The changing world of modern cell biology

Change is always ambiguous. There is the enticing prospect of novelty and better times ahead, but at the same time the concern of losing the good of the past. It is with these sentiments that I take over as the Editor-in-Chief from Ira Mellman who for a decade has cleverly and effectively lead the JCB. During this time he directed and oversaw an extensive modernization of the journal and guided it through dramatic changes in the publishing world. Ira lead the journal with unyielding dedication and enthusiasm and we in the cell biology community must thank him profoundly for his service. It is his work, together with the invaluable contribution of the best editorial board and the most dedicated professional editorial staff in the scientific publishing business, that allows me to now take over the stewardship of the JCB with a tremendous sense of excitement and determination to continue and expand the JCB's role as the leading journal in the cell biology community and as a trendsetter in the rapidly changing world of modern cell biology.     

On Some Prospects of Research on Sense-Based Formations of the Personality

The editorial board of the journal Voprosy psikhologii [Problems of Psychology] organized a round-table discussion, in April 1988, on all the problems in restructuring [perestroika] psychological science.

The present issue publishes articles submitted to the editorial board on problems of perestroika in educational psychology, a discussion of problems in the methodology of psychological science, materials analyzing progressive pedagogical experience, and a selection of short talks given at sessions of the round-table organizing committee.     

I Publish in I Edit? - Do Editorial Board Members of Urologic Journals Preferentially Publish Their Own Scientific Work?

Scientists who are members of an editorial board have been accused of preferentially publishing their scientific work in the journal where they serve as editor. Reputation and academic standing do depend on an uninterrupted flow of published scientific work and the question does arise as to whether publication mainly occurs in the self-edited journal. This investigation was designed to determine whether editorial board members of five urological journals were more likely to publish their research reports in their own rather than in other journals. A retrospective analysis was conducted for all original reports published from 2001–2010 by 65 editorial board members nominated to the boards of five impact leading urologic journals in 2006. Publications before editorial board membership, 2001–2005, and publications within the period of time as an editorial board member, 2006–2010, were identified. The impact factors of the journals were also recorded over the time period 2001–2010 to see whether a change in impact factor correlated with publication locality. In the five journals as a whole, scientific work was not preferentially published in the journal in which the scientists served as editor. However, significant heterogeneity among the journals was evident. One journal showed a significant increase in the amount of published papers in the ‘own’ journal after assumption of editorship, three journals showed no change and one journal showed a highly significant decrease in publishing in the ‘own’ journal after assumption of editorship.     

Problems of the Psychology of Memory in the Works of P. I. Zinchenko (On His 75th Birthday)

1978 marked the 75th birthday of Petr Ivanovich Zinchenko, well known to Soviet and foreign psychologists as an outstanding scientist who has made a major contribution to theoretical and practical research on the psychology of memory. He has published more than a hundred works pertaining to studies of various aspects of memory processes in man.     

GPB at 10

The arrival of 2013 marked the 10th anniversary of Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics - GPB. According to our outline [1], we have been improving GPB with visible benchmarks and events. First, the numbers of submissions and published articles have both reached the highest in the history of GPB. Second, a special issue on microRNAs was successfully edited by our board members Tongbin Li and William Cho     

A survey of biomedical journals to detect editorial bias and nepotistic behavior

Alongside the growing concerns regarding predatory journal growth, other questionable editorial practices have gained visibility recently. Among them, we explored the usefulness of the Percentage of Papers by the Most Prolific author (PPMP) and the Gini index (level of inequality in the distribution of authorship among authors) as tools to identify journals that may show favoritism in accepting articles by specific authors. We examined whether the PPMP, complemented by the Gini index, could be useful for identifying cases of potential editorial bias, using all articles in a sample of 5,468 biomedical journals indexed in the National Library of Medicine. For articles published between 2015 and 2019, the median PPMP was 2.9%, and 5% of journal exhibited a PPMP of 10.6% or more. Among the journals with the highest PPMP or Gini index values, where a few authors were responsible for a disproportionate number of publications, a random sample was manually examined, revealing that the most prolific author was part of the editorial board in 60 cases (61%). The papers by the most prolific authors were more likely to be accepted for publication within 3 weeks of their submission. Results of analysis on a subset of articles, excluding nonresearch articles, were consistent with those of the principal analysis. In most journals, publications are distributed across a large number of authors. Our results reveal a subset of journals where a few authors, often members of the editorial board, were responsible for a disproportionate number of publications. To enhance trust in their practices, journals need to be transparent about their editorial and peer review practices.

