About

Parasites & Vectors is an open access, peer-reviewed online journal dealing with the biology of parasites, parasitic diseases, intermediate hosts, vectors and vector-borne pathogens. Manuscripts published in this journal will be available to everybody worldwide, with no barriers to access, immediately following acceptance. However, authors retain the copyright of their material and may use it, or distribute it, as they wish.

High-quality manuscripts on all aspects of the basic and applied biology of parasites, parasitic diseases, intermediate hosts, vectors and vector-borne pathogens will be considered. In addition to the traditional and well-established areas of science in these fields, we also aim to provide a vehicle for publication of the rapidly developing resources and technology in parasite, intermediate host and vector genetics, genomics, proteomics. We are able to publish large datasets and extensive results, frequently associated with genomic and post-genomic technologies, which are not readily accommodated in traditional journals. Manuscripts addressing broader issues, for example epidemiology, economics, social sciences and global climate change in relation to parasites, vectors and parasitic disease control, are also welcomed.

Please note that we no longer consider manuscripts in forensic entomology, small-scale studies of limited and local interest, or small-scale laboratory studies on plant-based vector control. Studies on Microsporidia may be considered if related to parasites and vectors. If you are unsure whether your paper is in scope for Parasites & Vectors, you can submit a pre-submission enquiry to the Editor-in-Chief, providing an abstract of your work.
 
The electronic format of the journal offers interesting opportunities for authors. For example, in addition to the publication of large datasets, derived from field and laboratory studies, there is no limit to the number of colour illustrations that can be included. Animations, slide shows and movie clips are acceptable, as also are links to relevant material on other websites. No additional charge will be made for these.

• We welcome outstanding research on the biology of parasites, parasitic diseases, intermediate hosts, vectors and vector-borne pathogens.
• We are a high visibility forum for the open access publication of rapidly developing resources and technology in parasite, intermediate host, and vector genomics.
• Through our internationally renowned Editorial Board, we support research in the developing world, with a special focus on global health, neglected tropical diseases, global climate change, and vectors and disease control.
• We provide a swift and rigorous review process.

Parasites & Vectors flyer

All articles published by Parasites & Vectors are made freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication, without subscription charges or registration barriers. Further information about open access can be found here.

As authors of articles published in Parasites & Vectors you are the copyright holders of your article and have granted to any third party, in advance and in perpetuity, the right to use, reproduce or disseminate your article, according to the BMC license agreement.

For those of you who are US government employees or are prevented from being copyright holders for similar reasons, BMC can accommodate non-standard copyright lines. Please contact us if further information is needed.

Authors who publish open access in Parasites & Vectors are required to pay an article processing charge (APC). The APC price will be determined from the date on which the article is accepted for publication.

The current APC, subject to VAT or local taxes where applicable, is: £2090.00/$2790.00/€2390.00

Visit our open access support portal and our Journal Pricing FAQs for further information.

For information about the APC applicable for articles accepted for publication next year, please see our journal lists.

Open access funding

Visit Springer Nature’s open access funding & support services for information about research funders and institutions that provide funding for APCs.

Springer Nature offers agreements that enable institutions to cover open access publishing costs. Learn more about our open access agreements to check your eligibility and discover whether this journal is included.

Springer Nature offers APC waivers and discounts for articles published in our fully open access journals whose corresponding authors are based in the world’s lowest income countries (see our APC waivers and discounts policy for further information). Requests for APC waivers and discounts from other authors will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and may be granted in cases of financial need (see our open access policies for journals for more information). All applications for discretionary APC waivers and discounts should be made at the point of manuscript submission; requests made during the review process or after acceptance are unable to be considered.

All articles published in Parasites & Vectors are included in:

• Agricola
• CABI
• CAS
• DOAJ
• Embase
• Global Health
• MEDLINE
• PubMed
• PubMed Central
• Science Citation Index Expanded
• SCImago
• ​Scopus

The full text of all articles is deposited in digital archives around the world to guarantee long-term digital preservation. You can also access all articles published by BioMed Central on SpringerLink.

All manuscripts submitted to Parasites & Vectors should adhere to BioMed Central's editorial policies.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Articles in Parasites & Vectors  should be cited in the same way as articles in a traditional journal. Because articles are not printed, they do not have page numbers; instead, they are given a unique article number.

Article citations follow this format:

Authors: Title. Parasit Vectors [year], [volume number]:[article number].

e.g. Roberts LD, Hassall DG, Winegar DA, Haselden JN, Nicholls AW, Griffin JL: Increased hepatic oxidative metabolism distinguishes the action of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor delta from Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor gamma in the Ob/Ob mouse. Parasit Vectors 2009, 1:115.

refers to article 115 from Volume 1 of the journal.

Authors who wish to appeal a rejection or make a complaint should follow the procedure outlined in the BMC Editorial Policies.

High visibility

Parasites & Vectors's open access policy allows maximum visibility of articles published in the journal as they are available to a wide, global audience. 

Speed of publication

Parasites & Vectors offers a fast publication schedule whilst maintaining rigorous peer review; all articles must be submitted online, and peer review is managed fully electronically (articles are distributed in PDF form, which is automatically generated from the submitted files). Articles will be published with their final citation after acceptance, in both fully browsable web form, and as a formatted PDF.

Flexibility

Online publication in Parasites & Vectors gives you the opportunity to publish large datasets, large numbers of color illustrations and moving pictures, to display data in a form that can be read directly by other software packages so as to allow readers to manipulate the data for themselves, and to create all relevant links (for example, to PubMed, to sequence and other databases, and to other articles).

Promotion and press coverage

Articles published in Parasites & Vectors are included in article alerts and regular email updates. Some may be highlighted on Parasites & Vectors’s pages and on the BMC homepage.

In addition, articles published in Parasites & Vectors may be promoted by press releases to the general or scientific press. These activities increase the exposure and number of accesses for articles published in Parasites & Vectors. A list of articles recently press-released by journals published by BMC is available here.

Copyright

As an author of an article published in Parasites & Vectors you retain the copyright of your article and you are free to reproduce and disseminate your work (for further details, see the BMC license agreement).

For further information about the advantages of publishing in a journal from BMC, please click here.

Parasites & Vectors expands upon the scope of two former BioMed Central publications, Kinetoplastid Biology and Disease and Filaria Journal, both of which ceased publication in December 2007. The full archives of these two journals remain available from the Kinetoplastid Biology and Disease and Filaria Journal websites and PubMed Central.