About the Journal

Focus and Scope

Progress in Microbes and Molecular Biology publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research across microbiology and molecular biology. This journal is devoted to advancing and disseminating knowledge in the human microbiome, environmental microbiology, medical microbiology, applied microbiology, virology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, and biotechnology. Covering the fundamentals, application, and advances of microbiology, molecular biology, genetics, biotechnology, and biological sciences.

Progress in Microbes and Molecular Biology accepts original research articles, review articles, mini-reviews, systematic reviews, methods, case reports, mini-reports, genome reports, and editorials on microbiology, molecular biology, genetics, biotechnology, and biological sciences.

Publication Frequency

The publication frequency of Progress in Microbes and Molecular Biology is annually (the full issue is in December).

Open Access Policy

Progress in Microbes and Molecular Biology is a Gold Open Access journal. Author(s) shall retain the copyright of their work, but grant to the Publisher a license to publish.

Progress in Microbes and Molecular Biology works under the license of Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0), which allows copying, distribution, and transmission of the published work with the acknowledgment of the original creator. This broad license intends to facilitate free access to, as well as the unrestricted reuse of, original works of all types.

Journal Publication Ethics

Progress in Microbes and Molecular Biology's manuscript management adheres to the “Code of Conduct for Journal Editors and Code of Conduct for Publishers” and Best Practice as stipulated by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to prevent misconduct of research papers. The editorial committee considers ethical publishing practices a fundamental part of ethical responsibilities among authors. The editors are committed to maintaining high standards through a rigorous double-blinded peer review and strict ethical policies.

Peer Review Process

Editorial and Peer Review Process

After submission, editors assess the suitability of manuscripts, selecting those that align with the journal's scope and appeal to readers. Manuscripts that do not conform to the general criteria for publication will be returned to authors without detailed review. The chosen manuscripts are then sent to two or more reviewers for evaluation. Progress In Microbes and Molecular Biology adopts a double-blind peer review process. The editors strive to reach decisions on these papers within three weeks from the submission date. Reviewers have the authority to recommend publication, revisions, or rejection. They assess the manuscript's originality, technical quality, clarity, and relevance to the field. The editors consider the reviewers' opinions in relation to the journal's scope and objectives, ultimately making the final decision on each manuscript. If major revisions are necessary for publication, authors are generally given four weeks to complete them, while a shorter timeframe is given when minor revision is needed. Accepted papers will be published online as soon as possible. However, any major changes made after acceptance will undergo review and may result in publication delays.

The editors and Editorial Board members are not involved in decisions regarding papers they have authored, papers written by their family members or colleagues, or papers related to products or services in which the editor has a personal interest. Such submissions follow the journal's standard procedures, with peer review conducted independently of the relevant editor and their research groups.

When a manuscript is submitted for review, the journal's editorial team removes any identifying information that could reveal the authors' identities. This includes redacting the authors' names, affiliations, and other details that could potentially disclose authors’ identities. Similarly, the reviewers' identities are also concealed from the authors.

During the review process, the manuscript is assigned to (2 to 3) independent reviewers who assess its quality, methodology, significance, and contribution to the field. The reviewers provide feedback, suggestions, and criticisms without knowing the authors' identities. Likewise, the authors are unaware of the identities of the reviewers assessing their manuscript. This double-blind review process creates a fair and unbiased evaluation system, where manuscripts are assessed solely on scientific content. By maintaining confidentiality, this process aims to minimize potential biases arising from factors unrelated to the research.

Once the review process is complete, the editor-in-chief or the editorial team considers the reviewers' feedback and decides on whether to accept the manuscript for publication, request revisions, or reject it. The authors receive the reviewers' comments and recommendations for improving their work but remain unaware of the reviewers' identities. 

Manuscript Transfer Process

If your submission to this journal is not accepted for publication, the editors may suggest that your work would be more suitable for another journal under HH Publishers or a partner journal. In such cases, you have the option to transfer your manuscript. The Manuscript Transfer process streamlines the submission process for the recommended journal, as it involves copying all co-authors, suggested reviewers, manuscript files, and responses to submission questions from the original submission. However, it is important to note that each journal under HH Publishers operates independently, and the decision to accept the transferred manuscript ultimately lies with the editor of the target journal.

