Submissions

Login or Register to make a submission.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • Full Title of Article or Column: no more than 250 characters in length; specific, descriptive, concise, understandable by those outside the field
  • Short Title: no more than 50 characters, states topic of the study

  • For all authors: First name, middle initial and last name; email address
  • One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details: E-mail address and telephone number

  • Abstract
  • Keywords

  • Manuscript files (including tables, figure captions, references).
  • Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources.
  • Figures, videos, tables, and charts are properly formatted and numbered (author last name_Figure1).

  • References: all references mentioned in the Reference List follow the proper formatting guidelines, are cited in the text in the proper order, and vice versa.

  • Cover letter: No longer than 1 page. Specify the type of article, suggest potential reviewers, briefly describe the manuscript’s impact to the current body of knowledge in the field.

  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for active consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.

  • Manuscript has been ‘spell-checked’ and ‘grammar-checked’ and prepared with the template file and guidelines. Authors are responsible for editing grammar and spelling.

  • Authors may suggest the names and email addresses of qualified reviewers. These proposed referees should NOT be directly affiliated with the author. Please use the "Comments for the Editor" box found below to indicate any suggested reviewers.
  • Primary and secondary authors have no competing interests. The submitting authors declare that they have no competing interests (financial or otherwise) in the manuscript's subject matter or materials being presented.

Author Guidelines

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Manuscripts must be prepared with Microsoft Word™ using the template download from our website. The page setup must allow for 8.5 x 11 inch paper, one-inch margins on all sides, double-spaced lines, and 12 pt. body type.

Features: these (original articles) should not exceed 12,000 words. Longer manuscripts should be divided into two related articles, i.e. part 1 and part 2. An abstract of up to 80 words should accompany every feature article. The word count should include the abstract. The preferred maximum for article titles is 70 characters, including spaces. Include very brief biographical sketches of authors on a separate page at the end of the article; 200 words or less for a single author and 100 words or less for each author of multiple-author features.

Viewpoint and Professional Insight: Viewpoint and Insight submissions should not exceed 10,000 words. Abstracts are not required for manuscripts in these categories. A color photograph of the author should be submitted with each Viewpoint column.

Editors may revise any accepted written material for length and JBC style. The JBC follows The Chicago Manual of Style (2003. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

• Articles, Abstracts, and Introductions: all content must be written in English.

•  The JBC uses active voice and first person recounting.
•  The active voice employs statements such as: “Students preferred this model.”  rather than:  “This model was preferred by students.”

A first person recounting appears as: “We found a statistical significance.” rather than:  “The authors found a statistical significance." or “A statistical significance was found.”

Subheadings: all subheads should be typed in a flush left format. If subheads have different values, please clearly indicate with appropriately sized type.

Footnotes: the JBC does not permit the use of Footnotes. If your manuscript contains footnotes, move that information into the main text (in parentheses – see below), or place this information in the reference list, depending on the content.

Keywords: include a minimum of 5 keywords for indexing purposes.

Tables: all tables must be included within manuscripts as part of a Word program.

Figures: figures should be numbered sequentially as they are referenced in the text. Do not include figures in the main manuscript file. Each figure must be prepared and submitted as an individual file.

Figure legends: all legends must be included in the text after the references. Explain all symbols and abbreviations. Include a notation of permission or copyright.

References: all bibliographic information must be formatted in the following manner:

Citation in text:  The JBC uses the author-date method of citation recommended by The Chicago Manual of Style (See Chapter 16 in the 15th edition). The surnames of the authors and date of publication are enclosed in parentheses and inserted in the text at the appropriate point. For example:

“Jones (1996) has demonstrated that…” or “A study of computer use in medicine (Jones 1996)”

If a work has three or more authors, use the name of the first author followed by “et al.,” in the text citation. However, in the reference list include all authors’ names.

Reference list:  The list of works cited is arranged alphabetically by senior author’s last name and placed at the end of the article; sample reference forms appear below. Note that the down-style is preferred for books and article titles.

            Journal article

            Singarella, T. 1986. The case of the Egyptian mummy head. The Journal of Biocommunication 13(3):17-21.

            Book

            Jinkins, J. Randy. 2000. Atlas of Neuroradiologic Embryology, Anatomy, and Variants. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

            Chapter in book

            Jinkins, J. Randy. 2000. The Spine. In Atlas of Neuroradiologic Embryology, Anatomy, and Variants. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

 DIGITAL FIGURE PREPARATION

  • The following file formats are acceptable for submission of graphics: JPG, PNG, EPS, and TIF. Preferably these graphic files would come from Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator software.
  • Photographic images and illustrations should be submitted at 300 dpi resolution 2880 pixels wide in RGB mode.
  • For original artworks, embed creator, contact and copyright metadata directly into the image file.

For information visit:  http://ami.org/professional-resources/business-practices/metadata-and-licensing or  http://www.photometadata.org/

  • Identify all images with a figure number and senior author’s surname.
  • Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish any figures or illustrations that are protected by copyright, including figures published elsewhere and pictures taken by professional photographers. The journal cannot publish images downloaded from the internet without appropriate permission.

MULTIMEDIA PREPARATION

  • Provide video, animation and other media files in QuickTime MOV or MP4 format for Windows and Mac cross-platform compatibility. Otherwise, acceptable video formats are AVI, WMV, MPG, MP4, or MOV formats.
  • Please encode video files at 480x360 , approximately 400kbps total bitrate in MP4 using H.264 codec. Audio should be encoded for optimum quality at 32kbps (minimum), 22KHz (minimum), either mono or stereo.
  • Videos should be no more than 3 minutes in length. Individual video file sizes should not exceed 20Mb. Make sure files are named so that they can be easily identified.
  • The JBC Editors will upload vidoes to the JBC's Vimeo Pro account and will include Vimeo links within the articles for viewing.

ONLINE SUBMISSION

All manuscripts should be submitted through the online Open Journal System (OJS). To begin the submission process, you will be required to log in or register a new account if you do not already have one.

In the case of extreme difficulties encountered when submitting online, manuscripts can be submitted as email attachments to the editorial office.

Already have a Username/Password?

Go to Login: http://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/jbc/  

 

Need a Username/Password?

Go to Registration  http://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/jbc/user/register

For other questions, please email:  JBCeditor@ami.org

 

Dedication and Remembrance

This section of the Journal of Biocommunication's Special Issue is dedicated to the people, who were victimized by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust.

Published Abstract - Poster Presentation

The JBC reviews and publishes abstracts from the Association of Medical Illustrators, the Biocommunications Association, and many other professional organizations and institutions. Typically 250-350 words, a scientific abstract usually consists of five parts: title and author information, background for the study, methods, results, and conclusions.

Published Abstracts - Poster Presentations

The JBC reviews and publishes abstracts from the Association of Medical Illustrators, the Biocommunications Association, and many other professional organizations and institutions. Typically 250-350 words, a scientific abstract usually consists of five parts: title and author information, background for the study, methods, results, and conclusions.

Toronto Pernkopf Symposium Papers and Videos

This section is reserved for invited authors to present papers given at the 2019 Toronto Pernkopf Symposium

Invited Commentary and Contributions

This section is reserved for content created by authors, who have been invited to participate or contribute to the Journal of Biocommunication.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal, and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.