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Genome Biology

Genome Biology is an open access journal in biology and biomedicine research that publishes research advancing the fields of biology and biomedicine from a genomic and post-genomic perspective. It reports a 2024 Journal Impact Factor of 9.4 and a median submission-to-first-decision time of 13 days.

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Subject Genetics & Heredity
Impact Factor 9.4
Quartile Q1
Open Access Type Open
ISSN 1474-760X
eISSN 1474-760X
Invitation Only No
Cost Range The current APC is £3790.00 GBP / $5690.00 USD / €4690.00 EUR. The current APC for a Brief Report is £2850.00 GBP / $4280.00 USD / €3520.00 EUR.

Submission Instructions

Genome Biology accepts the following article types. Click on an article type to view submission instructions.

Research

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. The cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm that all authors approved the submission, confirm that the manuscript content has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and name the special issue if applicable.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 250 words. Abstract must be structured. Abstract must include the headings 'Background', 'Results', and 'Conclusions'.
Manuscript Manuscript must include a Background, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Methods, and Declarations section, with the Methods section placed after the Conclusions section. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords, all Declarations subheadings with 'Not applicable' where irrelevant, and any use of a Large Language Model documented in the Methods section or a suitable alternative part.
References References must follow Vancouver style. Only published, in-press, or publicly available preprint articles, clinical trial registration records, and abstracts may be cited, unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must not appear in the reference list, journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE, and web links must be numbered and listed in full in the references.
Figures & Tables Figure titles and legends must appear in the main manuscript rather than the graphic file, tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, and larger tables may be placed at the end with in-text callouts. Figures must be numbered in order, multi-panel figures submitted as a single composite file, and tables must be numbered in sequence and created using the word processor’s table function rather than embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Software

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. The cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved submission, confirm the manuscript is not published or under consideration elsewhere, and name the special issue if applicable.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract should not exceed 100 words. Abstract should be unstructured.
Manuscript Manuscript must include Background, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Methods after the Conclusions, and a Declarations section with the required subheadings. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords, document any use of a Large Language Model in the Methods or suitable alternative section, state source code access information and OSI-compliant license, and include 'Not applicable' under any nonrelevant Declarations subheading.
References References must follow Vancouver style. Only published, in-press, or publicly available preprint items may be cited, unpublished abstracts/data and personal communications must be excluded from the reference list, journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE, web links must appear as numbered full references, and publicly available datasets cited should include persistent identifiers as full URLs.
Figures & Tables Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, larger tables may be placed at the end with callouts in the text, figure titles and legends must appear in the manuscript rather than the graphic file, and figures should be uploaded separately in the order cited. Multi-panel figures must be submitted as a single composite file, tables must be created using the word processor's table function rather than embedded as figures or spreadsheets, and footnotes must be used instead of endnotes.
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Database

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. The cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved submission, confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and name the special issue if applicable.
Abstract An abstract is required. The abstract must be no more than 100 words. The abstract must be unstructured. The abstract must include the URL of the database, and references must not be cited in it.
Manuscript The manuscript must include Background, Construction and content, Utility and discussion, Conclusions, and a Declarations section, and it must describe the development and testing of the database and comprehensively demonstrate its utility. The manuscript must include three to ten keywords, include an Availability of data and materials statement with the database web/ftp address and any restrictions on non-academic use, include all Declarations subheadings even if marked 'Not applicable', and document any use of a Large Language Model in the Methods section or another suitable section.
References References must follow Vancouver style. Only published, in-press, or publicly available preprint/e-print sources may be cited; unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must be excluded from the reference list; journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE; URLs must be cited in the numbered reference list; and publicly available datasets should be cited with persistent identifiers expressed as full URLs.
Figures & Tables Figure titles and legends must be provided in the main manuscript, tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, and longer tables may be placed at the end with their locations indicated in the text. Figures must be numbered in order and multi-panel figures submitted as single composite files, while tables must be numbered in sequence and created using the word processor's table function rather than embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Review

