About Genome Medicine

What is Genome Medicine?

Genome Medicine is an online peer-reviewed journal which publishes open access research articles of outstanding quality in all areas of medicine studied from a genomic or post-genomic perspective. The journal will have a special focus on the latest technologies and findings that have an impact on the understanding and management of human health and disease.

In addition to publishing high-quality research, Genome Medicine serves the international research community as a forum for the discussion and critical review of information about all areas of medicine informed by genomic research.

Subjects include, but are not limited to:

• Significant advances in the understanding of the genetics, genomics, and epigenetics of disease
• Computational and systems approaches, including proteomics, metabolomics and transcriptomics, to the understanding and management of disease
• Genomic epidemiology and public health genomics
• The application of genomic and post-genomic technologies to clinical practice, with special emphasis on diagnostics and therapeutics
• Personalized medicine
• Ethical, social and legal issues relating to genomic medicine and personalized medicine

Content Overview

Genome Medicine contains the following types of articles :

• Research articles: reports of data from exceptional original research. These articles will form the major content of the journal.
• Reviews: include systematic and substantial coverage of mature subjects, rapid coverage of fast-moving areas, evaluations of progress in specified areas, and critical assessments of emerging technologies. Reviews will generally be commissioned by the editorial staff, though suggestions of topics are always welcome.
• Commentaries: short, focused and opinionated articles on any subject within the journal's scope. These articles usually relate to contemporary issues and are often written by opinion leaders invited by the Editorial Board.
• Correspondence: may discuss material published in Genome Medicine or particular issues of general interest to the readership. They may also present a community announcement within the field of genomic and post-genomic medicine.
• Meeting reports: short descriptions of a conference that an author has attended, which should focus on the key developments presented and discussed at the meeting. These articles are usually commissioned but reports and suggestions may also be submitted for the editors' consideration.
• News: publishes brief summaries of news relevant to the journal’s readership, including conference alerts and updates, policy changes by national regulatory bodies, universities or funding associations, updates on Open Access related issues and information of outstanding interest regarding research and editorial practice.

Peer review policies

Suitability of research for publication in Genome Medicine is dependent primarily on the scientific validity and coherence of the work, as well as broad interest, as assessed by reviewers and Editors.

Although Genome Medicine will not make general interest level an absolute criterion for publication, it aims to provide its readership with the highest quality research and information in genomic and post-genomic medicine, and will therefore focus on articles of general and outstanding interest.

All submitted research papers are subject to immediate rapid screening by the editors, in consultation with the Editorial Board if appropriate, to ensure they fall within the scope of the journal. Contributors who are in doubt about the suitability of their paper are welcome to send a presubmission enquiry. The editors will provide an initial response to all presubmission enquiries and submitted articles within five working days.

Manuscripts will be reviewed by internationally recognized experts in the fields of genomic and post-genomic medicine selected in part from our Editorial Board. Genome Medicine operates an anonymous peer review process. Reviews will be rapid and the suitability of a paper for publication will be assessed solely on criteria of scientific excellence. The editors will make every effort to give authors a decision following peer review within four weeks of an article's submission. Articles are published electronically as promptly as possible after they are accepted, and within one month of acceptance.

Publishing in Genome Medicine

All articles will be listed in PubMed immediately upon acceptance (after peer review), and will be covered by PubMed Central.

Articles in Genome Medicine should be cited in the same way as articles in a traditional journal. However, because articles in this journal are not printed, they do not have page numbers. Instead, they have a unique article number.

The following citation:

Genome Med 2005, 6:R306

refers to research article 306 from volume 6 of the journal.

As an online journal, Genome Medicine does not have issue numbers. Each volume corresponds to a calendar year.

To keep up to date with the latest articles from Genome Medicine, why not register to receive alerts? Registration also enables you to customise your subject areas of interest, store your searches, and submit your manuscripts.

Submission of manuscripts

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to Genome Medicine using the online submission system. Full details of how to submit a manuscript are given in the instructions for authors.

General journal policies

Genome Medicine is published  by BioMed Central, an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher committed to ensuring peer-reviewed biomedical research is Open Access. That means it is freely and universally accessible online, it is archived in at least one internationally recognised free access repository, and its authors retain copyright, allowing anyone to reproduce or disseminate articles, according to the BioMed Central copyright and licence agreement. Genome Medicine however, has taken this further by making all its content Open Access.

Genome Medicine's articles are archived in PubMed Central, the US National Library of Medicine's full-text repository of life science literature, and also in repositories at the University of Potsdam in Germany, at INIST in France and in e-Depot, the National Library of the Netherlands' digital archive of all electronic publications. The journal is also participating in the British Library's e-journals pilot project, and plans to deposit copies of all articles with the British Library.

BioMed Central is working closely with the Thomson Reuters (ISI) to ensure that citation analysis of articles published in Genome Medicine will be available.

Genome Medicine is able to deliver summaries of frequently updated content via Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds. For more information about RSS feeds see our publisher's website.

For further information about general policies please see the instructions for authors.