You are here

Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers

Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers

Biomedical Applications

eISSN: 15308030 | ISSN: 08839115 | Current volume: 39 | Current issue: 1 Frequency: Bi-monthly

The use and importance of biomedical polymers, especially in pharmacology, is growing rapidly. The Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers is a fully peer-reviewed scholarly journal that provides biomedical polymer scientists and researchers with new information on important advances in this field.

Examples of specific areas of interest to the journal include: polymeric drugs and drug design; polymeric functionalization and structures related to biological activity or compatibility; natural polymer modification to achieve specific biological activity or compatibility; enzyme modelling by polymers; membranes for biological use; liposome stabilization and cell modeling. This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

All issues of the Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers are available to browse online.

The use and importance of polymers for biologically relevant applications is currently one of the most rapidly growing sciences. The Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers provides polymer scientists and researchers throughout the world with current frontier research advances in the field.

Coverage includes advances in the following biomedical areas:

  • Polymeric scaffolds for tissue engineering and tissue regeneration
  • Polymeric drugs and prodrug systems • Polymer drug delivery and targeted delivery systems • Polymeric biosensors and stimuli-sensitive biosystems
  • Polymeric assembly systems and biodegradable polymers for bioapplications
  • Modeling and modification of enzyme-sensitive polymer systems
  • Biorelated polymers with unique properties and bioapplications

Editor
Kathryn Uhrich University of California, Riverside, USA
Founding Editor
Raphael M. Ottenbrite Virginia Commonwealth University, USA
Associate Editors
Kazunari Akiyoshi Kyoto University, Japan
Hamid Omidian Nova Southeastern University, USA
Thomas J. Pacansky Apollo Ventures, USA
Ki Dong Park Ajou University, South Korea
Shrirang Ranade Genentech Inc, USA
Carmen Scholz University of Alabama in Huntsville, USA
Founding Editorial Advisory Board
Emo Chiellini University of Pisa, Italy
Ruth Duncan Cardiff University, UK
Allan S Hoffman University of Washington, USA
Robert S Langer Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Editorial Board
Gary L. Bowlin University of Memphis, USA
Guoping Chen National Institute for Materials Science, JAPAN
Federica Chiellini Pisa University, Italy
Fu-Zhai Cui Tsinghua University, China
Emir Baki Denkbas Haceteppe University, Turkey
Ulrica Edlund KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Jun Ge Stryker Corp, USA
Aaron Goldstein Virginia Tech, USA
Thomas Groth Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
Tony Guiseppi-Elie Clemson University, USA
Mamoru Haratake Nagasaki University, Japan
Arash Hatefi Rutgers University, USA
Dietmar Hutmacher Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Kenichi Kuroda University of Michigan, USA
Hiroshi Maeda Kumamoto University, Japan
Joao Mano University of Aveiro, Portugal
Nevenka Manolova Institute of Polymers, Bulgaria
Monica Mattioli Belmonte Universita Politecnica delle Marche, Italy
Kinam Park Purdue University, USA
Erhan Piskin Hacettepe University, Turkey
Yong-Juan Ren Johns Hopkins University, USA
Julio San Roman Institute of Science and Technology of Polymers (CSIC), Spain
Kevin Shakesheff University of Nottingham, UK
Karel Ulbrich Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Czech Republic
Xiaohong Wang Tsinghua University, China
  • Academic Search Elite
  • Academic Search Premier
  • Apollit (Applied Polymers Literature) CEASED
  • BIOSIS database
  • Biological Abstracts Family of Products
  • Biosciences Citation Index
  • Biotechnology & Bioengineering Abstracts
  • Business Source Corporate
  • CSA Biological Science Abstract
  • Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS)
  • Clarivate Analytics: BIOSIS Previews
  • Clarivate Analytics: Current Contents - Life Sciences
  • Clarivate Analytics: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)
  • Clarivate Analytics: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)
  • Corrosion Abstracts
  • EMBASE/Excerpta Medica
  • Ei Compendex
  • Engineered Materials Abstracts
  • Health Source
  • MasterFILE Premier
  • Material Science Citation Index
  • Materials Science Citation Index
  • Metal Abs./METADEX
  • PASCAL database
  • Plastics Rubber Fibres - KKK
  • Polymer Contents
  • ProQuest
  • Rapra Polymer Library Database
  • Safety Science & Risk Abstracsts
  • Vocational Search
  • Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers

    This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.

    This Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

    Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jbcp to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

    Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers will be reviewed.

