Editorial Policies Submission Information Article Types Manuscript Preparation: Format, Structure, and Style Manuscript Charges

STEM CELLS® is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes 12 issues per year in online format.

STEM CELLS, provides a forum for prompt publication of original investigative papers and concise reviews. STEM CELLS is read and written by clinical and basic scientists whose expertise encompasses the rapidly expanding fields of stem and progenitor cell biology.

STEM CELLS welcomes original articles and concise reviews describing basic laboratory investigations of stem cells and the translation of their clinical aspects of characterization and manipulation from the bench to patient care. The journal covers all aspects of stem cell research including embryonic stem cells/induced pluripotent stem cells; tissue-specific stem cells; stem cell technology: epigenetics, genomics, proteomics, and metabonomics; cancer stem cells; translational and clinical research; and regenerative medicine.

STEM CELLS covers:

Once a paper is accepted, STEM CELLS publishes the uncorrected, pre-copyedited, accepted manuscript online within one week on the Advance Articles page. This is later replaced by a copyedited, proofed and corrected version of the paper as soon as it is ready. Appearance in Advance Articles constitutes official publication, and the accepted version can be cited by a unique DOI (Digital Object Identifier). Articles remain on the Advance Articles page until they are placed into an issue.

Please read these instructions carefully and follow them closely. The Editors may return manuscripts that do not follow these instructions.

Details of Oxford University Press’s editorial policies are available.

This journal uses a single-blind peer review process where authors do not know the identity of their reviewers. On submission, your paper will undergo an initial screening by the STEM CELLS Editorial Office. At this stage, manuscripts may be rejected without peer review if they are deemed inappropriate for the journal. If the Editorial Board members assigned to the paper determine that the paper should proceed further, it may be sent out for peer review. Based on the feedback from these reviewers and the editors’ judgement, a decision is given on the manuscript. Authors will be notified of acceptance, rejection, or need for revision as quickly as possible.

If revision is needed, the revised manuscript and a point-by-point response are returned to the reviewers to ensure that their concerns have been adequately addressed. The responsible member of the Editorial Board reviews the final version of the manuscript, along with all rounds of reviewers’ comments and the authors’ point-by-point responses. Only when the assigned Board member and the Editor-in-Chief is satisfied that the work has been appropriately reviewed and is suitable for STEM CELLS will the manuscript be accepted.

Additional guidance about the peer review process is available.

The Journal requires that each listed authors state their contribution to a manuscript using the following categories, which are based on the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Each author's contribution to the manuscript will be declared during the online submission process.

Authorship should be limited to those who have contributed substantially to the work and the nature of each author’s contribution will be published with each accepted manuscript. The corresponding author must have obtained permission from all authors for the submission of each version of the paper and for any change in authorship. Please note that all authors will be contacted to verify their authorship following the initial submission. All other contributors who do not meet sufficient criteria for authorship should also be noted in the Acknowledgments section.

The Journal does not allow ghost authorship, where an unnamed author prepares the article with no credit, or guest/gift authorship, where an author who made little or no contribution is listed as an author. The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance on investigating and resolving these cases. For more information, please see the OUP Publication Ethics page.

Natural language processing tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) do not qualify as authors, and the Journal will screen for them in author lists. The use of AI (for example, to help generate content or images, write code, process data, or for translation) should be disclosed both in cover letters to editors and in the Methods or Acknowledgements section of manuscripts. Please see the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI for more details.

After manuscript submission, no authorship changes (including the authorship list, author order, and who is designated as the corresponding author) should be made unless there is a substantive reason to do so. The editor and all co-authors must agree on the change(s), and neither the Journal nor the publisher mediates authorship disputes. If individuals cannot agree on the authorship of a submitted manuscript, contact the editorial office at [email protected]. The dispute must be resolved among the individuals and their institution(s) before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. If an authorship dispute or change arises after a paper is accepted, contact OUP’s Author Support team. COPE provides guidance for authors on resolving authorship disputes.

STEM CELLS encourages all authors, where ethically possible, to publicly release all data underlying any published paper. Authors must include a Data Availability Statement in their published article. Exception requests can be sent to the Editorial Office at [email protected].

STEM CELLS supports the efforts of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to encourage the open sharing of publication-related data. STEM CELLS adheres to the beliefs that authors should include in their publications the data, algorithms, or other information that is central or integral to the publication, or make it freely and readily accessible; use public repositories for data whenever possible; and make patented material available under a license for research use. For more information, see the NAS website (https://www.nap.edu/catalog/10613/sharing-publication-related-data-and-materials-responsibilities-of-authorship-in).

