Journal Database

At the editorial and peer review stages, animal methods bias may result in a lengthy revision period or, ultimately, rejection if authors fail to comply with requests for animal experiments. To help minimize these undesirable outcomes, the COLAAB has compiled a database of journals with a track record of publishing nonanimal studies for consideration upon submission. Submitting to an appropriate journal may not guarantee a total avoidance of the effects of animal methods bias, but it can reduce them. Choosing the right journal is also important for maximizing a study’s reach and impact.

To determine if a journal is the right fit, it is important to check that the study fits within its scope, and recent issues should also be checked for articles that contain similar methodology as the study ready for submission. Considering the journal’s audience is also crucial to this decision. Other compelling journal characteristics may also be considered, such as open access, open peer review, and the likelihood of the journal to accept negative results. (For more details on open peer review, see the text below the database.)

In addition to the database below, the following journal selectors can help determine an appropriate set of journals for a manuscript based on its abstract:

SciRev is another valuable web resource in which authors share their experiences with specific journals’ review processes and can provide insight as to whether a particular journal may be a good fit for a given manuscript.

Impact Factor
Title Publisher Impact factor Open access Open peer review ARRIVE guidelines URL
Biotechnology Notes Elsevier 1.7 Yes No Yes https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/biotechnology-notes
Biotechnology Progress Wiley/American Institute of Chemical Engineers 2.9 Yes No No https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15206033
BMC Research Notes BioMed Central 1.8 Yes No No https://bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com/
Brain Organoid and Systems Neuroscience Journal Elsevier 2.9 Yes No No https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/brain-organoid-and-systems-neuroscience-j…
Cell Stem Cell Elsevier 23.9 Yes No Yes https://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/home
Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Springer 2.8 Yes No Yes https://link.springer.com/journal/12195
Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Wiley 6.7 Yes No No https://ascpt.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15326535
Computational Toxicology Elsevier 3.1 Yes No Yes https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/computational-toxicology
Current Opinion in Endocrine and Metabolic Research Elsevier 4.1 Yes No Yes https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/current-opinion-in-endocrine-and-metaboli…
Developmental Biology Elsevier/Society for Developmental Biology 2.7 Yes No No https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/developmental-biology
Drug and Alcohol Dependence Elsevier 4.2 Yes No Yes https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/drug-and-alcohol-dependence
Drug Discovery Today Elsevier 7.4 Yes No No https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/drug-discovery-today
Experimental Biology and Medicine SAGE Journals 3.2 No No No https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ebm
Expert Review of Medical Devices Taylor and Francis 3.1 Yes No No https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/ierd20
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology Fronteirs 5.7 Yes No Yes https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology
Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience Frontiers 3.2 Yes No Yes https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/computational-neuroscience
Frontiers in Pharmacology Frontiers Media 5.6 Yes No No https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology
Frontiers in Toxicology Frontiers Media 3.6 Yes No No https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/toxicology/about
Genome Biology and Evolution Oxford University Press/Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution 3.2 Yes No No https://academic.oup.com/gbe
IEEE Transactions on Nanobioscience IEEE 3.7 Yes No No https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=7728
In Silico Biology IOS Press 2.2 Yes No No https://www.iospress.com/catalog/journals/in-silico-biology
In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Animal Springer 2.1 Yes No No https://link.springer.com/journal/11626
International Journal of Bioprinting AccScience Publishing 6.8 Yes No No https://accscience.com/journal/IJB
International Journal of Molecular Sciences MDPI 5.6 Yes No Yes https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms
Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics Taylor & Francis 3.2 Yes No No https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tbsd20/current

A Note on Open Peer Review

Open peer review can refer to various aspects of the peer review process, including (1) open identities, when authors and reviewers are aware of each other’s identities; (2) open reports, when review reports are published with the final manuscript; (3) open participation, when the wider community can contribute to the review; or (4) open pre-review manuscripts, when manuscripts are made immediately available (for example, through preprint servers like bioRxiv) ahead of journal peer review. Among other benefits, open peer review may improve the quality, transparency, and reproducibility of research, and it may prevent or mitigate biases, including animal methods bias. Improving academic publishing and the peer review process is a hotly contested issue, though. The effect of open review on animal methods bias has not yet been investigated or demonstrated, and it may introduce other biases, such as racial, gender, or seniority biases. These are all important factors when considering where to submit.

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