Journal of Bacteriology

Journal of Bacteriology
source
Title	Journal of Bacteriology
Discipline	Microbiology
Abbreviation	J. Bacteriol.
Publisher	American Society for Microbiology
Country	United States
History	1916–present
Frequency	Biweekly
Issn	0021-9193

Contents

Journal of Bacteriology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on bacterial biology, microbial physiology, molecular genetics, and host–microbe interactions. Founded in 1916, the journal has been associated with the American Society for Microbiology and has published research by investigators affiliated with institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, and Rockefeller University. The journal serves readers across research centers like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and international organizations including Pasteur Institute, Karolinska Institute, and Max Planck Society.

History

The journal was established during an era shaped by figures like Robert Koch, Louis Pasteur, Elie Metchnikoff, Alexander Fleming, and institutions such as the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Biological Laboratory, and Royal Society that drove microbiology's professionalization. Early editorial leadership drew on scientists connected to Columbia University, Yale University, University of Chicago, Princeton University, and University of Pennsylvania, paralleling developments seen in publications like Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Science (journal). Throughout the 20th century the journal intersected with major events and movements including the expansion of laboratories after World War I, the antibiotic era following World War II, and molecular biology advances surrounding Watson and Crick and the Human Genome Project. Editorial stewardship over decades included scholars with ties to Stanford University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, and ETH Zurich, reflecting transatlantic networks exemplified by collaborations with Wellcome Trust and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Content emphasizes experimental research on bacterial genetics, physiology, cell structure, pathogenicity, and microbial ecology, aligning with work coming from groups at Salk Institute, Institut Pasteur, Weizmann Institute of Science, John Innes Centre, and The Francis Crick Institute. The journal's peer-review procedures mirror policies used by journals such as Nature, Cell (journal), The Lancet, Journal of Experimental Medicine, and EMBO Journal, involving editorial boards constituted of investigators affiliated with University of Toronto, McGill University, University of Melbourne, University of Tokyo, and Seoul National University. Ethical and data-sharing policies reflect standards promoted by organizations including Committee on Publication Ethics, National Science Foundation, European Research Council, Wellcome Trust, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Published biweekly by the American Society for Microbiology, production workflows have involved publishers and platforms historically associated with Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Wiley-Blackwell, Springer Nature, and digital distribution models like those used by PubMed Central and JSTOR. Access policies have evolved amid debates exemplified by the Budapest Open Access Initiative, Berlin Declaration on Open Access, and mandates from funders such as the National Institutes of Health and Horizon 2020. Subscription and author-pays models relate to practices at PLOS, BMC, Elsevier, and Taylor & Francis, while archival curation engages libraries at Library of Congress, British Library, and repositories overseen by Digital Public Library of America.

The journal is indexed in major databases and services comparable to Index Medicus, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, BIOSIS, and EMBASE. Metadata and citation tracking integrate with infrastructures operated by CrossRef, ORCID, Clarivate Analytics, Google Scholar, and FundRef, which enable linkage to researcher profiles at ResearchGate and institutional repositories at Harvard Library and MIT Libraries.

Citation metrics and reception have paralleled patterns seen in leading journals like Journal of Clinical Investigation, mBio, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, and Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. Impact indicators reported through services affiliated with Clarivate, Scopus, and Eigenfactor inform assessments used by hiring committees at University of California, San Francisco, Imperial College London, ETH Zurich, Peking University, and National University of Singapore. Debates about journal metrics echo discussions involving individuals and groups such as Jeffrey Beall, DORA, Plan S, cOAlition S, and funders like the Wellcome Trust and Gates Foundation.

The journal has published influential studies relevant to discoveries by researchers linked to Sergei Winogradsky, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Félix d'Hérelle, Joshua Lederberg, and Har Gobind Khorana; contributions include seminal work on bacterial conjugation, sporulation, cell wall synthesis, quorum sensing, and antibiotic resistance that intersect with breakthroughs reported from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Scripps Research, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Rutgers University. Landmark reports echoed themes from Nobel-recognized science associated with Niels K. Jerne, Barry Marshall, J. Robin Warren, Emmanuelle Charpentier, and Jennifer Doudna while informing public-health responses at World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, and Pan American Health Organization. Collections of classic articles are curated alongside special issues coordinated with conferences such as the ASM Microbe meeting, symposia at Gordon Research Conferences, and thematic series sponsored by European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

Category:Microbiology journals Category:American Society for Microbiology journals