About Comparative Hepatology

What is Comparative Hepatology?

Comparative Hepatology is an Open Access, peer-reviewed, online journal for liver-oriented research, publishing basic and applied studies, in biology, veterinary and human medicine.

Comparative Hepatology aims to become a valuable reference forum for publication of high quality, original research on the normal or disrupted anatomy and physiology of the liver, including any of its supracellular, cellular or subcellular components. The journal considers manuscripts that deal descriptively or experimentally with the liver. It also welcomes pathobiology studies. Translational research reports are encouraged and purely clinical hepatology is considered, especially when it bears new insights on the structure and function of the liver. Multidisciplinary approaches are encouraged, and manuscripts are acceptable where liver is the major focus of the study.

Comparative Hepatology is unique in its field, allowing and encouraging publication of data from liver research spanning a wide range of scientific interests and species, as long as the results and conclusions are original and scientifically justified. The journal naturally brings together hepatologists with different views, expertises and particular interests, thus promoting multi-disciplinary study. Making all its content Open Access, and not retaining copyright, the journal offers a way to make data both freely available and highly visible to hepatologists worldwide; this will benefit the impact of your publication among peers and society. The journal has unrestricted space and takes advantage of all the technical possibilities available for electronic publishing.

Content overview

Comparative Hepatology is broad in scope and content, covering liver-oriented research in all vertebrates (from fishes to humans) and various topics such as:

• methods to study the structure, biology and physiology of the liver and its cell types
• cytoarchitecture and connections with the vascular supply and biliary tree
• cellular differentiation and developmental biology of the liver, including stem cells
• biology of both parenchymal and any of the non-parenchymal liver cells
• biochemistry and molecular biology of hepatic metabolism in health and disease
• secretory proteins, including the yolk protein vitellogenin in egg laying vertebrates
• diurnal, seasonal and nutritional influences on status and behaviour of liver cells
• nervous and endocrine regulation, including influence of endocrine disrupters
• pharmacological and toxicological approaches, including drug effects
• comparative in vitro / in vivo experiments with liver cells
• interaction of liver cells with infectious agents, from virus to helminths
• development and use of animal models for studying hepatic diseases
• comparative pathogenesis of hepatitis virus of both humans and other species
• pathogenesis of inherited and acquired diseases, including carcinogenesis
• hepatic regeneration and cell, tissue and organ transplantation
• liver support or simulation by cell cultures, bio-reactor or artificial organs
• ecotoxicology and biomonitoring using the liver as a bioindicator

Comparative Hepatology considers the following types of articles:

• Research articles - Original studies rated as scientifically valid contributions to the field of hepatology.
• Reviews - comprehensive, authoritative descriptions of any subject within the journal's scope, these articles are usually written by opinion leaders that have been invited by the editorial board, but can be submitted after acceptance of an author's proposal.
• Commentaries - short, focused and opinionated articles on any subject within the journal's scope, these articles are usually related to a contemporary issue, such as recent research findings, and are often written by opinion leaders invited by the editorial board. Another form is more editorial in nature and covers an aspect that is relevant to the journal's scope.
• Case reports - reports of clinical cases that can be educational, describe a diagnostic or therapeutic dilemma, suggest an association, or present an important adverse reaction.

Comparative Hepatology offers the possibility to post Comments on articles.

Peer review policies

Publication of articles is dependent on scientific validity, originality, and coherence, as judged by reviewers and Editors. At least 2 peer reviewers will assess the manuscript, for methodological rigour and whether the results are original and adequate to support the conclusions drawn. The journal does not consider poorly written manuscripts and normally allows authors one revision of a manuscript; in exceptional circumstances two opportunities may be allowed.

Authors are requested to suggest reviewers; however, the Editors can choose referees other than, or in addition to, those suggested.

Edited by Eduardo Rocha, Comparative Hepatology is supported by an international Editorial Board.

Publishing in Comparative Hepatology

All articles will be listed in PubMed immediately upon acceptance (after peer review), and will be covered by PubMed Central, CAS and Embase.

Articles in Comparative Hepatology should be cited in the same way as articles in a traditional journal. However, because articles in this journal are not printed, they do not have page numbers. Instead, they have a unique article number.

The following citation:

Comp Hepatol 2004, 2:1

refers to article 1 from volume 2 of the journal.

As an online journal, Comparative Hepatology does not have issue numbers either. Each volume corresponds to a calendar year.

To keep up to date with the latest articles from Comparative Hepatology, why not register to receive alerts? Registration also enables you to customise your subject areas of interest, store your searches, and submit your manuscripts.

Submission of manuscripts

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to Comparative Hepatology using the online submission system. Full details of how to submit a manuscript are given in the instructions for authors.

General journal policies

Comparative Hepatology is published by BioMed Central, an independent publisher committed to ensuring peer-reviewed biomedical research is Open Access. That means it is freely and universally accessible online, it is archived in at least one internationally recognised free access repository, and its authors retain copyright, allowing anyone to reproduce or disseminate articles, according to the BioMed Central copyright and licence agreement. Comparative Hepatology however, has taken this further by making all its content Open Access.

Comparative Hepatology's articles are archived in PubMed Central, the US National Library of Medicine's full-text repository of life science literature, and also in repositories at the University of Potsdam in Germany, at INIST in France and in e-Depot, the National Library of the Netherlands' digital archive of all electronic publications. The journal is also participating in the British Library's e-journals pilot project, and plans to deposit copies of all articles with the British Library.

BioMed Central is working closely with the Institute for Scientific Information to ensure that citation analysis of articles published in Comparative Hepatology will be available.

Comparative Hepatology is able to deliver summaries of frequently updated content via Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds. These are accessible via the orange "XML" button at the top of the list of recent articles or the list of most accessed articles. For more information about RSS feeds see our publisher's website.

For further information about general policies please see the instructions for authors.

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