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ISSN 2816-6531

Sections

Create account
Dashboard
Select journal
Identify authors
Enter text
Peer reviewers
Next steps

How to submit

Create account

On the SpecimenPub home page, click on the 3-bar icon in the upper right of the page. Choose ‘Connect’ if you already have an account, or ‘Register’ to create a new one. Fill in as many of the fields as possible and upload a jpg photo of yourself if you desire.

  • Family and given names as you want them to appear in your publication.
  • The e-mail address to use for correspondence regarding your submission as well as to accompany your contact details in your publication.
  • An ORCID is not required but is strongly recommended and easy to acquire. Your Specimen publication will automatically be added to your ORCID profile.
  • Provide your professional affiliation if you are submitting a manuscript within the context of your employment. Provide your location: city, state/province, country, or simply city, country. A complete mailing address is not required.
  • Choose a strong password.

Dashboard

Your dashboard lists your submitted manuscripts and your published articles. Here, you may edit those that are not yet published. Click on the large ‘Submit manuscript’ icon to prepare a new submission.

Select journal

Select the appropriate venue for your submission. Read the home page for a description of the two journals.

  • Specimen is for novel scientific discoveries.
  • Collection is for specimen data.

Identify authors

To qualify for the right of authorship, each author must meet the following 4 eligibility criteria established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors:

  • The ‘primary author’ is the first person listed among the authors. This usually is the person submitting the manuscript, but does not have to be. In fact, the submitter of the manuscript does not even have to be an author.
  • Use the sliding bar (with the green circle) to select the number of additional authors (other than the primary author).
  • If the other authors are already registered, they will appear as you type their names into the empty fields. If they are are not registered, click on the icon (silhouette +) in the upper-right of the page to create a new user. Enter their name, e-mail, and affiliation as you did for yourself.

Enter text

  • Title. Enter a full descriptive title. As micropublications do not include abstracts, the title should contain all the salient points of the article.
  • Featured image. Upload an image to illustrate your article. This is the image that appears in the journal’s table of contents. You may use the same image that you provide later in the body of the manuscript.
  • Introduction
    • Title. The default header for this section is ‘Introduction’, but you may opt for another if you desire.
    • Content. Enter the text of the introduction. Be sure to italicize Latin names by highlighting the text and clicking the ‘I’ icon.
  • Results and discussion
    • Title. The default header for this section is ‘Results and discussion’, but you may opt for another if you desire.
    • Content. Enter the text of the results and discussion. Be sure to italicize Latin names by highlighting the text and clicking the ‘I’ icon.
  • References
    • Section title. The default header for this section is ‘References’, but you may opt for another if you desire (e.g., ‘Bibliography’).
    • Add references. Click the ‘Add reference button’ and enter bibliographic data for the first reference. Create a new reference field for each reference. You may use any standard bibliographic format you wish, so long as it is consistent across all your references. If your reference has a DOI, create a link to it by clicking the ‘chain link’ icon.
  • Material. Click the ‘Material’ check-box to create a new field.
    • Section title. The default header for this section is ‘Material’, but you may opt for another if you desire.
    • Content.
      • This section is where you provide the core specimen data. You may provide a very short text description, but the specimen data themselves should be provided in a separate spreadsheet.
      • Either provide a link to a Google Sheet or upload a spreadsheet file by clicking the ‘Add media’ button.
      • The data should be in Darwin Core format. This Google Sheet provides information on the recommended fields as well as actual published examples. It is recommended that you copy one of these tables and edit the data to fit your particular specimens. Contact the editor if you are unsure of how to find or format the data.
  • Acknowledgments. Click the ‘Acknowledgments’ check-box to create a new field.
    • Title. The default header for this section is ‘Acknowledgments’, but you may opt for another if you desire.
    • Content. Provide thanks to those to whom it is due. Provide the source of any funding.
  • Tables. Click the ‘Tables’ check-box to create a new table.
    • Section title. The default header for this section is ‘Tables’, but you may opt for another if you desire, for example ‘Table’, if there is only one.
    • Add table
      • Table title and description. Provide a header for your table.
      • Content. Click ‘Add media’ to upload a spreadsheet file or click the table icon to input a new table.
  • Figures. Click the ‘Figures’ check-box to add a new figure.
    • Section title. The default header for this section is ‘Figures’, but you may opt for another if you desire, for example ‘Figure’, if there is only one.
    • Add figure. Click the ‘Add figure’ box.
      • Legend. Add a figure legend.
      • Image. Click ‘Choose file’ to upload a jpg file (≥2 MB). Each figure must fit into a single column (consult previous publications), so be aware that especially wide images may appear smaller than desired.
  • Comments to the editor. This is your cover letter. Provide any additional information that may be of use to the editor.

Peer reviewers

Select at least two people who can serve as un-biased peer-reviewers. If the reviewers are already registered, they will appear as you type their names into the empty field. If they are are not registered, click on the icon (silhouette +) in the upper-right of the page to create a new user. Enter their name, e-mail, and affiliation as you did for yourself. Then add them to the peer reviewers field.

Next steps

  • Once the manuscript is submitted, the editor will acknowledge receipt and perform a preliminary review to ensure the manuscript is appropriate for the journal and that the data are properly formatted. At this step, the editor may reject the submission if it falls outside the scope of or is otherwise unsuitable for the journal. Alternately, minor edits may be requested to ensure it is ready for the next step.
  • Specimen manuscripts will be sent by the editor for external peer review. Do not contact the reviewer(s) yourself. 
  • Following peer review, the manuscript may be rejected if it is deemed to be scientifically unsound. Edits may once again be requested.
  • Page proofs will be provided to all the authors for a final edit of the manuscript. All authors must approve the final version.
  • Finally, the manuscript is published, congratulations!
  • In some cases, it may be necessary to delay publication of your article. For example, Collection publications may publish specimen data accompanying a species description published elsewhere, so the former cannot be published before the latter. If this is the case, contact the editor to request a delay.