    There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.

    As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

    1. What do we publish?
      1.1 Aims & Scope
      1.2 Article types
      1.3 Writing your paper
    2. Editorial policies
      2.1 Peer review policy
      2.2 Authorship
      2.3 Acknowledgements
      2.4 Funding
      2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
      2.6 Research ethics and patient consent
      2.7 Clinical trials
      2.8 Reporting guidelines
      2.9 Research Data
    3. Publishing policies
      3.1 Publication ethics
      3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
      3.3 Open access and author archiving
    4. Preparing your manuscript
      4.1 Formatting
      4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
      4.3 Supplementary material
      4.4 Reference style
      4.5 English language editing services
    5. Submitting your manuscript
      5.1 ORCID
      5.2 Information required for completing your submission
      5.3 Permissions
    6. On acceptance and publication
      6.1 Sage Production
      6.2 Online First publication
      6.3 Access to your published article
      6.4 Promoting your article
    7. Further information

    1. What do we publish?

    1.1 Aims & Scope

    Before submitting your manuscript to Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

    1.2 Article Types

    The use and importance of biomedical utilization of polymers is currently, one the most rapidly growing science. Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers provides biomedical polymer scientists and researchers throughout the world with current frontier research advances in the field. The journal accepts the following types of paper:
    1. Original Research Articles
    2.  Literature Reviews
    3.  Perspectives on special topics

    1.3 Writing your paper

    The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources.

    1.3.1 Make your article discoverable

    When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

    Back to top

    2. Editorial policies

    2.1 Peer review policy

    Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers operates a conventional single-anonymize reviewing policy in which the reviewer’s name is always concealed from the submitting author.

    2.2 Authorship

    Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.

    The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

    1. Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,
    2. Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
    3. Approved the version to be published,
    4. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

    Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.

    Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

    Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

    2.3 Acknowledgements

    All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

    Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.

    2.3.1 Third party submissions
    Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

    • Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
    • Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
    • Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

    Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

    2.3.2 Writing assistance

    Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

    2.4 Funding

    Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading.  Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

    2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

    It is the policy of Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

    Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’. For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations here.

    2.6 Research ethics and patient consent

    Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.

    Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.

    For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

    Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative.

    Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.

    All research involving animals submitted for publication must be approved by an ethics committee with oversight of the facility in which the studies were conducted. The Journal has adopted the ARRIVE guidelines.

    2.7 Clinical trials

    Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

    2.8 Reporting guidelines

    The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For example, all randomized controlled trials submitted for publication should include a completed CONSORT flow chart as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should include the completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and the completed PRISMA checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline.

    Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.

    2.9 Research Data

    The journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.

    Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:

    • share your research data in a relevant public data repository
    • include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, we encourage you to consider using the statement to explain why it cannot be shared.
    • cite this data in your research

    Back to top

    3. Publishing Policies

    3.1 Publication ethics

    Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway

    3.1.1 Plagiarism

    Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

    3.1.2 Prior publication

    If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

    3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

    Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway

    3.3 Open access and author archiving

    Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

    Back to top

    4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

    4.1 Formatting

    The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

    4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

    For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.  

    Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article. 

    4.3 Supplementary material

    Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers does not currently accept supplemental files.

    4.4 Reference style

    Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers adheres to the Sage Vancouver reference style. View the Sage Vancouver guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

    If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the Sage Vancouver EndNote output file.

    4.5 English language editing services

    Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

    Back to top

    5. Submitting your manuscript

    Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jbcp to login and submit your article online.

    IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.  For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

    5.1 ORCID

    As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

    The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

    If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

    5.2 Information required for completing your submission

    You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

    5.3 Permissions

    Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.

    Back to top

    6. On acceptance and publication

    6.1 Sage Production

    Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly.  Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. 

    6.2 Online First publication

    Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

    6.3 Access to your published article

    Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

    6.4 Promoting your article

    Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

    Back to top

    7. Further information

    Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers editorial office as follows:

    Editor-in-Chief: Kathryn Uhrich 
    Email: kathryn.uhrich@ucr.edu

    Institutional Subscription, E-access


    Institutional Backfile Purchase, E-access (Content through 1998)


    Institutional Subscription & Backfile Lease, E-access Plus Backfile (All Online Content)


    Institutional Subscription, Print Only


    Institutional Subscription, Combined (Print & E-access)


    Institutional Subscription & Backfile Lease, Combined Plus Backfile (Current Volume Print & All Online Content)


    Institutional, Single Print Issue