Alongside the growing concerns regarding predatory journal growth, other questionable editorial practices have gained visibility recently. This study explores the relationship between hyper-prolific authors and a journal’s editorial team, finding a subset of journals where a few authors, often members of the editorial board, were responsible for a disproportionate number of publications.     

Under-Representation of Women on Dental Journal Editorial Boards

Introduction

Each journal’s editorial and advisory board plays a critical role in resolving gender bias in the peer-review and publication process. Thus, this study aimed to quantify women’s participation in editorial and advisory boards of major dental journals. Gender data on editorial and advisory boards were extracted from major dental journals, which were then categorized by journal specialty focus. The gender of the editor-in-chief and associate editor-in-chief was noted to assess the effect of journal leadership on women’s participation in journal boards. For comparison purposes, data were also obtained regarding the percentage of women faculty for each dental specialty.

Results

Overall, in the major 69 dental journals, 14.8% of editorial board members were women. An one-way ANOVA analysis revealed statistically significant gender differences between journal specialty categories (p = 0.003) with some dental specialties’ journals demonstrating a relatively high participation of women as editorial board members. There was a significant positive correlation for various dental specialties between women’s representation in editorial and advisory boards and women in similar dental academic specialties (p = 0.02, r² = 0.55). Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the presence of women in journal editorial leadership and the percentage of women serving as advisory board members (p = 0.03). Our results confirmed that the under-representation of women on dental journal editorial boards was significantly different between dental science specialties. When there were more women in journal editorial leadership positions, there was a higher participation of women as editorial and advisory board members. Journals should increase the numbers of women on editorial boards in order to secure diversity, improve publication quality and recognize women’s contribution to dental science.     

关注学科前沿，促进学术交流——站在新起点的2009年Science China: Life Sciences

《中国科学》杂志英文版生命科学辑Science China: Life Sciences在2009年进行了全面的改革,贯彻“关注学科前沿,促进学术交流”的编辑出版方针,刊发了5个前沿学科专题,包括基因组学研究,非编码RNA与RNA组学,高致病性禽流感病毒,表观遗传学,干细胞——从分子病理到临床应用,发表了近200篇学术论文,使刊物从形式到内容都展现了一个新的水平．以此为标志,刊物正站在一个前进的新起点,以全新的态势开始其发展的新里程．就此对已发表的一些重要学术论文作一简要回顾和评述．     

Editor's Introduction

This issue of Soviet Psychology focuses on Vladimir P. Zinchenko, whose work on visual thinking has previously appeared in this journal (Winter 1973-74, Vol. XII, No. 2).     

Impact analysis of a regional scientific journal (1980-2000): supporting promising local researchers pays the greatest dividends

During the past 28 years, the journal "Collegium Antropologicum" has continuously served as one of the main disseminators of anthropological scientific production in Central and Eastern Europe. The journal was committed to its role of a multidisciplinary platform for presenting wide range of research topics relevant to anthropology, from investigations within social and cultural anthropology and archaeology to those covering contemporary population genetics, human evolution and biomedical issues. Two key strategies aimed at sustaining and increasing the impact of this journal were oriented towards: (i) identification of promising local groups of researchers who were at disadvantage by many aspects (e.g. educational curricula, financial supports, language barriers etc.) when trying to publish their research internationally, and (ii) invitation and encouragement of already established international scientists to make contributions for "Collegium Antropologicum". From 1980-2000, 89 articles (or 6.3% of all published papers during that period) were cited 6 or more times, contributing disproportionately to journal's impact (nearly a third of all citations received). In an attempt to identify such papers more readily among the submissions to the journal in the future, we analyzed research topics and affiliations of the authors among the 89 papers receiving most citations in comparison to all papers published. Among the papers most frequently cited, we found greater-than-expected prevalence of Croatian researchers (especially when publishing in collaboration with international scientists) and studies of special populations. Several papers received more than 25 citations or had overall citation intensity greater than 2 per year. This implies that an interesting article from a local group of researchers can still resonate with international audience although published in a regional journal. Present analysis supports current editorial strategy that with a help of the international consulting editorial board continuously improves international recognition of this journal. The results imply that a balanced encouragement to promising local groups of researchers and to contributions of already established international scientists is a strategy superior to others in maintaining and increasing the impact of this regional journal.     

Herbert Tabor (1918–1920): obituary.

