If your research sits where fish genetics meets sensors, machine learning and smart farming, there is a Springer collection built exactly for it \u2014 and it costs nothing to publish in. The Journal of Basic and Applied Zoology has opened a call for papers on \u201cAquaculture 4.0 \u2013 Integrating Genomics, AI, and IoT for Sustainable Production and Health Management\u201d, guest-edited by Dr Mohd Ashraf Rather of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-Kashmir). The submission deadline is 27 July 2027, and the journal charges no article processing charge (APC) \u2014 no publication fee.
That combination is rare enough to say plainly: a peer-reviewed, SpringerOpen international journal with an impact factor of 1.7, a themed collection on the most fast-moving area in aquaculture, and no APC standing between your manuscript and publication. For researchers in India and elsewhere who have results in genomics, AI or IoT applied to fish farming but no publication budget, this is one of the most accessible high-visibility routes available right now.
Aquaculture 4.0 call at a glance
| Item | Detail (verified 5 November 2026) |
|---|---|
| Journal | The Journal of Basic and Applied Zoology \u2014 a peer-reviewed international journal for advances in zoological sciences |
| Publisher | SpringerOpen (Springer Nature) |
| Impact Factor | 1.7 |
| Electronic ISSN | 2090-990X |
| Collection | Aquaculture 4.0 \u2013 Integrating Genomics, AI, and IoT for Sustainable Production and Health Management |
| Guest Editor | Dr Mohd Ashraf Rather, Division of Fish Genetics and Biotechnology, SKUAST-Kashmir, Srinagar, India |
| Submission deadline | 27 July 2027 (Tuesday) |
| Article processing charge | None \u2014 no APC, no publication fee |
| Article types | Original research and reviews |
| Submit via | The Springer collection page: link.springer.com/collections/adifgehffi |
No APC \u2014 what that actually means
An article processing charge is the fee many open-access journals charge authors when a paper is accepted. Here there is none: the journal is listed as charging no publication fee, so accepted papers in this collection carry no APC. That matters most for early-career researchers, PhD scholars and scientists at institutions without a publication fund \u2014 the very people doing much of the hands-on genomics, sensor and farm-data work in aquaculture. It also removes the usual calculation of whether a paper is \u201cworth\u201d the fee: if the work fits the scope and passes peer review, it gets published and read openly.
Two cautions, stated honestly. First, always confirm the no-fee position on the journal\u2019s own page at the time you submit \u2014 journal policies can change, and the submission page is the final authority. Second, \u201cno APC\u201d does not mean \u201cno peer review\u201d. This is a peer-reviewed journal; manuscripts go through the same review as any other submission, and the collection welcomes work that is genuinely ready, not drafts rushed to meet a deadline.
Scope of the issue \u2014 what the editors want
The call is deliberately wide: anything that moves aquaculture toward more intelligent, precise and data-driven production, and toward better aquatic animal health. The six headline areas in the official call are:
- Genomic tools and resources in aquaculture \u2014 genomics, transcriptomics, molecular breeding and genomic selection;
- Artificial Intelligence in fisheries \u2014 AI and machine learning, computer vision, predictive analytics and decision-support systems;
- IoT-based monitoring and smart systems \u2014 sensors, biosensors, real-time monitoring, connected farming and precision aquaculture;
- Fish health and disease management \u2014 AI-assisted disease detection and diagnosis, predictive analytics for outbreaks, health and welfare monitoring;
- Sustainable and climate-resilient aquaculture \u2014 resource-efficient technologies, environmental impact reduction and climate resilience;
- Innovative biotechnological approaches \u2014 molecular biotechnology, bioinformatics and multi-omics applications.
The Springer collection page widens this further. Topics of interest include precision and smart aquaculture systems; genomic selection for disease resistance and production traits; IoT-enabled aquaculture and connected farming; precision feeding and intelligent nutrition management; automated monitoring of fish behaviour, growth and welfare; water-quality and environmental monitoring; robotics and automation; digital twins and modelling of aquaculture systems; and data-driven farm management. Particular attention will be given to multidisciplinary research that turns digital, genomic and biotechnological innovations into practical solutions for production and health management \u2014 in other words, papers that work on a real farm, not only in a model.
