Focus on Microbiology Education - Call for Articles

Call for Materials
Deadlines
Review Criteria
Editorial Policy and Copyright
Submission Instructions
Formatting Requirements

Sample Newsmagazine Article

FOME Editorial Committee

 

There is currently a moratorium on FOME article submissions.   In the future, feature articles and other sections of FOME will be published in the newly expanded JMBE.

Expanded Scope for Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education (JMBE)     JMBE will continue to accept research articles for a Research Section (please review existing submission and review criteria below). Content previously hosted at MicrobeLibrary.org will be folded into the journal:   -Perspectives Section: Focus on Microbiology Education Feature Articles -Curriculum Section: MicrobeLibrary Curriculum Collection Resources -Departments Section: Focus on Microbiology Education "Tips and Tools" articles, Web Watch, Journal Watch, Reviews and News   View three demonstration issues at the JMBE Beta site: http://jmbe.asm.org   Instructions to authors will be available December 2009.  Authors wanted! OPEN ACCESS to all resources!   Questions? Email: jmbe@asmusa.org

I. Call for Materials

The ASM encourages faculty to submit to FOME articles that discuss issues in microbiology education, present practical and current activities for improving teaching and learning activities, and describe new teaching skills. The goal of the publication is to provide technical, yet practical and feasible advice, for improving teaching and learning in the microbiological sciences. Articles are usually 300-1,000 words in length. Topics include, but are not limited to:

• incorporating microbiology in the nursing curriculum, 
• developing an assessment plan, 
• incorporating active learning in your teaching, 
• implementing the ASM core curriculum in a microbiology majors' program, 
• preparing for and demonstrating scholarly work, and
• managing student research. 

The summer issue of FOME, published in August is limited to reviews of educational materials such as websites, multimedia programs, videos, and books.  For more information about suggesting materials to be reviewed or volunteering to serve as a review, please visit the Call for Reviews of Educational Materials.

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II. Deadlines

Submitted articles are reviewed three times per year in March 1, August 1, and December 1. The publication is published in May, October, and February.  Reviews must be submitted by June 1 for the summer edition of reviews.

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III. Review Criteria

Each manuscript is reviewed by the editorial committee based upon the following criteria:

• Worthwhileness.  The relevance of a manuscript submitted to FOME should add to and deepen our understanding of issues associated with microbiology teaching and learning.  In general, articles that lead the field in new directions are often more worthwhile than replications of existing programs.  
• Ethics. Considerations of ethics cannot be ignored in establishing criteria for judging articles in FOME.  These considerations have to do with two concerns: 1) the manner in which the article was prepared in relationship to the subjects, and 2) acknowledgement of the contributions of others.  The first concern involves matters such as informed consent, confidentiality, and accurate portrayal of situations and persons named in the article.  The second concern includes acknowledgement of the contributions of all persons who contributed to article.
• Credibility. This criterion addresses the extent to which sensible, thoughtful, and open-minded readers find the claims and conclusions believable. That is, the claims made and conclusions drawn should be justified in some acceptable way.  Moreover, the arguments and interpretations should be presented in a manner that makes it possible to verify the conclusions  (e.g., soundness of conclusions and interpretations). 
• Other qualities of good newsmagazine reports. An article that is lucid, clear, and well organized is likely to be more valuable and useful than one that does not posses these qualities.  Similarly, the educator community values conciseness over verbosity and directness over obscurity (e.g., adequacy of title, appropriateness of figures and tables, length, organization, and originality).
• Adherence to laboratory safety guidelines.  Any references to laboratory activities must demonstrate adherence to laboratory safety guidelines. The ASM curriculum recommendations call for safe laboratory practices (see ASM Education - Curriculum Guidelines http://www.asm.org/Education/index.asp?bid=10051).
   

IV. Editorial Policy and Copyright

By submitting a manuscript to this publication, the author guarantees that the manuscript, or one with substantially the same content, was not published previously and is not being considered for publication elsewhere.

All authors of a manuscript are responsible for its content, including appropriate citations and acknowledgments. Authors must provide written assurance that permission to cite unpublished data or personal communications has been granted.

All articles must be approved by the editor prior to publication and are subject to editorial changes. 

Copyright.  All authors must sign a copyright transfer agreement.  Unless this agreement is executed (without changes and/or addenda), ASM will not publish the manuscript.

VI. Formatting Requirements

Manuscripts should be 300-1,000 words in length. Every portion of the manuscript is to be double spaced, including figure legends, table footnotes, and references. Number all pages and lines of the document in sequence, including the abstract. Do not number figure legends and tables.

Place figure legends and tables after the References section. Manuscript pages must have margins of at least one inch on all four sides. We recommend up to four relevant illustrations, photos, tables, graphs, and other visuals may be submitted with the manuscript.

Submit figures as separate TIFF or Excel files. Submit tables as TIFF, Excel, or Word files. JPG or GIF files are not recommended.

 VII. Sample FOME Article