American Society for MicrobiologyAntimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy^® (AAC) is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the dissemination of knowledge relating to all aspects of antimicrobial and antiparasitic agents and chemotherapy. Within the circumscriptions set forth below, any report involving studies of or with antimicrobial, antiviral (including antiretroviral), antifungal, or antiparasitic agents as these relate to human disease is within the purview of AAC. Studies involving animal models, pharmacological characterization, and clinical trials are appropriate for consideration. Studies addressing species that are not pathogens for humans are out of scope unless the analysis has direct relevance for the treatment of human disease.

ASM publishes a number of different journals covering various aspects of the field of microbiology. Each journal has a prescribed scope that must be considered in determining the most appropriate journal for each manuscript. The following guidelines may be of assistance.

(i) Papers which describe the use of antimicrobial agents as tools for elucidating the basic biological processes of bacteria are considered more appropriate for the Journal of Bacteriology^®.

(ii) Manuscripts that (a) describe the use of antimicrobial or antiparasitic agents as tools in the isolation, identification, or epidemiology of microorganisms associated with disease; (b) are concerned with quality control procedures for diffusion, elution, or dilution tests for determining susceptibilities to antimicrobial agents in clinical laboratories; and (c) deal with applications of commercially prepared tests or kits to assays performed in clinical laboratories to measure the activities of established antimicrobial agents or their concentrations in body fluids are considered more appropriate for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology^®. Manuscripts concerned with the development or modification of assay methods (e.g.,high-throughput screening techniques) and validation of their sensitivity and specificity with a sufficiently large number of determinations or compounds are considered appropriate for AAC. Assay methods for the detection and characterization of concentrations of antimicrobials in sera or other body fluids are not within AAC's scope.

(iii) Susceptibility studies describing novel findings or testing new agents, and those with broad geographic reach, detailed mechanistic analysis, and important epidemiological implications, will be given higher priority than those testing isolates from local regions, with limited analysis, or with modest numbers of tested species or microorganisms. Single-center epidemiological studies (such as those defining risk factors for resistant infections) for which results are neither novel nor generalizable beyond the local environment are not appropriate for AAC.

(iv) Manuscripts describing new or novel methods or improvements in media and culture conditions will not be considered for publication in AAC unless these methods are applied to the study of problems related to the production or activity of antimicrobial agents. Such manuscripts are more appropriate for Applied and Environmental Microbiology^® or the Journal of Clinical Microbiology^®.

(v) Manuscripts dealing with properties of unpurified natural products, with entities that are primarily antitumor agents, or with immunomodulatory agents that are not antimicrobial agents are not appropriate for AAC. In addition, papers addressing photodynamic therapy are no longer appropriate for AAC.

(vi) Manuscripts dealing with novel small molecular antimicrobials must provide at least some data showing that the proposed new agents or scaffolds have the potential to become therapeutic agents. Appropriate demonstrations will vary but generally should be some combination of data on physical properties (solubility, protein binding, log P [logarithm of the ratio of the concentrations of un-ionized solutes in solvents]), pharmacological properties (Caco2 predictions of bioavailability, pharmacokinetics in an animal species), or tolerability (mammalian cell toxicity, likelihood of hepatic metabolism, potential for receptor interactions, potential for human ERG liability). Studies focusing on detailed mechanisms of cellular toxicity that lack whole-organ or animal studies are more appropriate for Molecular and Cellular Biology^® than for AAC. Initial presentations of compounds are not expected to address all these areas but rather to show an appropriate initial subset. For example, the first publication of a novel compound or compound series might address selected physical properties plus mammalian cell toxicity. Subsequent publications are expected to add progressively to the proof of the agent's therapeutic potential.

(vii) Biochemical analyses for β-lactamases that determine kinetic parameters (e.g., Km, k_cat) must be performed on purified enzyme preparations. The enzyme must be in its native form, without any leader sequences or fusions used for purification (e.g., His tag). Enzymes for which the His tag has been removed can be considered native enzymes. The determination of relative rates of hydrolysis may be performed on crude extracts.

(viii) Authors of papers describing enzymological studies should review the standards of the STRENDA Commission for information required for adequate description of experimental conditions and for reporting enzyme activity data.

(ix) A manuscript limited to the nucleic acid sequence of a gene encoding an antibiotic target, receptor, or resistance mechanism may be submitted as a Short-Form paper (see "Short-Form Papers") or a New-Data Letter to the Editor (see "Letters to the Editor"), depending on its length. Formatting instructions for nucleic acid sequences are given below (see "Presentation of Nucleic Acid Sequences"). Repetition of sequences already in a database should be avoided.

Questions about these guidelines may be directed to the editor in chief of the journal being considered.

If transfer to another ASM journal is recommended by an editor, the corresponding author will be contacted.

Note that a manuscript rejected by one ASM journal on scientific grounds or on the basis of its general suitability for publication is considered rejected by all other ASM journals.

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