Instructions to Authors
About the Journal
Sustainable Microbiology is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes one issue per year. The journal is owned by Applied Microbiology International.
Once a paper is accepted, Sustainable Microbiology will publish a precopyedited, preproofed version of the paper online within one week. 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
Sustainable Microbiology is a broad-scope, fully open access journal aiming to demonstrate the current and future role of microbes in improving global economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
We invite high quality microbiology manuscripts, covering all microbes in their full diversity and complexity, in which the authors can describe the ability of the scientific observations to help deliver specific impacts on sustainability .
We also invite policy content, in which authors highlight how new microbiological understanding has the potential to support and improve policy or decision-making; or delivered specific impact on sustainability.
Sustainability Statement
All submissions must include a Sustainability Statement in which authors describe the ability of the scientific observations to help deliver specific impacts on sustainability, linking to one or more UN Sustainability Goals. For more information, see the journal About page.
Themed collection proposals
The journal is happy to consider proposals for themed collections, please send your proposals to the journal at [email protected].
Please include the following information in your proposal:
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A title and specific theme the themed collection will address
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The name of 1-2 guest editors, who must be an experts in the specific topic
NB: An appropriate Editor from the journal editorial board will also be appointed as an editor for the issue.
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A list of proposed papers to include in the issue with a list of authors that you propose to invite
NB: the authors and topics should be globally representative.
Editorial Policies
For full details of Oxford University Press’s editorial policies, please see Publication Ethics.
Peer Review
This journal uses single-anonymised peer review, meaning that the identity of the authors is known to the editors and to the reviewers, but that the reviewers’ identities are known only to the editors and are hidden from the authors.
Once a submitted manuscript passes initial assessment by the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, it will then be passed to a handling editor to undergo peer review before recommending a final decision. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision on the submitted manuscript.
Guest Edited Collections
Guest Editors are vetted by the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief and complete Conflict of Interest forms prior to involvement with a Collection.
Once a submitted manuscript passes initial assessment by the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, it will then be passed to a Guest Editor to undergo peer review before recommending a final decision. Any papers on which a Guest Editor appears as an author will be handled by an alternative Guest Editor (if multiple) or via the Journal’s established editorial board.
For full details about the peer review process, see Fair Editing and Peer Review.
Data Policy
Availability of Data and Materials
Sustainable Microbiology requires all authors, where ethically possible, to publicly release all data and software code underlying any published paper as a condition of publication. Authors are required to include a Data Availability Statement in their article. This policy applies to all papers submitted to the journal.
We require that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files or deposited in a public repository whenever possible.
Data Availability Statement
The inclusion of a Data Availability Statement is a requirement for articles published in Sustainable Microbiology. Data Availability Statements provide a standardised format for readers to understand the availability of data underlying the research results described in 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 possible, by linking to the data or providing the required unique identifier.
The Data Availability Statement should be included in the endmatter of your article under the heading ‘Data availability’.
More information and example Data Availability Statements.
Data Citation
Sustainable Microbiology supports the Force 11 Data Citation Principles and requires that all publicly available datasets be fully referenced in the reference list with an accession number or unique identifier such as a digital object identifier (DOI). Data citations should include the minimum information recommended by DataCite:
- [dataset]* Authors, Year, Title, Publisher (repository or archive name), Identifier
*The inclusion of the [dataset] tag at the beginning of the citation helps us to correctly identify and tag the citation. This tag will be removed from the citation published in the reference list.
Preprint Policy
You retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (also known as a preprint) available through various channels. Making an Author’s Original Version does not prevent submission to the journal. For further information see our Online Licensing, Copyright and Permissions policies. If your paper is accepted, you will need to update the status of any preprint, including your published paper’s DOI. For details, see 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.
A detailed definition of conflicts of interests is available.
Human Subjects and Patient Confidentiality
Journals publishing studies using human subjects should ensure that a patient's right to privacy has not been infringed without prior consent. We encourage journals to follow the ICMJE guidelines for reporting on human subjects.
Manuscript submitted to Sustainable Microbiology should contain the following statements in the methods section:
- Confirmation that research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
- Statement that the study was approved by a local ethics committee, including the name of the committee and approval number. If approval was not required or was waived this should be stated.
- A statement that participants provided consent to participate in the study, or if not state why.
