INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS Last U

1. Aims and Scope

Journal of Integrative Plant Biology (JIPB, formerly Acta Botanica Sinica)，is a fast-publishing international journal. The aim of the journal is to report novel scientific discoveries related to any processes of plant biology, and the primary focus is on understanding plants at micro- and macro-scales using genetic, chemical, cell and molecular biological tools. Preliminary observations, purely descriptive studies, and reporting single plant-derived chemicals fall beyond the scope of the journal. JIPB publishes peer-reviewed papers in 3 categories: invited reviews, research articles and new technologies. Articles are published under 5 themes:
♦ Cell & Developmental Biology
♦ Metabolic Biology & Biochemistry
♦ Signal Transduction & Stress Response
♦ Systems Biology & Molecular Physiology
♦ Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

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2. Peer-Review Process

JIPB strives to publish papers of high quality and originality as quickly as possible. All manuscripts received are subjected to a preliminary examination. Papers beyond the scope or that do not follow the format of the Journal will be returned to the authors without being reviewed. Properly written manuscripts are reviewed by experts in the field and an initial decision of whether to accept a manuscript is made within two months. The final decision of acceptance or rejection rests with the Editorial Board. Papers are usually published in chronological order of acceptance.

Manuscripts should be written in a clear, concise, direct style so that they are intelligible to the professional reader who is not a specialist in the particular field. When contributions are judged as acceptable for publication on the basis of scientific content, the Editor and the Publisher reserve the right to modify typescripts to avoid ambiguity and repetition and improve communication between authors and readers. If extensive alterations are required, the manuscript will be returned to the author for revision.

The Editorial Office and the Handling Editor evaluate all manuscripts on submission to determine whether they are appropriate for evaluation by expert reviewers. Reviewers are required to follow the "general policy regarding conflicts of interest". Authors may request reviewers, but should not request people who have a conflict of interest as defined by the policy. Editors are permitted to use any reviewer reasonably believed to be an appropriate scientific expert, except reviewers who would be excluded by the conflict of interest policy. If authors wish to request the exclusion of certain reviewers for other reasons, specific justification must be provided in the cover letter; such requests may be considered at the discretion of the Editor. Decisions will be made as rapidly as possible, and the Journal strives to return reviewers' comments to authors within six weeks whenever possible. If revision is requested, the Handling Editor will evaluate revised manuscripts and determine whether external review is required. The board will normally consider only one revised manuscript, and this manuscript must be submitted within one month unless an extension is granted. In the case that extensive revision including additional experimentation is required, the Journal policy is to decline the manuscript, but editors may choose to encourage resubmission. Resubmissions are subject to the full review process. It is the goal of the Journal to publish manuscripts within four months of submission, but this can only be achieved if the original submission meets all journal requirements. (Back to top)

3. Conflicts of Interest

To moderate ethical behavior among its authors, editors, and staff, JIPB has formed a "conflicts of interest" policy for editors and reviewers. In order to ensure that fair editorial decisions are made, any person who has a conflict of interest should not be in a position to review manuscripts. He or she should decline to be the reviewer before the content of the manuscript is viewed (it is usually clear when the title and authors of the manuscript are known).

The concept of "conflicts of interest" is defined as:

a) If you and any of the authors involved in the manuscript are close family friends or direct relatives;

b) If you and any of the authors involved in the manuscript are the colleagues of one organization;

c) If you are working on a similar research topic as the content of the manuscript, or you and the authors are competing to answer a similar research question, which may allow you to learn from the manuscript with ideas and methods that have not been published before.

d) If you and any of the authors have a student-supervisor (including postdoc) relationship within the past five years. (Back to top)

4. Article Categories, Associate Editors and Handling Editors

JIPB publishes articles in three categories:

• Invited reviews

Review articles are to be written by people who are established in the research area and can provide a historical and prospective overview in a particular scientific topic. All review articles will be invited by the Handling Editors.

JIPB does not accept review articles from submission.

