Journal Guide

Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal (CSBJ) is an online journal publishing research articles and reviews after full peer review. All articles are published, without barriers to access, immediately upon acceptance. The journal places a strong emphasis on functional and mechanistic understanding of how molecular components in a biological process work together through the application of computational methods. Structural data may provide such insights, but they are not a pre-requisite for publication in the journal. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Structure and function of proteins, nucleic acids and other macromolecules
• Structure and function of multi-component complexes
• Protein folding, processing and degradation
• Enzymology
• Computational and structural studies of plant systems
• Microbial Informatics
• Genomics
• Proteomics
• Metabolomics
• Algorithms and Hypothesis in Bioinformatics
• Mathematical and Theoretical Biology
• Computational Chemistry and Drug Discovery
• Microscopy and Molecular Imaging
• Nanotechnology
• Systems and Synthetic Biology

While all general topics related to Computational and Structural Biology are welcomed, the editors reserve the right to pre-screen submissions based on the suitability of the topic of a submission and, therefore, the right as whether a manuscript will be processed/reviewed or not. Even though experimental validation is not required for publication, reliability and significance of biological discovery are validated and enriched by experimental studies.

The journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence, and enables the rapid publication of papers under the following categories:

• Research articles
• Review articles
• Mini Reviews
• Highlights
• Communications
• Software/Web server articles
• Methods articles
• Database articles
• Book Reviews
• Meeting Reviews

Current Biotechnology publishes critical and authoritative reviews, original research and methodology articles, and thematic issues in all areas of biotechnology, including basic and applied research. The journal serves as an advanced forum for innovative studies and major trends at the interface of technology, life sciences and biomedicine. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive and reliable source of information on the current advances and future perspectives in key themes of biotechnology.

Current Nanoscience publishes (a) Authoritative/Mini Reviews, and (b) Original Research and Highlights written by experts covering the most recent advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology. All aspects of the field are represented including nano-structures, nano-bubbles, nano-droplets and nanofluids. Applications of nanoscience in physics, material science, chemistry, synthesis, environmental science, electronics, biomedical nanotechnology, biomedical engineering, biotechnology, medicine and pharmaceuticals are also covered. The journal is essential to all researches involved in nanoscience and its applied and fundamental areas of science, chemistry, physics, material science, engineering and medicine.

The Current Opinion journals were developed out of the recognition that it is increasingly difficult for specialists to keep up to date with the expanding volume of information published in their subject. In Current Opinion in Biotechnology, we help the reader by providing in a systematic manner:1. The views of experts on current advances in biotechnology in a clear and readable form.2. Evaluations of the most interesting papers, annotated by experts, from the great wealth of original publications.Division of the subject into sectionsThe subject of biotechnology is divided into themed sections, each of which is reviewed once a year. The amount of space devoted to each section is related to its importance.Analytical biotechnology • Plant biotechnology • Food biotechnology • Energy biotechnology • Environmental biotechnology • Systems biology • Nanobiotechnology • Tissue, cell and pathway engineering • Chemical biotechnology • Pharmaceutical biotechnologySelection of topics to be reviewedSection Editors, who are major authorities in the field, are appointed by the Editors of the journal. They divide their section into a number of topics, ensuring that the field is comprehensively covered and that all issues of current importance are emphasised. Section Editors commission reviews from authorities on each topic that they have selected.ReviewsAuthors write short review articles in which they present recent developments in their subject, emphasising the aspects that, in their opinion, are most important. In addition, they provide short annotations to the papers that they consider to be most interesting from all those published in their topic over the previous year.Editorial OverviewSection Editors write a short overview at the beginning of the section to introduce the reviews and to draw the reader's attention to any particularly interesting developments.This successful format has made Current Opinion in Biotechnology one of the most highly regarded and highly cited review journals in the field (Impact factor = 7.711).Ethics in Publishing: General StatementThe Editor(s) and Publisher of this Journal believe that there are fundamental principles underlying scholarly or professional publishing. While this may not amount to a formal 'code of conduct', these fundamental principles with respect to the authors' paper are that the paper should: i) be the authors' own original work, which has not been previously published elsewhere, ii) reflect the authors' own research and analysis and do so in a truthful and complete manner, iii) properly credit the meaningful contributions of co-authors and co-researchers, iv) not be submitted to more than one journal for consideration, and v) be appropriately placed in the context of prior and existing research. Of equal importance are ethical guidelines dealing with research methods and research funding, including issues dealing with informed consent, research subject privacy rights, conflicts of interest, and sources of funding. While it may not be possible to draft a 'code' that applies adequately to all instances and circumstances, we believe it useful to outline our expectations of authors and procedures that the Journal will employ in the event of questions concerning author conduct. With respect to conflicts of interest, the Publisher now requires authors to declare any conflicts of interest that relate to papers accepted for publication in this Journal. A conflict of interest may exist when an author or the author's institution has a financial or other relationship with other people or organizations that may inappropriately influence the author's work. A conflict can be actual or potential and full disclosure to the Journal is the safest course. All submissions to the Journal must include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. The Journal may use such information as a basis for editorial decisions and may publish such disclosures if they are believed to be important to readers in judging the manuscript. A decision may be made by the Journal not to publish on the basis of the declared conflict.For more information, please refer to: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors/conflictsofinterest