We have lift off!

The countdown is over and the first print issue of Molecular BioSystems, a chemical biology journal with a particular focus at the interface between chemistry and the -omic sciences and systems biology, launches this month. Everyone involved, from editorial and production staff, through marketing and sales teams, to authors, referees and readers, are waiting for feedback from the scientific community.

The content of the new journal speaks for itself: a Highlight from Paul Workman at the UK's Institute of Cancer Research looks at the role of genomics in cancer drug development, while the first Review covers novel gene discovery systems. The first Opinion looks at why systems biology is called systems biology, and the first Method reports on the use of electrophoretic and mass spectrometric strategies for profiling lipopolysaccharides. Communications and full papers complete the range of high quality material from international authors in this impressive first issue.

In a recent Editorial¹ Thomas Kodadek and Caroline Evans (Molecular BioSystems' Editorial Board chair and editor respectively) described the new journal as 'a forum for the publication of novel work at the interface between chemistry and biology'.

¹ Chem. Commun., 2005, 2067

 

Read the first issue and judge for yourself at:

As clear as crystal

'Dealing with nearly 1300 manuscripts and 3000 cif files a year means my day is never dull!' says Kirsty Anderson, crystallographic data editor at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Kirsty joined the RSC in 2001 after obtaining her PhD in Chemical Crystallography from Bristol University. She is responsible for the assessment of crystallography in all papers submitted to the RSC's primary research journals - a unique role in the publishing industry.

'It is important to recognise that we publish chemistry journals rather than purely crystallographic journals' says Kirsty. 'I read every paper I assess thoroughly and although I am obviously keen to maintain high crystallographic standards, I am initially interested in whether the science in the paper is backed up by the diffraction data as well as the technicalities of the structure itself.'

Kirsty is also closely involved with the RSC's electronic-only journal CrystEngComm and has been instrumental in the creation of CrystEngCommunity, a web resource for all scientists interested in crystal engineering and supramolecular chemistry. Future challenges include the further development of CrystEngCommunity as well as designing a new crystallographic web resource to aid authors with their submissions.

And finally......

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) has been selected by the National Library of Medicine to be indexed and included in Index Medicus/MEDLINE - the world's most comprehensive source of life sciences and biomedical bibliographic information. Coverage will begin from 2005 and represents a significant milestone for the journal, recognising the quality of biophysical research published within it.

A number of RSC Journals are now indexed in MEDLINE and all chemical biology content is showcased free of charge in the Chemistry Biology Virtual Journal.