The journal expects that data supporting the results in the paper will be archived in an appropriate public repository. Whenever possible the scripts and other artifacts used to generate the analyses presented in the paper should also be publicly archived. Exceptions may be granted at the discretion of the editor for sensitive information such as human subject data or the location of endangered species. Authors are expected to provide a data accessibility statement, including a link to the repository they have used, to accompany their paper.

The Editors of STEM CELLS follow the policy that any readily renewable resources mentioned in a Journal article not already obtainable from commercial sources shall be made available to all qualified investigators in the field. The policy stems from the long-standing scientific principle that authenticity requires reproducibility. Publication in STEM CELLS constitutes a de facto acceptance of this policy. Included are reagents that can be easily provided—specifically, nucleic acid sequences, cDNA and genomic clones, cell lines, and monoclonal antibody clones. Small amounts (sufficient for the replication of any in vitro work reported) of novel protein reagents are also considered easily transferable.

Although the Editors appreciate that many of the reagents mentioned in STEM CELLS are proprietary or unique, neither condition is considered adequate grounds for deviation from this policy. Suitable material transfer agreements can be drawn up between the provider and requester, but if a reasonable request is turned down and submitted to the Editor, the corresponding author will be held accountable. 

The journal encourages that original DNA sequences reported in STEM CELLS be submitted to GenBank. Instructions for submission can be found at the following address: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/. An accession number should be supplied parenthetically at a relevant location in text.

STEM CELLS supports the efforts of the Microarray Gene Expression Data Society to standardize the presentation of microarray data. The journal requires that microarray data be deposited in either the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/, or in Array Express at https://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress/.

In your STEM CELLS submission, the accession number and the complete website link for this deposit must be listed in the figure legends or supplemental figure legends of your manuscript, as the Journal will no longer accept for review microarray data that are submitted as figures or files.

In accordance with the guidelines published by ICMJE, STEM CELLS will require, as a condition of consideration for publication, that all clinical trials be registered in a public trials registry (for example, at https://www.clinicaltrials.gov). For more information, go to http://www.icmje.org and see Section III.J (Obligation to Register Clinical Trials).

Authors must comply with published CONSORT guidelines (http://www.consort-statement.org/).

The completed checklist must be provided along with the manuscript submitted. The recommended trial flow diagram should be presented as a figure.

Authors should follow field standards for disclosing key aspects of research design and data analysis and should report the standards used in their study. See the Equator Network for information about standards across disciplines. STEM CELLS encourages authors to preregister their studies and analysis plans and to provide links to the preregistration in their submission.

Authors retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels, and this does not prevent submission to the journal. For further information see our Online Licensing, Copyright and Permissions policies. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including your published paper’s DOI, as described on our Author Self-Archiving policy page. Authors may self-archive versions of their work on personal webpages, on institutional webpages, and in other repositories.

Upon submission, authors are required to disclose any relationships that may present a potential conflict of interest in the communication of nonbiased scientific information by completing a Potential Conflict of Interest and Financial Disclosure Form. This form is used to inform the Journal's editors, reviewers, and readers of the existence of any relationships that may be pertinent to the article and thus ensure full transparency of the peer-review and publication processes. These relationships may be financial or involve competing interests, such as holding equity or paid consultancy, patent rights, etc.

All information concerning potential conflicts of interest will be revealed to the peer reviewers and thereafter kept confidential (and on file by the Journal's editorial office). The Editorial Office will work with the corresponding author to formulate a disclosure statement for publication, should the manuscript be accepted. Any potential conflicts of interest found will be reviewed by the Editorial Board with the ad hoc assistance of external reviewers and resolved prior to publication. Where there is no conflict of interest, include a statement stating, “Authors declare no competing interest.” A detailed definition of conflicts of interest is available.

Authors should observe high standards with respect to publication best practice. Falsification or fabrication of data, plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the authors’ own work without proper citation, and misappropriation of work are all unacceptable practices. Any cases of ethical or publication malpractice are treated very seriously and will be managed in accordance with the Commission on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines. Further information about OUP’s ethical policies is available on the Publication Ethics page.

Manuscripts submitted to STEM CELLS may be screened with iThenticate anti-plagiarism software to detect and prevent plagiarism. Any manuscript may be screened, especially if there is reason to suppose part or all the text has been previously published. Prior to final acceptance any manuscript that has not already been screened may be put through iThenticate. If you wish to excerpt large chunks of text, please identify the source.

A goal of STEM CELLS is to ensure that all articles reflect work that is morally acceptable. Authors must abide by the rules of a formally constituted research ethics committee, and/or their Institutional Review Board (IRB), and the tenets of the World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical aspects of any submitted work that involves human participants, including research, audit, and sometimes debate, should be appraised.

