Author Guidelines

• Journal scope
• Editorial policies
• Article types
• Journal Sections
• Article Submission
  
  
  • Before submission
    •  Manuscript preparation
      • Scientific writing and English language
      • Formatting and Manuscript template file
      • Statistical analysis guide
      • Blot and gel reporting requirements
      • Figure preparation requirements
        
        
  • Submitting the article
    
    
  • After submission
    • Peer review
    • Revision and response to reviewers
      
      
  • After acceptance
    • Article processing fee
    • Scientific writing and English language assessment
    • Author summary guidelines
    • Video summary guidelines
    • Corrections and Retractions

• Institutional membership program
• Copyright policy
  
  

Journal scope

Biomolecules and Biomedicine (formerly the Bosnian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences, BJBMS) is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary open-access medical journal dedicated to the advancement of medical research, practice, and education. The journal publishes pioneering research across the spectrum of pre-clinical studies, translational medicine, and clinical research, thereby advancing our collective knowledge in the realm of health and disease.

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Article types

Special articles (Guideline, Statement article, Position article)

Review

Research article

Systematic review/Meta-analysis

Video article

Short communication

Letter to the editor

Case report with a literature review

Commentary

Opinion<top>

Journal sections

Biomolecules and Biomedicine covers preclinical and translational/clinical sciences, and research articles are designated to the following sections:

Biochemistry

Molecular Biology

Immunology

Microbiology

Pathology

Pharmacology

Anatomy

Biomaterials

Translational and Clinical Research

New and Emerging Methods

New and Emerging Medical Entities<top>

Article submission

Before submission

1. Prepare the author information and cover letter.

Author information: Full names, email addresses, and ORCID iDs of all co-authors in the manuscript. All the authors will receive an email to link their ORCID iD with the submission. See here why the ORCID iD is important and why it should be used. 

Include the following information in your cover letter:

• An explanation of why your manuscript should be published in Biomolecules and Biomedicine.
• An explanation of any issues relating to journal policies
• A declaration of any potential competing interests.
• Peer reviewers. You may suggest or exclude potential peer reviewers for your manuscript. If you wish to do so, please provide institutional email addresses where possible, or information which will help the Editor to verify the identity of the reviewer (for example, an ORCID or Scopus ID). Intentionally falsifying information, for example, suggesting reviewers with a false name or email address, will result in rejection of your manuscript and may impact future submissions.
• If you have previously served as a peer-reviewer for Biomolecules and Biomedicine, you are entitled to Benefits for reviewers. Provide the submission numbers or titles of the manuscripts you reviewed to get an APC discount.
• We welcome preprints; please indicate if the article has been previously shared as a preprint.

2. Prepare the manuscript according to Manuscript preparation guidelines.
3. Prepare the figures files (if applicable).
4. Understand the costs and funding options for publishing in Biomolecules and Biomedicine.

Manuscript preparation

Scientific writing and English language

Before submitting, check your manuscript with https://www.goodreports.org/ made by the EQUATOR Network writing guidelines. The guidelines may be found at http://www.equator-network.org/. Using the appropriate guidelines when writing your manuscript improves the quality of the manuscript significantly and improves the chance for publication. Another tool called www.penelope.ai may also be helpful in the initial screening of completeness of your manuscript. Also, reviewing previously published articles in the Current Issue is useful to familiarize yourself with the structuring requirements of Biomolecules and Biomedicine.

The manuscripts have to conform to standard scientific English language style, grammar, and clarity. Authors who feel that their manuscript may benefit from additional academic writing or language editing support before submission are encouraged to seek out such services at their host institutions, engage with colleagues and subject matter experts, and/or consider professional English language editing vendors. Clearly, well-written manuscripts have a much better chance of acceptance. Please note that the use of these services is not mandatory for publication in Biomolecules and Biomedicine, and Biomolecules and Biomedicine does not endorse or take responsibility for these service providers.

