Guide for authors

Manuscript should be submitted in word format through the website https://wswxtb.ijournals.cn/wswxtbcn/home. The template of manuscript can be downloaded from the website homepage. There is no firmly established length, first name(s) in full and surname(s) (in capitals) of author(s), and complete addresses with superscript numbers should be given. The corresponding author must confirm by a letter that all co-authors agree to the submission.  

The abstract is ca. 400-500 words. A maximum of 7 key words which not repeat the words of title should be listed. The editor may change the key words.  

The contents should generally be arranged in the following order: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results (do not include parts of discussion), Discussion, Acknowledgements, References. All measurements must be in metric units. Abbreviations must be defined where they first appeared, except for common abbreviations, such as nm, μm, mm, cm, mg, g, kg, μL, mL, L, Da, kDa, U (enzyme unit), s, min, h, d, etc. When one unit appears in the denominator use the solidus; examples: μg/mL, mg/L, g/L, μmol/L, mmol/L, mol/L, U/μL, U/mL, etc. Words of Latin origin, like in vivo, et al., ibid. and scientific names should be italicized. 

Figures and tables must be submitted as electronic files and inserted into the text. Number tables consecutively and give a brief informative title. Each table should be self-explanatory and supplementary to the text. All abbreviations must be explained in the legends. Figures may be combined to a maximum plate size of 16 cm high by 14.5 cm wide. Electronic figures must be captured at or above 600 dpi resolution. Designate all figures in a consecutive manner. Hand-written signs and letters are not acceptable. The captions should be self-explanatory and independent from the text. Include scale bars in the figures and explain the dimension of the scale in the legend. Color photo is costly and must be paid for by the author.  

All references should be cited in the text, and they are set in superscripted square brackets. When citing several references, these should be listed in numerical order. The reference list should be in numerical order by their appearance in the text. Periodical titles should not be abbreviated. Submitted or unpublished manuscripts may not be quoted as references (but may be quoted in the text as “unpubl.”). Master’s theses and Ph.D. dissertations may be cited, indicate as “PhD Dissertation”, or “MS Thesis”, provide full college, university or institutional name, city and country. 

Copyright on all papers including the figures is held by Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.