To facilitate an ethics appraisal, every research article submitted to STEM CELLS is required to include a statement that the authors obtained ethics approval (or a statement that it was not required), including the name of the ethics committee or Institutional Review Board, the number/ID of the approvals, and a statement that participants gave informed consent before taking part. This applies to all types of articles, including trials involving active interventions, non-intervention studies, and audits.

Investigators are invited to explain in detail how the ethics of their study were justified. We also welcome the submission of any informational sheets that were provided to participants. If such detail does not easily fit into the manuscript, this information should be provided in the cover letter or uploaded as a supplemental file when submitting the article. This detailed information may not be published, but we may make it available to peer reviewers and editorial committees. Peer reviewers are asked to consider and comment on the ethics of submitted work.

Authors must also disclose funding sources for clinical trials, including patient-funded trials.

Manuscripts reporting on studies that involve experiments with animals must include a statement verifying that care of animals was in accordance with institutional guidelines.

Research with embryonic stem cells should adhere to the guidelines established by the National Academy of Sciences, as published in the National Academies Press, at https://www.nap.edu/catalog/11278/guidelines-for-human-embryonic-stem-cell-research.

Any recombinant DNA research must follow the National Institutes of Health Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules (available at https://osp.od.nih.gov/biotechnology/nih-guidelines/) and should be described within the manuscript.

Appropriate institutional review committee approval must be stated in the Materials and Methods section for human or animal subjects involved in experimental investigations. This statement should also show that informed consent was obtained for human subjects. Such manuscripts must include a statement verifying that the human investigations were preceded by local institutional review board approval and, if appropriate, in accordance with an assurance filed with and approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

We will consider your manuscript if:

Authors should observe high ethical standards and obey publication best practices. The following are all unacceptable:

We treat any case of ethical or publication malpractice very seriously. We will address them in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines. Further information about OUP’s ethical policies is available.

You must submit your paper via our web-based submission system, which may be found at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/stemcells. If you have not published with STEM CELLS before, you will need to create an account. Questions about submitting can be sent to the editorial office at [email protected].

A non-refundable submission fee of $90 USD is required upon online submission of each manuscript. ScholarOne Manuscripts is integrated with PayPal to make this transaction easier. Please make payment in US funds with a credit card (American Express, MasterCard, or Visa).

Accepted manuscripts will be assessed a publication fee of $2,000. The author agrees to pay this fee within 30 days of receiving the publisher's invoice. If an author is unable to support this publication fee, it is the author’s responsibility to inform the Editorial Office at the time of manuscript submission. Letters to the Editor, Previews, and invited manuscripts are exempt from the publication fee.

Open access is available to authors of primary research articles who wish to make their article freely available immediately after publication to non-subscribers on the STEM CELLS website. This option provides support to authors who wish or need to sponsor open access, or whose funding agency requires grantees to archive the final version of their article. Manuscripts that opt for  open access will be assessed a $4,000 fee to ensure that the article is made available to non-subscribers upon publication, as well as deposited in the funding agency's preferred archive. The open access option will be made available to authors only after peer-review and editorial acceptance of their articles for publication to prevent any potential conflicts of interest.

Articles that opt for open access will not be assessed a separate publication fee.

This journal publishes the following article types:

Reports new findings of major importance. The manuscript should include an Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, and a Discussion and Conclusion that place the findings in context and examines the implications for future research.

Word limit: 5,000 Display items: 7 Max References: 100

Reviews should address the impact of new concepts or information on clinical disease management, including prognosis, treatment, prevention, or diagnosis.

Word limit: 3,000 Display items: 2 Max References: 50

Short reports of current research. The manuscript should include an Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, and a Discussion and Conclusion that place the findings in context and examines the implications for future research.

Word limit: 2,000 Display items: 4 Max References: 25

Perspectives provide commentary on topical issues confronting stem cell scientists.

Word limit: 2,000 Display items: 2 Max References: 50

Usually solicited by the Editors, commentaries may appear in any section of the Journal, depending on the content. The commentary format may be used for ongoing dialogues, pro-and-con discussions of controversial issues, or subjective articles of interest in the field of stem cell research.

Word limit: 2,000 Display items: 2 Max References: 50 

Letters to the Editor may deal with material in published papers, or they may raise new issues.

Word limit: 500 Display items: 1 Max References: 10

All accepted articles, except invited content and Letters to the Editor, are subject to submission, publication, and (optional) open access fees as elaborated above.

Original Research articles should meet the following criteria:

For manuscripts involving clinical trials the manuscript also must include:

References should not exceed 100 entries and should be limited to recent works.

