Skip to main content

Aims and scope

Aims and scope

BMC Plant Biology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of plant biology, including molecular, cellular, tissue, organ and whole organism research.

The journal welcomes manuscripts that describe the all aspects of the biology and manipulation of plants. 

The journal welcomes manuscripts in the following broad sub-topics of plant biology. 

  • Biochemistry and physiology including studies in the biochemistry and physiology of plants including research into photosynthesis and related processes. It also includes studies on metabolism, signal transduction, proteomics, plant cell wall, Redox signalling, plant hormones and much more.
  • Development and cell biology including studies on the development and developmental processes of plants and all aspects of the biology of plant cells and tissues. It also includes studies that cover topics like single cell biology, vesicle and organelle trafficking, cell signalling, chloroplast development, roles of plant hormones in development, cellular metabolism, transcriptional regulation, post-translational modifications, single molecule studies, cell cycle, cell adhesion, and more.
  • Forest and tree science including studies on the biology of tree species and evolution and adaptation of forests. It also touches on biology of vegetation and climate change impact on plant and tree physiology. This section also covers evolution of tree species and establishment of forests.
  • Genetics, plant and crop biotechnology including studies on advances in crop biotechnology as well as the inheritance and variation and all other aspects of genetics in relation to plant biology. This aspect of plant biology intersects with agriculture biology as it does include studies that manipulate crops towards agricultural use. It also covers studies beyond manipulation of crop plants towards agriculture and includes manipulation of all plants (model, non-model, vegetables and tree species) towards building resistance to disease or use in industry, or for consumption.
  • Genomics and evolution including studies on the evolution of plants as well as comparative genomics in relation to plant biology. Topics covered include biodiversity, genomics, epigenomics, gene expression studies and transcriptomics, functional genomics, molecular evolution of plants, bioinformatics approaches to understanding plant biology, plant adaptation, and population genetics.
  • Plant-abiotic interactions including studies on the interactions between plants and their physical environment including both beneficial and deleterious interactions. This includes studies on climate change, phytoremediation, plant nutrition, responses to drought, salinity, soil and water amongst others and includes studies on stress tolerance.
  • Plant-biotic interactions including studies on interactions, both beneficial and deleterious, between plants and other organisms including all forms of symbiosis. This also includes studies on rhizobiomes and other plant-microbe interactions and plant microbiomes. This also covers studies on plant disease resistance and plant immune systems that respond to disease-cause organism.
  • Reproductive biology including studies covering the the reproductive biology of plants including meiosis, gamete formation, fertilization and other reproductive processes. This includes topics like gametogenesis, gametophyte, embryogenesis, germination, flowering, seed and pollen biology.

If the manuscript is rather about application of the manipulated plant in food or agricultural industry, or the optimization of the manipulation process then please consider our sister journal BMC Biotechnology.

If the study is on the microbe rather than the plant, then please consider our sister journal BMC Microbiology.

If the study is on the use of the plant or its parts including extracts, for the treatment of infection or disease, please consider our sister journal BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies.

BMC Plant Biology does not make editorial decisions on the basis of the interest of a study or its likely impact. Studies must be scientifically valid; for research articles this includes a scientifically sound research question, the use of suitable methods and analysis, and following community-agreed standards relevant to the research field. Specific criteria for other article types can be found in the submission guidelines.