EXO – Beyond the Cell aims to be the premier journal for publishing high impact, authoritative research on how cells interact with their environment, including related technologies, engineering tools, and medical applications. The journal focuses on defining how cells, molecules, and tissues function, including analysis of cell-cell interactions, cellular neighborhoods, and tissue microenvironments.

Our goal is to serve the research community as the signature journal for examining what happens beyond the cell — revealing interactions and spatial organization across scales, from molecules to patients. Our content spans biochemistry, chemical biology, cell and molecular biology, systems biology, developmental biology, neuroscience, immunology, computation & artificial intelligence (AI)/ machine learning (ML), metabolism, infectious diseases (including virology and microbiome analyses), plant biology, cancer biology, drug discovery, pharmacology, physiology, mammalian and model organisms, human genetics, disease mechanisms, and clinical studies.

EXO – Beyond the Cellis a quarterly journal that publishes groundbreaking research in all areas of molecular, cell, tissue, and organismal biology and medicine, including:
• Spatial omics: in situ transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, epigenomics, and multi-omics
• Single-cell transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics
• Tissue architecture and cellular neighborhoods: 3D imaging and reconstruction, multicellular organization, and molecular gradients
• Imaging and computational analysis: all types of imaging, bulk and imaging mass spectrometry, AI and ML for spatial data, and multimodal integration
• Extracellular, microenvironment and niche biology: Extracellular Matrix analysis, stem cell niches, and tumor microenvironments
• Cell to cell and systems biology: ligand-receptor interactions and paracrine signaling
• Translational spatial biology: leveraging the tumor microenvironment, immune cell infiltration, spatial biomarkers, and clinical applications
• Ecological and evolutionary perspectives: including microbial communities, and spatial population analyses
• Novel methodologies related to the above areas

Article Types

• Original research articles, involving detailed studies reporting high impact discoveries
• Methodological and technical innovations, involving important new methods
• Reviews and perspectives, including critical analyses of a topic, forward-looking commentaries, and perspectives on recent discoveries
• Short communications and letters, involving concise reports of major new findings that should be communicated rapidly

Why Publish in EXO - Beyond the Cell?

• Help shape the next frontier in life sciences by defining how cells interact with their environments
• Reach a global, interdisciplinary audience across biology, medicine, and computation
• Advance rigor and innovation by helping to prioritize experimental robustness and scientific creativity
• Support open access, ensuring free and global reach for maximum impact: There are no subscription charges to access our content. Author processing charges are waived until 2030.