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. Cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved submission, confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and name the special issue if applicable.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 100 words.
Manuscript Main text must not exceed 5,000 words excluding the reference list and figure legends.
References References are limited to 200. References may include only published articles, clinical trial registration records, abstracts, and publicly available e-prints or preprints; unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must be excluded; journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE; and web links and URLs must be numbered and included in the reference list in full with title, URL, and access date.
Figures & Tables Reviews may include up to 5 display items in total across figures and tables. Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, tables longer than one page may be placed at the end of the text file, and figure titles and legends must appear in the main manuscript rather than in the graphic file. Figures must be numbered in text order and multi-panel figures submitted as single composite files, while tables must be numbered in sequence, created using the word processor table function, and not embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Methodology

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. Cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved the submission, confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and name the special issue if applicable.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 250 words. Abstract must be unstructured. Abstract must include the sections Background, Results, and Conclusions.
Manuscript Manuscript must include Background, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Methods, and a Declarations section, with the Methods section placed after the Conclusions section. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords, the Declarations subheadings Ethics approval and consent to participate, Consent for publication, Availability of data and materials, Competing interests, Funding, Authors' contributions, and Acknowledgements with Authors' information optional, include 'Not applicable' for irrelevant Declarations items, and document any use of a Large Language Model in the Methods section or suitable alternative part.
References References must follow Vancouver style. Only published, in-press, or publicly available preprint articles, trial registration records, and abstracts may be cited, unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must not appear in the reference list, journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE, and web links and URLs must be numbered and included in full in the reference list with title, URL, and access date.
Figures & Tables Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, larger tables may be placed at the end with callouts in the text, figure titles and legends must appear in the main manuscript, and figures must be uploaded separately in the order first cited. Multi-panel figures must be submitted as a single composite file, tables must not be embedded as figures or spreadsheet files, and tables must be created using the word processor's table function.
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Correspondence

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. The cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved submission, and confirm the manuscript content has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
Abstract Abstract requirements are not specified.
Manuscript Correspondence should be no longer than 800 words. Correspondence must directly relate to a paper previously published in Genome Biology and contribute a substantive scientific discussion in relation to that paper.
References Correspondence should contain no more than 15 references. Only published or in-press articles, clinical trial registration records, abstracts, and publicly available preprints may be cited, and web links or URLs must be numbered and included in the reference list.
Figures & Tables Correspondence should contain no more than 2 display items, including boxes, tables, or figures. Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, larger tables may be placed at the end of the document, and figure titles and legends must be provided in the main manuscript rather than in the graphic file. Tables must not be embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Brief Report

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. Cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved the submission, confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and name the special issue if applicable.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 100 words. Abstract must be unstructured.
Manuscript Main text should be around 1000–1500 words excluding abstract, references, and figure legends, and the Background section must be no more than 300 words. Main text must contain no headings and include a Background section, a combined Results and Discussion section, a Conclusions section, and a Methods section placed after Conclusions. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords, a Declarations section with all required subheadings retained and marked 'Not applicable' when irrelevant, an Availability of data and materials statement, and documentation of any Large Language Model use in the Methods section or another suitable part of the manuscript.
References References should follow Vancouver style. Only published articles, in-press articles, clinical trial registration records, abstracts, and publicly available preprints may be cited; unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must not appear in the reference list; journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE; and URLs must be numbered and listed in full in the references.
Figures & Tables Brief Reports may include a maximum of 2 figures or tables in the main text. Figure titles and legends must appear in the main manuscript, tables shorter than one page may be embedded in the manuscript, and larger tables may be placed at the end with their positions indicated in the text. Figures must be numbered in order and multi-panel figures submitted as a single composite file, while tables must be numbered in sequence and not embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Matters Arising

