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Genome Biology Editorial Board role

Benefits & Responsibilities

Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of Genome Biology will be directly engaged with the peer review of articles submitted to the journal.They will work together with internal, professional editors to serve the community by assessing, selecting and helping to improve the papers that the journal publishes. EBMs have responsibilities toward the authors who provide the content of the journals, the referees who comment on the technical correctness of manuscript, the journal’s readers, and the public as a whole.


Benefits of Joining the Editorial Board

As an EBM, you’ll benefit in the following ways:

20% discounted Article Processing Charge (APC) when publishing with Genome Biology or any other Journal within the BMC Series (for a complete list, please see this page). 

Please note that the discount is only applicable when the EBM is the Corresponding author or a lead author on the paper submitted.

Contribute to your community: Our Editorial Board serves the research community by providing efficient, robust and constructive handling of papers. We believe that the true value of research often exceeds its perceived value and that entire research community benefits from the publication of scientifically sound, reproducible research.

Raise your profile and benefit your career: Being an Editorial Board Member for a journal demonstrates to employers and funding bodies that you are an active participant in your field. As an EBM your profile in the field will be raised through your work on the journal and interactions with authors, reviewers and fellow editors and EBMs.

“Behind the scenes” view: Serving as an EBM enhances your knowledge of how editorial decisions are made and gives insight into the peer review process. This experience can be applied to shape your own research papers to maximize your chances of publication by understanding what peer reviewers and editors are looking for. 

Opportunity to shape the field and the publishing landscape: You will be able to act as an advocate for your field, including newly emerging areas of research; as well as be a voice for the active research community in the publishing process, by making recommendations to improve the service provided

Increase your knowledge of your research field: As an EBM, you will have the opportunity to read the newest research before it is published, and by assessing reviewer reports you will be able to develop your own scientific knowledge through exposure to the expertise and opinions of your peers. 

Primary Responsibilities

Our Editorial Boards serve the research community by providing efficient, robust and constructive handling of papers. We believe that the true value of research often exceeds its perceived value and that the entire research community benefits from the publication of scientifically sound, reproducible research. 

The primary responsibility of our Editorial Board Members is to manage the peer review process. As an Editorial Board Member you will be responsible for the scientific quality of the manuscripts that you handle. You will adhere to the ethos, editorial standards, policies and scope of the Journal and ensure that manuscripts are handled efficiently and appropriately. 

Preliminary assessment of papers

We expect EBMs to assess approximately 2-3 manuscripts per month and accept/decline invitations promptly, ideally within 2 working days. You will be invited to assess manuscripts in your area of expertise, and occasionally in areas close to your field of research and decide whether a paper is in principle suitable for publication in the journal. A recommendation should be returned to the in-house editor within 5 days of manuscript assignment. In case the recommendation is to reject the paper, formulate a suitable message for the authors explaining the Editorial decision.

Sending papers out for review

Peer reviewers should be invited within 2 working days, if an out-to-review decision is made. Suitable experts should be identified and invited to review the work, ensuring that no known conflicts of interest exist. Reviewers should be chosen so that, collectively, they can evaluate all necessary technical aspects of the manuscript. You should ensure that reviews received  are timely and informative, and communicate with authors and reviewers during the review process as needed. 

Decisions after review

Editorial decisions should be made with reasonable speed and communicate them in a clear and constructive manner to the internal editor. Recommendations for decisions post-review should be circulated to the relevant in-house editor within 5 days of all reports being returned. Decisions should be communicated to the authors in a way that explains the editorial decision and makes clear the next steps, if any. 

Other Responsibilities

  • You are responsible for notifying the in-house Editor if you want to step down so that appropriate action can be taken. We have a 1 month notice period 
  • Bring on-the-ground insights into your field of research, including suggesting potential authors and proposing special Collection themes
  • Act as ambassador for the journal and reach out to authors and readers in the community and in your geographical areas
  • Consider writing Editorials for the journal.
  • Become familiar with and maintain the high ethical standards of the journal 
  • Make recommendations to improve the journal and the service that it offers to authors, reviewers, and readers.


Annual Journal Metrics

  • 2022 Citation Impact
    12.3 - 2-year Impact Factor
    17.4 - 5-year Impact Factor
    3.476 - SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper)
    9.249 - SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

    2023 Speed
    21 days submission to first editorial decision for all manuscripts (Median)
    277 days submission to accept (Median)

    2023 Usage 
    6,688,476 downloads
    12,515 Altmetric mentions

Peer Review Taxonomy

This journal is participating in a pilot of NISO/STM's Working Group on Peer Review Taxonomy, to identify and standardize definitions and terminology in peer review practices in order to make the peer review process for articles and journals more transparent. Further information on the pilot is available here.

The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal:

  • Identity transparency: Single anonymized
  • Reviewer interacts with: Editor
  • Review information published: Review reports. Reviewer Identities reviewer opt in. Author/reviewer communication

We welcome your feedback on this Peer Review Taxonomy Pilot. Please can you take the time to complete this short survey.