Author Instructions

Page charge

I. General

  1. Plant Biotechnology (ISNN 0289577) publishes previously unpublished basic research and applied technology on plant tissue culture, plant molecular biology, plant cell engineering, bioinformatics, and related fields.
  2. The Reception Date of the manuscript is the date on which the manuscript is received by the editorial office. The Acceptance Date is the date on which the manuscript is accepted for publication. However, manuscripts may not be accepted if they do not follow the guidelines described in this Author Instruction document.
  3. Copyright: The Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology owns the universal copyright of all material accepted for publication in this Journal. Article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons License CC-BY. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
  4. Plant Biotechnology publishes articles written in English.
  5. Plant Biotechnology is published four times a year, on 25th of March, June, September and December.
  6. Allegations of scientific misconduct or ethical violation with respect to manuscripts submitted to the journal will be investigated in accordance with the rules of the Plant Biotechnology Ethics Committee, and a course of action will be taken in accordance with the Code of Ethics of the Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology.
  7. To ensure objectivity and transparency in research and to ensure that accepted principles of ethical and professional conduct have been followed, authors should include information regarding sources of funding, potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals. The corresponding author should be prepared to collect documentation of compliance with ethical standards to be sent to the journal if requested during peer review or after publication. The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the above-mentioned guidelines. The author will be held responsible for false statements or failure to fulfill the above-mentioned guidelines.

II. Category of papers

The journal accepts five categories of papers, so long as the information has not been previously published: Review, Mini Review, Original Paper, Short Communication, and Note.

Review Reviews in this journal aim to provide a comprehensive overview of current research in plant biotechnology. We accept submissions from members of the JSPB, and manuscripts from non-members may be considered if they are invited by the Editor-in-Chief. Our reviews should present a unique perspective on the topic and be well-supported with relevant literature. All reviews will undergo a thorough review process, and should be no longer than 10 printed pages.
Mini Review Like Reviews, Mini Review should be submitted by members of the JSPB, and non-members may be considered if invited by the Editor-in-Chief. These manuscripts will undergo a thorough review process. However, they should be shorter in length, at no more than 6 printed pages.
Original Paper Original Papers should provide novel insights into biological processes of plants, and/or present novel approaches, methods, tools, or resources that enables progress in plant biotechnology. The length should be up to 6 printed pages.
Short Communication Short Communication should contain new findings of exceptional interest, which require relatively rapid review and publication. Manuscripts should be organized following the style of Original Papers, but should not be divided into headed sections. The length should be no more than 4 printed pages.
Note Notes should contain novel and original findings on biological mechanisms of plants, or significant improvement of existing methods, even if they do not provide as complete a description of the research as an Original Paper. Manuscripts should not be divided into headed sections and the length should be no more than 4 printed pages.

III.Reviewing process

  1. Manuscripts are reviewed by two referees and a handling editor. Final decisions as to whether the manuscript is to be accepted or rejected, and the order of publication of accepted papers, are made by the Editorial Board. Manuscripts which require revision will be returned to the authors with comments specifying the problems raised by the Editorial Board.
  2. Authors are required to submit revised manuscript within 2 months of receiving notification of revision comments. If authors do not submit the revised manuscript within 2 months, without notifying the editor of any special reason, it will be assumed that the authors have withdrawn the manuscript. If authors would like to withdraw their manuscript, they should contact the handling editor immediately.
  3. Manuscripts should be written in clear, concise, and grammatical English. Contributors whose native language is not English are strongly recommended to have their manuscript checked, before submission, by a native speaker with experience in writing scientific manuscripts in English. This will greatly facilitate reviewing, and thus publication, if the content is acceptable.

IV. Manuscript preparation guidelines

  • Overview
  1. The manuscript should be accurate, concise and clear throughout. Avoid repeated contents and overlapping of figures and tables. The preferred font is Times New Roman.
  2. If the manuscript does not follow the format directed in these guidelines, the Editorial Board will ask authors to re-submit the manuscript after re-formatting. Authors can refer to the latest issue of Plant Biotechnology to view the correct format.
  3. The first line of the first paragraph of each section should be left justified. The start of subsequent paragraphs in each section should be indented 3 spaces.
  • Manuscript format
  1. Prepare “Main document” as a DOC(.doc or .docx) file.
  2. Prepare “Tables” as DOC(.doc or .docx) or Excel files (.xls or .xlsx). Otherwise, include “Tables” in the “Main document”.
  3. Prepare “Figures” as TIF, JPG, or PDF files.
  4. Prepare “Supplementary Files” as PDF files.
  • Organization of manuscript

1. Title page
The title page should include the following elements in the specified order. Authors can continue to a second page if these elements exceed one page.