The collection supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water, so work that connects technology with sustainability, resource efficiency and resilience fits the theme especially well.
Who should submit
The call is open to researchers working on any farmed aquatic species and any production system \u2014 carp, trout, shrimp, tilapia, marine cages, ponds, RAS or biofloc. The most natural fits are:
- Fish geneticists and biotechnologists working on genomic selection, molecular breeding, transcriptomics or multi-omics;
- AI and data researchers applying machine learning, computer vision or predictive analytics to fish health, feeding, growth or behaviour;
- Engineers and IoT developers building sensors, biosensors, automated monitoring or smart-farm systems;
- Fish health and disease researchers working on diagnostics, disease prediction, welfare assessment or health management;
- Aquaculture production and sustainability researchers working on precision feeding, water quality, resource efficiency or climate-resilient systems.
Reviews that synthesise where a technology stands \u2014 what works, what does not, and what a farm can adopt today \u2014 are explicitly welcome alongside original research. If your work is multidisciplinary, say so: the collection states that multidisciplinary research translating innovation into practical solutions gets particular attention.
About the journal
The Journal of Basic and Applied Zoology is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by SpringerOpen. It has been in continuous publication since 1985 and is affiliated with the Egyptian Society for Biosciences Advancement. Its electronic ISSN is 2090-990X and its impact factor is 1.7. The journal is abstracted and indexed in sources including the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Emerging Sources Citation Index, BIOSIS, Biological Abstracts, CAB Abstracts, Google Scholar and the Zoological Record. Being indexed in DOAJ and the Emerging Sources Citation Index matters for authors: it means published work is discoverable through the databases universities and funding bodies actually check.
About the Guest Editor
The collection is guest-edited by Dr Mohd Ashraf Rather, Senior Scientist in the Division of Fish Genetics and Biotechnology at SKUAST-Kashmir, Srinagar. He earned his Bachelor\u2019s degree in Fisheries Science from the College of Fisheries, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, followed by a Master\u2019s degree and PhD in Fisheries Biotechnology from the Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), Mumbai.
His research spans functional genomics, molecular endocrinology of fish proteins, nanobiotechnology and computational biology, with a focus on the molecular and genetic mechanisms behind growth, reproduction and physiological processes in fish. His work contributed to the identification and characterisation of several important reproductive genes in fish, including kisspeptin genes in Indian major carps, and he has contributed more than 60 fish gene sequences to the NCBI GenBank database. He received the Asia-Pacific Alltech Young Scientist Award, and he mentors Master\u2019s and PhD scholars in fish genetics, genomics, biotechnology and molecular biology. For Indian researchers, that matters: the collection is edited by someone who knows both the genomics and the ground realities of Indian aquaculture.
How to submit, step by step
- Check the fit first. Read the scope above and the collection page. Your manuscript should clearly use or advance genomics, AI, IoT or biotechnology for aquaculture production or health \u2014 a general aquaculture paper without a technology angle is a weak fit.
- Open the collection page at link.springer.com/collections/adifgehffi and follow its submission route. Manuscripts are submitted to the collection through the participating journal.
- Prepare to journal standard. Follow the journal\u2019s author guidelines on the Springer page for format, referencing, ethics, data availability and declarations. Original research needs methods a reader can reproduce; reviews need a clear, critical synthesis, not a list of papers.
- Write the technology-to-farm link into the paper. State plainly what a farmer, hatchery manager or health professional can do differently because of your result. That practical translation is what this collection says it rewards.
- Submit before 27 July 2027. The deadline is a Tuesday. Do not plan to submit on the last day: submission systems, file checks and author-declaration steps all take longer than expected, and a missed deadline is final.
- Keep the confirmation. Save the submission acknowledgement and manuscript ID; peer review takes time, and you will need the ID for every later enquiry.
What makes a strong submission here
Three things will separate accepted papers from rejected ones in a themed collection like this. First, real data from real systems \u2014 a sensor network tested on a working farm, a genomic selection result in a farmed population, a disease-detection model validated on farm images or samples \u2014 beats a purely conceptual proposal. Second, honest performance numbers: accuracy, sensitivity, cost, or production gain, reported with their limits, not only their best case. Third, readability for the other half of the audience: a genomics paper a farm technologist can follow, or an AI paper a fish biologist can evaluate. The collection is multidisciplinary by design, and reviewers will come from more than one discipline.
