Commentaries are important comments and clarifications on peer-reviewed articles published in ICB. Commentaries are peer reviewed and are usually published in a comment-and-reply format. Hence, the submission process contains additional steps to accommodate a possible reply by the authors of the ICB article (referred to as ‘the article’ henceforth).

Manuscript preparation

Before submission, contributors should read examples of Nature’s Communication Arising to appreciate the style of this type of article.  Contributions should

1. not exceed 2000 words, or 2500 words if there is no figure or table.

2. should start with a brief paragraph summarizing the message of the article; it should convey why the topic of the comment is important, yet without foreshadowing or  conveying the position of the commenter.  This summary also serves as the abstract during the submission process.

3. be a focused narrative with one clear message that requires ideally just one figure or table.

4. pertain to the core findings of the article; contributions that merely list technical points or that critique relatively unimportant points will not be considered.

5. not have more than 30 references.

6. should be reasonable, and argue from current understanding or provide new evidence to support the claims.

7. focus on the article’s substance rather than make comments directed towards the authors, institution, or funding agencies, which may be deemed defamatory, or libelous.

8. be measured in tone, and not contain inflammatory or otherwise intemperate language.

Seek resolution first

This format is intended to facilitate scientific exchange among peers. It is not intended to address ethical concerns about articles.

Commenters are encouraged to seek informal avenues for scientific exchange before submitting a Commentary, so that disputes may be resolved directly whenever possible.  

When submitting Commentary to ICB, please enclose in the submission any copies of informal communications, such as correspondence with the original authors, social media posts, blogs, etc. Withholding information may result in the Commentary being rejected. ICB will not consider Commentaries if these preceding informal exchanges violate the guideline items 6 to 8 listed above.

Decisions

The editor will decide how to proceed based on whether the central findings of the article are brought into question; the length of time since the original publication; and whether a comment or exchange of views is likely to seem of interest to ICB readers.

ICB does not consider Commentaries on papers published in other journals.

Procedures

Commentaries submissions that meet ICB's initial selection criteria (described above) are sent to the authors of the article for a response, and the exchange is sent to independent reviewers. The original authors are given two weeks to respond.

This response is not a reviewer's report, but is helpful to the editor in making a decision about publication of the comment and/or a reply. The responders (defined as the authors of the published article that is the subject of the comment, and no-one else) must keep the comment confidential and must not use it for any other purpose apart from replying to the comment, nor can they distribute it without first obtaining ICB's permission.

If the author does not respond within two weeks of receipt of the comment, the editor will proceed without the response. Late responses may not be considered for publication.

Responses are published only when they add to the debate. They should not contain new data, but be confined to replying to the specific issue raised about the published article.

Authors of Commentaries will be shown the initial response from the authors of the original article. In the event that the exchange is accepted for publication, they will see a proof of their own contribution but not of the responders’ final reply (if a reply is being published). Responders will see a proof of the whole exchange but are allowed only to change typographical errors.