Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines

Cellular Microbiology is published monthly and is covered by Wiley Blackwell's Accepted Articles and Early View services.

Cellular Microbiology publishes outstanding original scientific contributions on the intersection of microbial and host cell biology. The focus is the host cell responses elicited by the interaction of micro-organisms. Equal emphasis is placed on responses to prokaryotic, viral and eukaryotic micro-organisms. In addition to mammalian systems, papers addressing other hosts such as plants and insects are strongly encouraged.

The Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): http://www.publicationethics.org.uk

Editorial Policy
The scope of Cellular Microbiology includes the host cell responses and interactions elicited by prokaryotic, viral and eukaryotic microorganisms, including helminths, protozoa and fungi, that illuminate exploitation of host cell components, function and signalling pathways, and may include modulation or alteration of immune responses. Mechanistic insight obtained through robust biochemical, genetic, cellular, and bioimaging technologies are expected to support observational data. In addition to mammalian and plant systems, papers addressing other hosts such as invertebrate systems are encouraged. Because viruses are inherently dependent upon the host cell, virology-based submissions to Cellular Microbiology should advance knowledge of the interaction of viruses and host cells. In addition to the principal content of full length and short research papers, issues may include Editorials/Opinions, Microreviews and Technoreviews as regular features.

Research Papers
Full length or shorter communications of original research will be published (Breaking Reports). Only complete reports will be published; notes or preliminary communications will not be considered.

Breaking Reports
Cellular Microbiology now offers the opportunity to publish ‘Breaking Reports’. Such submissions will be handled expeditiously through the review process. Breaking Reports are short-format papers that report a single, key message highlighting a ground-breaking advance. These reports should not exceed 5-6 printed pages of the journal (approximately 5,000 words) including a maximum of three display items and no more than 30 references. The report should be divided into sections as described for full articles.

Microreviews
In addition to primary research articles, short Microreviews are published in areas of particular interest and current importance in the field of Cellular Microbiology. The content of these reviews should appeal broadly to the readership and highlight both recent advances and areas that require additional research. Reviews should focus on cell biological themes rather than being organism specific and should include a broad range of microbial-host interactions.

Technoreviews
Short reviews dealing with technical advances that provide new approaches for examination of host-pathogen interactions are welcome. Technoreviews should provide an overview of the development and/or application of the methodology including its relative strengths, advantages and potential limitations.

Submission of Manuscripts
All manuscripts should be submitted online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cell-micro. Any articles submitted as hardcopy will be returned to the authors for re-submission. A user ID and password are required and can be obtained on the first use of the site. Any articles submitted as hardcopy will be returned to the authors for re-submission. Full instructions are provided.

Full help and support are provided by e-mail (support@scholarone.com), the web ( http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cell-micro). If you cannot submit online please contact the Central Editorial Office:

Cellular Microbiology Central Editorial Office,
Wiley-Blackwell
9600 Garsington Road
Oxford OX4 2DQ
UK
Fax: +44 1865 714591
E-mail: cell-micro-editorial-office@wiley.com

Manuscripts will be directed by subject category to the appropriate Editor.

• Manuscripts addressing mechanisms of pathogenesis and bacterial-cellular interactions will be directed to either Sergio Grinstein, Feng Shao, or Thierry Soldati.

• Manuscripts concerning parasitology will be directed to Artur Scherf.

• Mycology manuscripts will be handled by Neil Gow.

• Virology manuscripts will be directed to Jacomine Krijnse Locker.

• Microreviews and Technoreviews will be directed to Elizabeth Hartland.


In the event of a potential conflict of interest with a particular editor, authors may request another editor to handle their manuscript.

Data Protection

By submitting a manuscript to or reviewing for this publication, your name, email address, and affiliation, and other contact details the publication might require, will be used for the regular operations of the publication, including, when necessary, sharing with the publisher (Wiley) and partners for production and publication. The publication and the publisher recognize the importance of protecting the personal information collected from users in the operation of these services, and have practices in place to ensure that steps are taken to maintain the security, integrity, and privacy of the personal data collected and processed. You can learn more at https://authorservices.wiley.com/statements/data-protection-policy.html.

Accelerated decision procedure
Every effort will be made to ensure rapid publication. Authors will normally receive reviewers' comments within four weeks of submission. To ensure the best service to authors and reviewers, manuscripts may be immediately returned to authors without scientific review following editorial assessment if it is deemed not suitable for Cellular Microbiology or if extensive revisions are required.

To maintain current scientific reviews, revisions of manuscripts should be resubmitted within 3 months of the editor's decision. Additional time for resubmission required to conduct specific experimental protocols may be requested in advance.