If you are a PhD scholar with a chapter that fits, this is a good moment to shape it into a paper: a themed collection with no APC, a defined deadline more than eight months away, and an editor who works in the same field is about as low-friction as journal publishing gets.
Why Aquaculture 4.0 matters now
Aquaculture is, in the collection\u2019s own words, rapidly evolving toward more intelligent, precise and data-driven production systems. Feed is the largest cost on most farms; disease is the largest risk; water quality decides both. Genomics lets breeders select for disease resistance and growth instead of guessing. AI turns camera and sensor streams into early warnings \u2014 a feeding response that changes, a behaviour pattern that precedes an outbreak. IoT turns water quality from a twice-a-day manual check into continuous monitoring with automatic alerts. None of these technologies helps if it stays in a lab: the point of Aquaculture 4.0 is that the tools now exist and need to be proven, compared and adopted on farms. That is what this collection is collecting \u2014 evidence, not slogans.
Frequently asked questions
Is there really no APC? The journal is listed as charging no publication fee \u2014 no article processing charge. Confirm on the journal\u2019s page when you submit, as policies can change.
What is the deadline? 27 July 2027, a Tuesday, as announced in the official call for papers. Plan to submit well before it.
Who can submit? Any researcher with original research or a review that fits the scope. There is no nationality restriction stated in the call.
Original research or reviews? Both. The collection explicitly welcomes original research and reviews.
Where do I submit? Through the Springer collection page (link.springer.com/collections/adifgehffi), which routes manuscripts to the participating journal.
What is the journal\u2019s impact factor? 1.7, as shown in the official call.
Who is the Guest Editor? Dr Mohd Ashraf Rather, Senior Scientist, Division of Fish Genetics and Biotechnology, SKUAST-Kashmir, Srinagar, India.
What if I miss 27 July 2027? The collection deadline would have passed. You could still submit to the journal as a regular article, but not to this themed collection.
Related reading on Fisheries India
- Aquaculture Master\u2019s in 3 Countries, \u20ac1,400/Month \u2014 the ACES-STAR aquaculture joint master, for readers considering formal training in aquaculture science.
- \u00a37,000 Off Stirling Aquaculture MSc \u2014 Apply by Dec 15 \u2014 a nearer deadline for aquaculture students eyeing Scotland.
- No More Bones: CIBA\u2019s Boneless Milkfish Breakthrough \u2014 Indian aquaculture biotechnology in action, from ICAR-CIBA.
- Europe\u2019s Marine Master\u2019s: 11 Universities, 1 Degree \u2014 IMBRSea marine biological resources, for readers weighing a research career in marine science.
Sources and official links
- Springer collection page \u2014 \u201cAquaculture 4.0 \u2013 Integrating Genomics, AI, and IoT for Sustainable Production and Health Management\u201d, scope, topics, SDG 14 support and Guest Editor: link.springer.com/collections/adifgehffi
- The Journal of Basic and Applied Zoology, SpringerOpen \u2014 journal information, electronic ISSN 2090-990X, indexing list: basicandappliedzoology.springeropen.com
- Official call-for-papers poster \u2014 journal title, impact factor 1.7, collection title, six scope areas, submission deadline 27 July 2027, Guest Editor Dr Mohd Ashraf Rather, SKUAST-Kashmir.
- Journal metrics listing \u2014 impact factor 1.7 (updated June 2026) and no publication fee (APC: No), citing the official journal homepage.
Fact-check note (5 November 2026): the collection title, scope, topics, SDG 14 support, Guest Editor name and affiliation were verified against the live Springer collection page on 5 November 2026; the journal\u2019s ISSN and indexing were verified against the live journal homepage the same day. The impact factor (1.7) and the deadline (27 July 2027, a Tuesday) are as announced in the official call-for-papers poster; the impact factor is corroborated by the journal\u2019s metrics listing (1.7, updated June 2026). The Springer collection page text fetched on 5 November 2026 did not display a deadline, so confirm the date on the collection page before submitting \u2014 deadlines can change. The no-APC position is as listed for the journal (no publication fee); confirm it on the journal page at submission. The featured image is an illustration created for this post, not the official call poster.