Review form

Acta Biologica Cracoviensia Series Botanica is a peer-reviewed, international, scientific Journal, that publishes full-length original papers embodying the results of experimental or theoretical research, invited reviews, and brief communications in plant anatomy, morphology, cytology, genetics, karyology, embryology, tissue culture, physiology, biochemistry, biosystematics, molecular phylogeny and phylogeography, phytochemistry, biotechnology.

Manuscripts should be written concisely and eventually as a final report. Purely descriptive studies, as well as those written in bad English are not considered for publication. 

Karyological notes on plants outside of Europe and papers on economic botany as well as manuscripts of restricted interest are generally not considered for publication. 
Stringent editorial policy is established concerning the quality of data obtained by means of universal DNA genotyping markers (e.g., AFLP, ISSR, RAPD, etc.). Accordingly, papers reporting studies based on such markers should include an explicit assessment of genotyping error for any data set presented in Material and Methods and Results (for guidelines see, e.g., Bonin et al., 2004, Molecular Ecology 13: 3261-3273). Only manuscripts completed in this respect will be considered for a further peer review. The manuscript in the field of plant cell culture must contain new insights that lead to a better understanding of some aspect of fundamental plant biology. They should be of interest to a wide audience and methods employed result in a substantial improvement over existing established techniques and approaches. Manuscripts just describing the protocols for plant regeneration without any relevant biological information will not be considered for publication.

Authors are expected to contribute approximately $20.00 per printed page for foreign authors and 70 PLN per printed page for Polish authors. Color illustrations will be accepted, but the cost per color plate, which authors must cover, is about $150.00 for foreign authors and 500 PLN for Polish authors. The Polish Academy of Sciences will bill Author's institution when the galleys of the paper is send to the Author. The on-line version will be available for authors after the transfer is done. Additional information is available at: abcbot.pl

Articles should be written in English (American spelling). Authors whose native language is not English are strongly advised to have their manuscripts checked by a professional translator or a native speaker prior to submission. There is limitation of the articles length but longer articles will be also considered. The research articles should be organized as follows: 
- TITLE PAGE
- ABSTRACT (Purpose; Material/Methods; Results; Conclusions; Key words)
- TEXT (Introduction; Material and Methods; Results; Discussion; Conclusions; Acknowledgements; References) 
Appropriate references to all relevant academic publications should be incorporated, and the accuracy of references is entirely the author's responsibility. For further details read Instructions for Authors.

All manuscripts received by the Editor are considered as confidential documents. The manuscript is examined for the conformity to the Instructions for Authors by the Editor. Failure to meet the Instructions results in return of the manuscript for correction before evaluation. A notification of receiving the manuscript is sent by e-mail to the corresponding author within 5 working days. 

Articles submitted to the Acta Biologica Cracoviensia Series Botanica will be reviewed by the Editors and external referees according to the highest academic standards. The review process is handled by 2-3 independent international experts in the field. The review process lasts approximately 8 weeks.

ITEMS EVALUATED
Invited referees, in confidence, evaluate the manuscript according to the following aspects:

1. Formal Aspects
2. Originality 
3. Importance in its field
4. Theoretical background
5. Adequacy of methodology
6. Results and interpretation 
7. Overall quality 

The manuscript can be evaluated as: 
- acceptable in its present form
- acceptable after minor revision (no further review required)
- reconsidered after major revision
- not acceptable for publication
When the review process is finished, a decision letter will be sent to the authors, including the comments of the referee(s). Any corrections suggested by the reviewers, should be made within the period of time indicated in the letter. All of the comments raised by the referees should be addressed and point by point responses (as specific as possible) should be provided in a separate document. If the paper is accepted after major revisions, it will be submitted again for peer review to the same evaluators. After a second review of the corrected manuscript, a final decision letter concerning publication is sent to the authors. Accepted articles pass a language revision. A galley proof is provided to the corresponding author before the article is published. The checked galley proof should be returned to the Editorial Office by fax or e-mail within 3 working days. 

The Journal is issued TWICE a year in printed form and in electronic version (ahead of print). Each article is published online in PDF format at abcbot.pl and journals.pan.pl/dlibra/journal/94503 as soon as it is ready for publication. Public access to articles in the Acta Biologica Cracoviensia Series Botanica is free of charge.