• Research articles

Full-length research articles are to report comprehensive studies and use experimental and statistical tools to answer a biological question. All articles are handled by our Handling Editors, who are responsible for a particular area of expertise. Research articles are published in five themes:

♦ Cell & Developmental Biology
♦ Metabolic Biology & Biochemistry
♦ Signal Transduction & Stress Response
♦ Systems Biology & Molecular Physiology
♦ Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

• New technologies

To publish new protocols, methods, or new experimental systems.

Associate Editors and Handling Editors

♦ Cell & Developmental Biology
Associate Editor: Prof. Clive Lloyd, Norwich, UK
Researches carried out to elucidate the cell division, cell differentiation, organogenesis and pattern formation fall in this category.
Handling Editors:

Professor Bo Liu, Davis, USA
Professor Jin-Xing Lin, Beijing, China
Professor Zhenbiao Yang, Riverside, USA
Professor Ming Yuan, Beijing, China
Professor Zheng-Hua Ye, Georgia, USA
Professor Hong Ma, Philadelphia, USA
Professor Dabing Zhang, Shanghai, China
Professor Wei-Cai Yang, Beijing, China
Professor Zhongchi Liu, Maryland, USA
Professor Peter Shaw, Norwich, UK
Professor Qi Xie, Beijing, China
Professor Yong-Biao Xue, Beijing, China

♦ Metabolic Biology & Biochemistry
Associate Editor: Prof. Roberto Bassi, Verona, Italy
Researches carried out to understanding primary and secondary metabolisms, metabolic pathways, molecular interaction and protein structure fall in this category.
Handling Editors:

Professor Xiao-Ya Chen, Shanghai, China
Professor Hon-Ming Lam, Hong Kong, China
Professor Xiaoquan Qi, Beijing, China
Professor Ninghua Tan, Kunming, China
Professor Ben-Ye Liu, Beijing, China
Professor De-An Guo , Beijing, China
Professor Cheng-Cai Zhang, Marseille, France
Professor Jian-Min Yue, Shanghai, China
Professor Katie Dehesh, Davis, USA
Professor Xiaofeng Cao, Beijing, China

♦ Signal Transduction & Stress Response
Associate Editor: Prof. William J. Lucas, UC Davis, USA
Researches carried out to study inter- and intra-cellular communication, biotic and abiotic stresses, and environmental response in plants fall in this category.
Handling Editors:
Professor Chunming Liu, Beijing, China
Professor Biao Ding, Columbus, USA
Professor Yuxin Hu, Beijing, China
Professor Hongwei Xue, Shanghai, China
Professor Zhiyong Wang, Stanford, USA
Professor Jianru Zuo , Beijing, China
Professor Xiangdong Fu, Beijing, China
Professor Ying-Tang Lü , Wuhan, China
Professor Pieter B.F. Ouwerkerk, Leiden, Netherlands
Professor Daoxin Xie, Beijing, China
Professor Zhi-Zhong Gong, Beijing, China
Professor Hongwei Guo, Beijing, China

♦ Systems Biology & Molecular Physiology
Associate Editor: Prof. Klaus Palme, Freiburg, Germany
Researches carried out in systematic approach to study complex interactions in plant systems, integrative approach to study physiological process in plant growth and development fall in this category.
Handling Editors:

Professor Kang Chong, Beijing, China
Professor Ning Li, Hong Kong, China
Professor Chentao Lin, Los Angeles, USA
Professor Cong-Ming Lu, Beijing, China
Professor Martin AJ Parry, Rothamsted, UK
Professor Li-Jia Qu, Beijing, China
Professor Mark Tester, Adelaide, Australia
Professor Jun Yu, Beijing, China
Professor Aimin Zhang, Beijing, China
Professor Li-Xin Zhang, Beijing, China
Professor Lizhe An, Lanzhou, China
Professor Jianhua Zhang, Hong Kong, China

