Fwd: Re: Kinetoplastids journal

[Jeffrey Shaw]

>Subject: Re: Kinetoplastids journal
>X-Comment: Haemoparasites Discussion List, Salivarian Trypanosomes
>
>Dear Alberto,
>
>         I recently received the announcement below about online
>journals published by BioMed Central. They have a variety of journals
>although none of them on Parasitology. Perhaps it would be
>interesting to contact them about a Parasitology journal before
>starting another one. They have organized this system in a very
>efficient way, the papers are freely available, deposited in PubMed,
>copyrights are kept with the authors, and have a number of advantages.
>
>         Regards,
>
>
>         Roberto Docampo
>
>
>
>I am writing to introduce you to a new online journal
>in biochemistry. BMC Biochemistry is one of the
>journals published by BioMed Central, a recently
>established online publishing house that is committed
>to making original research articles in biomedical
>science freely available to all. BioMed Central
>publishes articles from throughout the biomedical
>sciences in more than 50 journals, each of which makes
>original research freely available online.
>
>We believe that communication of original research is
>the single most important part of the scientific
>process and that the current publishing model is often
>more of a hindrance than a help to this critical
>activity because of the limited circulation and high
>costs of many journals. BioMed Central overcomes this
>by making papers available online to anyone for no
>charge, while also having them listed in PubMed.
>
>I would like to invite you to submit your next
>research article to BioMed Central.
>
>When you publish with BMC Biochemistry (or with any of
>the other BMC journals) your article will be:
>
>+ made freely available to anyone with Internet
>access. More people than ever will have the ability to
>read the results of your work
>
>+ peer reviewed in the normal way but using the speed
>of the Internet to expedite the process. BMC's average
>time from submission to publication is currently 6.5
>weeks and we aim to reduce this further
>
>+ cited in PubMed and archived in PubMed Central, the
>NIH's central research repository. This will make your
>article easily accessible and securely archived
>
>+ listed in two other BMC journals that you deem to be
>appropriate
>
>Moreover, once your article is published you will be
>able to see exactly how many people have accessed your
>research.
>
>We have started, but far from finished, putting
>together a world class editorial board for BMC
>Biochemistry that includes some of the most respected
>names in the biochemistry field. If you would like to
>suggest additional names we would certainly consider
>them.
>
>
>***BMC Biochemistry Subject Advisers (so far)***
>
>* Stephen Benkovic - Penn State University, USA
>* Edward Dennis - University of California,
>San Diego, USA
>* Hans Eklund - Swedish University of Agricultural
>Sciences, Sweden
>* Toshio Hirano - Osaka University Graduate School of
>Medicine, Japan
>* David Morgan - University of California,
>San Francisco, USA
>* Shozo Yamamoto - Tokushima University, Japan
>
>***BMC Biochemistry Core Reviewers (so far)***
>
>* Henry Furneaux - Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
>Center, USA
>* Guido Guidotti - Harvard University, USA
>* Jacques Izard - Wadsworth Center, New York
>Department of Health, USA
>* Richard Mains - University of Connecticut Health
>Center, USA
>* Kenneth Marians - Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
>Center, USA
>* Joseph Noel - The Salk Institute for Biological
>Studies, USA
>
>
>In addition, BioMed Central is guided by our Editorial
>Directorate which comprises some of the world's
>leading scientists and clinicians:
>
>***BMC Editorial Directorate***
>* Elizabeth H Blackburn - UCSF, USA
>* Brian Haynes - McMaster University, Canada
>* Steven E Hyman - National Institutes of Health, USA
>* Marc W Kirschner - Harvard Medical School, USA
>* Philippe Kourilsky - Pasteur Institute, France
>* Joseph B Martin - Harvard Medical School, USA
>* David G Nathan - Dana-Farber Cancer Center, USA
>* Christiane Nusslein-Volhard - Max Planck Institute
>for Developmental Biology, Germany
>* Paul Nurse - Imperial Cancer Research Fund, UK
>* Richard Peto - University of Oxford, UK
>* Barbara Starfield - John Hopkins University, USA
>* Harold E Varmus - Memorial Sloan-Kettering
>Cancer Center, USA
>* David Weatherall - University of Oxford, UK
>* Mitsuhiro Yanagida - Kyoto University, Japan
>
>They share our vision of a future in which research is
>no longer constrained by the low circulation and high
>subscription charges of most journals. If you share
>this vision please support BioMed Central by
>submitting a paper.