  1. Title: The title should be concise and informative, including the findings or conclusion of the study. It should not contain any abbreviations, equations, or chemical formula.
  2. Names of authors (full name)
  3. Affiliations of authors

2. The second page
The second page should include the following elements in the specified order.

  1. Name, address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author
  2. Running title (Not longer than 60 letters including spaces)
  3. Abbreviations
  4. Footnotes (Present Address etc.)

3. Main text starts from the third page.

  • Format

1) Original Paper

  1. Abstract
    The abstract should contain the background, main results, and conclusions of the study, without citing any references. The abstract should not exceed 250 words. It should summarize the problems, research methods, results and significance, so that it can be understood by readers in various fields.
  2. Key words
    Authors should provide up to 5 key words or phrases in alphabetical order, avoiding general uncharacteristic words.
  3. Introduction
  4. Materials and Methods
  5. Results
  6. Discussion
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. Author contribution
  9. Funding
  10. Conflict of interest
  11. Description of Supplementary Files
  12. References
  13. Tables
  14. Figure Legends
  15. Figures
  16. Supplementary Files
  • Results and Discussion can be merged in to a single section such as “Results and Discussion.”
  • The length of an Original Paper should be no longer than 6 printed pages including Figures and Tables.
  • All pages (including those for Tables, Figure legend, and Figures) should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page.
  • Include line numbers.

2) Short Communication and Note

  1. Abstract
    The abstract should contain the background, main results, and conclusions of the study, without citing any references. The abstract should not exceed 250 words. It should summarize the problems, research methods, results and significance, so that it can be understood by readers in various fields.
  2. Key words
    Authors should provide up to 5 key words or phrases in alphabetical order, avoiding general uncharacteristic words.
  3. Text
    Short Communications and Notes should not be divided into headed sections. Text should include Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion.
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. Author contribution
  6. Funding
  7. Conflict of interest
  8. Description of Supplementary Files
  9. References
  10. Tables
  11. Figure Legends
  12. Figures
  13. Supplementary Files
    • Short Communications and Notes should be no longer than 4 printed pages including Figures and Tables.
  • Include line numbers.

3) Tables

  1. Each Table should be presented on a separate page.
  2. Tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals (e.g. Table 1, Table 2).
  3. Tables should have concise and descriptive headings. Further essential explanations should be added as Footnotes. No period should be added at the end of the Table caption. Table headings should provide sufficient details to understand the table without referring to the main text. There is no need to refer to the experimental conditions if they are provided in the Materials and Methods, or to explain abbreviations if they have already been explained.
  4. Prepare Tables as tabulate text, not as images, because image data cannot be edited.
  5. Values should be indicated with standard deviation or standard error.

4) Figures

  1. Each Figure should be presented on a separate page.
  2. Figures (photographs, graphs, or diagrams) should be numbered　consecutively.
  3. All Figures should be aligned at right angles and be of a size permitting direct printing: no more than 8.6 cm across for single-column width or 17.8 cm for full-page width, and no higher than 24 cm.
  4. Line drawings (graphs and diagrams) should be supplied as color, grey scale, or black-and-white drawings suitable for reproduction.
  5. Halftone illustrations should be submitted as sharp, glossy, high-quality photographic prints with 600-1200 dpi resolution. Color illustrations should be in >300 dpi.
  6. When a Figure contains multiple panels, add A, B, C etc. in capital letter without parenthesis to the panels.
  7. Add the Figure number (e.g. Figure 1, Figure 2) and author name at the bottom of each page. Indicate top and bottom, if necessary.
  8. Figure captions and legends should be provided in the “Figure Legends” section.
  9. Figure legends should provide stand-alone explanations, so that Figures can be understood without referring to the main text. There is no need to refer to the experimental conditions if they are provided in the Materials and Methods, or to explain abbreviations if they have already been explained.
  10. Prepare Figures in an actual size, although the publisher reserves the right to reduce the size of illustrations. Labels of graph axes should be large enough to be readable even after reduction in size. For line drawings, all lines should be of uniform thickness; letters and numbers should be of professional quality and appropriate size (approx. 2 mm high after reduction).
  11. When a Figure is cited in the main text, spell out “Figure” in regular font (e.g. Figure 1B, left).
  12. When multiple Figures are cited in the main text, separate each Figure by comma, with no insertion of “and” (e.g. Figure 1A, B, C).