♦ Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Associate Editor: Prof. Rowan Sage, Toronto, Canada
Researches carried using integrative approaches to study plant ecology and evolution at the chemical, molecular or genomic level fall in this category.
Handling Editors:
Professor Song Ge, Beijing, China
Professor Jianxin Sun, Beijing, China
Professor Jiquan Chen, Toledo, USA
Professor Shuang-Quan Huang, Wuhan, China
Professor Guanghui Lin, Beijing, China
Professor Hua Ouyang, Beijing, China
Professor Yin-Long Qiu, Ann Arbor, USA
Professor Xiao-Quan Wang, Beijing, China
Professor Cheng-Sen Li, Beijing,China
Professor Su-Hua Shi, Guangzhou, China

5. Submission of Manuscripts

All authors should submit their manuscripts online at http://www.submit-jipb.net. The BenchPress submission system will prompt authors through the process. Help is also available from http://submit-jipb.net/submission/submissionhelp and from Ms Fenghong Liu in the JIPB manuscript tracking office (+86 (0)10 6283 6133, fenghong@ibcas.ac.cn). Online submission will ensure a rapid handling of your paper. For peer-review, word processing files are preferred and will be converted to PDF format. Alternatively, authors may create and submit their own PDF with 1.5 line spacing, which will not be subjected to any conversion. Although there are no file size limitations, note that large files will take longer to upload and convert to PDF depending on the Internet connection. Please try to keep the maximum combined PDF file size under 5 MB. If you are not satisfied with the final conversion results when the submission is proofed, the complete manuscript can be reloaded. Note that Chinese, Japanese, and Korean fonts must be embedded in a PDF document file when submitted; otherwise the editorial office will not be able to view the submitted manuscript. (Back to top)

6. Ethical Considerations

Authors must state that the protocol for the research project has been approved by a suitably constituted Ethics Committee of the institution within which the work was undertaken and that, where appropriate, it conforms to the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki in 1995 (as revised in Edinburgh 2000), available at http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm.

In taxonomic papers, type specimens and type depositories must be clearly designated and indicated. Authors are required to deposit the name-bearing type material in internationally recognized institutions (not private collections).

For articles in which human being was involved as experimental materials, the authors should provide the published statement of informed consent.

When the research is carried out in areas for which research permits are required (e.g. nature reserves), or when it deals with organisms for which collection or import/export permits are required (e.g. protected species), the authors must clearly detail obtaining these permits in the Acknowledgements section.(Back to top)

7. Copyright

Papers accepted for publication in JIPB become copyright of the Publisher, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Authors will be asked to sign an Exclusive License Form (transfer of copyright form). In signing the Exclusive License Form, it is assumed that authors have obtained permission to use any copyrighted or previously published material. All authors must read and agree to the conditions outlined in the Exclusive License Form, and must sign the form or agree that the corresponding author can sign on their behalf. Articles cannot be published until a signed Exclusive License Form has been received.(Back to top)

8. Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts should follow JIPB style, be written in concise and grammatically correct English, and be presented in a manner and at a level that will be accessible to the broad readership of the Journal, not specialists. Papers that do not meet these standards will be returned to the authors without further review. Consult a current issue of JIPB for guidance on format, organization, and preparation of figures, legends, tables, and references. In general, there are no limits to the length of manuscripts published in JIPB; however, papers of more than 10 journal pages will be published only if the Handling Editor judges that the content is sufficiently novel to warrant a long paper. Ten published pages in JIPB correspond to approximately 30 manuscript pages, including tables and figure legends and an average of six one-column figures. Footnotes to the text are not allowed and any such material should be incorporated into the text as parenthetical matter.

Original manuscripts must be prepared using a standard word processing program (such as Microsoft Word) and should be prepared with 1.5 line spacing and in 12 point type using one of the following fonts: Times New Roman, Courier, Helvetica or Arial.

For bio-medical manuscripts, the authors should abide by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts (http://www.icmje.org/#obligation).

