Publication Guide
The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is one of the oldest scholarly societies in the life sciences, established in 1931 and headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. Its publishing program is small but influential: two peer-reviewed journals that between them cover the full sweep of modern genetics and genomics. GENETICS, founded in 1916, predates the society itself and has published foundational work in the field for over a century. G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics, launched in 2011, is the society's fully open-access venue for useful, reproducible genetics and genomics results, including datasets, mutant screens, and genome reports that need to be findable even when they aren't headline discoveries.
Since January 2021, both journals have been published in partnership with Oxford University Press on the Silverchair platform, which gives GSA authors access to OUP's institutional Read & Publish agreements and developing-country support programs while editorial control stays with the society's academic editors. This guide covers how to choose between the two journals, what each costs, how peer review works, and how to submit.
Which GSA journal fits your paper?
| You're most likely to... | Choose this route |
|---|---|
| Have a significant conceptual advance in genetics or genomics | GENETICS - the society's flagship, publishing investigations judged on rigor and novelty across all organisms and approaches, from molecular mechanisms to population and statistical genetics. |
| Have solid, useful results that the community needs access to | G3 - rapid publication of high-quality, reproducible findings regardless of perceived impact: genome reports, mutant screens, mapping data, novel methods and resources. |
| Need Gold open access to satisfy a funder mandate | G3 - fully open access under CC BY, or GENETICS with the optional open-access license. |
| Want the lowest-cost publication route | GENETICS standard license - page charges (125 for non-members) with no APC; readers access via subscription, and Green self-archiving is permitted. |
What the GSA actually publishes
- GENETICS - the society's flagship journal since 1916. A hybrid (subscription) journal publishing full-length investigations, brief investigations, reviews, and the long-running Perspectives and FlyBook/WormBook series. Strong tradition in model-organism research: Drosophila, C. elegans, yeast, zebrafish, mouse, and Arabidopsis, alongside human, statistical, and population genetics.
- G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics - fully open access since launch in 2011. G3 emphasizes rapid publication of useful, technically sound results: genome assemblies and annotations, QTL and association mapping, mutant screens, software and methods, and multiparental population studies. All articles are published under a CC BY license.
Both journals are indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed, and both run community-focused series and calls for papers coordinated with GSA conferences.
Open access and APCs - actual numbers
Rates below are from the journals' 2026 author guidelines (USD); GSA members receive discounted rates, and prices are revised periodically, so check the current charge on the journal's page before submission.
| Route | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| G3 (Gold OA, all articles) | 2,900 for GSA members | Flat APC, CC BY license, covers all pages and figures |
| GENETICS open-access option (full article) | 4,795 non-members | Optional OA license on the hybrid journal |
| GENETICS open-access option (brief investigation) | 3,836 non-members | Lower APC for the shorter format |
| GENETICS standard license | 125/page non-members | No APC; subscription access; Green self-archiving permitted |
Waivers and funding help: G3 follows OUP's APC waiver and discount policy for corresponding authors in low- and middle-income countries. GENETICS considers waivers case-by-case for standard-license publication, and no article is refused because an author cannot pay page charges. Corresponding authors at institutions with an OUP Read & Publish agreement can often publish open access at no direct cost - check your library's agreement before paying. First or corresponding authors registered for a GSA conference typically receive a publication-fee discount as well.
Peer review process
- Model: single-anonymized peer review at both journals, typically with two reviewers plus handling by practicing-scientist academic editors.
- Editorial independence: publication decisions are made before any payment step and are not influenced by ability to pay.
- Presubmission inquiries: both journals welcome them if you are unsure about scope fit.
- Transfers: manuscripts reviewed at GENETICS can be transferred to G3 with reviews, saving a full re-review cycle.
How to submit
- Pick the journal. GENETICS for conceptual advances; G3 for useful, reproducible results and resources.
- Read the author guidelines. Each journal's instructions on the OUP site specify article types, length limits, and data requirements.
- Prepare your manuscript. Use the GENETICS or G3 template on SciSpace; both journals require data availability statements and deposition of sequence and strain data in community repositories.
- Submit via eJournalPress. GENETICS uses genetics.msubmit.net and G3 uses g3.msubmit.net - not Editorial Manager or ScholarOne.
- Arrange OA funding if needed. Confirm Read & Publish eligibility with your library, or select the standard license at GENETICS.
Ethics and integrity
The GSA journals follow COPE guidelines through their Oxford University Press partnership, require author contribution and conflict-of-interest statements, and enforce community data-sharing norms - genetic data, strains, and code must be deposited in appropriate public repositories before publication. Retractions and corrections follow COPE-aligned procedures.
