that determination and provide appropriate documentation when requested.

Personal information must be handled responsibly, and manuscripts, figures, datasets, and supplementary files should not disclose identifiable information without an appropriate legal and ethical basis.

7.2 Animal Research

Research involving live animals must comply with applicable institutional and national animal-welfare regulations and relevant ethical standards.

Authors should identify the approving ethics committee, provide approval details where applicable, describe relevant animal characteristics and experimental procedures, and explain measures taken to minimise pain, distress, and unnecessary animal use.

Where applicable, authors are encouraged to follow the ARRIVE guidelines for reporting animal research.

7.3 Biosafety and Regulated Research

Research involving infectious organisms, hazardous biological materials, genetically modified organisms, or other regulated activities must comply with applicable biosafety, biosecurity, and institutional requirements.

Authors should disclose relevant approvals, containment measures, and safety procedures where scientifically or legally required.

Suspected breaches of research integrity will be assessed in accordance with the journal's applicable publication-ethics procedures. Where appropriate, the editorial office may request clarification, supporting data, corrections, or further documentation, or take other proportionate editorial action.

8. Plagiarism and Similarity Screening

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using similarity-detection tools as part of the journal's editorial assessment.

A similarity score alone does not establish plagiarism or research misconduct. Editors should evaluate the nature, source, context, and extent of overlapping material, taking appropriate account of legitimate quotations, standard technical terminology, references, and methodological descriptions.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all sources are properly acknowledged and that any reused text, figures, tables, images, or other material complies with applicable attribution and permission requirements.

Plagiarism, inappropriate text recycling, duplicate publication, and unattributed reuse of published material may result in editorial action in accordance with the journal's policies.

9. Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy

JBBC supports the responsible and transparent use of AI-assisted technologies in biological and biochemical research, subject to the journal's applicable policies and the requirements of research integrity.

AI tools may assist with activities such as language improvement, translation, literature organisation, coding, data analysis, or other research tasks where their use is appropriate. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, validity, and integrity of all submitted content.

The following principles apply:

1.      Authorship: AI systems cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the work or fulfil the requirements of authorship.

2.      Disclosure: Material use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation should be disclosed in accordance with the journal's policy. AI used as part of the research methodology should be described in the relevant Methods section with sufficient technical detail.

3.      Verification: Authors must independently verify AI-assisted claims, references, calculations, code, biological interpretations, and research conclusions.

4.      Research integrity: AI must not be used to fabricate data, invent references, misrepresent experimental findings, conceal plagiarism, or manipulate scientific images deceptively.

5.      Confidentiality: Authors and reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts, unpublished research, sensitive personal data, or restricted information to AI services in ways that violate applicable confidentiality, privacy, or institutional requirements.

6.      Accountability: Authors remain responsible for all material included in the manuscript, regardless of whether it was written, edited, analysed, or generated with AI assistance.

The journal's final AI policy should specify the disclosure requirements and any additional restrictions applicable to authors, reviewers, and editors.

10. Copyright, Open Access, and Licensing

JBBC aims to support the dissemination of biological and biochemical research through accessible scholarly publishing.

The journal's official copyright, open-access, and licensing arrangements should be clearly stated on its website before submissions are accepted. Authors should review those policies to understand the applicable terms governing publication, distribution, reuse, and author rights.

Authors must ensure that they have the necessary permissions for third-party material, including figures, tables, images, datasets, and substantial reproduced text, and that all relevant licence conditions are satisfied.

Open access should not be interpreted as automatic permission for unrestricted reuse of every published item. The specific copyright and licence terms applicable to each article should be consulted before its content is reused.

Any applicable article processing charges, publication fees, waivers, or other financial conditions should be disclosed transparently by the journal before authors submit their work.

11. Submission Procedure

All manuscripts should be submitted through the journal's official online submission system.

Authors should complete the following steps:

Step 1: Register or log in. Create an account on the JBBC website or access an existing account.

Step 2: Start a new submission. Select the appropriate manuscript category and complete the required submission fields.

Step 3: Enter manuscript information. Provide the title, abstract, keywords, author details, affiliations, and other requested metadata.

Step 4: Upload manuscript files. Submit the main manuscript, a separate title page where required, figures, tables, and supplementary files. Prepare a de-identified main manuscript if the journal uses double-blind peer review.

Step 5: Complete declarations. Provide the required information concerning authorship, funding, conflicts of interest, research ethics, data availability, and AI use, as applicable.

Step 6: Review and confirm. Check all uploaded files and entered information before formally completing the submission.

Authors should retain copies of all submitted files and the submission confirmation. Incomplete submissions may be returned for correction before editorial assessment.

Submission does not guarantee peer review, acceptance, or publication.

12. Pre-Submission Checklist

Before completing a submission, authors should confirm that:

·         The manuscript falls within the aims and scope of JBBC.

·         The work is original and is not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere, unless an explicitly permitted exception applies.

·         All authors have approved the submitted version and agreed to the authorship order.

·         The manuscript follows the applicable formatting and structural requirements.

·         The title, abstract, keywords, figures, tables, and references are complete and accurate.

·         Biological materials, experimental methods, and statistical analyses are described appropriately.

·         Relevant ethical approvals, informed-consent statements, and regulatory declarations are included.

·         Data availability and relevant repository identifiers are reported where applicable.

·         The main manuscript is de-identified if required by the journal's review model.

·         Conflicts of interest, funding, author contributions, and material AI use are disclosed as required.

·         Permissions for third-party materials have been obtained where necessary.

·         All supplementary files are complete, correctly labelled, and consistent with the manuscript.

·         The manuscript complies with applicable research-integrity, copyright, and licensing requirements.

13. Contact and Technical Support

For questions concerning manuscript preparation, submission requirements, editorial policies, or the online submission process, authors should consult the journal's official website and contact the editorial office through its verified contact details.

Journal: The Journal of Biology and Biological Chemistry (JBBC)

Publisher: AK Verion Press

Official website: https://ojs.test71.xyz/index.php/JBBC

Authors are encouraged to ensure that their submissions are complete, transparent, scientifically rigorous, and consistent with JBBC's editorial and ethical standards before submission.

The journal welcomes contributions from researchers, academics, and life-science professionals whose work advances understanding of biological systems, biochemical processes, molecular mechanisms, and interdisciplinary scientific questions.

We appreciate the contributions of authors, reviewers, editors, and readers in fostering rigorous research, responsible scholarly communication, and the advancement of biological and biochemical sciences.