These professional language editing services offer discounts to Biomolecules and Biomedicine authors:

• LetPub is the flagship editorial brand of Accdon LLC, a company headquartered in the Boston area. LetPub helps authors from around the world publish and share their research. LetPub’s language and scientific editors teach at top American universities, and hold editing certifications such as Board of Editors in the Life Sciences certifications. LetPub editors specialize in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, environmental sciences, geology, humanities, material science, mathematics, medicine, physics, social sciences, and more. LetPub provides expert English editing and research communication services. To find out more about their expert services and to get a quote visit www.letpub.com.
• ENAGO is the trusted name in author services for the global research community. Since 2005, they worked with researchers in more than 125 countries—improved the communication of their research and helped them achieve publication success. Enago has offices in Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Istanbul, and New York. Enago operates globally with regional teams supporting researchers locally.
  Biomolecules and Biomedicine authors: 30% discount. More information here: https://www.enago.com/pub/bjbms/
• Eloquenti is an online platform of professional language and scientific editors providing proofreading and editing services to researchers. Most Eloquenti professionals and researchers themselves, specialized in copy editing of scientific manuscripts, in particular in the biomedical field.
  BiomolBiomed authors may benefit 5% discount with the code: Biomolbiomed
  www.eloquenti.com

Accepted manuscripts are subject to evaluation of the quality of English language and scientific writing. Manuscripts deemed requiring significant improvement of the language or writing will be returned to authors for corrections. If the corrections do not meet standards for publication, authors are advised to refer to experienced companies that provide professional language editing services.

Formatting

Download and use the formatted Biomolecules and Biomedicine manuscript template to avoid formatting errors. 

BiomolBiomed manuscript template

The main manuscript file must include the following sections:

• Title page
• Abstract and Keywords
• Text
• Acknowledgements (if applicable)
• Declaration of interest
• References
• Tables
• Figures with figure legends

Abbreviations and symbols

Abbreviations should be defined on their first appearance in the text; those not accepted by international bodies should be avoided. Use only standard abbreviations. Avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract.

Title page

The title of the manuscript should not be longer than 15 words. Provide the full first and last names of the authors and their institutions, as well as the corresponding author's address and email. Note that when submitting the manuscript, the e-mails of all the authors have to be provided in the online submission process. 

Abstract

The second page should carry an abstract of about 250 words, except for Letters to the Editor and Commentaries. The abstract should not be structured, i.e., it should not contain subheadings; nevertheless, it should state the objective(s) of the study or investigation, basic methods (selection of study subjects or laboratory animals; observational and analytical methods), main results (giving specific data and their statistical significance, if possible), and the principal conclusions. It should emphasize new and important aspects of the study or observations.

Keywords

The abstract should be followed by a list of 3 to 10 keywords or short phrases that will assist in the cross-indexing of the article and which may be published. When possible, the terms used should be from the Medical Subject Headings list of the National Library of Medicine (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html).

Text

Original research articles should have standard sections headed: Introduction, Materials and Methods (including ethical and statistical information), Results, Discussion, and Conclusion, although reviews may have a different format.
Text file size can not exceed 5 MB.

Tables

Provide the tables at the end of the manuscript. Number the tables according to their sequence in the text. The text should include references to all the tables. Each table should be assigned an Arabic numeral, e.g., (Table 3). Include a brief and self-explanatory title with explanations essential to the understanding of the table at the bottom of the table. Identify statistical measures of variations, such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean, or other where appropriate.

Figures

References to figures and tables should be made in order of appearance in the text and should be in Arabic numerals in parentheses, e.g., (Figure 2). Line art should be at a resolution of 600 dpi, and halftones and color at 300 dpi. Figures should be presented to a width of about 80 mm (one column) or, when the illustration demands it, to a width of about 160 mm. If photographs of people are used, their identities must be obscured, or the picture must be accompanied by written consent to use the photograph. If a figure has been published before, the source must be acknowledged, and written permission from the copyright holder for both print and electronic formats should be submitted with the material. Permission is required regardless of authorship or publisher, except for documents in the public domain. Figures may be reduced, cropped, or deleted at the discretion of the editor. Figure file size can not exceed 5 MB. For more information, see the figure guidelines.

Blot and gel reporting requirements

Biomolecules and Biomedicine imposes the following quality and transparency policies for blot and gel image results to ensure the integrity and scientific validity of blot/gel data reporting.

The authors have to provide original, uncropped, unadjusted, or otherwise manipulated images during the peer review process or before the manuscript is accepted. The authors will be contacted by the Editorial office to provide the images by email, or if the files are large, using an appropriate file transfer service.

For more details on the original blot and gel images and reporting the blot/gel results, please consult the PLOS ONE Blot and Gel Reporting Requirements on which the Biomolecules and Biomedicine policies were built. 