No page charges will be levied. Papers must be submitted exclusively to Cellular Microbiology and are accepted on the understanding that they have not been, and will not be, published elsewhere. If any part of a study submitted to Cellular Microbiology is resubmitted at a later date, the manuscript must be directed to the Editor who originally handled it.

If accepted, papers become copyright of the Journal. Authors must give signed consent to publication in a letter sent with the paper, but permission to use material elsewhere (e.g. in review articles) will normally be granted on request.

The Publisher will dispose of all hardcopy or electronic material submitted two months after publication.

Expedited Review
Cellular Microbiology offers an expedited review track for manuscripts that have been previously reviewed by certain highly selective journals. If you feel that the previous reviews would support publication of the manuscript in Cellular Microbiology (in its present form, or after minor revision), you are welcome to provide a copy of the reviews with your submission (providing that you have first obtained appropriate permission from the reviewer to share their review with us).

Manuscripts should be re-formatted according to the Cellular Microbiology guidelines and submitted via the ScholarOne manuscript submission system. Please include:

• a cover letter requesting expedited review,
• a PDF file of the originally submitted manuscript uploaded to Supplementary Files,
• the previous decision letter including peer reviews, and any manuscript correspondence,
• in addition, please include for the editor a point-by-point response to the previous critiques

We will not give any of this information to reviewers. We believe this makes the review process more efficient, transparent and reasonable.

Manuscripts considered for expedited review are circulated to the entire board of editors, and advice of an outside editorial advisor may also be obtained. In many cases, expedited review can result in manuscripts being accepted for publication (depending on any additional minor revisions that might be needed) within 3-10 days.

PRESENTATION OF MANUSCRIPTS (IMPORTANT: for review articles please see below)
Papers should be as concise as possible, compatible with clarity and completeness. For guidance, eight printed pages corresponds to 17 pages of double line-spaced manuscript with three figures/tables, 15 pages of manuscript with six figures/tables, or 14 pages of manuscript with eight figures/tables. The text should be double spaced.

Figures included with online submissions should be suitable for onscreen viewing and desktop printing. High resolution images (digital only) should be provided on request or on manuscript acceptance.

Figures
Please supply high quality digital versions of figures in EPS or TIFF format to be used in production. Photomicrographs should include a scaled bar and indicate the size (descriptions of magnification alone are not sufficient). Submitted photographic images should be scaled to publication size and must have an image resolution of 300 dpi or greater in TIFF format. Powerpoint files are no longer accepted, and TIFF files should not be produced by transferring images from a previous Powerpoint file, as this results in major loss in resolution. Annotated photographs, line graphs and bar charts should be generated in EPS format for best quality of reproduction. For more detailed guidelines, please refer to http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/illustration.asp

Provide methodological details on image acquisition and image processing, including software and operations such as colourizing and other modifications. The Editors remind authors that it is not acceptable scientific conduct to modify any separate element within an image. Sometimes adjustments of the entire image in brightness, contrast and colour balance are justified if they do not misrepresent the original, observed data. Composite figures composed of grouped images such as insets from different fields or separate parts of gels must be explained in the figure legend and differentiated by use of dividing lines or other means to make composites unambiguous.

Please ensure that electronic artwork is prepared such that, after reduction to fit across one or two columns or two-thirds page width (80mm, 169mm or 110mm respectively) as required, all lettering will be clear and easy to read, i.e. no labels should be too large or too small. Avoid using tints if possible; if they are essential to the understanding of the figure, try to make them coarse. No artwork should be incorporated into the text files.
In the full-text online edition of the Journal, figure legends may be truncated in abbreviated links to the full-screen version. Therefore, the first 100 characters of any legend should inform the reader of key aspects of the figure.

Video files
Our preferred file format for movies is .mp4.

Presentation of Manuscripts (REVIEW ARTICLES)
Reviews should be 4–7 pages in length (approximately 5000 words including references) plus one or two figures. Cellular Microbiology encourages the publication of colour figures if warranted in Reviews. Colour illustrations should be used to highlight the major concepts, models, or techniques described in the body of the text. However, additional supplemental material may be submitted for publication online only. Please include the word count on the title page before submission. In general, authors should avoid the use of unpublished work, or references to such materials, that will not be directly accessible to the readers. Reviews will be subjected to peer review in order to assure they contain a broad and fair perspective of the topic. As the majority of Reviews are invited by the editors, the review process is designed primarily as a mechanism to improve the content and presentation of the manuscript.

Figures
We strongly encourage authors to develop one or two models that capture the major findings of their review topics. Your submitted artwork will be revised by an in-house artist who will provide an illustration in the unified style for the journal. This will be sent to you for final approval before publication.