- If there is any identifiable information presented on participants, then consent to publish would also be required and should be stated, including that the participant has been shown the manuscript to be published.
Animal Experimentation
Where animals are used in research we expect them to have been treated in a humane manner and in line with the ARRIVE guidelines. The International Council for Laboratory Animal Science has published guidelines specifically for editors and Reviewers on how to handle submissions involving animal research. OUP supports these guidelines and, wherever possible, encourages editors and society partners to adopt them. Authors may be required to provide evidence that they obtained ethical and /or legal approval prior to conducting the research.
Biosecurity
Authors of papers related to Schedule 5 biological agents should inform the Editor at the time of manuscript submission if their study has the potential for both benevolent and malevolent application. This is often referred to as “dual use research concern”. The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) guidelines state that a “dual use research of concern” can arise in relation to “research that, based on current understanding, can be reasonably anticipated to provide knowledge, products, or technologies that could be directly misapplied by others to pose a threat to public health and safety, agricultural crops and other plants, animals, the environment, or material”. Where a reviewer is concerned that an article might include information that could be a threat to security then the Editor will treat the article as possible DURC dual use research concern) and may consult a specialist reviewer. Their advice will be taken into account by the Editor in making any final decision on publication.
Antibiotic antimicrobial testing and microbial resistance
A number of methods like disc diffusion, Etest, agar dilution, broth microdilution and broth macrodilution, are suitable for in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing. However, the test used must be performed in accordance with an internationally accepted procedure; for example tests published by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherepy (BSAC), the Deutsches Institut fur Normung e.V. (DIN) and the Comité de l’Antibiogramme de la Société Francaise de Microbiologie (CA-SFM). Further guidance and interpretation of MIC 50 and MIC 90 values as well as guidance for the interpretation of multiresistance can be found in Schwarz et al. J. Antimicrobial Chemother 2010; 65: 601-604.
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 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
All manuscripts submitted to the journal will be screened with plagiarism software. 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.
Format Free Submission
Sustainable Microbiology has a streamlined submission process designed to avoid unnecessary work. At initial submission, manuscripts can be provided in any common document format that can be easily opened and read by others. A single PDF or Word file is usually reliable. At first submission, it is not necessary to apply formatting to match house style. Instead, simply ask: would I enjoy reading and reviewing a manuscript formatted in this way?
At revision stage, you will be asked to supply editable files that match journal formatting requirements, as well as high-resolution figures. For more information, please consult the journal’s style conventions below.
How to Submit
You must submit your paper via our web-based submission system, which may be found at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/susmicro. If you have not published with Sustainable Microbiology before, you will need to create an account. For more information, please see the ScholarOne FAQs and Guidelines. Questions about submitting can be sent to the editorial office at [email protected].
Article Types
This journal publishes several different article types.
Original Articles
Original articles should have as their aim the development of concepts as well as the recording of facts. The manuscript should be prepared for a wide readership and as far as possible should present novel results of a substantial programme of research.
Original articles should contain the following sections in this order:
- Abstract
- Sustainability Statement
- Introduction
- Materials and methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Acknowledgements
- Conflict of Interest
- Data Availability
- Supplementary Data (if applicable)
Review Articles
Review articles should present a substantial survey with an adequate historical perspective of the literature on some facet of sustainability and applied microbiology. We would prefer to see a distillation of early and present work within the field to show progress and explain the present interest and relevance. The manuscript should not simply be a review of past work or be concentrated largely on unpublished results.
The headings in Review articles are of the author’s choice, but the manuscript should still contain a Sustainability Statement, describing the manuscript’s applications to deliver specific impacts on sustainability.
Policy in Practice
Policy in Practice manuscripts can vary in style. The most common documents we envisage are case studies, for example which demonstrate microbiological application to underpin policy and decision-making for delivering impacts on sustainability.
Policy documents will undergo editorial review only, but submissions will require an explicit statement to (i) confirm that policy content has been peer-reviewed by a wider community, e.g. a Society, Committee, Advisory Group, prior to submission; and (ii) an accompanying statement that outlines this peer-review process, e.g. how an Advisory Group reviewed and approved the policy. This information can be included in an Acknowledgement section.
As with all submissions, Policy in Practice manuscripts will require a Sustainability Statement, outlining which of the UN SDGs it contributes to.
