Journal information
1. Aims and scope
Cytologia, an international journal of cytogenetics and cell biology, began publication in 1929. With nearly a century of tradition and publication achievements, Cytologia aims to rapidly supply basic biological information internationally. Cytologia will receive original and review articles in the field of cell science, including cytology, cytogenetics and cell biology, on a wide range of organisms using a variety of research methods, including imaging, microscopic techniques, molecular cell biological techniques and bioinformatics analyses. Cytologia is published quarterly in March, June, September and December of each year, unless otherwise stated.
The submission and review processes are managed by editors with the support of editorial advisory boards. The editors make efforts to promote the reviewing process and rapidly return the reviewers’ comments with a publishing decision. Finally, the editors determine whether manuscripts meet the publication criteria for Cytologia after the peer review process. See details in the Peer-review overview and process section.
We welcome submissions of high-quality science from anywhere in the world.
2. History
(a) Cytologia from 1929
Cytologia was the first international journal published in Japan, with the first edition appearing in 1929 by Prof. Kenjiro Fujii (1866–1952). He first established cytogenetics research at the Imperial University of Tokyo and devoted himself to the study of genetics in Japan. In 1926, he predicted the structure of chromosomes by announcing that the chromosomes of a cell have a spiral structure and that the spiral is a “chromosome double-helix structure”.
The year 1929, which saw the first issue of Cytologia, was an eventful one. J.K. Galbraith in “The Great Crash of 1929” writes, “The stock price, which had been $24 at the beginning of September 1929, plummeted to $12 on Thursday, October 24, and held up quite well on ‘Dark Thursday’ and the following day, but by the following week, on the 29th, it was down to $3.”
At that time, the recession in Japan was even more serious than in the U.S. It is said that “Dark Thursday” was the day when the unemployed flooded the streets of Japan in the recession following the Great Kanto Earthquake. Japan’s unemployment rate exceeded 20%, crops were not selling well, and the country was hit hard by cold weather and bad harvests, resulting in a sharp increase in the number of children missing meals. We have not forgotten that Cytologia was born during the most difficult times in Japan and has been nurtured into an international journal through the hard work of Prof. Fujii and other researchers.
(b) The first use of “Genome”
Prof. Hitoshi Kihara (1893–1986) was the most active member of Cytologia in 1929 and the 1930s. In addition to the article that graced the front page of the first issue (1929), he contributed to Cytologia every year. Kihara contributed two papers to the volume entitled “Conjugation of Homologous Chromosomes in the Genus Hybrids Triticum x Aegilops and Species Hybrids of Aegilops“. In 1930, he published a paper entitled “Conjugation of Homologous Chromosomes in the Genus Hybrids Triticum x Aegilops and Species Hybrids of Aegilops”. In the following year, 1930, he published a paper in German entitled “Genomanalyse bei Triticum und Aegilops” in the same issue. This paper is famous for proposing “genome analysis” as a cytogenetic method for revealing the genomic relationships among biological species. We assume that the term “genome” was first used by Cytologia.
(c) Contribution to the construction of basic biological rules
The paper entitled “Chromosome Studies in Some Dioecious Plants, with Special Reference to the Allosomes”, published in Cytologia Vol. 1, No. 2 (1929) by Prof. Yoshito Shinoto (1895–1989). He was a professor at the University of Tokyo, president of the International Christian University, the first president of the Japan Mendel Society and the chairman of the Chromosome Research Institute. The paper is over 80 pages long and contains descriptions of the sex chromosomes of 24 species of dioecious plants. It also lists approximately 60 dioecious plants having sex chromosomes and approximately 30 dioecious plants not having sex chromosomes. Incidentally, the term “allosomes” in the title of this paper refers to heterochromosomes, which is used as a synonym for sex chromosomes.
A paper in Cytologia Vol. 3, No. 2 (1931) “A Gene in Zea mays for Failure of Cytokinesis during Meiosis” was written by Prof. G. W. Beadle. Prof. Beadle (1903–1989), along with Prof. E.L. Tatum, is famous for his research on red bread mold. His experiment, in which he mutated certain enzymes in the metabolic pathways of red bread mold, by irradiating with X-rays, showed that genes and enzymatic reactions are directly related. This became known as the “one gene, one enzyme” theory, which may remind you of high school biology or liberal arts courses. Because this theory is so well known, people tend to think of Beadle as only a researcher of red bread mold; however, he first studied maize.
Born in Nebraska, Prof. Beadle graduated from the University of Nebraska, College of Agriculture in 1926 and went on to graduate school at Cornell University. It was there that he met Drs. R. Emerson and B. McClintock. Dr. McClintock stayed with Beadle’s boss, Prof. T.H. Morgan, in the winter of that year to study the nucleolus-forming sites of maize chromosomes. Prof. Beadle received his degree in 1931. His paper was submitted to Cytologia in November 1931. He was then affiliated with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). His paper in Cytologia was the first time he published without Drs. Emerson and McClintock. Both Prof. Beadle and Dr. McClintock would go on to win Nobel Prizes later in their careers, but their papers from this period are full of firsts.
