Chemistry meets the -omic sciences and systems biology
Abstract
Welcome to the first issue of Molecular BioSystems—an exciting new chemical biology journal with a particular focus on the interface between chemistry and the -omic sciences and systems biology.
The power of the chemical approach to biology, when combined with the amazing technologies being developed in the -omic sciences, promises to have a transforming effect on biological research and clinical medicine. The exciting work being undertaken in this growing research area requires a high visibility journal and we are delighted to be able to bring it to you. Molecular BioSystems is devoted to publishing the best work in chemical biology, particularly that at the interface between chemistry and the -omic sciences and systems biology.
Molecular BioSystems will strive to be a thought leader in the field, publishing not only some of the best new research, but also reviews and forward-looking articles. We intend the journal to appeal to a broad audience of researchers who draw on the fundamental disciplines and technologies of chemistry and biology, with the aim of providing insight, at a molecular level, into the world of the life sciences. As such we are delighted to be working with a continually expanding international team of committed and enthusiasticEditorial and Advisory Board members whose individual areas of expertise cover a broad subject range.
Authors submitting to Molecular BioSystems benefit from the first-class professional service common to all journals from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), a society-based not-for-profit publisher. Rapid publication is vital in this field and we believe that our average publication time (from initial submission to publication online) of less than 9 weeks for papers amply demonstrates our commitment to fast publication. We constantly monitor and develop our procedures to further improve these publication times and we are also grateful to our referees for the role they play in ensuring that rapid publication is possible. ReSourCe, our online author and referee service (http://www.rsc.org/resource), makes submission and the peer review process run smoothly and efficiently as well as enabling authors to monitor the progress of their submission. We have no page charges, we give all authors free colour whenever it is scientifically justified, and all authors receive free electronic reprints of their published manuscripts.
We are also committed to helping authors ensure that their work reaches the wide audience it deserves. To help ensure a large international circulation from launch, subscribers to several of the RSC's most successful established journals (Chemical Communications, Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, The Analyst, and Lab on a Chip) all have free online access to Molecular BioSystems. The print version of Molecular BioSystems is also being delivered free of charge with all print subscriptions of Chemical Communications. We work hard to promote the very best articles, as decided by the referees, to the wider scientific and general media viapress releases. The design of the journal cover and the inside of the cover provides a large space for cover artwork; both spaces are available to all authors in the issue as an additional opportunity to promote their work.
As readers of Molecular BioSystems we hope that you will enjoy the variety of article types published for you. Reviews cover a topical and significant area of research, Highlights provide updates of a developing area of research, and Opinions provide a personal, often speculative, viewpoint or hypothesis on a topic of current interest to the scientific community. Methods provide useful new methodology for the community, and complement the other two primary research formats; Communications and Papers. The Hot off the Press section highlights recently published articles which Board members and their research groups have found particularly exciting.
To be informed as soon as the latest issue of Molecular BioSystems is published you can sign up for free contents alerts (http://www.rsc.org/ej_alert) or make it part of your routine to check our Advance Articles (http://www.molecularbiosystems.org) which are updated daily with published articles before they are included in an issue. When you cite Molecular BioSystems articles in future manuscripts the correct abbreviation is Mol. BioSyst.
For this first issue we are pleased to present a range of articles from across the scope of the journal, including a Highlight of the role of genomics in directing cancer drug development,1 an Opinion as to why systems biology is so-called,2 a Method for profiling bacterial lipopolysaccharides using electrophoretic and mass spectrometric strategies3 and a Review of the application of protein structure similarity clustering (PSSC) in developing focussed libraries of protein ligands.4 There are many other excellent articles in this issue and some of the Issue 2 content is already available online as Advance Articles.
On behalf of the Editorial and Advisory Boards and the editorial staff we sincerely hope that you and your colleagues will enjoy reading this exciting new journal and will submit some of your best work for publication in it. We are committed to ensuring that Molecular BioSystems meets the requirements of the community it serves and we therefore welcome your feedback at any time to molbiosyst@rsc.org
With very best wishes
Thomas Kodadek, Editorial Board Chair
Caroline Evans, Editor
References
- P. Workman, Mol. BioSyst., 2005, 1, 17 RSC.
- O. Wolkenhauer and M. Mesarović, Mol. BioSyst., 2005, 1, 14 RSC.
- J. Li, A. D. Cox, D. W. Hood, E. K. H. Schweda, E. R. Moxon and J. C. Richards, Mol. BioSyst., 2005, 1, 46 RSC.
- R. Balamurugan, F. J. Dekker and H. Waldmann, Mol. BioSyst., 2005, 1, 36 RSC.
| This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2005 |