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Submission guidelines

To facilitate the submission process, we are flexible with regard to the format, style and length of initial submissions. HOWEVER, data that supports the research within the manuscript MUST be made available at the time of submission.


For the purpose of peer review, please provide one editable manuscript document (such as .doc .docx or .RTF), with figures and tables placed in the body of the text at the point where they are referenced. Only LaTeX manuscripts should be submitted as a .pdf. You will be asked to provide .tex files at a later date.


Supplemental information and cover letters should be uploaded separately. Please refer to the submissions criteria regarding our policy on data.

Journal-specific formatting is required only at the revise stage after the first round of peer review.

Reviews - by invitation only

Reviews published in the journal are specially invited by the Editors of Microbiome

  • The key aims of reviews are to provide systematic and substantial coverage of mature subjects, evaluations of progress in specified areas, and/or critical assessments of emerging technologies.
  • Reviews must be within the scope of Microbiome.
  • They must be authored by leading experts in the field with a track record of publication in that specific field.

Unsolicited reviews and reviews submitted as research will not be considered in the journal.

Resubmissions policy

Please note, we may consider resubmissions of rejected manuscripts only if the handling Editor specifically states in the original decision letter that the manuscript will be reconsidered.

Cover Letter

Please include a cover letter as part of your submission explaining why your results meet the journal's scope, its impact and implications for the broad microbiome field.

Please also include suggestions for peer reviewers, their institutional email address and why these reviewers are suited to review your manuscript. Please also let us know if there are reviewers you would prefer us not to invite to review your manuscript.

Submit by section

During the submission process for Microbiome, we ask that authors submit their manuscript to a specified section as outlined below. This is to facilitate assessment and review of submitted manuscripts. The sections are headed by an Editor-in-Chief or Senior Editor, specializing in that subject.

Human microbiomes

Animal and Environmental

Human, animal and environmental

Our 3-step submission process

  1. Before you submit

    Now you’ve identified a journal to submit to, there are a few things you should be familiar with before you submit.

  2. Ready to submit

    To give your manuscript the best chance of publication, follow these policies and formatting guidelines.

  3. Submit and promote

    After acceptance, we provide support so your article gains maximum impact in the scientific community and beyond.

    Please note that manuscript can only be submitted by an author of the manuscript and may not be submitted by a third party. 

Submit manuscript

Annual Journal Metrics

  • 2022 Citation Impact
    15.5 - 2-year Impact Factor
    19.4 - 5-year Impact Factor
    2.998 - SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper)
    3.709 - SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

    2023 Speed
    41 days submission to first editorial decision for all manuscripts (Median)
    196 days submission to accept (Median)

    2023 Usage
    3,219,809 downloads
    7,051 Altmetric mentions