We’re delighted to announce that the 2026 Global Plant Council × Frontiers Research Topics Call is officially open for submissions. Through this partnership with Frontiers in Plant Science, the GPC will award four full Article Processing Charge (APC) waivers to plant scientists submitting manuscripts to one of six partner Research Topics. Winners will also be invited to present their work in a webinar co-hosted by GPC and Frontiers — an opportunity to share findings with a global plant science audience.
About Frontiers in Plant Science and Research Topics
Frontiers in Plant Science is a fully open-access, peer-reviewed journal covering all areas of plant biology: from molecular and cell biology to agronomy, ecology, and biotechnology. It holds an Impact Factor of 4.8 (JCR 2024) and a CiteScore of 8.8, is ranked Q1 in plant sciences, and is indexed in Web of Science (SCIE), Scopus, PubMed, and DOAJ.
Research Topics are a defining feature of how Frontiers organizes science. Rather than a traditional special issue, a Research Topic is a living, curated collection of articles assembled by a team of Topic Editors: active researchers who invite contributions, shape the scope, and peer-review submissions. Once complete, every Research Topic is compiled into a free, downloadable e-book, giving the collection a lasting, citable form beyond individual articles.
Why this call matters
Open-access publication fees remain a significant barrier, particularly for early-career researchers and colleagues working at institutions without dedicated APC funds. This call is designed to lower that barrier and recognize high-quality plant science across a deliberately broad set of themes — from molecular signaling to agroecology, from hormone crosstalk to climate-resilient cropping systems.
The six Research Topics
Each topic is led by an international team of editors and welcomes a range of article types. Pick the one that best matches your work:
- Hormone-Induced Plant Stress Adaptation: Brassinosteroids and Beyond — Deadline 31 August 2026
- Plant–Nematode–Microbiome Networks in Sustainable Biological Control — Deadline 7 September 2026
- Enhancing Agricultural Systems with Plant Growth-Promoting Microbes: Innovations in Eco-Friendly Crop Protection — Deadline 30 September 2026
- Legumes for Global Food Security, Volume III — Deadline 30 September 2026
- Molecular Characterization of Humic Substances and Regulatory Processes Activated in Plants, Volume III — Deadline 10 November 2026
- Abiotic Stress and Plant Cytoskeleton Dynamics: Unraveling Structural Pathways for Stress Adaptation — Deadline 19 November 2026
Full scopes, accepted article types, and submission links for each topic are available on the call page.
How to enter — two steps, both required
Choose your Research Topic and click “Participate in this topic” on the Frontiers page before submitting your manuscript.
Prepare and submit your manuscript to Frontiers in Plant Science via the standard submission system, following the author guidelines and the article types listed on your chosen topic page.
Register your submission with GPC by completing the 2026 Call form.
This last step is the one that’s easy to miss — and it’s the one that enters your paper into the waiver competition. Submissions made only to Frontiers, without GPC registration, will not be eligible.
Steps 1 and 3 are both required to be eligible for a waiver. Clicking “Participate in this topic” on Frontiers confirms your place in the Research Topic. Completing the GPC form enters your paper into the waiver competition. Neither step alone is sufficient and will not be eligible.
Selection and announcement
All registered submissions will be considered, and four papers will be selected to receive a full APC waiver. Winners will be announced in November/December 2026 and invited to deliver a joint GPC–Frontiers webinar in the months that follow.
Spread the word
If you supervise, mentor, or simply work alongside plant scientists who might benefit, please share this call.
We can’t wait to read what you submit.
