AEM FAQs

When will my article appear on the AEM website?
It takes about 30 days from acceptance for articles to appear in the "Latest Articles" section of the site. Articles are then wrapped into the next available issue (read an overview of the workflow and the benefits it offers to authors).

How often are issues published?
AEM issues are published monthly, 12 issues per year, online only.

I recently submitted my manuscript to AEM; when should I expect to receive a decision?
The average time to first decision of an AEM manuscript is 29 calendar days.

Will my article be published open access?
Under the Subscribe to Open model, if the Sustainability Target for AEM is met for the year, all content will be published open access. If the Sustainability Target is not met, your article will still be published open access if the corresponding author is affiliated with a subscribing institution.

I have submitted the corrected proofs of my article; may I make additional changes (revising the text, adding a coauthor, etc.) to the paper?
If you would like to make additional changes to the article after the proofs have been returned, send an email outlining the changes with an explanation to the production editor. The production editor will contact you to determine the next steps.

My institution wants to issue a press release; whom do I contact at ASM about it?
Please contact the production editor for information about coordinating a press release for your article.

Does AEM consider submissions of manuscripts that have previously appeared on preprint servers?
Yes. For more information, please review the ASM journals preprint policy.

What is the cost to publish in AEM?
Please review our current publication fees (please note that fees are subject to change without notice).Publication fees do not apply to Minireviews, Commentaries, Editorials, Letters to the Editor, or corrections.

Nonmember corresponding authors may join ASM to obtain discounts on publication fees.

When will my article become freely available if it is not published open access?
Your article will become freely available 12 months after the final version of the article is posted online.

Are publication fee waivers available?
If the research was not supported by any grants, special funds (including departmental and institutional), or contracts (including governmental), or if the research was not done as part of the authors' official duties (government or corporate, etc.), a request to waive the charges may be sent to the production editor. To ensure that we can evaluate and respond to your waiver request quickly, we ask that authors submit the request at the time of acceptance and include the manuscript id number (e.g., AEM00023-17) as well as an overview of how the work was supported. Please note that waivers apply only to page charges; responsibility for supplemental material fees remains with the author.

Exception: corresponding authors based in a country eligible for Group A Research4Life status will receive an automatic full waiver of page charges and supplemental material fees. Corresponding authors based in a country eligible for Group B Research4Life status will automatically receive a partial waiver of page charges and supplemental material fees.

Can the invoice be sent to a co-author or another party who is not an author?
The billing notification email will be sent to the corresponding author, who can arrange payment by a co-author, the research institution or funding body associated with the manuscript, or another entity.

Are AEM articles deposited in PubMed Central (PMC)?
Yes. ASM allows the immediate deposit of the accepted manuscript to PMC if the article does not publish under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license (CC-BY) license. This approach ensures that authors are in compliance with NIH policy (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/FAQ.htm#780). If you have any questions please send an email to [email protected].

There is an error in the PubMed citation of my article; how can this be corrected?
Please send an email explaining the error to [email protected].

What is an MRA Companion Article?

Microbiology Resource Announcements (MRA) is joining forces with AEM and mSystems^®, which are committed to best practices in data sharing and accessibility.

This partnership will allow authors of accepted original research articles in AEM and mSystems to submit MRA companion articles focused on expanded, rigorous analysis of data resources reported in the primary article.

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