Author Code of Ethics:

Originality and Attribution:

  • Authors must ensure that their manuscript is original, and any use of others' work must be appropriately cited and quoted.
  • Redundant, multiple, or concurrent publication is not allowed. Authors must not submit the same research to multiple journals or primary publications simultaneously.
  • The manuscript submitted to PMMB must not have been previously submitted, uploaded, or published elsewhere, in whole or in part, including book chapters or paragraphs of text.

Ethical Conduct:

  • Authors should not split a single study into multiple parts to increase the number of submissions or submit the same work to different journals over time.
  • Authors should not submit their work to PMMB if it is under review, previously published, or uploaded to other platforms (e.g., preprints) without proper justification.
  • Authors must withdraw articles under review with other journals or any manuscripts uploaded to other platforms before submitting them to PMMB.
  • If there is any overlap between the manuscript and previously published, in-press, or under-consideration work, it must be cited, and the Editor of PMMB should be informed.

Handling of Rejected Manuscripts:

  • Authors should not resubmit a manuscript to PMMB if PMMB previously rejected it.
  • If the earlier version of the manuscript was rejected with the decision of "Rejected and Resubmit," authors must communicate this fact and justify resubmission in the cover letter.

Conflict of Interest:

  • Authors should avoid conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflicts of interest throughout the research process, such as personal, commercial, political, academic, or financial conflicts.
  • Authors must address any queries about potential conflicts of interest with PMMB's Editor, who reserves the right to request further information before reviewing the paper.

Authorship and Contributions:

  • Co-authors and corresponding authors should contribute to the research work and the submitted manuscript.
  • All authors are collectively responsible for the published work, and authorship should be based on substantial contributions to the research.

Corresponding Author's Responsibilities:

  • The corresponding author must confirm that the manuscript has not been uploaded or published elsewhere and is not under consideration by any other journals.
  • The corresponding author is responsible for communication with PMMB and managing communication between co-authors.
  • Before submission, the corresponding author ensures that all authors are included in the author list, the order of authors has been agreed upon, and authors are aware of the submission.

Copyright and Permissions:

  • Authors should ensure compliance with copyright law, obtaining necessary permissions for quotations, artwork, tables, or other copyrighted materials before submission.
  • Authors must submit the PMMB's Copyright Transfer Agreement to the Editor once the manuscript is accepted for publication.
  • Authors must seek permission from PMMB's Editor before submitting, presenting, uploading, or publishing the manuscript elsewhere.

Research Ethics Policies:

  • If the manuscript presents results of studies involving human subjects, it should be clearly stated in the materials and methods section that the study received approval from the appropriate institutional review board (IRB) and/or that informed consent was obtained from the human subjects.
  • To ensure compliance with ethical standards, copies of signed consent forms from identifiable individuals featured in any submitted photographs must be submitted to the PMMB editorial office or included in the submission file at the time of submission.
  • Alternatively, a letter from a member of the institution's IRB can be provided, confirming that signed consent forms have been obtained from the individuals appearing in the manuscript without disclosing their names. The processing of a manuscript will commence only upon receipt of these consent forms or the IRB letter.
  • For experiments involving animals such as live vertebrates or higher invertebrates, it is essential to conduct the research in accordance with relevant institutional and national guidelines and regulations. The materials and methods section of the manuscript should include a statement identifying the approving committee for the experiments and confirming that all experiments were conducted in compliance with the appropriate regulatory standards. In cases where concerns arise, the PMMB editors reserve the right to seek feedback from reviewers or request additional information from authors.

Plagiarism Check:

  • To avoid plagiarism, the author shall provide all the information about the novelty and importance of the findings, including the similarity index report by iThenticate/Turnitin of 30% or less.
  • Authors are strongly encouraged to use plagiarism detection software to check for possible plagiarism in their manuscripts before submitting them to PMMB.

Process for post-publication issues

The journal editors do their best to ensure fair, unbiased, and transparent peer review and editorial decisions. When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper. If the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper. Any detected misconduct cases by authors, reviewers, or editors will be vigorously pursued.

Requests for Additions and Corrections:

Requests for Additions and Corrections can be initiated by the author(s) or the Editor to address important issues or rectify significant errors and omissions. All Additions and Corrections must receive approval from the Editor and should provide new and directly relevant information or corrections that rectify scientific facts. Minor corrections and additions will not be published. Readers who identify consequential errors in the work of others are encouraged to contact the corresponding author of the respective work.