If authors would like to discuss with an editor prior to submission, please contact the editorial office at [email protected].
Policy Briefing
Policy briefings should be short, policy-related pieces outlining the microbiological evidence used to support development of policy material and recommendations, typically < 1,000 words.
Policy documents will undergo editorial review only, but submissions will require an explicit statement to (i) confirm that policy content has been peer-reviewed by a wider community, e.g. a Society, Committee, Advisory Group, prior to submission; and (ii) an accompanying statement that outlines this peer-review process, e.g. how an Advisory Group reviewed and approved the policy. This information can be included in an Acknowledgement section.
As with all submissions, Policy Briefings will require a Sustainability Statement, outlining which of the UN SDGs it contributes to.
Industry Spotlight
Industry Spotlight articles are open to any company with a product or service that specifically applies microbiology to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The product or service should be informed by cutting-edge science and these articles may be particularly well suited to start-up organisations. The journal aims to bring together sectors within the microbiology community, from scientists, policy makers, practitioners and industry, with the common goal of maximising the potential of microbes to improve global economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
Industry Spotlight articles should focus on the science behind the products and how this can be applied to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They should not be advertorial in style. They should be similar in length to a mini-review, approximately 3,000 - 5,000 words (20 pages double spaced) including references, figures and tables. As with all submissions, Industry Spotlight manuscripts will require a Sustainability Statement, outlining which of the UN SDGs it contributes to.
Sections should include:
- Abstract
- Sustainability Statement
- Brief introduction to the company and its products
- In-depth focus on the science behind the products, including a review of any existing product-specific publications and setting these in context of the wider field of research.
- An overview of how the product can be applied to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals.
- Conclusions and future perspectives.
These articles are generally invited by the Editorial Board, Organisations wishing to submit an Industry Spotlight may submit a presubmission enquiry to [email protected]. They will be subject to the journal’s usual single-anonymised peer review policy.
As with any industry funded publication, a detailed conflict of interest statement should be provided, in accordance with OUP and ICMJE guidance. In particular the following information should be included:
- What the relationship is between the authors and the company.
- Sources of funding for the work if applicable, including sponsor names along with explanations of the role of those sources if any in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the report; any restrictions regarding the submission of the report for publication; or a statement declaring that the supporting source had no such involvement or restrictions regarding publication; and
- Whether the authors had access to the study data if applicable, with an explanation of the nature and extent of access, including whether access is on-going.
- A statement to confirm that the APC has been covered by the company being highlighted, but that the article was subject to usual peer review processes and editorial independence was maintained in deciding to accept the article for publication.
In addition to the article published in Sustainable Microbiology, contributors will be offered the chance to host a webinar/interview to further discuss the application of their work with members of the microbiology community, including Applied Microbiology International members.
Perspectives
Perspectives differ from Review Articles by giving a viewpoint on significant topical issues in microbiology, with a focus on applying microbiological knowledge to deliver specific impacts on sustainability. They are future-forward and more speculative than a review article. Perspectives aim to highlight the importance of the topic covered and inspire further discussion.
Perspectives must normally not exceed 5000 words (20 pages double spaced) including references, figures and tables. The headings in the article are of the author’s choice, but the manuscript should still contain a Sustainability Statement.
Perspectives are invited by the Editorial Board following the submission of a successful proposal. Authors wishing to submit a Perspective should send their proposal to [email protected].
Commentaries
Commentaries are short summaries in response to one or more published papers focusing on a specific topic linking microbiology and sustainability. They may summarise recent discoveries in an area or share insights and opinion into potential future developments for that field of study, with the aim of contextualising the significance of the article(s) being commented on and inspiring further discussion.
Commentaries must normally not exceed 2500 words (10 pages double spaced) including references, figures and tables. The headings in the article are of the author’s choice, but the manuscript should still contain a Sustainability Statement.
Commentaries are invited by the Editorial Board following the submission of a successful proposal. Authors wishing to submit a Commentary should send their proposal to [email protected].
Meeting Reports
Meeting Reports summarise significant developments presented and discussed at recent conferences. The journal will cover meetings with a focus on applying microbiological knowledge to deliver specific impacts on sustainability. Central topic themes should be presented, rather than an in-depth summary of all presentations. We are particularly interested in highlighting thought-provoking advances and insight into application of this knowledge.