>
>Some of the authors publishing with BioMed Central
>have made the following comments:
>
>"We appreciate the speed with which you handled our
>paper. From our experience BioMed Central works. We
>now look forward to seeing this article turn up in our
>PubMed searches with instantaneous free availability
>of the complete article in PubMed Central."
>Dr Harold Varmus
>Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, USA
>
>"The manuscript that we submitted was reviewed very
>promptly, and the turn-around time was just
>staggering. To top it off, the paper looks great, and
>I can even keep track of how many people looked at the
>article!"
>Dennis Maddox
>Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, USA
>
>
>For more information on BioMed Central go to:
>http://www.biomedcentral.com
>
>Instructions on how to submit a paper are at:
>http://www.biomedcentral.com/manuscript/checklist.asp
>
>Some recently published research articles in a variety
>of BMC journals are at:
>http://www.biomedcentral.com/biology.asp
>
>
>If you have any questions please contact me by e-mail
>at editorial at biomedcentral.com.
>
>Yours sincerely
>
>Peter Newmark
>Biology Editorial Director
>BioMed Central
>http://www.biomedcentral.com
>
>
>*******************************************************
>
>To receive updates on research, reviews and editorials
>published by BioMed Central, register at:
>
>http://www.biomedcentral.com/registration/
>
>
>If you do not wish to receive further emails from
>BioMed Central, e-mail info at biomedcentral.com with the
>word 'Remove' in the subject line:
>
>BioMed Central
>A new way to publish...
>http://www.biomedcentral.com
>
>
> >Dear colleagues,
> >
> >       As we embark into the 21st century,  the advent of the internet has
> >already dramatically changed and will continue to impact on the way
> >science is communicated. Traditional hard-copy publication is associated
> >with a number of drawbacks, foremost among which are long turn-around
> >times, high cost and limited accessibility world-wide. While modern
> >publishers have begun to make journals available over the internet
> >subscription rates can still be prohibitive, particularly in the field of
> >tropical medicine where research in developing nations is often on a
> >shoestring budget.
> >
> >       A century ago, research began to find cures and prophylactics for
> >kinetoplastid disease. Today, these pathogens are as prevalent as ever -
> >this is in spite of the large and increasing body of scientific knowledge
> >detailing the biology of these pathogens and that of their hosts and
> >vectors. We are proposing to dedicate an electronic publication
> >"KINETOPLASTIDS ONLINE" to the pipeline between research and
> >clinical/field applications. With an aim to increasing dialogue between
> >the scientists and epidemiologists of academe and those faced with the
> >reality of public health planning and execution in the field. We are
> >proposing that KO would accept basic sciences,  epidemiologic, public
> >health and clinical papers on trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis and which
> >meet the criteria of peer review.
> >
> >       We propose the following pre-requisites for the publication of KO
> >
> >1) Peer review
> >2) Free universal access by internet.
> >3) Permanent archiving and access from a central website
> >4) Online referral from major scientific databases such as PubMed
> >
> >       We predict that a journal of this nature should be able to expedite
> >publication so that  papers can be submitted initially and in revised form
> >online and the time frame from receipt to publication of letters and
> >articles could be days or weeks.
> >
> >       We are contacting you as proactive researchers in this field to
> >ask for your opinions and your help. We would like to know if you consider
> >that there is a need for a publication of this nature. If you do, then we
> >would further ask whether you would be prepared to lend written support to
> >such a project.
> >
> >       Please contact us (using our personal email address) with any
> >thoughts or comments (even negative ones) in regard to this project since
> >there is little point in persuing a project of this kind unless the field
> >it serves is generally enthusiastic.
> >
> >       With regards and best wishes,
> >
> >       Yours sincerely,
> >
> >Alberto M. R. Davila (davila at gene.dbbm.fiocruz.br) and
> >Kevin Tyler (k-tyler at northwestern.edu).
>
>--
>Roberto Docampo, MD, PhD
>Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology
>Department of Pathobiology
>College of Veterinary Medicine
>University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>2001 South Lincoln Avenue
>Urbana, IL 61802, USA
>Tel: 217-333-3845
>Fax: 217-244-7421
>http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/vp/molparasite/
>http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/faculty/docampo.html