Contents
Review Process 
A submitted manuscript is assigned to the Senior Editor of the appropriate subject section. The Senior Editor assigns it to an Associate Editor who manages and adjudicates its review. The Editors will return manuscripts that are judged to be outside the scope of the journal. Manuscripts can be returned without review for reasons that include:
- Grammar and style that is not of the quality expected in a published article;
- The topic or scope of the work is not within the scope of the journal;
- The manuscript describes the work in too little or too much detail;
- The manuscript is not suitable for a broad audience of geneticists;
- The methods or approaches are judged to be flawed.
At least two Editorial Board members collaborate in determining whether a manuscript will be returned without review. Manuscripts sent for review are examined by one or more reviewers selected for their expertise in the subject matter of the article. Reviewers will remain anonymous (unless they choose to reveal themselves). The Associate Editor makes one of the following decisions on the manuscript:
- Accept
- Accept pending minor revision
- Reconsider upon revision
- Reject
The average time from submission until first decision is around 35 days.
Open Peer Review
Beginning in 2020, GENETICS will offer authors the option to publish the decision and review history of their article. This will be offered on an opt-in basis after the article is accepted for publication.
The decisions and reviews document will include all decision letters, reviewer comments to the authors, author responses, and the review timeline. Reviewer identities will not be made public unless the reviewer signs the review. We welcome your questions and feedback on Open Peer Review at GENETICS: genetics-gsa@thegsajournals.org.
Presubmission Inquiries
GENETICS welcomes presubmission inquiries, which consist of an abstract of the manuscript and a cover letter, submitted as a presubmission inquiry at https://genetics.msubmit.net. In your cover letter, please indicate which section your manuscript would belong in so that the appropriate Editorial Board member can be consulted.
- Methods, Technology, & Resources
- Statistical Genetics and Genomics
- Genome Integrity and Transmission
- Gene Expression
- Cellular Genetics
- Developmental and Behavioral Genetics
- Population and Evolutionary Genetics
- Genetics of Complex Traits
- Genome and Systems Biology
Portable Peer Review
If your manuscript was previously peer reviewed prior to submission at GENETICS and you are interested in including and responding to those reviews as part of your GENETICS submission, please 1) contact the editorial office at genetics-gsa@thegsajournals.org and 2) indicate such in your cover letter. The editorial office will contact the previous editorial office to request the decision letter, reviews, and if possible, reviewer identities. We will then provide this information to the editors handling your manuscript to aid in the decision-making process. Editors may choose to have the manuscript sent for further review either by the original reviewers or new reviewers. In that case, you will be given the opportunity to decline additional review and withdraw your submission.
Editor and Reviewer Suggestions and Exclusions
Authors are encouraged to suggest experts who could provide an unbiased review of their work. Please do not list close associates, collaborators, family members, or researchers who are at your institution. If authors wish to exclude editors or reviewers from handling their work, they should provide a brief (2-4 sentence) statement explaining the reason for exclusion in the submission form. We strive to honor well-justified requests.
Checking Manuscript Status
Questions or concerns regarding manuscripts should be sent to the editorial office at genetics-gsa@thegsajournals.org. You may also contact the Associate Editor directly.
GENETICS and TPB Partnership
GENETICS and Theoretical Population Biology (TPB) have developed a partnership to save time and effort for authors and reviewers and streamline the publication process. Manuscripts submitted to GENETICS that focus on theoretical topics in genetics and are judged meritorious but not in the scope of the journal can be forwarded to TPB together with the reviews of the manuscript (provided the reviewers agree). Authors will be notified of the possibility of transfer to TPB in the decision letter, with instructions for transferring the manuscript. TPB editors will make an independent decision on the suitability of the manuscript for publication in their journal.