Aging and Disease (A&D, ISSN 2152-5250) is an open access online journal dedicated to publication of original work in all areas of aging and age-related disease research. A&D is primarily devoted to original research papers, but will also publish traditional Review articles and Short Communications. The goal of A&D is to provide a forum for rapid dissemination of novel discoveries in basic as well as clinical studies on all aspects of aging and age-related diseases.

General Policy
All manuscripts are submitted with the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or thesis) and are not currently under consideration for publication by another journal. All files, including figures, must be original. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all authors have contributed to, read and approved the final manuscript for submission. The authors should keep a copy of the manuscript submitted in case of revision, rejection, loss or damage. Receipt of manuscript will be acknowledged and a decision regarding acceptance made as soon as possible. Accepted manuscripts may be subject to editorial revision without notice.

Peer Review Policy
All manuscripts are subject to peer review and are expected to meet the rigorous standards of academic excellence. Authors should provide names of 4 potential peer reviewers with detailed contact information including their e-mail addresses. These should be experts in their field of study, who will be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Authors may also request to not send their article to two potential reviewers for peer review because of either conflicts of interest or other appropriate reasons – in such instances some reasonable justification must be given. The selection of reviewers will however be made by one of the Editors-in-Chief or an Editorial Board member, which may or may not include reviewers suggested by the author.

Peer Review Process

Internal Peer Review Process
All papers submitted for publication will be immediately subjected to editorial scrutiny, usually in consultation with members of the Editorial Advisory Board. The assigned editor makes an initial decision to send the manuscript out for peer review or to reject without external review.

External Peer Review Process
All manuscripts submitted to A&D that are selected for peer review will be reviewed by two or more independent reviewers selected by the editors. Authors are welcome to suggest suitable independent reviewers in the cover letter and may also request that the journal excludes one or two individuals or laboratories. As a condition of agreeing to assess the manuscript, all reviewers undertake to keep submitted manuscripts and associated data confidential, and not to redistribute them without permission from the journal. If a reviewer seeks advice from colleagues while assessing a manuscript, he or she ensures that confidentiality is maintained and that the names of any such colleagues are provided to the journal with the final report. By this and by other means, A&D endeavors to keep the content of all submissions confidential until the publication date other than in the specific case of its embargoed press release available to registered journalists. Although we go to every effort to ensure reviewers honor their promise to ensure confidentiality, we are not responsible for the conduct of reviewers. Reviewers should be aware that it is our policy to keep their names confidential, and that we do our utmost to ensure this confidentiality.
We ask peer-reviewers to submit their reports via our secure online system by following the link provided in the editor's email. 

The Editor’s Decision
Once a sufficient number of thoughtful reviews are obtained, the editor assigned to the manuscript makes a judgment that takes into consideration the critiques and recommendations from the peer reviewers, and other aspects such as relevance to the A&D’s aims and scope, findings, and usefulness to clinicians or researchers. Decisions on manuscripts are released only to the authors and reviewers.

Prompting of Publication
A&D is committed to rapid editorial decisions and publication, and we believe that an efficient editorial process is a valuable service both to our authors and to the scientific community as a whole. We therefore ask reviewers to respond promptly within the number of days agreed. If reviewers anticipate a longer delay than previously expected, we ask them to let us know so that we can keep the authors informed and, where necessary, find alternatives.
An author may inquire about the status of his or her manuscript at any time during the review and decision process. If you submit an article for the journal using our online submission system, you can track the status of your manuscript online.