Meeting Reports must normally not exceed 5000 words (20 pages double spaced) including references, figures and tables. The headings in the article are of the author’s choice, but the manuscript should still contain a Sustainability Statement.
Meeting Reports are invited by the Editorial Board following the submission of a successful proposal. Authors wishing to submit a Meeting Report should send their proposal to [email protected].
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 Sustainable Microbiology
- 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 permission.
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. Oxford University Press partners with Enago, a leading provider of author services. Prospective authors are entitled to a discount of 30% for editing services at Enago, via this link: https://www.enago.com/pub/oup.
Enago is an independent service provider, who will handle all aspects of this service, including payment. As an author you are under no obligation to take up this offer. 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
A brief summary of up to 200 words, the abstract should give the major findings of the investigation. The text should be unstructured, with no section headings. A list of between three and six keywords should be added.
Sustainability Statement
All submissions must include a short Sustainability Statement in which authors describe the ability of the scientific observations to help deliver specific impacts on sustainability, linking to one or more UN Sustainability Goals. For more information on UN SDGs of particular interest, please see the About page.
Introduction
A balance must be struck between the pure and applied aspects of the subject.
Materials and Methods
Ensure that the work can be repeated according to the details provided. By submission of a manuscript, the authors consent that biological material, including plasmids, viruses and microbial strains, unobtainable from national collections will be made available to members of the scientific community for non-commercial purposes subject to national and international regulations governing the supply of biological material. In the case of a new diagnostic PCR, you should consider the need for an internal amplification control (JAM 2004 96(2):221; available here).
Results
Well-prepared tables and figures must be a cardinal feature of the 'Results' section because they convey the major observations to readers who scan a paper. Information provided in tables and figures should not be repeated in the text but focus attention on the importance of the principal findings of the study. In general, journal papers will contain between one and six figures and tables.
Discussion
This must not recapitulate the results and authors must avoid the temptation of preparing a combined 'Results and Discussion' section.
Acknowledgements
Contributors who do not qualify as authors should be acknowledged and their particular contribution described. All sources of funding for the work reported, for all the authors, must be acknowledged. Please fully cite any relevant funding information, including specific grant numbers.
CRediT
The Journal uses the contributor roles taxonomy (CRediT), which allows authors to describe the contributor roles in a standardized, transparent, and accurate way. Authors should choose from the contributor roles outlined on the CRediT website and supply this information upon submission. You may choose multiple contributor roles per author. Any other individuals who do not meet authorship criteria and made less substantive contributions should be listed in your manuscript as non-author contributors with their contributions clearly described.
Conflict of Interest
If no conflict of interest exists, then 'no conflict of interest declared' should appear within this section. Otherwise, authors should list all pertinent commercial and other relationships that may be perceived as a potential source of conflict of interest.
Data Availability
Please see information on Data Availability Statements above.
References
You may format references in any readable style at submission. You are responsible for the accuracy of reference information.
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.
- 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.
- If it is at all possible, Supplementary material files should be no larger than 15MB each.
Style
The journal follows Oxford SCIMED style. Please refer to these requirements when preparing your manuscript. More information is available here. US spelling should be used throughout, except in quotations and in references.
Abbreviations
Please define nonstandard abbreviations at the first occurrence. Authors can use this list of common abbreviations used in the AMI Journals.
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. Please submit all tables in an editable format. Do not submit tables as an image file.
LaTeX
Information on LaTeX files and formatting can be found at: https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/authors/preparing_your_manuscript.
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: 350dpi
- minimum resolution for printed line art: 600dpi (complex or finely drawn line art should be 1200dpi)
- minimum resolution for electronic images (i.e., for on-screen viewing): 72dpi
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.
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.
Microbial nomenclature
The Latin binomial name of micro-organisms, plants and animals (other than farm animals) must be given at first mention in the text; thereafter the generic name will be abbreviated in such a way that confusion is avoided when dealing with several genera all beginning with the same letter, viz. Pseudomonas, Proteus, Pediococcus, etc. (see list of abbreviations above). Subspecies are italized (Corynebacterium diphtheriae subsp. mitis); groups and types are printed in Roman and designated by capital letters or Arabic figures (e.g. Staphylococcus aureus group A). Common names will not have an initial capital letter nor will they be underlined in the manuscript, viz. pseudomonad, salmonellas. The specific name will be given in full in the captions to tables and figures. Major ranks are written in Roman with an initial capital (e.g. Enterobacteriaceae).