Units of measurement

Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume should be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter) or their decimal multiples. All hematologic and clinical chemistry measurements should be reported in the metric system in terms of the International System of Units (SI).

References

References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they first appear in the text. They should be assigned Arabic numerals, which should be given in brackets, e.g., [17]. References should include the names of all authors when there are six or fewer; when there are seven or more, list only the first six names and add et al. References should also include the full title and source information (Vancouver style). Journal names should be abbreviated as in MEDLINE.

For detailed information about how to cite different sources see: CITING MEDICINE, 2nd edition: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers 

Standard journal article

Tashiro H, Shimokawa H, Sadamatu K, Yamamoto K. Prognostic significance of plasma concentrations of transforming growth factor-beta in patients with coronary artery disease. Coron Artery Dis 2002;13(3):139-143.

More than six authors

Yetkin E, Senen K, Ileri M, Atak R, Tandogan I, Yetkin Ö, et al. Comparison of low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography and echocardiography during glucose-insulin-potassium infusion for detection of myocardial viability after anterior myocardial infarction. Coron Artery Dis 2002;13(3):145-149.

Books

Heger JW, Niemann JT, Criley JM. Cardiology, 5th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2003.

Chapter in a book

Braunwald E, Perloff JK. Physical examination of the heart and circulation. In; Braunwald E, Zipes DP, Libby P (eds). Heart disease; a textbook of cardiovascular medicine, 6th ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 2001, pp. 45–81.

Personal communications and unpublished work should not appear in the reference list but should appear in parentheses in the text. Unpublished work accepted for publication but not yet released should be included in the reference list with the words 'in press' in parentheses beside the name of the journal concerned. References must be verified by the author(s) against the original documents. <top>

Submitting the article

1. REGISTER or LOG IN at Biomolecules and Biomedicine website
2. Follow the multistep process to enter information and upload files. <top>

After submission

Peer review

Once a manuscript is submitted, it is assigned to the Editor most appropriate to handle it, based on the subject of the manuscript and the availability of the Editors. If the Editor determines that the manuscript is not of sufficient quality to go through the normal review process or if the subject of the manuscript is not appropriate to the journal's scope, the Editor rejects the manuscript with no further processing. This decision is made within 1–3 days.

If the Editor determines that the submitted manuscript is of sufficient quality and falls within the scope of the journal, he/she assigns the manuscript to a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 5 external reviewers for peer-review. The reviewers submit their reports on the manuscripts along with their recommendation of one of the following actions to the Editor:

Accept submission (Publish Unaltered)
Revisions required (Consider after Minor Changes)
Resubmit for review (Consider after Major Changes)
Decline submission (Reject: Manuscript is flawed or not sufficiently novel)

When all reviewers have submitted their reports, the Editor can make one of the following decisions: Publish Unaltered, Consider after Minor Changes, Consider after Major Changes, Reject. This decision is usually made within 30 days from the submission date.

If the Editor recommends "Publish Unaltered," the manuscript is accepted for publication. The manuscript is then assigned a DOI number and is published within 3 days in the Advanced online section of the Journal and in PubMed.

If the Editor recommends "Consider after Minor Changes," the authors are notified to prepare and submit a final copy of their manuscript with the required minor changes suggested by the reviewers. The Editor reviews the revised manuscript after the minor changes have been made by the authors. Once the Editor is satisfied with the final manuscript, the manuscript can be accepted. The revised manuscript has to be submitted within two weeks. If you think you are unable to meet the deadline, please notify the Editorial Office.

If the Editor recommends "Consider after Major Changes," the recommendation is communicated to the authors. The authors are expected to revise their manuscripts in accordance with the changes recommended by the reviewers and to submit their revised manuscript within three months. Submission later than that will be regarded as a new submission that will go through the complete review process from the beginning. If you think you are unable to meet the deadline, please notify the Editorial Office.

If the Editor recommends rejecting the manuscript, the rejection is immediate. Also, if two of the reviewers recommend rejecting the manuscript, the rejection is immediate. The editorial workflow gives the Editors the authority to reject any manuscript because of the inappropriateness of its subject, lack of quality, or incorrectness of its results. The Editor cannot assign himself/herself as an external reviewer of the manuscript. This is to ensure a high-quality, fair, and unbiased peer-review process of every manuscript submitted to the journal, since any manuscript must be recommended by one or more (usually two or more) external reviewers along with the Editor in charge of the manuscript in order for it to be accepted for publication in the journal.