*Important guidelines: please submit colour artwork in either high-resolution PDF format or TIFF format (image resolution of 300 dpi or greater). All figures should have a maximal width of 169 mm and a maximal height of 228 mm. The minimal font size should be 8 and that the font should be Helvetica.

The following applies to all manuscript types:

Title page
Should include the author's name(s), affiliations and the address to which all correspondence and should be sent. Telephone and fax numbers should also be supplied, along with an e-mail address if available. Present addresses of authors should appear as a footnote. A running title of not more than 50 characters should be provided.

Nomination of reviewers
Authors should nominate six reviewers to be used and their contact information, and may suggest up to two reviewers not to use (additional justification should be provided in the covering letter). However the Editors reserve the right to select expert reviewers at their discretion.

Summary
All papers must normally include a summary not exceeding 200 words. The main text should be subdivided into Introduction, Results, Discussion and Experimental procedures. The Results and Discussion sections may be combined and can include additional subheadings. Experimental procedures should be sufficiently detailed to enable the experiments to be reproduced. (For review papers, the main text should be subdivided into logical headings that summarize the main points of the review).

All pages must be numbered consecutively. Tables, figure legends and acknowledgements should follow the main text, each on a separate page. Footnotes should be avoided.

Standard abbreviations should be as recommended in Quantities, Units, and Symbols (The Royal Society, 1988). Abbreviations of non-standard terms should follow, in parentheses, their first full usage.

Manuscript Text
The manuscript text file should be uploaded as a separate Word document. Files should be formatted double-spaced with no hyphenation and automatic word-wrap (no hard returns within paragraphs). Please type your text consistently, e.g. take care to distinguish between '1' (one) and 'l' (lower-case L) and '0' (zero) and 'O' (capital O), etc.

Tables
Tables should be typed as text, using either 'tabs' or a table editor for layout. Do not use graphics software to create tables.

Mathematics
In-line equations should be typed as text. The use of graphics programmes and 'equation editors' should be avoided. Displayed equations are rekeyed by our typesetter.

APA Reference style

Manuscripts should use the APA referencing style. Detailed guide and examples can be found here: https://www.apastyle.org/

Genetic Nomenclature
Standard genetic nomenclature should be used. For more detailed information, authors should consult Bachman (Microbiol Rev 47: 180-230, 1983) for E. coli K-12; Sanderson and Roth (Microbiol Rev 47: 310-453, 1983) for Salmonella typhimurium; Holloway et al. (Microbiol Rev 43: 73-102, 1979) for Bacillus subtilis; Perkins et al. (Microbiol Rev 46: 426-570, 1982) for Neurospora crassa; and the Handbook of Genetics Vol. 1 (R. C. King, ed., Plenum Press, 1974) for Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Restriction Enzymes
Cellular Microbiology has adopted the revised convention of naming restriction enzymes without italics. The previous style was EcoRI, KpnI, HindIII, SacII, etc. These should now be written EcoRI, KpnI, HindIII, SacII. For more information on the updated guidelines to naming restriction enzymes please consult Roberts et al. (Nucleic Acids Res 31: 1805-1812).

Sequence Data Submission
Nucleotide sequence data can be submitted in electronic form to any of the three major collaborative databases: DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank. It is only necessary to submit to one database, without regard to where the sequence data will be published. 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 for these databases can be obtained from the Cellular Microbiology Web site ( http://www.cell-micro.com).

(New) Automated Data Repository Deposition
Cellular Microbiology is part of a new initiative to streamline submission, deposition, and permanent archival of data files in association with manuscripts. This is a simple, free, and low-effort service for all Cellular Microbiology authors. This service is specifically tailored for data files that are not necessarily suitable for deposition into larger, government/institutional repositories, i.e. small CSVs, images, PDFs, etc. Often, these smaller datasets, while valuable, are submitted as Supporting Information; this new service does not replace Supporting Information, although Cellular Microbiology encourages authors to classify files that would have previously been submitted as Supporting Information as “Data Files” during the submission process. If you decide to take advantage of this service, the following will happen, assuming your manuscript is accepted for publication:

1. Files submitted and categorized as “Data Files” will be permanently deposited into the Cellular Microbiology figshare repository: live examples are available here.
2. These files will inherit metadata from your manuscript with no effort required on your part.
3. Your files on figshare will be assigned a single DOI, making them uniquely identified and citable.
4. The link/DOI for your files will be automatically in-lined into your manuscript, in a new section called “Data Accessibility”: a simple example is available here.

