Aims and Scope

Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease is the official journal of the Society of Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease (SOMED) and is also recognized by the Oral Microbiology and Immunology Group (OMIG) of the British Society for Dental Research (BSDR).

The aim of this international journal is to draw together research on different human microbial eco-systems, and to increase our understanding of their role in health and disease. This research has received new impetus in recent years as it has become clearer what part is played by the normal, stable, microbial flora in preventing infection, especially opportunist infection, and related to this, the potentially deleterious effects of the use of antibiotics.

The journal will consider manuscripts primarily on the human microbial flora, but also that of animals, and its development and interactions. Topics covered include: the microbial populations of the mouth and skin, and in the respiratory, gastro-intestinal and genito-urinary tracts, the effect of antibiotics or diet on the commensal flora or its development, alterations in the host environment (e.g. the effect of foreign bodies or change in organs and tissues), the role of immunological and other mechanisms that help maintain a stable flora, the clinical application of commensal flora in treatment and prevention of disease. Manuscripts based on gnotobiotic research are particularly welcome.

The material published includes Original Papers, Short Communications, Review Articles, Case Reports, and Letters to the Editor.

Section Policies

Editorials

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Invited Editorials

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Review Articles

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Invited Review Articles

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Original Articles

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Short Communications

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Letters to the Editor

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Case Report

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Correspondence

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Peer Review Process

Papers submitted to Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease are subject to rigorous peer review so as to ensure that the research published is 'good science'.

Manuscripts are sent out for review electronically, and all correspondence takes place via e-mail. Although the peer review process is accelerated by the use of electronic communication, traditional, high-quality peer-review standards are applied to all manuscripts submitted to the journal.

When submitting an article, authors are invited to suggest two or three possible reviewers who should be experts in their field of study and the subject matter of the article. Authors should not suggest anyone who has published with any of the co-authors within the last five years or anyone who works at the co-authors' institutions. Minimum information to be given for the suggested reviewers is first name, last name and email address. The Editors may or may not make use of the authors' suggested reviewers

Papers are sent to at least two independent referees.

Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease has a 'double blind' review process: Authors are not told who reviewed their paper, and reviewers are not told who wrote the paper. Peer reviewers are informed of the identity of the authors immediately after the manuscript is either accepted or rejected. The referees’ identity remains unknown to the authors although it is up to the referee if he/she wants to contact the author at a later stage and reveal his/her identity. Peer reviewers are asked to give their opinion on a number of issues pertinent to the scientific and formal aspects of a paper, and to judge the papers on grounds of originality and urgency. All relevant information will be forwarded to the author(s).

Peer reviewers will have six possible options, for each article:

1. Accept manuscript (i.e. no need for any revision)
2. Accept after revision (i.e. accepted if the author makes the requested revisions)
3. Revise and resubmit (i.e. accepted or rejected after revisions have been made - paper will be sent out for another peer review round)
4. Submit elsewhere (i.e. if the manuscript is better suited for another journal)
5. Reject manuscript (i.e. if the manuscript is substandard)
6. See comments (i.e. if the reviewer cannot choose from any of the above)

In addition, papers may be rejected directly by the Chief Editor if judged to be out of scope or if scientifically or formally sub-standard.

When asking for revisions, reviewers have two possible goals: to ask authors to tighten their arguments based on existing data or to identify areas where more data are needed. Even formal revision may be required if the language or style is sub-standard. To facilitate rapid publication, authors are given a maximum of 2 months for revision. After 2 months, revised manuscripts will be considered new submissions.

Publication Frequency

All articles to Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease are posted online immediately as they are ready for publication. No issues are collated for regular publication. All articles will be assigned a DOI number (Digital Object Identifier) whereby they become searchable and citeable without delay.

Open Access Policy

Open access
Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease is published under the Open Access model and is therefore free for anybody to read and download, and to copy and disseminate for educational purposes. Articles will be published immediately after the final corrections of the master proof have been made. When posted online, articles will be assigned a DOI number (Digital Object Identifier) whereby it becomes possible to search and cite them without delay.

The Open Access model used for Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease implies that production costs are partly covered by publication fees normally paid for by the author’s institution or funding agency. The total sum will be charged to the author(s) upon acceptance of his/her article. Authors from institutions that have difficulty in paying may be eligible for a full or partial waiver of the publication fee. The Publisher would be happy to provide more information or discuss individual cases. The ability of authors to pay remains unknown to the Editors prior to possible acceptance.

Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease is accessible via the journal’s website at http://www.MicrobEcolHealthDis.net as well as via international search engines such as Google Scholar.

Under the Open Access model authors retain copyright. See copyright section.

Archiving

Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease is part of the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration.

The entire archive dating back to 1988 is now for the first time freely availble, constituting a treasure trove of research on human microbial ecology.

In addition, all papers published in Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease are archived for posterity with CLOCKSS and Portico.

Author Self-Archiving

Authors are permitted and encouraged to post items submitted to this journal on personal or institutional websites, prior to and after publication (while providing the bibliographic details of that publication)

Publication fee

The Open Access model used for Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease implies that production costs are mainly covered by publication fees. We strive to keep publication fees at a minimum. The publication of an article (up to 8 typeset pages) in Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease incurs a charge of €800, excl. VAT (Europe), or $1100 (rest of the world). Articles exceeding 8 typeset pages may incur an additional charge of €50/$69 per page. The publication fee for members of SOMED is €300, excl VAT (Europe), or $415 (rest of the world), as long as membership is in force at the time of submission of the manuscript.

It is customary that the author’s institution covers the publication costs for articles resulting from research undertaken at the institution, or that money has been earmarked in the grant or stipend the author has received to be able to carry out the research. For a list of OA-friendly universities and funding agencies, please see here. Additional information on how to claim reimbursement/support for publication fees can be found here.

The total sum will be charged to the author(s) upon acceptance of his/her article. Publication fees may be waived for authors from developing countries suffering financial hardship. The ability of authors to pay remains unknown to the Editors prior to acceptance or rejection.

Colour illustrations are free of charge, just as supplemental material.

Open Access Key

As a Co-Action Publishing author you are now able to manage your publication fee using Open Access Key (OAK).

Co-Action Publishing is one of the first publishers in the world to implement OAK, a unique new online payment platform designed to manage and consolidate author publication fees and connect authors to their universities, research funders or learned societies. To register and start using Open Access Key, please visit http://www.openaccesskey.com

Indexing

The Publisher is currently working actively to have Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease indexed/tracked/covered by major indexing services such as PubMed, PubMed Central and MEDLINE and will also seek to obtain an Impact Factor as soon as the volume of content and other required criteria are met.

Currently the journal is indexed in: Academic Search Complete, Academia.edu, Biological Abstracts, Google Scholar, JournalSeek, Open J-Gate, ResearchGate, SCIMago, Chemical Abstracts Service.

Material in Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease is also further distributed by EBSCO, one of the world's largest content aggregators and research database providers, which helps link the content in the Journal into the research literature.

Commercial reprints and advertising

If you wish to purchase reprints or advertise in Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease, you are welcome to contact:

Caroline Sutton, Sales-and Marketing Director

Email: caroline.sutton@co-action.net
Tel (SkypeIn): +46 18 495 11 26
Tel (cell): +47 90 69 05 06