This invited Letter commemorates the life and scientific legacy of Dr. Herbert Tabor (1918–1920), a leading scientist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland and former Chief Editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Dr. Herbert Tabor in his second floor laboratory of Building 8 taken in 2005 (photo credit Dr. Harry Saroff).Herbert Tabor was born in New York City on November 28th, 1918, at the start of the “Spanish Flu” pandemic. After attending public schools in the city, he matriculated in 1935 to Harvard College, where he studied biochemical science and he entered Harvard Medical School in 1937. In his final year, Herb worked in the Department of Biological Chemistry with A. Baird Hastings to determine the ionization constant of MgHPO4. This work was published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry, marking the beginning of his long involvement with the journal.After graduation in 1942, Herb held an internship at Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he engaged in some laboratory work in clinical chemistry. While there, Herb performed the first therapeutic injection of penicillin in the USA, rapidly curing the patient of severe septicemia. The country being at war, in January 1943, he was commissioned in the US Public Health Service and served as medical officer on a US Coast Guard cutter, which was providing escort service to North Atlantic convoys. The following September, he was transferred to The National Institutes of Health, which had just moved to a new site in Bethesda Maryland, then a small town outside of Washington D.C. Herb was assigned to work with Sanford Rosenthal, who was interested in the electrolyte imbalance response to trauma and burn injuries and how these might be treated by administration of saline solution. In 1946, Herb married Celia White, who he had met in Boston, some years earlier. That same year, he helped form a lunch time seminar group to discuss the biochemical literature. Founding members included other biochemist luminaries such as Leon Heppel, Bernie Horecker and Arthur Kornberg.Meetings were held every day and the seminar lasted for many years through many changes in participants. In the early 1960’s, during a casual conversation at the seminar, Herb was surprised to discover the origin of the penicillin which he had administered in 1942. It had been prepared by an NIH colleague, Gil Ashwell, who had worked at Merck at the time. The drug was considered so precious, that Gil also had the job of its recovery from the patient’s urine. Herb and Celia moved into commissioned officer housing, conveniently located on the NIH campus in 1949. This was just 10 min from the laboratory. This is where they raised their family and stayed for over 70 years. Celia left George Washington University in 1952 and joined Herb at NIH. They began their work together on the biosynthesis, function and genetics of polyamines in normal and cancerous cells. This would occupy the rest of their careers. Sanford Rosenthal retired in 1961 and Herb took over as chief of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, NIAMD (as it then was). He held this position until 1999.It is impossible to write about Herb Tabor without remembering his long association with The Journal of Biological Chemistry. He served on the editorial board from 1961 to 1966 and was appointed as an executive editor in 1968. Following the resignation of William Stein, he was promoted to editor in chief in 1971. Herb was devoted to all aspects of publishing the journal, though he did say that he was pleased that restrictions on his primary role as a civil servant got him out of many telephone calls from disgruntled authors. During his tenure, the annual output of published papers increased more than fourfold, with accompanying increases in the size of the editorial board. He was the moving force behind changing the journal to an electronic format. Initially this involved parallel publication of papers on CD-ROM in 1992. Finally, in 1995 the journal was moved onto the internet. J. Biol. Chem. was one of the first biological journals to make this move. Herb stood down as executive editor in 2010, assuming the title of co-editor.During his career, Herb received many prestigious awards. Notably, in 1971, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in 1977, to the National Academy of Sciences and in 1986, the Hillebrand Award from the American Chemical Society. Montgomery County, MD recognized his scientific achievements, by naming November 28th 2018, his hundredth birthday, as Dr. Herbert Tabor Day. Celia retired from NIH in 2005 and died in 2012. Herb never talked about retirement. Publishing his last scientific paper in 2019 (Keller et al. 2019) he passed away in his sleep on August 20th 2020, at his home on the NIH campus. He is survived by his four children, Edward, Marilyn, Richard and Stanley, together with 10 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.     

Richard G.W. Anderson (1940-2011) and the birth of receptor-mediated endocytosis

On March 19, 2011, the discipline of cell biology lost a creative force with the passing of Richard G.W. Anderson, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. An unabashed chauvinist for cell biology, Dick served for many years on the editorial board of The Journal of Cell Biology and the Council of the American Society for Cell Biology. He died of glioblastoma multiforme six days before his 71st birthday.     

New journal: Algorithms for Molecular Biology

This editorial announces Algorithms for Molecular Biology, a new online open access journal published by BioMed Central. By launching the first open access journal on algorithmic bioinformatics, we provide a forum for fast publication of high-quality research articles in this rapidly evolving field. Our journal will publish thoroughly peer-reviewed papers without length limitations covering all aspects of algorithmic data analysis in computatioal biology. Publications in Algorithms for Molecular Biology are easy to find, highly visible and tracked by organisations such as PubMed. An established online submission system makes a fast reviewing procedure possible and enables us to publish accepted papers without delay. All articles published in our journal are permanently archived by PubMed Central and other scientific archives. We are looking forward to receiving your contributions.     