Again, there is no cost for this service, using it is as simple as selecting “Data Files” for appropriate files during file submission, from the standard pull-down menu in the submission system. No additional effort is required on your part, although you may, if you wish, create a “Data Accessibility” section in your manuscript ahead of time and provide some short context (e.g. the equivalent of legends) for each of your files.

For additional information/FAQs, please refer to this page.

Conflict of Interest

Wiley Blackwell requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise, that might be perceived as influencing an author’s objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or indirectly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript. Potential sources of conflict of interest include but are not limited to patent or stock ownership, membership of a company board of directors, membership of an advisory board or committee for a company, and consultancy for or receipt of speaker’s fees from a company. The existence of a conflict of interest does not preclude publication in this journal.

If the authors have no conflict of interest to declare, they must also state this at submission. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to review this policy with all authors and to collectively list in the cover letter to the Editor, in the manuscript (under the Acknowledgment section), and in the online submission system ALL pertinent commercial and other relationships.

Pre-submission English-language editing
Authors for whom English is a second language may choose to have their manuscript professionally edited before submission to improve the English. A list of independent suppliers of editing services can be found here. All services are paid for and arranged by the author, and use of one of these services does not guarantee acceptance or preference for publication.

Copyright and Permissions
If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email prompting them to login into Author Services; where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be able to complete the license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper.

For authors signing the copyright transfer agreement
If the OnlineOpen option is not selected the corresponding author will be presented with the copyright transfer agreement (CTA) to sign. The terms and conditions of the CTA can be previewed in the samples associated with the Copyright FAQs below:

CTA Terms and Conditions http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/faqs_copyright.asp

For authors choosing OnlineOpen
If the OnlineOpen option is selected the corresponding author will have a choice of the following Creative Commons License Open Access Agreements (OAA):
Creative Commons Attribution License OAA
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License OAA
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial -NoDerivs License OAA

To preview the terms and conditions of these open access agreements please visit the Copyright FAQs hosted on Wiley Author Services. If you select the OnlineOpen option and your research is funded by The Wellcome Trust and members of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) you will be given the opportunity to publish your article under a CC-BY license supporting you in complying with Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK requirements. For more information on this policy and the Journal’s compliant selfarchiving policy please visit: http://www.wiley.com/go/funderstatement.

NEW: Online production tracking is now available for your article through Author Services
Author services enables authors to track their article - once it has been accepted- through the production process to publication online. Authors can check the status of their articles on line and choose to receive automated e-mails at key stages of production so they don't need to contact the production editor to check on progress. The author will receive an email with a unique link that enables them to register and have their article automatically added to the system. Please ensure that a complete e-mail address is provided when submitting the manuscript. Visit http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/ for more details on online production tracking and a wealth of resources including FAQs and tips on article preparation, submission and more.

Accepted Articles
Cellular Microbiology offers Accepted Articles. Accepted Articles have been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but have not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process. Accepted Articles are published online a few days after final acceptance, appear in PDF format only, are given a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), which allows them to be cited and tracked, and are indexed by PubMed.

Proofs

Authors will receive an e-mail notification with a link and instructions for accessing HTML page proofs online. Page proofs should be carefully proofread for any copyediting or typesetting errors. Online guidelines are provided within the system. No special software is required, all common browsers are supported. Authors should also make sure that any renumbered tables, figures, or references match text citations and that figure legends correspond with text citations and actual figures. Proofs must be returned within 48 hours of receipt of the email. Return of proofs via e-mail is possible in the event that the online system cannot be used or accessed.

ELocators
This journal now uses eLocators. eLocators are unique identifies for an article that service the same function page numbers have traditionally served in the print world. When citing this article, please insert the eLocator in place of the page number. For more information, please visit the Author Services eLocator page here.

Referrals to the Open Access Journal MicrobiologyOpen
This journal works together with one of Wiley's open access journals, MicrobiologyOpen to enable rapid publication of good quality research that is unable to be accepted for publication by our journal. Authors may be offered the option of having the paper, along with any related peer reviews, automatically transferred for consideration by MicrobiologyOpen. MicrobiologyOpen is a Wiley open access journals and article publication fees apply. For more information, please go to www.microbiologyopen.com/info.

Offprints
Free access to the final PDF offprint or your article will be available via author services only. Please therefore sign up for author services if you would like to access your article PDF offprint and enjoy the many other benefits the service offers.

Distribution of Strains
The publication of an article in Cellular Microbiology is subject to the understanding that authors will distribute freely any strains, clones or antibodies described therein for use in academic research.

Cellular Microbiology

are welcomed by the Editors. It is preferable, but not essential, that these should be related to submitted papers. A free pdf offprint of the cover will be provided to the author whose photograph is reproduced thereon.