Greetings!
I hesitated to use the newsgroup to disseminate the following information
but, on reflection, knew that I would want to know about a new journal
with direct relevance to my research. However, if this posting offends
anyone, I would appreciate their responding directly to me rather than by
cluttering the newsgroup. Therefore, I would like to call your attention to
a new journal "METHODS IN CELL SCIENCE"which is to be published by Kluwer
Academic Publishers of Dordrecht, The Netherlands. I have recently accepted
the position of Editor-in-Chief. Below are the Aims & Scope of the journal
for your perusal. In addition, I am including the initial Area Descriptors
which will be the areas under which prospective authors will submit their
manuscripts. I am currently in the process of assembling the Editorial Board
and hope to have it appointed within the next two months.
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AREA DESCRIPTORS: Biotechnology; Cellular and Molecular Toxicology; Cell
Biology; Developmental Biology; Growth, Differentiation or Senescence;
Genetics; Immunology; Infectious Diseases/Cellular Pathology;
Neurobiology; Plant Biology and Virology.
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AIMS AND SCOPE: The aim of METHODS IN CELL SCIENCE is to provide _the_
forum for publishing the most up-to-date, cutting edge, methods developed
during the course of cell science research involving vertebrates, inverte-
brates, plants or single-celled prokaryotic or eukaryotic organisms. The
research relevant to this publication is ordinarily conducted using in vitro
systems rather than the whole animal or plant, an exception being research in
which the animal or plant itself must be viewed microscopically. Manuscripts
will also be accepted which describe the design or construction of equipment,
media, or quality control procedures that are ancillary to cellular
research. Descriptions of the subheadings used in the Table of Contents
of METHODS IN CELL SCIENCE (found in the "Instructions for Authors")
provide prospective authors with additional information about the
subsections of the journal that would be most appropriate for their
manuscripts.
Manuscripts will be peer reviewed and will only be published in METHODS
IN CELL SCIENCE if they provide sufficient detail to enable a researcher
to successfully duplicate the method using only the protocol described in
the manuscript. In contrast, methods published in most scientific
journals, whose emphasis is different than that of METHODS IN CELL
SCIENCE, often lack the details required for readers to do so without
prior experience with the method or by consulting the author(s).
All manuscripts submitted will describe methods original to the author's
laboratory which either have never before been published or which were
originally published as part of a research paper submitted to another
journal. To be acceptable for publication in METHODS IN CELL SCIENCE,
rewritten methods must now contain the original citation and all of the
detail which could not be included in the original manuscript. A
rewritten method, published in METHODS IN CELL SCIENCE, will provide an
opportunity for the author to reach a wider audience.
SPECIAL ISSUES will devote an entire issue to methodology involved in a
specialized area of cellular research. Such specialized areas might, for
example, include: Methods in Invertebrate Cell Clulture Research;
Methods in Oral Streptococci Research; Research Techniques Involving
Caenorhabditis elegans; Methods in Plant Molecular Biology; Molecular
Genetic Techniques Using Zebra Danio or Drosophila or, etc. Editors of
special issues will solicit, compile and review the necessary manuscripts
to complete such an issue. Editors of special issues will often be
invited to participate but authors interested in compiling such an issue
should contact the Editor-in-Chief. REVIEW ARTICLES: Both mini reviews
and full-length reviews, covering various aspects of developments in
methodological approaches, equipment, media or quality control procedures
related to cellular research will be accepted. Usually they will be
invited, but authors interested in contributing such a paper should
contact the Editor-in-Chief, describing the proposed review, before
submitting a manuscript. A mini review will ordinarily span no more
than four to five printed pages whereas full reviews may be ten or more
printed pages.
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I do hope that you are sufficiently interested in the raison d'etre of
the journal that you will join me in this enterprise by submitting
manuscripts to it. I believe that this will not be just another journal
(we probably have too many now) but will serve a definite purpose. The
methods presented will be as complete as it is possible to write them. One
should, by reading the paper, be "transported" to the lab bench in the
author's laboratory and be following along as the protocol is
demonstrated. I firmly believe that there is a place for this kind of
presentation. One plan for the journal includes publishing in a "three-hole
punched" format so that either the entire issue, or one or more of the methods
can be placed right into the laboratory's methods notebook. This may be
a possibility.
Initially, the journal will appear quarterly, but I hope that with
rising interest, it can ultimately appear bimonthly or even monthly.
Please contact me at the address below if you wish to obtain an initial
copy of the "Information for Authors" or if you are interested in a
subscription to the journal. You may also direct your institution to do
the same if they are interested in a subscription for the library. If
your library currently subscribes to the "Journal of Tissue Culture
Methods", they will automatically be contacted by the publishers as that
journal will be replaced by METHODS IN CELL SCIENCE.
Many of you have wanted to see a journal such as this one available and now I
believe this has come to fruition. With the usual few delays in getting
something new underway, METHODS IN CELL SCIENCE should be available at the
beginning of the new year. I would appreciate receiving any comments you may
have regarding this new enterprise (however, please respond directly to
me rather than through the newsgroup) and, especially, your manuscripts and
suggestions for Special Issues.
___________________________________________________________________________
Warren I. Schaeffer, University of Vermont, Markey Center for Molec. Genet.,
Microbiol. & Molec. Genetics Dep't., 117 Stafford Bldg. Burlington, Vt.05405
Phone: (802)656-2290 * Fax:(802)656-8749 * e-mail: wschaeff at moose.uvm.edu
____________________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________________
Warren I. Schaeffer "Never, for the sake of peace and quiet
Microbiology & Molec. Genetics deny your own experience or convic-
117 Stafford Building tions" Dag Hammarskjold
