Rockefeller University Press (RUP) is one of the most selective non-profit publishers in the life sciences. It is a department of The Rockefeller University in New York, and it publishes just five journals: Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), Journal of Cell Biology (JCB), Journal of General Physiology (JGP), the fully open-access Journal of Human Immunity (JHI), and Life Science Alliance (LSA), which RUP co-publishes with EMBO Press and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

The press has deep roots: JEM was founded at Johns Hopkins in 1896 and moved to The Rockefeller Institute, which published its first issue in February 1905. Simon Flexner formally established the Publications Department in 1910; the press took its current name after the Institute became The Rockefeller University in 1965. All editorial decisions at the three flagship journals are made by active scientists working with in-house scientific editors, and RUP pioneered systematic image-data integrity screening in 2002 - every image in every accepted paper is screened for evidence of manipulation.

RUP publishes primary research articles, reports, tools/resources, reviews, and commentary across the life sciences. JEM covers immunology, microbial pathogenesis, cancer biology, hematopoiesis, and neuroscience of disease. JCB spans all of cell biology, with a long tradition in microscopy-driven work - the journal was literally founded in 1955 by electron microscopists (including George Palade and Keith Porter) frustrated with poor image reproduction elsewhere. JGP focuses on mechanistic, quantitative physiology. JHI publishes human immunology, including research letters. LSA has a broader scope and accepts sound, well-executed studies across biology and biomedicine.

RUP journals give every author a route to compliance, and fees are unusually transparent (figures from the journals' 2026 fees pages; always confirm on the journal site):

Gold OA articles are deposited in PubMed Central with zero embargo and archived in LOCKSS/CLOCKSS. Copyright stays with the authors on every route - RUP changed its copyright policy in 2008 so authors retain copyright of their own work. Inability to pay never affects acceptance: JHI APCs are automatically waived for corresponding authors at institutions in low- and middle-income countries, and LSA offers hardship waivers via its finance department.

RUP signs unlimited Read-and-Publish deals that cover 100% of the JCB/JEM ($6,000) and JGP ($2,000) immediate OA fees for corresponding authors at participating institutions. Current agreements include the Max Planck Society (2026-2028) and ZB Med in Germany, IReL in Ireland, the JMLA/JPLA consortium in Japan, CSIC in Spain, Jisc in the UK, and VIVA (Commonwealth of Virginia) in the US, plus a free Read-and-Publish policy for lower- and middle-income countries. Note that JHI is excluded from current Read-and-Publish agreements unless specifically noted. Check the RUP read-and-publish page or your library before submitting.

RUP journals use single-anonymized peer review, with editorial decisions made by active working scientists alongside in-house scientific editors. Presubmission inquiries are welcome and typically answered within two days. First submissions are format-neutral - no journal-specific formatting is required until revision. The journals share a transfer policy, so reviews can move with your paper (including to LSA), and authors of accepted JCB papers can opt to publish the review process file. All accepted papers go through image screening, and revised manuscripts are run through SciScore reproducibility reporting.

1. Pick the journal using the scope notes above, or send a presubmission inquiry - responses usually arrive within two days.
2. Prepare a format-neutral first submission: single PDF or separate files, title page with all authors and affiliations, abstract, and a cover letter describing the conceptual advance.
3. Submit via the journal's online submission system (each journal runs its own portal, e.g. jhi.msubmit.net for JHI).
4. On revision, follow full journal formatting, provide source data for gels and blots, and include a point-by-point response to reviewers.
5. After acceptance, proofs arrive within about two weeks, and articles publish daily - usually within 48 hours of corrected proofs being returned.

RUP is a member of COPE, OASPA, and STM. It is a recognized pioneer in research integrity: mandatory image-manipulation screening of all accepted papers since 2002, SciScore reproducibility reports, required ORCIDs and CRediT contribution statements, data availability statements, and public post-publication commenting via Hypothesis. Articles are deposited in PubMed Central and archived in LOCKSS/CLOCKSS.