Instructions to Authors

The Journal of Virology® (JVI) is devoted to the timely dissemination of significant new knowledge about the viruses of animals, archaea, bacteria, fungi, plants, and protozoa. Investigators in all areas of basic virology are invited to submit reports of original research. Original articles should contain experimental observations that address a hypothesis, lead to new concepts, and indicate new directions in research. Computational analyses of viruses and viral components that advance the field are also appropriate. JVI encourages reports on virus structure and assembly, viral genome replication and regulation of viral gene expression, viral genetic diversity and evolution, virus-cell interactions, cellular responses to viral infection, transformation and oncogenesis, gene delivery, viral pathogenesis and immunity, and vaccines and antiviral agents. Manuscripts contributing new information about virus-host interactions, disease mechanisms, immune responses, and immunopathology are appropriate for JVI. Manuscripts describing the development, mechanisms of action, and preclinical evaluation of new antiviral vaccines and therapeutics are also appropriate for JVI. The editors seek to promote the publication of research that enhances an understanding of the virus-cell and virus-organism interface. JVI encourages the submission of manuscripts describing studies in which viruses or viral genetic elements are used as components of vectors for the delivery of therapeutic genes into animals and plants. These original articles should contain experimental observations that lead to new concepts and understanding relevant to gene delivery, regulated expression of therapeutic genes, or viral pathogenesis. JVI considers manuscripts that include microarrays and similar parallel profiling analyses of viral or cellular gene expression. However, such manuscripts will be published only if they provide novel insight into the biology of the virus or the infected cell or if they form the basis for additional experiments that provide such insights. It is expected that the primary data from such analyses will be incorporated into the text or figures or will be made available as supplemental material on the ASM website, on a publicly accessible laboratory website, or in a public repository (such as the National Center for Biotechnology Information). The journal will not publish descriptive studies, such as those that provide a new nucleotide sequence, complete genome sequence, or genome analysis or report the isolation or characterization of a viral variant or a new strain or type of virus. Such information must instead be used in further experiments to test an idea or mechanistic model or to relate a clear set of novel conclusions that derive from the data. ASM publishes a number of journals covering various aspects of microbiology. Each journal has a prescribed scope that must be considered in determining where to publish each manuscript. The following guidelines may be of assistance. (i) JVI will consider papers that describe the use of antiviral agents in elucidating the basic biological processes of viruses and host cells. Papers describing other aspects of antiviral agents and chemotherapy will be considered for Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy®. (ii) Studies involving the use of bacteriophages as a diagnostic typing system will be considered by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology®. Those dealing with phages in relation to industrial microbiology will be considered by Applied and Environmental Microbiology®. (iii) Manuscripts describing new methods or improvements in media and culture conditions will not be considered by JVI. Such manuscripts are more appropriate for Applied and Environmental Microbiology or the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. (iv) Manuscripts reporting clinical investigations should be submitted to the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. (v) Manuscripts reporting ecological or environmental studies are most appropriate for Applied and Environmental Microbiology. (vi) Manuscripts reporting the use of a standard viral vector to elicit an immune response to a nonviral antigen, the application of a virus as a tool to understand a new aspect of immunity, the development or better understanding of adjuvants, immunization routes, or duration of immunity, or vaccine trials for humans where efficacy is the focus should be submitted to mSphere®. We understand that there may be overlap in the scope statements of the ASM journals that publish articles of interest to virologists. Questions about these guidelines may be directed to the editor in chief of the journal being considered. If transfer to another ASM journal is recommended by an editor, the corresponding author will be contacted. Note that a manuscript rejected by one ASM journal on scientific grounds or on the basis of its general suitability for publication is considered rejected by all other ASM journals.