While most Concise Reviews are solicited by the Editors, STEM CELLS also welcomes unsolicited Concise Reviews that address topics of significant interest and relevance to the translational aspects of stem cells and progenitor cells for cell-based therapy, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine from the bench to patient care. These papers should be submitted to the appropriate journal section.

Prior to submitting an unsolicited manuscript, authors are asked to review published reviews on the same topic in other widely read publications.

Authors should submit a pre-submission inquiry to [email protected]. We will review manuscripts submitted by academic, government, or industry authors, but not medical writers or other paid representatives. All authors should be identified in the pre-submission inquiry. The author should explain in the pre-submission inquiry what new information or perspective justifies the manuscript as a candidate for publication. The inquiry must also include:

Concise Review articles should meet the following criteria:

Brief Reports should be no more than 2,000 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures, legends and references), and a maximum total of four figures and/or tables combined.

Perspectives provide commentary on topical issues confronting stem cell scientists. Perspectives should have not more than 2,000 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures, legends and references), two Figures/Illustrations/Tables, and no more than 50 references.

Letters to the Editor may deal with material in published papers, or they may raise new issues. Letters should be no more than 500 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures, legends, and references), and one figure and/or table is allowed. Authors of papers referenced in Letters to the Editor are given the opportunity to respond. Both the letter and the response are subject to peer review.

An Author Contributions section is required for these article types: Research Reports, Perspectives, Reviews, and Letters to the Editor/Author Responses. Please make sure this section is present in your article when submitted. Where required, authors should include five or six standard designated contributions. These can be chosen from within submission system at the time of revision, and they should also be listed within the manuscript.

Authors are encouraged, but not required, to include ORCID information in their articles. Where given, ORCIDs should be present in the manuscript at submission. More information on ORCID and the benefits of using an ORCID iD is available. If you do not already have an ORCID iD, you can register for free via the ORCID website.

If you wish to reproduce any material for which you do not own the copyright—including quotations, tables, or images—you must obtain permission from the copyright holder. Usage must be compliant with any requirements the copyright holder may have pertaining to this reuse. The permissions agreement must include the following documents:

Further information on obtaining permissions is available.

STEM CELLS is format-neutral at initial submission, which means that manuscripts do not need to be formatted according to specific journal guidelines to be considered for review. We do, however, require the following information to evaluate your manuscript:

If you are not confident in the quality of your English, you may wish to use a language-editing service to ensure that editors and reviewers understand your paper. Oxford University Press partners with Enago, a leading provider of author services. Prospective authors are entitled to a discount of 30% for editing services at Enago, via this link: https://www.enago.com/pub/oup.

Enago is an independent service provider, who will handle all aspects of this service, including payment. As an author you are under no obligation to take up this offer. Language editing is optional and does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted. Edited manuscripts will still undergo peer review by the journal.

Submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter briefly describing the work’s significance and identifying the corresponding author, with:

The first page of the manuscript should contain the following information:

Please use the following format when adding this information to your title page: Author 1: Conception and design, financial support, manuscript writing Author 2: Conception and design, provision of study material or patients

Although all published articles are accessible online, authors can take steps to improve their article's online discoverability. Search engine optimization (SEO) techniques can help boost STEM CELLS content to high-ranking positions in search results, resulting in greater visibility, readership, and citations for your article.

Key techniques you can use to improve your article's SEO are:

Because they are highly utilized by search engines when ranking search results, selecting appropriate key words (i.e., search terms) and using them frequently and appropriately in the title, abstract, and article is critical.

An abstract is required for all Original Research, Concise Reviews, and Brief Reports. The abstract should:

The abstract should not contain:

STEM CELLS requires all submissions to include a significance statement, which differs in purpose from the abstract. It is a summary (approximately 100 words) describing the overarching significance of the article and clearly defining its potential impact. This statement should not contain references and should avoid numbers, measurements, and acronyms. Whenever possible, it should be written in language comprehensible by a lay reader.

A graphical abstract is a visual representation of the key concepts in the article. Authors are invited to upload an attractive full-color, high-quality graphic that illustrates the important findings of their research. These are often the concluding figure from the article or a figure that is specially designed to give readers a preliminary understanding of the manuscript while browsing. The graphical abstract should be submitted in .eps or .tif format, preferably at the time of manuscript submission. The graphical abstract will be printed and should be submitted sized at 4:3 aspect ratio with a minimum size of 100x75mm or 4x3in. The use of graphs and images consisting of several parts or panels is discouraged. The image can contain text but does not have a figure legend.