Please organize your manuscripts in the following order: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Results, Discussion, Materials and Methods, Acknowledgements, References, Figure Legends, Tables and Figures. All figures should be attached to the end of the document file.

Title page

The title page should contain (i) the title of the paper, (ii) a running title of no more than 60 characters including spaces, (iii) the full names of the authors and (iv) the addresses of the institutions at which the work was carried out, together with (v) the full postal and email address, plus fax and telephone numbers of the author to whom correspondence about the manuscript should be sent. The present address of any author, if different from that where the work was carried out, should be supplied in a footnote. JIPB does not allow multiple corresponding authors.

The title should be short, informative and contain the major key words. Do not use abbreviations in the title.

Abstract and key words

All articles should have a brief abstract (with no more than 200 words) that summarizes the questions being addressed, the approaches taken, the major findings, and the significance of the results. It should be concise, complete, and clearly communicate the importance of the work for a broad audience. The abstract should not contain references and the use of abbreviations, which should be defined at first use, should be kept to a minimum.

Five to ten key words or phrases (for the purposes of indexing) should be supplied below the abstract in alphabetical order.

Financial support

The authors may acknowledge the source of financial support, including a frank declaration of the authors' industrial links and affiliations.

Text

Authors should divide their manuscripts into the following sections: Introduction (not included as a heading), Results, Discussion, and Materials and Methods. The Introduction should provide the necessary background information for the average reader; it should be both complete and concise. Previous publications that form a basis for the work presented must be cited. Citation of reviews is not a substitute for citing primary research articles. Citation of recent research articles is not a substitute for citing original discoveries. An author's own work should not be cited preferentially over equally relevant work of others. Authors' previously published data that are presented along with new data must be identified clearly and cited appropriately; duplicate publication of data (including data previously published as supplemental material) is not allowed without citation. The Results and Discussion can be subdivided if subheadings give the manuscript more clarity. The Discussion should not repeat the Results; instead, the Discussion should explore the implications of the Results, citing relevant published research, and should also be as concise as possible. A Conclusions section is generally not permitted. Statements of "first finding" are generally not permitted in JIPB.

Acknowledgements

The contribution of colleagues or institutions should also be acknowledged. Thanks to anonymous reviewers and the acknowledgement of secretarial services are not allowed. Other acknowledgements should be kept as brief as courtesy and obligations allow.

References

The Harvard (author, date) system of referencing is used (examples are given below). In the text give the author's name followed by the year in parentheses: Smith (2000). If there are two authors use 'and': Smith and Jones (2001); if cited within parentheses also use 'and': (Smith and Jones 2001). When reference is made to a work by three or more authors, the first name followed by et al. should be used: MacDonald et al. (2002). If more than one work is cited within parentheses, separate citations using a semi-colon (Friedman 1994; Wang et al. 1997), except in the case where the author of the works is the same, in which case the author's name should not be repeated, but the years should be divided with a comma (Smith 2000, 2002). In the reference list, references should be listed in alphabetical order.

In the reference list, cite the names of all authors when there are six or fewer. When there are seven or more, list the first six followed by et al. Do not use ibid. or op cit. References to unpublished data and personal communications should not appear in the list but should be cited in the text only (e.g. A Smith, pers. comm., 2000; RW Wang, unpubl. data, 2004). All citations mentioned in the text, tables or figures must be listed in the reference list.
Names of journals should be abbreviated according to the Serial Sources for the Biosis Data Base, available in most libraries or from http://www.biosis.org.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references.

Journals

Briggs WR, Tseng TS, Cho HY, Swartz TE, Sullivan S, Bogomolni RA et al. (2007). Phototropins and their LOV domains: versatile plant blue-light receptors. J. Integr. Plant Biol. 49, 4–10.

Sveshnikova IN (1963). Atlas and key for the identification of the living and fossil Sciadopityaceae and Taxodiaceae based on the structure of the leaf epidermis. Acta Sci. USSR Paleobot. 4, 207–237 (in Russian with an English abstract).