Gnotobiotic animals
The terminology for describing the environmental status of animals in gnotobiotic experiments has established itself by usage. Germ-free implies freedom from any detectable microorganisms or viruses and it is limited by the tests used to detect contaminants. Conventional animals have a full complement of associated microbes. Open conventional animals are housed in a standard animal house. Isolator conventional animals are maintained in isolators and associated with full flora. Ex-germ-free animals are those with an associated flora which have become conventional.
Statistics
Tests must be presented clearly to allow a reader with access to the data to repeat them. Statistical tests used in the study should be clearly indicated in the Materials and Methods section. It is not necessary to describe every statistical test fully, as long as it is clear from the context what was done. In particular, null hypotheses should be clearly stated.
Authors are urged to give consideration to the assumptions underlying any statistical tests used and to assure the reader that the assumptions are at least plausible. Authors should be prepared to use nonparametric tests if the assumptions do not seem to hold.
Experimental hazards
Chemical or microbiological hazards that may be involved in the experiments must be explained. Authors should provide a description of the relevant safety precautions adopted or cite an accepted 'Code of Practice'.
Production
Publishing agreement and charges
Publishing agreement
Authors, please read each section on the publishing agreement and charges carefully. If you have any questions relating to your publishing agreement or charges, please contact OUP Support.
After your manuscript is accepted, you will be asked to sign a licence to publish through our licencing and payment portal, SciPris. The Journal is fully open access, meaning all papers in the Journal are published under an open access licence. The corresponding author will need to arrange payment of an open access charge to publish in the Journal. This charge allows all published papers to be freely available to all readers immediately upon online publication. Editorial decisions occur prior to this step and are not influenced by payment or ability to pay. Papers can be published under the following:
- Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY)
- Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence (CC BY-NC)
- Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence (CC BY-NC-ND)
Please see the OUP guidance on Licences, copyright, and re-use rights for more information regarding these publishing agreement options.
If you select a CC BY license, you will grant OUP a non-exclusive license. For the CC BY-NC and CC BY-NC-ND licenses, you grant OUP an exclusive license to publish and distribute the content. For all licenses you, the author, retain copyright for the content and have the reuse rights described therein.
Complying with funder mandates
Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please do clarify any such requirements with your funder or institution before selecting your licence. Further information on funder mandates and direct links to a range of funder policies.
Charges
Open access charges
Please see the details of open access licences and charges. As the Journal is fully open access, you must pay the open access charge or request to use an institutional agreement to pay the open access charge through our licencing and payment portal, SciPris.
The current open access charges are:
CC BY / CC BY-NC / CC BY-NC-ND: £2,200
OUP has a growing number of open access agreements with institutions and consortia, which provide funding for open access publishing (also known as Read and Publish agreements). This means corresponding authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution has an open access agreement.
To be eligible for one of OUP’s Read and Publish agreements, the corresponding author must provide their qualifying institution as their primary affiliation when they submit their manuscript. After submission, changing the corresponding author in order to access Read and Publish funding is not permissible.
Waivers
As an open access journal, we rely on article processing charges for the journal's continued operation, and we ask authors to ensure they are able to pay these charges before submitting a paper. However, we acknowledge this is not always possible for all authors. Corresponding authors based in or at institutions in countries and regions that are part of the developing countries initiative receive a full waiver of their open access charge. For further details, please see our open access waiver policy.
We will consider waiver requests from authors based at institutions outside these countries, but please note our ability to grant such discretionary waivers is limited. If you would like to request a discretionary waiver, we ask that you follow the discretionary waiver application process on our APC Waiver Policy Page. Please note that a waiver for open access charges should be requested before manuscript acceptance. If granted, a waiver does not guarantee manuscript acceptance. Waiver acceptance or rejection does not affect the peer review or editorial process, as waivers are managed by OUP staff, and editors and reviewers are not informed of waiver eligibility or receipt.
Colour charges
The Journal does not charge for colour.
Page charges
The Journal does not have page charges.
Member discounts
Corresponding authors who are members of Applied Microbiology International may be eligible for discounts on publication charges. Please provide your member identifier when prompted as you submit your manuscript. Open access charge discount: Please see the open access charge list.
Member open access charge: £1,760