The peer-review process is double-blinded, i.e., the reviewers do not know who the authors of the manuscript are and the authors do not have access to the information of who the peer-reviewers are. Without the significant contributions made by peer reviewers, the publication of the journal would not be possible.

Revision and response to reviewers

The authors should provide a detailed response letter; please copy-paste each of the reviewer's comments and provide specific responses to them. The authors must specify which changes were made in the manuscript and highlight the changes in the revised manuscript file. General statements (e.g., "comment accepted", "discussion corrected") should be avoided. The response letter should be written in such a manner that the responses could be forwarded to reviewers without prior editing.<top>

Withdrawal of the manuscripts

In accordance with our commitment to facilitate a seamless and efficient publication process, authors are allowed to withdraw their manuscript from consideration without the need to provide a justification within the initial 24 hours following submission. This policy is designed to accommodate immediate reconsiderations and unforeseen circumstances that may lead an author to retract their submission promptly. However, should authors decide to withdraw their manuscript after this 24-hour period we require a detailed explanation outlining the valid reasons for such a decision. This stipulation ensures transparency and aids in the continuous improvement of our editorial practices, while also respecting the significant effort and resources allocated to the manuscript's review process. Authors are encouraged to communicate their intentions and the rationale for withdrawal with clarity and professionalism, adhering to the ethical standards of scientific publishing.

After acceptance

Article processing fees

Articles published in the Biomolecules and Biomedicine are Open Access and freely available online immediately upon publication. This is made possible by an article-processing charge (APC) that covers the cost of maintenance of the tools for editors and authors, article production and hosting, liaison with abstracting and indexing services, and other editorial services.

See the article processing fees here.

Institutional Open Access Membership Program (IOAMP)

This program allows APC discounts if the corresponding author's institution participates in our Institutional Open Access Membership Program. Partial or all of the publication costs may be covered by the author's institution at a reduced APC (more details are available at the IOAMP page). <top>

Author summary guidelines

What is the Author Summary?

The Author Summary is 200-250 words non-technical summary of the research, for non-expert readers.

What are the aims of the Author Summary?

The Author Summary is aimed to make the findings more accessible and available to a wide audience, but also to increase the readership of an article. Therefore, we require that authors of accepted articles write a short non-technical summary of their research for non-expert readers. We also ask the authors to provide their photo, or a photo of their research group, or a photo of their institution. If the authors do not want their photo to be published, the figure from their article may be used, or the appropriate illustration chosen by the Blog Editor.

Where will the Author Summary be published?

The Author summary will be published at the Journal’s BLOG (blog.bjbms.org), our social media, and sent to web-based medical news services (e.g. medicalxpress.com, phys.org). This will significantly improve the visibility of the article and the authors.

See the Author summary guidelines here.

Video summary guidelines

Instead of the usual text-only Author Summary, we introduced an additional way to present the research findings to our readers and followers - using a Video Summary.

Basically, the same principles and guidelines apply as for the Author Summary. The only difference is that the summary is presented in video form.

Click here to see the Video Summary guidelines.

Corrections and retractions

To notify Biomolecules and Biomedicine of an error in your publication that warrants correction or retraction, please email the journal (office@bjbms.org) with the relevant details (article citation and DOI, description of the error), the proposed correction text, and any supporting files. Post-publication notices are assigned DOIs and linked to the affected articles.

Author Correction (Corrigendum). Notification by the author(s) of a significant error that affects the publication record or the scientific integrity of the work, or the reputation of the authors or the journal. For corrections pertaining to the article's results, please include supplementary files with the underlying raw data supporting the results in question. The same policy applies if an authorship correction is required in a published paper, e.g., authors who've changed their names. Corrigenda require a separate APC. For more information, see the APC section.

Retraction. All co-authors must sign a retraction indicating the error and briefly explaining how the conclusions are affected and submit it for publication. In cases where co-authors disagree, internal editors may seek the advice of independent reviewers and enforce the type of change they deem most appropriate, with mention of the dissenting author(s) in the text of the published version.

Copyright

Biomolecules and Biomedicine applies the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license to published articles. Under this license, authors retain ownership of the copyright for their content, but they allow anyone to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute and/or copy the content as long as the original authors and source are cited. Appropriate attribution can be provided by simply citing the original article.<top>

Revised: January 2024