Skip to main content

Guest Editors and Article Collections

Guest Editors play an essential role in framing the scope of article collections at BMC Biology, advising on front matter content and relevant articles, and may contribute guest editorials or other content.

Article collections provide a great opportunity to explore a specific theme, discuss aspects or advances in research, and ultimately influence future research, policy and practice.

Manuscripts submitted to the collection (including the ones submitted or commissioned by Guest Editors) are not guaranteed acceptance for publication. As for all manuscripts submitted to BMC Biology, all articles are assessed by the in-house editorial team. To be considered, manuscripts must be within the scope and threshold of the journal, and we base decisions upon an extensive and rigorous peer review process by academic experts.

​​​​​​​How to become a Guest Editor

Interested experts may become guest editors in two ways:

  • They are invited by the journal because of their expertise in a specific field
  • They submit a proposal for an article collection that is assessed by the BMC Biology editorial team, and consequently, can be either accepted or rejected

Guest Editor role

The role of Guest Editor is mostly advisory. The overall editorial responsibility for the journal is with the Chief Editor. Editorial decisions are made by considering the advice of the peer reviewers following at least one round of peer review. Guest Editors and Editorial Board Members may provide advice on manuscripts submitted but are not always involved in the final decisions. 

Expectations of Guest Editors

In line with our general policies (https://www.biomedcentral.com/getpublished/writing-resources/competing-interests), Guest Editors are required to declare any competing interests and also recuse themselves from handling or advising upon any submissions where they might have a conflict of interest.

For additional information on our peer review policy, visit: https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/submission-guidelines/peer-review-policy

For additional information on article collections and how to become a guest editor, please contact bmcbiologyeditorial@biomedcentral.com