The text should be divided into the following sections (when appropriate) and in the following order:

Within the text:

The journal follows American Medical Association (AMA) parent style. Please refer to these requirements when preparing your manuscript. More information on the style guide is available. US spelling should be used throughout, except in quotations and in references.

Please define nonstandard abbreviations at the first occurrence. Ensure that abbreviations are accessible to a broad scientific audience.

Tables must be titled and cited in numerical order in the text using Arabic numerals. Each table should be double-spaced and typed on a separate page. Use superscript lowercase letters to denote footnotes within a table in the order they appear. Each table must include definitions of all abbreviations used in it. Tables should be created in Microsoft Word using the table feature. Tables must not be embedded within the manuscript but should be submitted as individual files in .doc format and designated as “figures” during the submission process.

You must include figure titles and legends within the manuscript file—they should not be included in the image file.

You must submit each figure as an individual image file. Submit all panels of a multipanel figure on a single page as one file. For example, if the figure has 3 panels, the figure should be submitted as one file. Each panel should be labeled as a letter (A, B, C, D, etc.) in the upper-left corner of each panel.

Images of photographs or paintings can be provided as raster images. Common examples of raster images are .tif/.tiff, .raw, .gif, and .bmp file types. The resolution of raster files is measured by the number of dots or pixels in each area, referred to as “dpi” or “ppi.”

Images of maps, charts, graphs, and diagrams are best rendered digitally as geometric forms called vector graphics. Common file types are .eps, .ai, and .pdf. Vector images use mathematical relationships between points and the lines connecting them to describe an image. These file types do not use pixels; therefore, resolution does not apply to vector images.

Figures prepared as .doc/.docx or .jpeg/.jpg files will not be accepted.

Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.  

Alt-text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, photographs, and it isn’t required for tables and large datasets (unless the tables are provided as figures). 

Alt-text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article. 

Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text. 

You may format references in any readable style at submission. You are responsible for the accuracy of reference information.

Any funding information should be included at the end of your manuscript. Please fully cite any relevant funding information, including the full funding body name and specific grant numbers. If you do not have funding information, include a no-funding statement: “The authors declare no funding.”

Information on LaTeX files and formatting is available.

You must submit supplementary data or supplementary material at the same time as the main manuscript. Supplementary material:

Additional information can also be included, such as an equal contribution statement, previous presentation information, working group details, opinion disclosures, or special feature information. Ensure these items are present in the manuscript at submittal and acceptance.

Resubmissions may be allowed upon request from the editorial board. Appeals must be made in writing and sent to [email protected]. STEM CELLS may consider author appeals of decisions on rejected papers. If an appeal is rejected, further appeals of the decision will not be considered and the paper may not be resubmitted.

The corresponding author will receive a link by email to access the PDF proof. Proofing instructions will accompany the email. It is the author’s responsibility to check the proofs thoroughly. The proof should be checked immediately upon receipt and corrected in accordance with queries and instructions. Only essential corrections should be made at the proof stage.

STEM CELLS articles can be published under the following types of licenses:

Your funding agencies may have specific requirements for what type of open access license to use. Please see Creative Commons licenses for more information, and please see the Licenses, copyright and re-use rights page for more information about our standard license to publish. Please check with your funding body if you are unsure of any license requirements.

Please see Licenses, copyright and re-use rights for more information regarding the rights retained under a standard license to publish.

Charges for the license options offered by STEM CELLS are listed below.

Please note that all submissions will also be assessed a $90 submission fee.

For authors who select a license to publish, charges will be sent via invoice from OUP Customer Service.

For authors who select CC BY or CC BY-NC charges, charges can be paid in the Author Portal. Authors may also refer the charges to an institutional prepayment account. Any applicable discounts can also be applied prior to payment.

Where ethically feasible, STEM CELLS strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. Authors are required to include a Data Availability Statement in their article.

We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files or deposited in a public repository whenever possible. Information on general repositories for all data types, and a list of recommended repositories by subject area. 

The inclusion of a Data Availability Statement is a requirement for articles published in STEM CELLS. Data Availability Statements provide a standardized format for readers to understand the availability of data underlying the research results described in the article. The statement may refer to original data generated in the course of the study or to third-party data analyzed in the article. The statement should describe and provide means of access, where possible, by linking to the data or providing the required unique identifier.   The Data Availability Statement should be included in the end matter of your article under the heading “Data Availability”.   More information and example Data Availability Statements.

STEM CELLS supports the Force 11 Data Citation Principles and the recommendations of the FORCE11 Software Citation Implementation Group. When data and software underlying the research article are available in an online source, authors should include a full citation in their reference list.   For details of the minimum information to be included in data and software citations see the guidance on Citing research data and software.