The American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) is the definitive US scholarly society for plant science. Founded in 1924 as the American Society of Plant Physiologists and headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, the society publishes three peer-reviewed journals that together span the full spectrum of plant biology: The Plant Cell (est. 1989) for high-impact cellular and molecular research, Plant Physiology (first published 1926) for the broad sweep of plant physiology, biochemistry, and genetics, and Plant Direct (launched 2017) as a sound-science open-access venue.

Since January 2021, The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology have been published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ASPB, which brings both titles into OUP's read-and-publish agreements. Plant Direct is co-published with the Society for Experimental Biology and Wiley. This guide covers how to choose among the three journals, what open access costs, how peer review works, and how to submit.

• The Plant Cell - established by ASPB in 1989; publishes novel research of special significance in plant biology, especially cellular biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, development, and evolution. Hybrid OA under OUP.
• Plant Physiology - the official society journal since 1926; one of the most-cited venues in plant science, covering physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, and environmental biology. Hybrid OA under OUP.
• Plant Direct - an online-only, fully open-access journal launched in 2017 as a collaboration between ASPB, the Society for Experimental Biology, and Wiley. It publishes sound science across all areas of plant biology and shares a manuscript-transfer system with the other society journals.

Beyond the journals, ASPB publishes the ASPB News and co-publishes reference books such as Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plants with Wiley.

ASPB offers three OA routes: Gold OA in Plant Direct, hybrid OA in The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology, and fee-covering read-and-publish agreements through Oxford University Press. Articles published under the standard (non-OA) route in the two OUP journals become free to read 12 months after publication. OA articles are published under Creative Commons licences (CC BY available).

Fees below are the current published rates for research articles (USD); ASPB membership earns a ~20% discount, and rates are revised periodically - always check the journal's fees page before submitting.

Authors at institutions with an OUP read-and-publish agreement can usually publish OA in The Plant Cell or Plant Physiology at no direct cost - check your library or the ESAC registry.

• Model: single-anonymized review, with editorial-board triage followed by external review at the OUP journals. Reviewer anonymity is maintained; The Plant Cell publishes peer-review reports as supplementary material with author approval.
• Speed: The Plant Cell aims to return reviewer comments within about 4 weeks and to publish within about 4 months of submission. Plant Direct emphasizes rapid, soundness-based review.
• Transfers: manuscripts declined by The Plant Cell or Plant Physiology can be transferred to Plant Direct with reviews, avoiding a fresh start.

1. Pick the journal using the decision table above, and read its author instructions on the journal site.
2. Prepare your manuscript. ASPB journals use author-year citation styles; SciSpace templates for ASPB journals handle the formatting automatically.
3. Submit through the journal's own system. The Plant Cell uses Editorial Manager (editorialmanager.com/tpc); Plant Physiology uses its eJournalPress site (pphys.msubmit.net); Plant Direct submissions run through Wiley's platform.
4. Consider ASPB membership before paying fees - members save roughly 20% on publication charges.
5. Track and respond. Decisions, reviews, and transfer offers arrive through the same submission system.

ASPB is a member of COPE and OASPA, and its journals follow COPE guidelines on authorship, corrections, and retractions. The OUP-published titles apply OUP's research-integrity and data-availability policies; Plant Direct follows Wiley's equivalent policies. As a non-profit society publisher with a century of history, ASPB carries no predatory-publishing concerns - publication surpluses support the society's plant-science community programs.