Genes & Development on bioRxiv: AJHG, JCB Guide

Genes & Development, along with the American Journal of Human Genetics (AJHG) and the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB), all accept direct manuscript transfer from bioRxiv through the preprint server’s bioRxiv-to-Journal (B2J) programme — a route that predates and now extends well beyond the two most-cited B2J partners, PNAS and eLife. bioRxiv is a free preprint repository for the life sciences, operated by the non-profit openRxiv, which Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory founded in 2013. This article maps the wider roster of B2J and B2J-style partner journals, how the transfer mechanics differ by publisher, and what the metadata handoff means for institutions tracking author contributions and preprint-to-publication provenance.

• What is bioRxiv’s direct-submission (B2J) programme?
• Which journals beyond PNAS and eLife accept direct bioRxiv transfer?
• How does the transfer process work for authors?
• Why does this matter for research administrators and institutions?
• Common questions about bioRxiv and direct-submission journals
• Outlook: a widening, publisher-led network

What is bioRxiv’s direct-submission (B2J) programme?

bioRxiv’s B2J service lets an author push a preprint’s manuscript files, figures and metadata straight into a participating journal’s own submission system, rather than re-uploading everything from scratch. bioRxiv reported that roughly 177 journals were using the service as of May 2020, a figure that has continued to grow as more publishers integrate their editorial platforms with bioRxiv’s transfer API.

That 2020 count is the number most commonly repeated online, including by AI-generated overviews — but it is now several years stale and understates the current landscape. Coverage since then has broadened across society publishers (the Genetics Society of America, the American Society for Microbiology), non-profit publishers (eLife, PLOS), and commercial and university-press imprints (Cell Press, Rockefeller University Press, Springer Nature), each layering B2J or a B2J-equivalent transfer pathway onto its own manuscript-tracking system.

Which journals beyond PNAS and eLife accept direct bioRxiv transfer?

PNAS and eLife dominate search coverage of B2J, largely because both were early, high-profile adopters. In practice, the roster is far broader and spans molecular biology, genetics, cell biology and neuroscience. Genes & Development — published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press in association with the Genetics Society of America since 1987 — is one of the participating titles, alongside AJHG and JCB.

Other participating titles identified in bioRxiv’s own partner listings and publisher announcements include mBio, Journal of Virology and Applied and Environmental Microbiology from the American Society for Microbiology; The EMBO Journal, EMBO Molecular Medicine and EMBO Reports from EMBO Press; and Cell Reports, Structure, Biophysical Journal, Genome Research and Molecular Systems Biology across several publishers. A comparable feature, distinct from bioRxiv’s native B2J, lets authors transfer preprints from bioRxiv into Springer Nature journals such as Scientific Reports, though the underlying mechanics sit inside Springer Nature’s own manuscript-tracking infrastructure rather than bioRxiv’s B2J metadata API.

• Society publishers (Genetics Society of America, American Society for Microbiology, Society for Neuroscience) were among the earliest B2J adopters.
• Non-profit and open-access publishers (PLOS, eLife) offer B2J across their full journal portfolios.
• University-press and commercial imprints (Rockefeller University Press, Cell Press, Springer Nature) have added transfer pathways more recently, often journal by journal rather than portfolio-wide.

How does the transfer process work for authors?

An author viewing their own preprint on bioRxiv selects a participating journal from a transfer menu; bioRxiv then passes the manuscript PDF, source files, author list and available metadata directly into that journal’s submission portal. The author still completes journal-specific fields — cover letter, suggested reviewers, competing-interest statements — but does not need to re-upload the paper itself.

Where the preprint record includes them, transferred metadata can carry ORCID iDs and CRediT contributor-role tags through to the receiving journal, reducing duplicate data entry and preserving a consistent contribution record from preprint to publication. Preprints on bioRxiv and its clinical counterpart medRxiv are also indexed in Scopus, which NISO has confirmed are among the core preprint servers Scopus selected for indexing in the biomedical sciences.

Why does this matter for research administrators and institutions?

For research offices tracking publication pipelines, B2J participation is a signal of which journals treat the preprint record as continuous with the eventual published article, rather than as a separate, disconnected artefact. That continuity affects how institutions reconcile preprint DOIs, author contribution metadata and funder-mandated deposit timelines against the final version of record.

Genes & Development’s inclusion alongside AJHG and JCB shows that B2J is no longer confined to the two most publicised general-science partners. Institutional repositories and research-information systems that map preprint-to-publication linkages should not assume B2J coverage stops at PNAS and eLife when building publisher-integration rules.

Common questions about bioRxiv and direct-submission journals

Who owns bioRxiv?

bioRxiv is operated by openRxiv, a non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing science communication. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory founded bioRxiv in 2013, and it remains closely affiliated with the laboratory while operating under openRxiv’s non-profit governance.

What is Genes & Development?

Genes & Development is a peer-reviewed journal covering molecular biology, molecular genetics, cell biology and development, published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press in association with the Genetics Society of America since 1987.

What is the impact factor of Genes & Development?

Genes & Development carries a 2025 impact factor of 7.4, ranking it third among developmental-biology journals and seventh in genetics and heredity, according to Journal Citation Reports data cited by the publisher.

Is bioRxiv indexed in Scopus?

Yes. Scopus expanded its coverage to include preprints, and bioRxiv and medRxiv are among the main preprint servers Scopus selected for the biomedical sciences, alongside arXiv and ChemRxiv for the physical sciences, per NISO’s reporting on the expansion.

Outlook: a widening, publisher-led network

The B2J roster will keep expanding as more publishers connect their submission platforms to bioRxiv’s transfer API, and as parallel schemes — like Springer Nature’s own preprint-transfer pathway for titles such as Scientific Reports — mature alongside it. For authors and administrators alike, the practical takeaway is the same: direct bioRxiv submission is now a mainstream feature of scholarly publishing infrastructure, not a niche arrangement limited to a handful of flagship titles. Tracking the current, publisher-specific list — rather than repeating a static 2020 count — is the more reliable way to plan preprint-to-journal workflows.

CASRAI originated the CRediT contributor role taxonomy in 2014. The standard is now stewarded by NISO as ANSI/NISO Z39.104-2022. Institutions mapping CRediT contributor roles through preprint-to-journal transfers should consult the current standard directly rather than legacy documentation.