To submit Additions and Corrections:

Additions and Corrections must be submitted as new manuscripts by the Corresponding Author to the Chief Editor of the journal. The corresponding author should get approval from all co-authors before submission or provide evidence of having asked for such approval. The manuscript should include the original article title and author list, citation with DOI, and details of the correction.

Retractions:

Articles may be retracted for scientific or ethical reasons, and the request for retraction can come from the article author(s) or the journal Editor(s). However, the decision to retract an article lies with the Editor. Articles containing seriously flawed or erroneous data that render their findings and conclusions unreliable may be retracted to correct the scientific record. When an article is retracted, a Retraction notice will be published, explaining the reason for the retraction. In most cases, the originally published article will remain accessible online, unless exceptional circumstances arise where legal requirements or public health risks demand its removal.

Expressions of Concern:

Expressions of Concern may be issued at the discretion of the Editor under certain circumstances, including:

  • Inconclusive evidence of research or publication misconduct by the authors.
  • Unreliable findings, but the authors' institution fails to investigate the case.
  • An ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct that is unfair, impartial, or unlikely to provide a conclusive judgment.
  • Investigations that are in progress but will take considerable time to reach a final determination.

The editorial expression of concern alerts the community that an investigation is ongoing. At any point during this process, authors will be informed to alert their institution and funding bodies if the investigation uncovers potentially serious issues.

Once any related investigation is completed and a final decision about the article's outcome is made, the Expression of Concern may be replaced with a Retraction notice or Correction notice as appropriate.

Licenses

And finally, each article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Author(s) shall retain the copyright of their work and grant the Journal/Publisher right for the first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under: i. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). This license allows for the copying, distribution, and transmission of the work, provided the correct attribution of the original creator is stated. Adaptation and remixing are also permitted; ii. This broad license intends to facilitate free access to and unrestricted reuse of original works of all types for non-commercial purposes; iii. The author(s) permits HH Publisher to publish this article that has not been submitted elsewhere.

Declaration of Generative AI in Scientific Writing

The following guidelines pertain to the writing process and exclude using AI tools for data analysis and research insights. When authors employ generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies during writing, their usage should be limited to improving readability and language. It is crucial to exercise human oversight and control when applying these technologies. Authors must diligently review and edit AI-generated output, as it may produce text that sounds authoritative but lacks accuracy and completeness or may be biased. AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be cited as authors or co-authors or cited as authors. Authors must disclose the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process within their manuscript. A statement acknowledging this usage will be published alongside the work. It is important to note that authors hold ultimate responsibility and accountability for the content of their work.

Charges

Article Processing Charge (APC)

If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the author requires paying for an Article Publication Fee (APC) to cover publication costs. 

APC is USD 350.

Discounts on APC

PMMB is devoted to supporting the transition of all research to open access fully, thus, we regularly offer APC waivers or discounts. Waivers may be granted at the Publisher's discretion and should be discussed with the editorial office when submitting the article. For authors from low- and middle-income countries, waivers or discounts may be granted on a case-by-case basis. Applications submitted before article submission are assessed by the Managing Editor based on the quality of the research article and the authors’ ability to pay.

Revenue Sources

Progress in Microbes and Molecular Biology is financially supported by the Open-Access model system under the HH Publisher. Business models or revenue sources (e.g., author fees, subscriptions, advertising, reprints, institutional support, and organizational support) shall be clearly stated or otherwise evident on the journal’s website. Publishing fees or waiver status should not influence editorial decision-making.

Advertising

Progress in Microbes and Molecular Biology shall state the advertising policy if relevant, including what types of adverts will be considered, who makes decisions regarding accepting adverts, and whether they are linked to content or reader behaviour (online only) or are displayed at random. Advertisements should not be related to editorial decision-making and shall be kept separate from the published content.

Direct marketing

Any direct marketing activities, including soliciting manuscripts conducted on behalf of the Progress in Microbes and Molecular Biology, shall be appropriate, well-targeted, and unobtrusive. Information about the publisher or journal is expected to be truthful and not misleading for readers or authors.