Jiang MY, Zhang JH (2004). Abscisic acid and antioxidant defense in plant cells. Acta Bot. Sin. 46, 1–9.

Books

Sneath PHA, Sokal RR (1973). Numerical Taxonomy. 2nd edn. Freeman, San Francisco, CA.

Nikitin VP (1969). Palaeocarpological Method. Publishing House of Tomsk University, Tomsk (in Russian).

Chapter in a book

van Went JH, Willemse MTM (1984). Fertilization. In: Johri BM, ed. Embryology of Angiosperms. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. pp.273–317.

Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP (1995). Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brener BM, eds. Hypertension: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management. 2nd edn. Raven Press, New York. pp. 465–478.

Appendices

Appendices should be placed at the end of the paper, numbered in Roman numerals and referred to in the text. If written by a person other than the author of the main text, the author's name should be included below the title.

Tables

Tables should be self-contained and complement, but not duplicate information contained in the text. Number tables consecutively in the text in Arabic numerals. Type tables on a separate sheet with the legend above. Legends should be concise but comprehensive: the table, legend and footnotes must be understandable without reference to the text. Vertical lines should not be used to separate columns. Column headings should be brief, with units of measurement in parentheses; all abbreviations must be defined in footnotes. Footnote symbols: a, b, c ... should be used (in that order) and *, **, *** should be reserved for P-values. Statistical measures such as SD or SEM should be identified in the headings.

1) Cover letter

A cover letter must be submitted along with the manuscript, stating that the manuscript as a whole and any part of the content have not been submitted for publication elsewhere, except as a brief abstract in the proceedings of a scientific meeting or symposium. Any closely related papers that are in press or that have been submitted elsewhere should be noted in the cover letter and cited in the submitted manuscript as appropriate. If any new gene symbols are introduced, the authors should state that they have conducted a search of the literature and of community databases and whether each new symbol has been registered in the appropriate community database. If authors wish to request exclusion of any reviewers, specific reasons must be provided. We recommend that authors also explain briefly how their work meets the Journal's scope.

The cover letter must also contain a declaration that all authors have contributed significantly to the work and that all authors are in agreement with the content of the manuscript.
If tables or figures have been reproduced from another source, a letter from the copyright holder (usually the Publisher), stating authorization to reproduce the material must be attached to the covering letter.

Availability of materials

Publication in JIPB implies that the authors agree to provide materials that are integral to the results presented in the article, including whatever would be necessary for a skilled investigator to verify or replicate the claims. Authors are generally expected to take advantage of public repositories or commercial vendors to the extent possible.

Author material archive policy

Authors who require the return of any submitted material that is accepted for publication should inform the Editorial Office at the time of submission. If no indication is given, all hardcopy and electronic material will be disposed of two months after publication.

2) Style of the manuscript

Spelling

The Journal uses US spelling and authors should therefore follow the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

Units

All measurements must be given in SI or SI-derived units.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be used sparingly, only where they ease the reader's task by reducing repetition of long, technical terms. Initially use the word in full, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter use the abbreviation only.

Trade names

Chemical substances should be referred to by the generic name only. Trade names should not be used when it is not essential or ambiguous. If trade names are used, the name and location of the manufacturer must be given.

Scientific names

Upon its first use in the title, abstract, text, and materials and methods, the common name of a species should be followed by the scientific name (genus, species and authority) in parentheses. However, for well-known species, the scientific name may be omitted from the article title. If no common name exists in English, the scientific name should be used only.

Botanical nomenclature

All papers must conform to the latest edition of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Upon its first use in the title, abstract and text, the common name of a species should be followed by the scientific name (genus, species and authority) in parentheses.

Genetic nomenclature

Standard genetic nomenclature should be used. For further information, including relevant websites, authors should refer to the genetic nomenclature guide in Trends in Genetics (Elsevier Science, 1998).