5) Photos
Photos are treated as Figures. Prepare photographic Figures in an actual size, although the publisher reserves the right to reduce the size. Authors can designate the size of photos taken by using electron microscopy, but they should not exceed 1 printed page. Insert scale bars in photos taken using microscopy.

6) Abbreviations and units

  1. SI units should be used, e.g.: mg, g, kg, m, cm, mm, l (liter), ml, s (second), min (minute), h (hour), mol-2.
  2. Use mg 1-1, not mg/l.
  3. Growth regulator concentrations should be expressed as μM or mg l-1.
  4. When describing temperatures, percentages, and concentration, insert a space between the values and the units (e.g. 4 °C, 10 %, 2 M, 50 μM).
  5. If a non-standard abbreviation is used, it should be defined in full as a footnote on the title page.
  6. Authors can use non-SI units if they are conventionally used in the academic community and are difficult to translate in to SI units. However, avoid mixed use of units in different metric systems (e.g. kg/cm2 and bar).

7) Citing literature in main text
Literature citations in the text should be by author(s) and year. When there are more than three authors, only the first should be named in the text, followed by ‘et al.’ Examples: (Bird 2002), (Cao and Jacobsen 2002), (Finnegan et al. 1996).
Online resources should be cited in the main text, as follows.
Figure was generated using FigTree (version 1.4.4, http://tree.bio.ed.ac.uk (Accessed Jul 30, 2021)).

8) References
References should be listed alphabetically at the end of the text as follows:

Single author:
Bird AP (2002) DNA methylation patterns and epigenetic memory. Genes Dev 16: 6-21

Two authors:
Cao X, Jacobsen S (2002) Role of the Arabidopsis DRM methyltransferase in de novo methylation and gene silencing. Curr Biol 12: 1138-1144

Three authors (and more):
Finnegan EJ, Peacock WJ, Dennis ES (1996) Reduced DNA methylation in Arabidopsis thaliana results in abnormal plant development. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93: 8449-8454
In the case of more than 10 authors, list only the first 10 authors, followed by “et al.”

Chapter in a book:
Ehrlich M (2002) DNA hypomethylation and cancer. In: Ehrlich M (ed) DNA Alterations in Cancer. Eaton Publishing, Natick, Massachusetts, pp 273-291

Book:
Sager R (1972) Cytoplasmic Genes and Organelles. Academic Press, New York

Preprint:
Premarathne MDGP, Fukutome N, Yamasaki K, Hayakawa F, Nagano AJ, Mizuno H, Ibaragi N, Nagano Y (2021) Elucidation of Japanese pepper (Zanthoxylum piperitum De Candolle) domestication using RAD-Seq. Preprint: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.29.424752v3

GitHub:
Nick JD (2021) ORForise – Prokaryote Genome Annotation Comparison and Analysis Platform. GitHub: https://github.com/NickJD/ORForise (Accessed Jul 30, 2021)

Online resource:
Shorthouse DP (2010) SimpleMappr, an online tool to produce publication-quality point maps. URL: https://www.simplemappr.net (Accessed Jul 30, 2021)

9) Sequences of genes, cDNAs, genomes, proteins and sequencing reads
Sequences of genes, cDNAs, genomes, proteins and sequencing reads should be registered in advance in INSDC organization databases (DDBJ, GenBank, or EMBL), and authors should provide accession numbers.

V. Submission

  1. Your manuscript should be submitted at web site:

    http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pb

    If you are not a native English speaker, English proof reading is strongly recommended before submission.
  2. If you have a problem with the web submission, please contact the Editorial Office:
    E-mail：plant-biotech[at]bunken.co.jp ← Please replace [at] with @ when you send an e-mail.
  3. Supplementary Files
    Data submitted as “Supplementary Files” are published on the web site of the article. Cite all the “Supplementary Files” in the Main Document.
  4. Preprint policy
    Plant Biotechnology accepts manuscripts for reviewing that have been posted to preprint servers such as bioRxiv. However, at the time of submission to this journal, authors must inform the journal via a cover letter that the manuscript has been posted to a preprint server. No additional versions of the manuscript may be posted to preprint servers at any time after initial submission. Once the article has been published in its final form on the journal website, the preprint server must link to the article on the journal’s website.