The Zeus of Kharkov Psychology

The controversial questions of the relations between L.S. Vygotsky’s theory of development of higher mental functions and A.N. Leontiev’s activity theory are considered in the context of the theoretical principles of the research of P.I. Zinchenko. In the author’s view, these theories are mutually complementary and potentially could be combined into a single theory. A survey of the key results of the research conducted by Zinchenko in voluntary and involuntary mediated memory is presented. Thanks to the high heuristic potential of the cultural-historical and activity-based approaches, original methodologies were developed and empirical studies were performed on fundamental mnemic effects, which much later were independently “rediscovered” in cognitive psychology (including the generation effect and the depth-of-processing effect). The patterns identified by P.I. Zinchenko in the development of mediated voluntary and involuntary memory are also of great importance in the context of current research in the age-related development of memory.     

A self-study of editorial board diversity at Biological Invasions

Biological Invasions - The editorial board of this journal, Biological Invasions, aims to publish research that informs understanding of the patterns and processes of invasions and discussion of...     

Australia's place in the global restoration challenge: Interview with Richard Hobbs

Summary   This interview with Professor Richard Hobbs, a prominent Australian researcher, professor and journal editor, traces his involvement in ecology and the relatively new disciplines of landscape ecology and restoration ecology. Born and educated as a plant ecologist in Scotland, Richard undertook postdoctoral research in the USA before taking up a series of research positions in Australia that steered him towards landscape ecology and restoration ecology. Having maintained an interest and involvement in international organizations, Richard provides comment in this interview on the progress of ecological restoration practice in Australasia compared to North America and comments on the need for ensuring research in these disciplines is strongly linked to management, is as broadly relevant as possible, and, is carried out at appropriate scales.     

Investigations on Educational and Child Psychology in Armenia

The leading Soviet psychology journal, Problems of Psychology, which is a major source of articles for this journal, regularly contains summary articles on research. Sometimes these reviews summarize a particular topic of research (e.g., programmed instruction); sometimes, as in the case of this article on Armenian psychology, the review covers research from a particular locale.     

Editor's Note

I am pleased to announce the addition of four distinguished psychologists to the editorial board of this journal. Consistent with the broadening of the journal's focus to include East European countries as well as Russia, the new board members are our initial representatives from Eastern Europe.     

In Honor of the President of the Congress: A. N. Leont'Yev-Lenin Prize Laureate

The editorial staff of the journal Voprosy psikhologii and the Soviet psychological community heartily congratulate Aleksey Nikolayevich Leont'yev on receiving the highest scientific award — the Lenin Prize — for his book Problemy razvitiya psikhiki [Problems of mental development].     

努力打造一流学术期刊,积极推动植物科学发展——庆祝《广西植物》创刊40周年

在庆祝《广西植物》创刊40周年之际,回顾了《广西植物》的发展历程,可分为4个阶段:初创内部刊物,萌芽起步; 国内外公开发行,期刊影响力提升; 抓住机遇,实现期刊跨越式发展; 打造期刊品牌特色,以特色栏目带动期刊整体发展。以创刊以来发表的学术论文为研究对象,基于中国知网和CNKI中国引文数据库的数据,使用引证分析法,从发文信息量、报道对象、稿源及作者队伍特点、论文资助项目、被国内期刊引用情况、发表文章下载量等方面分析了期刊的学术影响力。总结了期刊在以下方面所取得的成绩:发现人才和培养人才,为人才的成长提供优良平台; 期刊评价的各项指标提升,期刊影响力扩大; 围绕国家战略和重大社会需求,策划研究热点,打造学科特色栏目; 扩大作者群和读者群,加强编委会建设等。展望未来,面临巨大挑战。对此,笔者提出以下设想:第一,围绕创新型国家和科技强国建设任务,提升期刊的学术引领能力和品牌影响力; 第二,聚焦国家重大战略需求,围绕重大主题打造重点专栏、组织专题和专刊,服务经济社会发展主战场。第三,顺应媒体融合发展趋势,适应移动化、智能化的发展方向,探索全媒体出版等新型出版模式,加快期刊融合发展。第四,适度增加国际编委比例,提供论文英文长摘要,加强双语学术网站建设,提升开放办刊水平和国际传播能力,努力打造国内一流并具有国际影响力的学术期刊。