Publication Guide
The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) is the definitive US professional society for bone and mineral science. Founded in November 1977 and headquartered in Washington DC, it brings together roughly 4,000 physicians, basic scientists, and clinical investigators working on bone biology, mineral metabolism, osteoporosis, and musculoskeletal disease. Unlike large commercial publishers, ASBMR runs a deliberately small portfolio: two peer-reviewed journals, both published in partnership with Oxford University Press (OUP) since January 2024, after many years with Wiley.
The flagship is the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research (JBMR), established in 1986 and long the field's reference journal, with a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of about 6.5. Its fully open-access companion, JBMR Plus, launched in 2017 to give the same community a Gold OA outlet with a broader acceptance threshold. This guide covers how to choose between them, what each publishes, open-access routes and APCs, peer review, and the submission workflow on ScholarOne.
Which ASBMR journal fits your paper?
With only two titles, the decision is mostly about selectivity and open-access needs.
| You're most likely to... | Choose this route |
|---|---|
| Have a high-impact basic, translational, or clinical result in bone or mineral research | JBMR - the flagship, most selective venue; hybrid, so you can publish behind the paywall at no APC or pay for open access. |
| Need Gold open access (funder mandate) at a predictable fee | JBMR Plus - fully open access, APC around $3,625, CC BY or CC BY-NC licenses. |
| Have solid but narrower work: case reports, protocols, negative or confirmatory results | JBMR Plus - explicitly welcomes a wider range of article types, including case reports and protocols. |
| Be covered by an institutional read-and-publish agreement with OUP | Either journal - OUP's agreements can cover the OA fee in both; check your library. |
| Want the fastest route to visibility | Either - accepted manuscripts appear in Advance Access within about a week of acceptance. |
What ASBMR publishes
- Journal of Bone and Mineral Research (JBMR) - the society's official journal since 1986. Publishes research articles, clinical trials, systematic reviews, invited reviews, perspectives, complex clinical challenges, and task force reports across basic and clinical science relevant to bone, muscle, and mineral metabolism. Twelve online issues per year; print ISSN 0884-0431, online ISSN 1523-4681.
- JBMR Plus - the fully open-access companion, publishing original research, reviews, case reports, and protocols in bone, mineral, and musculoskeletal research, spanning endocrinology, geriatrics, orthopedics, rheumatology, oncology, and dentistry/craniofacial biology.
ASBMR also produces the Primer on the Metabolic Bone Diseases and Disorders of Mineral Metabolism, a standard textbook in the field, though it is not a journal.
Open access and APCs
| Route | Where | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Gold OA (fully-OA journal) | JBMR Plus | ~$3,625 per research article; 20% discount for ASBMR members; reduced rates for authors in low/middle-income countries |
| Hybrid OA | JBMR | Optional OA fee set by OUP - check the journal's current charges page before submitting |
| Green OA (self-archiving) | Both | Permitted under OUP's standard self-archiving policy; embargo terms vary by version |
| Read-and-publish agreements | Both | OUP holds transformative agreements with institutions worldwide; eligible corresponding authors publish OA at no direct cost |
Two other fees to know: JBMR charges non-members a US$150 submission fee (ASBMR members are exempt), and neither journal levies color or page charges. License options at both journals include the standard OUP license, CC BY, CC BY-NC, and US Government/Crown Copyright variants. Prices change annually - always confirm on the OUP charges page.
Peer review
Both journals use single-anonymized peer review: reviewers know the authors' identities, but reviewers remain anonymous. Manuscripts are typically assessed by two external reviewers under the editor's direction. JBMR is markedly more selective than JBMR Plus; papers declined by JBMR are often invited to transfer to JBMR Plus with reviews carried over, which shortens the second round considerably.
How to submit
- Pick the journal. JBMR for your strongest, broadest-interest work; JBMR Plus for Gold OA, case reports, or protocols.
- Read the author guidelines. Each journal's instructions on the OUP site set word limits by article type (most JBMR research articles cap at 6,000 words).
- Prepare your manuscript. Use the ASBMR/JBMR template on SciSpace; references follow AMA numbered style.
- Submit via ScholarOne. Both journals run on ScholarOne Manuscripts (ManuscriptCentral); non-members pay the $150 JBMR submission fee at this stage.
- After acceptance. Accepted manuscripts post to Advance Access within about a week, ahead of issue assignment.
Ethics and integrity
ASBMR's journals follow COPE guidance through their publishing partnership with Oxford University Press, which is a COPE member. Standard requirements apply: ICMJE-style authorship criteria, disclosure of conflicts of interest, clinical-trial registration for trials, and ethics approval statements for human and animal studies. Retractions and corrections follow COPE procedures.
Templates and formatting on SciSpace
SciSpace hosts formatting templates for ASBMR journals with AMA numbered citation style built in, so you can draft once and export a submission-ready manuscript. Find them under the ASBMR formats page and the JBMR journal page, which also lists metrics and acceptance details.