VI. Publication

  1. Accepted manuscripts should be submitted as an electronic file in accordance with the instructions from the editorial office.
  2. Galley proofs will be sent from the printer to the corresponding author. Authors are responsible for reading the first galley proof. Any changes in the content on the galley proof will be made at the author’s expense.
  3. Authors can order extra issues of the journal containing the author’s article at their own expense. A price list and order form will be sent to the corresponding author with the galley proof.

VII. Fees and charges

  1. Page charge
    40,000 JPY/article up to specified number of pages*(Review, Mini Review, Original Paper). 30,000 JPY/article up to specified number of pages* (Short Communication, Note). *specified number of pages; Review 10 pages, Mini Review 6pages, Original Paper 6 pages, Short Communication 4 pages, Note 4 pages.
  2. Publication charge 
    If the corresponding author is not a member of the Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology, 40,000 Japanese Yen (¥) per 1 article.
  3. Color page charge
    Plant Biotechnology charges 0 Japanese Yen (¥) for color pages.
  4. Over-page charge
    If the length of the article exceeds the standard page length (Review, 10 printed pages; Mini Review, Original Paper, 6 printed pages; Short Communication and Note, 4 printed pages), 15,000 Japanese Yen (¥) will be charged for each exceeding page (15,000 JPY/page). The regular page charge (1.) will not be charged for these pages.

<Quick Check List>

    1. Title
      No abbreviations can be included in the Title.
    2. Abstract
      2-1. Abstract should contain the background, main results, and conclusions of the study without citing any references. The Abstract should not exceed 250 words.
      2-2. If the length of the Abstract is too short, the Editorial Office may ask you to make it longer before the reviewing process.
      2-3. Avoid the use of abbreviations in the Abstract unless they are used more than one time.
    3. The first line
      The first line of the first paragraph of each section should be left justified. The start of subsequent paragraphs in each section should be indented 3 spaces.
    4. Figures
      4-1. Add a brief caption to each figure.
      4-2. When one Figure contains multiple panels, add A, B, C in capital letters without parenthesis to the panels.
      4-3. When a Figure is cited in the main text, spell out “Figure” in regular font (e.g. Figure 1B, left).
      4-4. When multiple Figures are cited in the main text, separate by comma, with no insertion of “and” (e.g. Figure 1A, B, C).
    5. Tables
      5-1. Add a brief caption to each Table.
      5-2. No period should be added at the end of the Table caption.
      5-3. Essential explanations are added as Footnotes.
      5-4. Values should be indicated with standard deviation (SD) or standard error (SE).
    6. Citation
      For citations in the text with three or more authors, “et al.” should be inserted in regular font with no comma, author name and year (e.g. Yang et al. 2004).
    7. References
      7-1. Journal names are in Italic font, and volumes are in regular font.
      7-2. Avoid excessive periods and commas. See the latest issue of Plant Biotechnology for the style of References.
      7-3. Avoid citation of journals whose information cannot be described in English. If necessary, add an alphabetical description of the journal name in parenthesis and add (in Japanese) to the end (e.g. Pharmaceut Soc Jpn (Yakugaku Zasshi) 28：2981-2988 (in Japanese)).
    8. Other points
      8-1. To describe temperature, percentages, and concentration, insert space between values and units (e.g. 4 °C, 10 %, 2 M, 50 μM).
      8-2. Sequences of genes, cDNAs, genomes, proteins and sequencing reads should be registered to INSDC organization databases (DDBJ, GenBank, or EMBL) and provide accession numbers.
      8-3. Provide a Running title of no longer than 60 letters including spaces.
      8-4. Provide Affiliation address as simply as possible (e.g. Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara 630-0192, Japan).

    Registration to institute repository
    Article published in Plant Biotechnology can be registered to institute repository without permission from Japanese Society of Plant Biotechnology. Authors should explicitly indicate the bibliographic information of the original article.


    Notice about photocopying
    In order to photocopy any work from this publication, you or your organization must obtain permission from the following organization which has been delegated for copyright clearance by the copyright owner of this publication.


    Japan Academic Association for Copyright Clearance,Inc. (JAACC)
    Akasaka 9-6-41, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052, Japan
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