Nucleotide sequence data can be submitted in electronic form to any of the three major collaborative databases: DDBJ, EMBL or GenBank. It is only necessary to submit to one database as data are exchanged between DDBJ, EMBL and GenBank on a daily basis. The suggested wording for referring to accession number information is: "These sequence data have been submitted to the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under accession number U12345."

Addresses are as follows:

DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ): http://www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp

EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Submissions: http://www.ebi.ac.uk

GenBank: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

3) Figures

We recommend that figures be created using Adobe Photoshop. If you use Photoshop or similar software, send .tif files at full size and delete any blank space around the edges of each figure. Resolution of at least 300 dpi is needed for most figures, saved as .jpg or .tif. Color figure files should be set up as CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) and not as RGB (red, green, blue) so that the colors as they appear on screen will be a closer representation of how they will print in the Journal. If you use PowerPoint, send the original PowerPoint files. Use only basic PowerPoint fonts, do not draw lines that are less than .25 points thick. Use shaded or colored fills instead of pattern fills. Images imported into PowerPoint should have at least 600 dpi resolution. All illustrations (line drawings and photographs) are classified as figures. It is preferred that photos be grouped together into one or more plates. Figures should be cited in consecutive order in the text. Each figure should be labelled at the top of the page, indicating the name of the author (s), figure number and orientation.

Line figures should be supplied as sharp, black and white graphs or diagrams, drawn professionally or with a computer graphics package. Lettering must be included and should be sized to 8 point size (Arial and Overstriking) for line figures and photographs; figure numbers should be sized to be 9 point size (Arial and Overstriking). Photographs should be supplied as sharp, glossy, black-and-white or color photographic prints and must be unmounted. Individual photographs forming a composite figure should be of equal contrast to facilitate printing, and should be accurately squared.

Magnifications should be indicated using a scale bar on the illustration.

All figures must be supplied in camera-ready format.

Charges for publication of figures are detailed below.

Figure legends

Legends should be concise and comprehensive: the figure and its legend must be understandable without reference to the text including definitions of any symbols used and define/explain all abbreviations and units of measurement.

4) Cover picture submission

Each cover of JIPB will have an illustration selected from one of the articles published in that issue. Authors who would like to have a color photograph considered should submit a high resolution image online via Bench>Press when submitting a manuscript, or email submissions to the manuscript tracking office at fenghong@ibcas.ac.cn. All cover pictures should be relevant to the content of the article published in the issue, and have artistic impression. The decision for the cover selection is made by the Executive Editor. If your photograph is selected, you will be contacted by the editorial staff for additional information for the cover caption. If an author does not hold the copyright for a submitted image, he/she is responsible for obtaining the necessary permission to use the image in JIPB. In return, the colour cover will also be used for the offprints of your paper without additional charge.

5) Free access articles

JIPB offers two free accessible articles which are selected by the Editor-in-Chief per issue. They are identified as being freely available for all. Despite that, JIPB also supplies authors with the pay-to-publish service (see http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/static/onlineopen.asp for details). Authors wishing to take up this process are required to complete the OnlineOpen Form. (Back to top)

6) Supplementary material

Supplementary material is not essential to the article but provides greater depth and background and may include tables, figures, videos, datasets, etc. This material can be submitted with your manuscript, and will appear online, without editing or typesetting. Guidelines on how to prepare this material and which formats and file sizes are acceptable can be found at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/bauthor/suppmat.asp. (Back to top)

9. Manuscript Processing

All manuscripts received will be subjected to a validity check, including the scope, the quality and the format, by the Managing Editor. Those that pass the first examination will be assigned to a Handling Editor. The Handling Editor usually assigns two peer reviewers for each manuscript. Each reviewer and Handling Editor evaluate the manuscript in terms of the importance of research questions, the rigor of the experimental evidence and protocols, and the significance of the conclusion. All manuscripts tentatively accepted will be forwarded to the Executive Editor for a final decision.