References
- Beadle, G. W. (1931) A Gene in Zea mays for Failure of Cytokinesis During Meiosis. Cytologia, 3, 142–155, 1931.
- Galbraith, J.K. (1997) The great crash 1929 (1997 Edition)
- Keller, E.F. (1993) A feeling for the organism
- Kihara, H. (1929) Conjugation of Homologous Chromosomes in the Genus Hybrids Triticum×Aegilops and Species Hybrids of Aegilops. Cytologia, 1, 1–15
- Sinoto, Y. (1929) Chromosome studies in some dioecious plants, with special reference to the allosomes. Cytologia, 1, 109–19
3. Indexing and journal impact scores
You can download all the articles from the first issue (1929) for free at J-STAGE, an archive site of the Japan Science and Technology Agency.
The articles since 1949 in Cytologia are recorded in the Web of Science® (Clarivate). Cytologia is a signatory of the DORA declaration, which recognizes the need to improve the ways in which researchers and the outputs of scholarly research are evaluated. The most recent (2020) journal impact scores and metrics as determined by Clarivate Analytics for Cytologia are as follows:
2-year Impact Factor – 1.027
5-year Impact Factor – 0.617
Immediacy Index – 0.169
Eigenfactor® Score – 0.00023
Normalized Eigenfactor® – 0.05
Article Influence Score – 0.073
Cited Half-life – 21 years
Citing Half-life – 13.9 years
4. Peer-review overview and process
(a) Rapid peer-reviewed process
All articles in Cytologia are subject to rigorous single-blind peer review. The editorial decisions are made by Editors, supported by an international Editorial Advisory Board. The editorial office at Cytologia makes efforts to shorten the time needed to go from submission to publication. The editorial office strongly recommends that you enter suggested reviewer candidates in the Editorial Manager system when you submit your manuscript. The Editor will refer to the information and also add another reviewer to the review process.
(b) Confidentiality
Editors and reviewers in Cytologia handle all types of manuscripts confidentially. It is strictly prohibited that they disclose information in manuscripts during the editorial or reviewing process. They are not allowed to use the ideas and knowledge described in a manuscript before its publication. Cytologia discloses the list of reviewers in the December issue of every year.
(c) Fair decision
Editors and reviewers at Cytologia must evaluate all manuscripts fairly without regard to race, gender, nationality and citizenship. Any concerns regarding fair decision should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief.
5. Instruction for reviewers
Reviewer invitations for Cytologia are sent out by email from the Editor through the Editorial Manager system. The invitation includes information about the manuscript, including title and abstract, and an indication of the reviewing time frame. After agreeing to review the paper, the reviewer has access to the entire manuscript. We encourage reviewers to contact the editorial office at any time if they require additional information or assistance.
Key features of a review include the following:
- Originality
- Data presentation
- Image quality
- Data description
- Discussion
- Manuscript length
- Language
- Statistical data analyses
Each reviewer places comments for the authors in “Reviewer comments to Author.” Please include comments on the quality of figures and the fidelity of tables, along with the validity of statistical analyses. The reviewer may also send comments to the Editor using “Reviewer Confidential Comments to Editor.” Finally, each reviewer selects a decision from “acceptable”, “acceptable after minor revision”, “review after major revision” and “reject.”
6. Open Access and CC-BY license
Articles published in Cytologia are made open access online and freely accessible. All contents are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (BY-NC-SA 4.0) . For commercial use, please ask the Japan Mendel Society for permission.
7. Subscription
(a) ISSN
ISSN 0011-4545
(b) Fee
Annual subscription fee: US $240.00 (25,000 yen)
Single copy: US $62.00 (6,500 yen)
(c) Orders and inquiries
(i) Maruzen Co., Ltd. Japan
2-3-10, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku,. Tokyo, 103-0027, Japan
P.O. Box 5050 Tokyo International 1001-31, Japan
(ii) Japan Publications Trading Co., Ltd.
1-2-1, Sarugaku-cho. Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 10l-0064, Japan
P.O. Box 5030 Tokyo International 100-31, Japan
8. Advertising policy
Companies and organizations wishing to advertise on the Cytologia website should contact the editorial office. All advertisements in Cytologia are independent of editorial decisions for publication. The editorial process is not influenced by commercial or financial interests or advertising sponsors. The editorial office or the publisher can refuse the advertisement or request its removal if they deem it inappropriate.
9. Publisher
Japan Mendel Society
Epoch Hongo, 2-27-2 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Fax: +8l-3-3814-5352
E-mail:ISC-Mendel-Cytologia＠edu.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp
10. Production Office
International Academic Publishing Co., Ltd.
358-5 Yamabuki-cho, Shinjyuku, Tokyo 162-0801, Japan