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. The cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved submission, confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and name any special issue if applicable.
Abstract The opening summary paragraph is required and serves as the abstract for submission purposes. The abstract must not exceed 250 words. The abstract must consist of the opening summary paragraph rather than a separately structured abstract.
Manuscript Matters Arising should be as concise as possible and ideally not exceed 1,200 words. Matters Arising should begin with a brief non-specialist summary paragraph and include a Declarations section with the specified subheadings. The manuscript must include three to ten keywords, a list of abbreviations if used, an Availability of data and materials statement, and a Declarations section containing Ethics approval and consent to participate, Consent for publication, Availability of data and materials, Competing interests, Funding, Authors' contributions, Acknowledgements, and optional Authors' information, using 'Not applicable' where relevant.
References Matters Arising allow up to 15 references. References must follow Vancouver style. Only published, in-press, or publicly available preprint items may be cited, unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must not appear in the reference list, journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE, and web links must be numbered and listed as full references with title, URL, and access date.
Figures & Tables Matters Arising should ideally require only one or two small figures or tables. Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, larger tables may be placed at the end of the text file, and figure titles and legends must appear in the main manuscript while figures are uploaded separately. Figures must be numbered in text order and multi-panel figures submitted as a single composite file, while tables must be numbered sequentially, created with the table function, and not embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Recent Publications

LCPan: efficient variation graph construction using locally consistent parsing

Akmuhammet Ashyralyyev, Zülal Bingöl, Begüm Filiz Öz, Kaiyuan Zhu, Salem Malikic, Uzi Vishkin, S. Cenk Sahinalp, Can Alkan

10.1186/s13059-026-04088-w
View Publication

SVScope improves somatic structural variations detection via graph-genome optimization

Kailing Tu, Qilin Zhang, Yang Li, Yucong Li, Lanfang Yuan, Jing Wang, Jie Tang, Lin Xia, Wei Huang, Dan Xie

10.1186/s13059-026-04076-0
View Publication

CrossFilt: a cross-species filtering tool that eliminates alignment bias in comparative genomics studies of primates

Kenneth A. Barr, Yoav Gilad

10.1186/s13059-026-04082-2
View Publication

Geometry-aware graph attention networks to explain single-cell chromatin states and gene expression with SEAGALL

Gabriele Malagoli, Patrick Hanel, Anna Danese, Guy Wolf, Maria Colomé-Tatché

10.1186/s13059-026-04066-2
View Publication

Author Correction: Spatiotemporal transcriptomics reveals key gene regulation for grain yield and quality in wheat

Xiaohui Li, Yiman Wan, Dongzhi Wang, Xingguo Li, Jiajie Wu, Jun Xiao, Kunming Chen, Xue Han, Yuan Chen

10.1186/s13059-026-04065-3
View Publication

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to publish?

14 days to first decision; submission to first decision (median): 13 days.

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Is a cover letter required?

A cover letter is required. It must explain why the manuscript should be published in Genome Biology, explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm that all authors approved the submission, confirm that the content has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and identify the special issue name when applicable. Authors may also suggest preferred or non-preferred peer reviewers in the cover letter.

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What are the publication costs?

An article processing charge applies for each accepted article. The current APC is £3790.00 GBP / $5690.00 USD / €4690.00 EUR. The current APC for a Brief Report is £2850.00 GBP / $4280.00 USD / €3520.00 EUR.

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Research Topics

Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms RNA Research and Splicing RNA modifications and cancer Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics Chromosomal and Genetic Variations Gene expression and cancer classification Epigenetics and DNA Methylation CRISPR and Genetic Engineering Bioinformatics and Genomic Networks Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research Plant Molecular Biology Research Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals Molecular Biology Techniques and Applications Genomics and Rare Diseases Genetic Associations and Epidemiology Gene Regulatory Network Analysis Genomic variations and chromosomal abnormalities Machine Learning in Bioinformatics Gut microbiota and health Cell Image Analysis Techniques Genetic diversity and population structure Plant Virus Research Studies

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