A decision letter will be emailed to the corresponding author once the Handling Editor has made his or her decision. The critiques provided by the reviewers can be viewed by the corresponding author online at http://www.submit-jipb.net in his or her Author Area in the Manuscripts with Decisions queue.

If the manuscript is accepted without revision, the editorial office will contact the corresponding author if additional files/documents are needed.

If the manuscript is accepted pending revisions, the corresponding author will upload the revised manuscript files using the Bench>Press system. A revised manuscript must be received within 30 days after the decision letter is sent. The manuscript will be assigned to the same editor unless authors specifically request otherwise or the original editor is unavailable for an extended period of time. If the corresponding author fails to upload a revision in 30 days, the manuscript will be handled like a resubmission, unless an extension is granted by the Handling Editor.

JIPB allows only two rounds of revisions, with the second round reserved for only minor corrections. This means that Handling Editors must make the final decision whether to accept or reject a resubmitted manuscript on the basis of the authors' response to the referees' criticisms during the first round of revisions. A second round of revisions will be allowed only to correct minor issues. If the manuscript is rejected after it has been revised it should not be resubmitted to JIPB again.

If the manuscript is declined with encouragement from the Handling Editor to resubmit, the resubmission must be submitted online and will be handled as a new manuscript. A resubmission must be noted as such with its previous tracking number.

A manuscript that contains good scientific content but otherwise requires extensive revision will, as a matter of policy, be declined.

If at any time during the review process the corresponding author has a question regarding the status of a manuscript or the nature of the peer review process, he or she could contact the Manuscript Manager at fenghong@ibcas.ac.cn. (Back to top)

10. Proofs

The editorial staff will notify the corresponding author via e-mail to electronically retrieve page proofs. The corresponding author will have access to one PDF file, which will contain: (a) PDF pages (includes figures and tables) and (b) a reprint order form. The corresponding author will return to the editorial staff by mail (a) original figures if applicable, (b) proofread and corrected original proof, and (c) the completed reprint order form. Although the editorial staff may change the wording based on their understanding, the corresponding author is fully responsible for the final content of the manuscript. The proof is most probably the last chance to correct mistakes. With the exception of typographical or minor clerical errors, no changes will be made in the manuscript at the proof stage. You may correct any of the mistakes made by the editorial staff for free, however, correcting more than five of your own mistakes will be subject to additional charges (US$ 2 each), and even re-evaluation by the Handling Editor. (Back to top)

11. Offprints

From January 1, 2008, thirty offprints will be supplied to the corresponding author once required. A charge of RMB¥ 500 (US$ 70) and RMB¥ 2000 (US$ 270) will be levied for each article without colour plate and with colour plates, respectively. For offprints of more than 30, extra charge will also be levied.(Back to top)

12. Publication Fees

There is no fee for submitting a manuscript to JIPB. However, a charge of RMB¥ 300 (US$ 45) for each printed page, RMB¥ 1800 (US$ 230) for each color figure (or figure plate) will be levied on accepted manuscripts. Cheques should be made payable to West Haidian District Subbranch, Beijing Branch, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC); Account No: 0200004509088100989; Address: No65 West Road, Beisihuan, Hiandian District，Beijing, 100083; Swift code: ICBKCNBJBJM. If authors have difficulty paying the publication costs, please contact the Editorial Office. The Editorial Board may waive the page charges under special circumstances.(Back to top)

13. Correction and Retraction

If necessary, corrections of significant errors in published articles will be published in a later issue of the Journal. A correction published in the print journal will also be published as a correction in the online journal and will be linked to the original article. Articles may be retracted by their authors, academic or institutional sponsor, editor, or publisher because of pervasive error or unsubstantiated or irreproducible data. A correction or retraction, so labeled, will appear in a prominent section of the Journal, will be listed in the content page, and will include the title of the original article. The text of a retraction will explain why the article is being retracted and will include a bibliographic reference to it.(Back to top)

14. Contact Us

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions (jipb@ibcas.ac.cn).(Back to top)

　
　