BACKGROUND AND SCOPE/OBJECTIVES
Microsphere is an open-access, blind peer-reviewed journal of the Indian Network for Soil Contamination Research (INSCR) and Phixgen Pvt Ltd. It is built on a continuous publication model and strives to publish high-quality original research in all fields of biology.
Background
Indian Network for Soil Contamination Research- (INSCR) was founded in 1999 with registration number 34693 dated April 22nd, 1999 under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860. Whereas, Phixgen Pvt. Ltd. is a research group with a special focus for serving society and, activities related to Education/ Microbial literacy/Excursions to Schools are also being taken up.
Human health is linked to soil health all around the planet. Everything that grows in healthy, living soil thrives, and it is the primary source of nutrition for the plants as they grow into naturally thriving, insect- resistant, nutrient-dense produce. In a reversal of this life cycle, we stay alive by extracting nutrients from plant life that rely on soil. Hence, this society is an Indian network of academicians, researchers, and students dedicated to protecting the soil ecosystem from the adverse impacts of undesirable chemicals and insecticides that are harmful to human and environmental health. Furthermore, because the gut and soil microbiomes contain similar bacteria phyla and because germs from salads, fruits, and vegetables add to the human gut microbiome, therefore microbiome of plants also influence the gut microbiome, and hence human health. Faecal transplants as a result can have a big impact on plant health and growth. INSCR's objective is to build a strong network of students, scientists, researchers, academicians, and the general public who will come together to conserve our natural resources for future generations. We are also attempting to raise awareness by hosting meetings, seminars, and conferences on critical microbiological issues.
Scope/Objectives
- Soil pollution, often known as land contamination, is a major concern. To figure out what the main causes are, what the repercussions are, and how we might lessen it.
- Identify actions that are hurting our natural ecosystem and raise public awareness about the consequences.
- Determine the best preventive methods for reducing pollution input into soil and water.
- To devise low-cost decontamination solutions for previously contaminated places.
- To promote the idea of a long-term sustainable earth and environment for future generations.
- Investigating the role of microbes in sustaining soil fertility through nutrient recycling and impacting their availability to plants; in enhancing soil structure; in supporting healthy plant growth; and in decomposing organic contaminants.
- To investigate the diversity of microorganisms and their activities in their natural environments, as well as their mutual interactions, survival, and adaption strategies.
- To address a variety of concerns, including those that are urgent and require immediate attention, such as new and emerging diseases.
- Microbiomes colonising humans, animals, plants, or the environment, both manmade and natural, or manipulated, as in agriculture.
- Studies on the design and implementation of meta-omics techniques or novel bioinformatics tools, as well as community/host interactions with a focus on the structure-function link, that could lead to significant advancements in the field.
- The journal publishes research in computational molecular and structural biology, including computing in biomedicine and genomics, computational proteomics and systems biology, and metabolic pathway engineering, among other topics.
PEER REVIEW PROCESS
All manuscripts submitted for publication are screened by the journal's Editorial Team. Submissions that do not fulfil the journal's scientific standards will be rejected and will not be subjected to peer review. Articles that pass the initial editorial screening shall be sent to a minimum of two experts. Within 4-6 weeks of submission, an editorial decision should be taken. The authority of selection of the reviewers/experts to conduct the peer-review process lies with the journal's editorial board.
Minor or substantial adjustments may be requested by reviewers. Authors will be asked to resubmit a revised version for the next round of peer review. During the evaluation process, the names of reviewers and authors will not be revealed. During the review of articles, editors and reviewers will be required to declare any potential competing interests.
PUBLICATION FREQUENCY
This journal publishes papers on a biannual basis. The manuscripts are added to the next volume for publication as soon as they are accepted.
POLICY ON OPEN ACCESS
We at ‘Microsphere' believe in making research widely available so that information can flow freely around the globe. In order to cover the costs of reviewing, editing, formatting, layout, and online hosting and archiving, the journal charges an article processing fee of INR 1500/- upon acceptance of submitted full length papers.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
A conflict of interest arises if an author, author's institution, reviewer, or editor has any monetary or personal connections that can unfairly bias his or her actions. The likelihood of these connections influencing judgement varies from negligible to high. Whether or not a person believes the relationship influences his or her scientific judgement, conflicts of interest can still develop. Financial relationships are the most easily identifiable conflicts of interest (such as employment, consulting, honoraria, and paid expert testimony). These are most likely to adversely affect the journal's, authors', and science's credibility. Personal ties, academic competition, and intellectual zeal can all lead to conflicts. Any affiliations that could be construed as potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed by everyone involved in the peer- review and publication process. Because bias in editorials and review articles is more difficult to detect than in original research publications, it is critical to disclose such affiliations. As a result, editors may make decisions based on the information provided in conflict-of-interest and financial-interest statements.
Editorial and Peer Review Process
Microsphere uses a double-blind peer review process and has a thorough editorial screening and assessment procedure, which consists of multiple stages. Initially, an in-house quality check is carried out to identify potential problems, such as conflicts of interest, compliance with ethical standards for research involving human and animal subjects, financial disclosures, data availability, and other scientific and policy requirements. At this point, the submission may be returned to the authors for clarification or changes.
Once the quality check is cleared, the manuscript is assigned to an Editorial Board member who performs peer review and decides whether to accept, invite revision, or reject the manuscript. The editor considers the reviewer feedback and their own evaluation of the manuscript to arrive at a decision. The possible decision types include rejection, major revision, minor revision, or acceptance. The corresponding author is informed of the decision, along with reviewer feedback and any additional requirements from the journal office, via email.
