- Aims and scope
- ISSN 2638-4469
- Open access · CC BY 4.0
Aims and Scope
JAPB publishes research across all of plant biology, from molecular and cell biology to physiology, crops and ecology, and includes applied crop science.
What the journal sets out to do
- To publish rigorous research on how plants develop, function, adapt and interact with their environments, at every level from molecules to ecosystems.
- To report advances in crop science and agricultural systems that rest on sound plant biology, including settings where resources for research are limited.
- To encourage work that connects levels of organization, such as genomic data with field performance, or soil microbiology with crop physiology.
- To make this research openly available, so that researchers, breeders, practitioners and educators can read and reuse it freely.
Research areas
JAPB considers research on any aspect of plant biology. The areas below are illustrative and form part of a wider field, including:
- Molecular, cell and developmental biologyGene regulation, cell biology and organelle function, development and patterning, signaling and growth regulators.
- Genetics, genomics and breedingQuantitative and population genetics, genomics, trait mapping, germplasm and cultivar development.
- Physiology and biochemistryPhotosynthesis, water relations, nutrition, metabolism, secondary metabolites and stress responses.
- Anatomy, morphology and systematicsStructure, development, comparative morphology, taxonomy and phylogeny of plants.
- Biotechnology and synthetic biologyTissue culture, transformation, genome editing, metabolic engineering and bioinformatics.
- Pathology and plant protectionHost-pathogen and plant-pest interactions, immunity, resistance, biocontrol and integrated pest management.
- Soil, microbiome and plant nutritionRhizosphere and root-microbe interactions, symbioses, nutrient cycling and soil management.
- Ecology, evolution and biodiversityPlant communities, population biology, adaptation, conservation and ecosystem services.
- Climate change and plant adaptationResponses to drought, heat, salinity and elevated CO₂, and crops that tolerate climate stress.
- Crop science and agricultural systemsCropping systems, agronomy, horticulture, irrigation, post-harvest biology and sustainable intensification.
- Economic botany and ethnobotanyUseful plants, medicinal and pharmacognostic research, traditional knowledge and crop domestication.
- Computational and data-driven plant scienceModeling, phenotyping, remote sensing and machine-learning approaches to plant questions.
Contributions from the genetic, biochemical, chemical, computational, ecological, agronomic and social sciences are welcome when they address a question about plants. A topic that is not named above is within scope when it meets that test.
Designs and approaches welcomed
JAPB considers laboratory, greenhouse, field and computational work. Study designs are reported within the article types listed below.
Experimental studies
Laboratory, growth-chamber, greenhouse and field experiments, with replication and statistics appropriate to the design.
Genomic and molecular studies
Genetics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, with data deposited in public repositories.
Field and observational studies
Surveys, floristic and ecological studies, on-farm and multi-environment trials.
Modeling and computation
Crop, ecological and process models, phenotyping pipelines and machine-learning methods.
Evidence synthesis
Reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Methods and resources
New or validated protocols, tools, datasets and germplasm or specimen resources.
What makes a manuscript a fit
Manuscripts are assessed for their relevance to plant biology, the soundness of their methods and whether their conclusions are proportionate to the evidence.
Applied and crop studies
Studies of crops, cropping systems and agricultural technology are welcome when they contribute new understanding of plant function, performance or management.
Short reports and observations
Short communications and descriptive field observations are accepted when they report plant data with clear methods and an account of their limitations.
Commentary and letters
Commentaries and Letters are accepted when they make a reasoned argument, supported by evidence and cited sources, on a question in plant biology or on work published in JAPB.
Unsupported opinion, meaning assertion without evidence or reasoned argument, is outside the journal’s scope.
Article types
The journal publishes the article types below. Guidance on the structure and reporting for each type is given in the Instructions for Authors.
- Original ResearchFull-length reports of experimental, field, observational or computational studies that advance understanding of plants.
- ReviewCritical, balanced syntheses of current knowledge on a defined topic, identifying gaps and future directions.
- Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisProtocol-driven syntheses of evidence on a defined question, with or without quantitative integration.
- Methods or ProtocolNew or optimized experimental, analytical or field methods, and protocols for planned studies, described so that others can reproduce them.
- Short CommunicationConcise reports of a focused or preliminary finding that merits prompt scholarly attention.
- Data NoteDescriptions of well-curated, reusable datasets, their collection, quality and access.
- Commentary or PerspectiveEvidence-based argument on a current question in plant biology or on published research.
- LetterBrief responses to articles published in JAPB, or short observations of relevance to plant biology.
Where a manuscript sits between types, authors choose the closest type and explain the choice in the cover letter, and the editors confirm the classification. A protocol for a planned study is submitted as Methods or Protocol, and a scoping review as a Review.
Scope questions
Is my topic within scope?
A manuscript is within scope when it addresses a question about plants, whatever its discipline or setting. If you are unsure, send the title and abstract to the editorial office at info@openaccesspub.org before submitting.
Does JAPB consider applied crop research?
Yes. Applied crop science is part of the journal’s scope, alongside molecular, cell, physiological and ecological research.
Can I submit work that has been posted as a preprint?
Yes. Posting a preprint is compatible with submission to JAPB. Cite the preprint and its DOI in the cover letter.
Does JAPB consider research on algae, fungi or microbes?
Research on photosynthetic organisms, and on microbes and fungi in their interactions with plants, is within scope.
Preparing a submission
Read the Instructions for Authors and the Editorial Policies before submitting.
- info@openaccesspub.org
- Publisher
- Open Access Pub, openaccesspub.org
- Read first
- Instructions for Authors and Editorial Policies