Author guidelines

BEC formats

• Regular communications (over 3 000 words)
• Short communications (under 3 000 words)

Several types of communications and short communications are accepted, see Manuscript types.

File format

• Include line numbers in the Word document
• Manuscript template can be downloaded here.

Language

• American English - perhaps you want to check out the free Grammarly

Sections

• Publications in Bioenergetics Communications include a title, running title, authors and affiliations, author contributions, an abstract (up to 250 words; for short communications up to 150 words), 5−7 keywords, introduction (presenting the purpose of the publication), and list of abbreviations if any are used.
• When presenting original results also include materials and methods, results, a discussion, conclusions, references, data availability statement, and acknowledgments. However, it is not necessary to follow a fixed format, e.g., the authors may choose to merge the merge the results, discussion and conclusion sections.

Affiliations

• Regular affiliations should reflect those at the time during which the work was undertaken. New affiliations may be listed as a present address.            

References

• Download EndNote style file
• Please follow this format for references (1) the list of authors, (2) the year of publication in parentheses, (3) the title of the publication, and (4) the https://doi.org/ link. Removing all the unnecessary detail of journal name and pages, the focus is on authors, year, and title of the reference, which is a concept in line with DORA. The https-link then does the full job.
  • For example:
    
    1. Arese Lucini F, Morone F, Tomassone MS, Makse HA (2021) Diversity increases the stability of ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228692
    2. Begley CG, Ioannidis JPA (2015) Reproducibility in science: improving the standard for basic and preclinical research. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.114.303819.
    3. Buranyi S (2017) Is the staggeringly profitable business of scientific publishing bad for science? https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jun/27/profitable-business-scientific-publishing-bad-for-science
    4. Cardoso LHD, Doerrier C, Gnaiger E (2021) Magnesium Green for fluorometric measurement of ATP production does not interfere with mitochondrial respiration. https://doi.org/10.26124/bec:2021-0001
  • In exceptional cases when there is no such link, the following formats would apply: a https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ link, a link directly to an Open Access pdf, or the old conventional format for the reference.
  • Further formatting suggestions for references:
    • For periodical publications: Chance B, Williams GR (1955) Respiratory enzymes in oxidative phosphorylation. I. Kinetics of oxygen utilization. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9258(19)57189-7.
    • For publications with more than 12 authors: use et al after the 1^st author
    • For consortia publications, mention the consortium name: Gnaiger E et al ― MitoEAGLE Task Group (2020) Mitochondrial physiology. https://doi.org/10.26124/bec:2020-0001.v1.
    • For books: Nelson DL, Cox MM (2021) Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry. 8^th ed.  ISBN:9781319228002
• References in the text may be mentioned according to the following examples:
  • One single author: (Gnaiger 2020)
  • For two authors, use a comma: (Chance, Williams 1955)
  • For three or more authors, use “et al”: (Gnaiger et al 2020)
  • For multiple references use a semicolon between the references: (Gnaiger et al 2020; Chance, Williams 1955).
• The reference list shall be in alphabetical order, or if using numbers for in-text citation then list in order of appearance with corresponding number from the text.

Nomenclature

• Manuscripts must adhere to SI units and IUPAC recommendations. MitoEAGLE recommendations on terms and symbols are to be implemented.
  • SI: https://wiki.oroboros.at/index.php/Bureau_International_des_Poids_et_Mesures_2019_The_International_System_of_Units_(SI)
  • IUPAC Green Book: http://media.iupac.org/publications/books/gbook/IUPAC-GB3-2ndPrinting-Online-22apr2011.pdf
  • MitoEAGLE: https://www.bioenergetics-communications.org/index.php/bec/article/view/gnaiger_2020_mitophysiology
• For units in figures and tables we recommend the following format: https://wiki.oroboros.at/index.php/Units_in_figures_and_tables

Submission

• For conduct and reporting recommendations, authors should follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals' by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (see The Vancouver Protocol).
• The manuscript submitted at BEC should be available Open Access posted as a preprint, with the possibility of sending it to the MitoFit Preprints at the time of BEC submission.
• Where applicable, submissions are accompanied by a link to a data repository with the original data.
• Authors submit the manuscript to BEC Open Peer Review. By submitting the manuscript, the corresponding author declares (1) responsibility for the content, (2) consent of all co-authors, (3) having performed the experimental work in accordance with the ethical standards for research particularly when using humans or animals, and (4) appropriate declarations of conflicts of interest. The authors will also suggest one or two Associate Editors and three reviewers, avoiding any conflict of interest.

From preprint to publication

• The preprint is part of a stepwise process:

1. Authors should indicate if the submission to Bioenergetics Communications shall be published as a preprint in the MitoFit Preprints. If within the scope, the manuscript is included in MitoFit Preprints, the fast lane of Open Access communication without peer review.
2. Once in MitoFit Preprints, the preprint is circulated to our Associate Editors for comments.
3. The manuscript is checked and if necessary, corrected for SI units and terminology (point MS3 of https://www.bioenergetics-communications.org/index.php/bec/about/submissions). If needed, authors will be asked to correct and upload a new version before the manuscript is assigned to an Associate Editor to oversee the review process.
4. Peer review process with at least 2 independent peer-reviews.
5. Copyediting and publication in BEC.

BEC versions

» For details see: Living Communications

Open Peer Review

From MitoFit Preprint to Open Peer Review is standard for BEC. We accept an opt out option from an author when presented with a reasonable explanation. Further clarification may be requested. The editorial board may choose not to accept the explanation and potentially reject the manuscript (not the preprint).

• One or two Associate Editors and four reviewers should be suggested by the authors, avoiding any conflict of interest.
• For more information on the Open Peer Review process, please see: »BEC reviewers - Open Peer Review«