Happy New Year from Molecular BioSystems

Introduction

2006 has been a successful year for Molecular BioSystems. The Journal has continued to strengthen its position and to focus on the interface between chemistry, the -omic sciences and systems biology: from bioanalytical and highthroughput techniques, microarrays and chip-based microfluidic technologies, to proteomics and biomarkers.

Fig. 1 A selection of Molecular BioSystems covers from 2006.

Inclusion in MedLine

One of the main highlights for 2006 was the announcement that Molecular BioSystems had been selected by the National Library of Medicine to be indexed and included in MedLine. We are confident that this has been a big step in increasing the visibility of the journal.

Additional online features

Another exciting development for Molecular BioSystems was the provision of some innovative publishing features. These additional online features are available through articles and their associated ESI pages. They add further value to the journal articles with the aim to enhance the readers' experience. An example of the added value available is the ability to link to databases such as PubChem, wwwPDB, Swissprot, GenBank, ArrayExpress and Gene Expression Omnibus. For more information on the online features available please visit http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journals/mb/News/onlinefeatures.asp

3D visualisation of complex molecules

Molecular BioSystems also provides a service that enables the 3D visualisation of complex protein structures using FirstGlance in Jmol (http://firstglance.jmol.org). Anyone can view and appreciate the key biomolecular structures in three dimensions, whatever their level of expertise. Links are provided to generate a visualisation of any molecule with a PDB identification code. Molecules are shown in three-dimensional form, with many options available for customising the view and zooming into specific areas of interest.

All authors need to do is provide the PDB identification code on submission of their article and we do the rest. When a paper is published, links to the 3D images can be found on the ESI page of the online article. Professor Cao from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Singapore took advantage of this online feature for his recent review on the ‘Structure, function, and regulation of STAT proteins’. “The link to the 3D structure is indeed interesting and useful” commented Professor Cao.

Fig. 2 3D visualisation of a molecule using FirstGlance in Jmol associated with Professor Cao's review: Mol. BioSyst., 2006, 2, 536–550.

Technological innovation

2006 has seen RSC Publishing invest significantly in technological developments across all of its products. Introduced last year, RSS feeds, or ‘really simple syndication’, have proved extremely popular with our readers. Subscribers receive alerts as soon as an Advance Article is published in their journal of choice, providing both the graphical abstract and text from a journal's contents page. You can subscribe via the Molecular BioSystems homepage.

Subscribers to Molecular BioSystems will now link from journals' contents lists straight through to the HTML view of selected articles, in just one quick step. Here you can download references to citation managers (such as EndNote, Ref Manager, ProCite and BibTex), sign up for RSS feeds, search for citing articles (otherwise known as ‘forward linking’), print the article with just one click and send the article to a friend or colleague.

From 2007, authors publishing in RSC journals will see their science “come alive” thanks to an exciting new project pioneered by the RSC. Enhanced HTML in RSC articles will allow chemical and biological compounds mentioned in the text to be identified; by clicking on the compound readers will be able to obtain further information about that compound, including a downloadable structure plus a list of relevant subject areas. The RSC is the first publisher to utilise the International Chemical Identifier (InChI) (a digital equivalent of the IUPAC name for any particular covalent compound) for a project of this type and scope. The technology will be used to enhance RSS alerts so that future news feeds can include chemical structures and other enhanced information, like ontology terms. RSC Publishing intends to evolve this project to match author and reader needs, so tell us what you think: we welcome your feedback on this new functionality and will incorporate your ideas to develop the service further. Find out more at www.rsc.org/sciencecomealive.

These developments demonstrate the investment in publishing products and services over the past year and 2007 will see us enhancing our products further.

RSC open science

Authors publishing in RSC Journals now have the option of paying a fee in exchange for making their accepted communication, research paper or review article openly available to all via the web, with RSC Open Science. The scheme is only made available to authors once their papers have been accepted for publication, following the normal rigorous peer-review procedures (RSC Open Science operates in parallel with the normal publication route, which remains free to authors). Authors who have published their work in RSC journals are also be able to retrospectively apply for their work to be included in the scheme. Further information can be found at www.rsc.org/openscience.

Hot papers in Molecular BioSystems

Molecular BioSystems is fully committed to publicising the most topical and newsworthy of its articles. Molecular BioSystems' hot articles are highlighted in the RSC's news supplement Chemical Biology. This is an exciting supplement which draws together coverage from all RSC publications, providing a ‘snapshot’ of the latest developments in chemical biology.

Changes and developments to chemical science, chemical technology and chemical biology and news of chemistry world

Showcasing hot science from RSC Journals in Chemical Science, Chemical Technology and Chemical Biology has proved very popular with readers and authors alike. In fact, the free supplements have become so successful that from January 2007, all issues will be eight pages (in print), contain new article types and come complete with a fresh new look for the front page. Supplementary material will also be available online.

Online readers of Chemical Biology can also view a contents listing of all chemical biology articles published across RSC journals, making it the best place to find both news and research for those in the field.

Meanwhile Chemistry World, the RSC's award-winning magazine, launched two new web features at the end of 2006. The Chemistry World Blog is an interactive forum for news, discussion and opinion, looking at the science hitting the headlines. The Chemistry World Podcast interviews high profile scientists about the latest and hottest topics in science, and is free to download at www.rsc.org/chemistryworld.

RSC Prizes and awards

In 2006, RSC Publishing awarded more than 20 prizes and sponsored lectureships to high-profile researchers. The recipients gained financial support to present and discuss their work at events throughout the world, in recognition of their research achievements. More than £15,000 (or $30,000) was granted to the recipients, in total, to cover travel expenses to sponsored lectureships in countries such as China, Japan, US and UK. Molecular BioSystems plans to sponsor a lecture at a major international meeting in 2007.

What our authors say

We are always happy to receive feedback from authors, especially if it helps us to further improve the publishing experience. Because we believe that RSC Publishing offers the best service of any scientific publisher, we have published a selection of the comments we have received from authors from around the globe – take a look at www.rsc.org/authorquotes.

Impact factors and immediacy index

The 2005 impact factors, released by ISI^® in June 2006, showed an impressive average increase of over 10% for RSC Journals. In 2007 Molecular BioSystems will receive its first partial impact factor. Calculated annually, ISI^® impact factors provide an indication of the quality of a journal - they take into account the number of citations in a given year for all the citeable documents published within a journal in the preceding two years.

Not just journals…

As well as an impressive portfolio of prestigious journals, the RSC has a wide selection of products for anyone with an interest in the chemical sciences. Visit the shop at www.rsc.org/shop to browse over 400 book titles, subscribe to or purchase an individual article from Molecular BioSystems or any other RSC journal, join or renew RSC membership, or register to attend a conference or training event.

In addition, RSC Publishing is pleased to announce the launch of the RSC eBook Collection. RSC books are now available online and can be easily downloaded as either chapters or books. The collection is fully searchable and also integrated with RSC Journal content. To search the collection or for further information, visit www.rsc.org/ebooks.

Closing remarks

2006 was an exciting year for Molecular BioSystems and we are now working hard to ensure that 2007 is even better. Molecular BioSystems aims to provide a truly outstanding forum for those working at the interface between chemistry and the -omic sciences and systems biology.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our authors, referees and readers for their enthusiastic support. On behalf of the Editorial Board and Editorial Staff at the RSC, we would like to wish you a happy and successful 2007.

Thomas Kodadek

Chairman, Molecular BioSystems Editorial Board

Sarah Thomas

Editor, Molecular BioSystems

Kathryn Sear

Deputy Editor, Molecular BioSystems

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