If the editor believes that the manuscript has potential for publication but needs revisions, the corresponding author is invited to revise it within 21 days. The revised manuscript is generally re-assigned to the original Academic Editor, who may make a decision based on their own assessment of the revised manuscript and the author's response to reviewers, or request additional input from external peer reviewers.
Duties of reviewers
The reviewer must carefully examine the journal's goals and objectives to determine if the work is suitable for publication. Instead of solely pointing out mistakes in the author's work, the reviewer should provide suggestions for enhancing the study, project, or outcomes. The reviewer should provide feedback and suggestions for changes, suggest any additional work that must be completed, and offer clarifications that may improve the quality of the manuscript.
If the manuscript is severely flawed in terms of research or writing, the reviewer is not required to improve it or rewrite it. In such cases, the reviewer should respectfully inform the author(s) and editor of their evaluation to avoid wasting anyone's time or effort in the publication process. In the more common situation of reviewing manuscript submissions, the reviewer should offer helpful recommendations on the manuscript's structure, writing, methodology, figures, graphs, or appendices, as well as the suitability of the discussion or conclusions. Finally, the reviewer should determine if the manuscript can be published as is, or if it requires minor or major revisions.
Read the guidelines for reviewers for Microsphere.
Appeals
If authors receive a rejection of their submission, they can submit a formal appeal by writing to microsphere2022@gmail.com with "appeal" in the subject line. When making an appeal, writers must provide detailed explanations for why they are appealing and respond to the criticisms made by the reviewers and/or Academic Editor. Decisions made regarding appeals cannot be changed. Since new submissions are given priority, the appeals process may take longer than the initial submission process.
Post-publication corrections
If you notice an error in your published article, you have a few options:
Only changes that affect the article's discoverability, visibility, and citability can be made after publication. When you (the author) or we (the publisher) make a mistake in your article, a corrigendum or an erratum should be published, such as adjustments to affiliations, footnotes, and acknowledgments to comply with funding body criteria or legal issues. Co-author agreement is usually required for most post-publication changes.
If significant mistakes are found, a retraction or statement of concern may be published. Retractions are used to correct basic flaws or inaccuracies in a study and to notify readers of the scientific record. They are usually reserved for cases where there is clear evidence of unreliable results due to malfeasance or honest mistakes. According to journal criteria, retracted papers are kept by Microsphere with a clear notice of retraction and bibliographic databases are notified. An expression of concern may be issued to alert potential readers when publication issues are raised but not yet proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Microsphere expects all authors, editors, and reviewers to respond to journal queries promptly and to adhere to the Code of Conduct for Editorial Board Members. If there are any concerns about the content of correspondence or reviews, these should be raised by sending an email to microsphere2022@gmail.com.
For any inquiries about a submitted manuscript or questions at any stage of the process, the corresponding author can email Microsphere at microsphere2022@gmail.com.
Article processing charges
To publish an article in a journal, authors must pay article processing costs (APCs), which cover various aspects of the publishing process such as copyediting, typesetting, production, and hosting. These fees are only applicable to accepted articles and do not affect the editorial process in any way. The cost for accepted submissions is INR 1500, and VAT is included if applicable. There are no charges for article submissions, and online papers with pages and coloured figures do not incur any additional fees.
Funding organizations and donors may provide financial support to authors for paying publication fees. All income generated from publication will be used to promote scientific achievement, advance research, and foster microbiological literacy. After publication, research will be freely accessible to everyone under the CC-BY 4.0 license.
Authors from low-income economies designated by Research4Life as Group A or Group B nations are eligible for APC waivers, and other authors may request waivers on a case-by-case basis. The Editorial Board does not participate in the consideration of requests for discretionary waivers, and all decisions regarding waivers are made independently of the peer review process.
Why Researchers Should Choose Microsphere
- Microsphere's editors assess research based on its scientific validity, rigorous methodology, and adherence to high ethical standards, with the goal of making well-conducted research available to everyone for free. Authors who want their research to be widely available without restriction prefer Microsphere as their journal of choice.
- Articles are highly discoverable and accessible to researchers in and beyond their field of study. The journal is committed to fulfilling its founding mission by ensuring a speedy and thorough review process using expertise from the research community.
- Microsphere recognizes the importance of prompt editorial assessment and publication in promoting scientific progress and is continuously working to enhance its services.
- As an open-access journal, Microsphere employs the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license for published material, permitting anyone to access, copy, distribute, or reuse the articles, provided they cite the author and original source correctly.
Annual statistics
| Jan - Jul 22 | Jul - Dec 22 | |
| Time to First Editorial Decision (Rejection or Peer Review) | 14 | 14 |
| Time to First Decision | 7 | 22.5 |
| Time to Final Decision (Rejection or Acceptance) | 47.42 | 62 |
| Time from Acceptance to Publication | 87.8 | 12.5 |
| Desk Rejections without peer review (%) | 12.5% | 42.8% |
| Acceptance Rate* | 87.5% | 57.1% |
| All times are in days and are median numbers *Acceptance rates are calculated from submission cohorts | ||
License agreement
In submitting an article to Microsphere, I certify that:
1. My co-authors have given me their consent to enter into these agreements. 2. I certify on behalf of myself and my co-authors that the following statements are true:i. The article has not been previously accepted by another journal or published in a peer-reviewed journal. It also does not infringe on any existing copyrights or third-party rights.
ii. The author(s) are the sole creators of the article, have the legal capacity to enter into an agreement, and are not in violation of any obligations by granting rights to Microsphere.
iii. The article does not contain any illegal or defamatory content and will not violate any contracts or confidentiality agreements if published.
iv. The author(s) have taken necessary measures to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the article. All factual claims are accurate to the best of their knowledge and conform to current scientific consensus. Any formulas or instructions included will not cause harm, disease, or injury if applied correctly.
