Molecular Biosciences Virtual Library

Announcing a New Computational Biology Community Journal

It is with great pleasure that we announce the launch of PLoS Computational Biology {http://www.ploscompbiol.org}, published in partnership by the Public Library of Science {http://www.plos.org} (PLoS) and the International Society for Computational Biology {http://www.iscb.org} (ISCB). An open access, peer-reviewed journal publishing significant biological advances that arise through computation, PLoS Computational Biology officially commences publication in June, 2005 at ISCB's 13th Annual International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB 2005). *We are now accepting submissions and are writing to ask that you submit your best computational biology research to this exciting new community resource.*

PLoS Computational Biology is something different at an important time in the evolution of our field. Computational methods are playing an increasingly central role in diverse areas of biological inquiry. PLoS Computational Biology is a journal of broad scope regarding biological scales, with computation at its heart. Until now, there has been no single publication that focuses on the important contributions to the understanding of living systems afforded by computation. The Editors and the Advisory Board are committed to offering a recognized single venue for high quality works with real biological outcomes that can be appreciated by experimentalists working at different biological scales, perhaps to the point of adopting the methods presented in their own work.

Coupled with immediate free access to all content, PLoS Computational Biology provides an excellent consultative system of peer review, in which a team of leading academic editors generate constructive and efficient feedback. PLoS Computational Biology is accessible to all, and immediately searchable via PubMed. In addition, you retain the copyrights, and give the broadest possible
audience -- scientists all over the world -- the ability to read, copy and use your findings in their own setting. Submitted papers receive an initial review for suitability for the journal within 2-4 working days. If suitable, a complete review is returned within 3-4 weeks.

By being published in partnership with ISCB, PLoS Computational Biology is already primed by 2000 members as potential authors, and the credibility afforded by an active, young, international society. To review the quality and scope of the articles we publish, and the relationship PLoS already enjoys with the computational community, please have a look at the relevant papers published in PLoS Biology over the past year at http://www.ploscompbiol.org/papers.html, such as:

Patterns of Intron Gain and Loss in Fungi {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0020422}

In Silico Reconstitution of Listeria Propulsion Exhibits Nano-Saltation {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0020412}

The Roles of APC and Axin Derived from Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of the Wnt Pathway {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0000010}

Design and Diversity in Bacterial Chemotaxis: A Comparative Study in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0020049}

Semi-Supervised Methods to Predict Patient Survival from Gene Expression Data {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0020108}

Ecology Drives the Worldwide Distribution of Human Diseases {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0020141}

Topology and Robustness in the Drosophila Segment Polarity Network {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0020123}

Noise Minimization in Eukaryotic Gene Expression {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0020137}

Motifs in Brain Networks {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0020369}

Textpresso: An Ontology-Based Information Retrieval and Extraction System
for Biological Literature {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0020309}

The most important aspect of PLoS Computational Biology is that the quality, content, and ultimate responsibility for these journals rests with us, the scientific community. Leading researchers orchestrate the peer review of the best science with editorial support from PLoS staff. Concurrently, computational and information scientists are poised to make the most of the digital medium. Join us in creating the next generation of scholarly journals by submitting your papers. For ongoing information about this journal and research publication alerts, sign up at: http://www.ploscompbiol.org. If you would like to send a presubmission inquiry to find out whether your paper might be appropriate for PLoS Computational Biology, now is a great time to get in touch. Send us an e-mail at ploscompbiol@plos.org.

Best regards,

Philip E. Bourne
Editor-in-Chief

Advisors:

Steven Brenner (for ISCB)
Michael Eisen (for PLoS)

Associate Editors:

Sebastian Bonhoeffer
Peer Bork
Chris Burge
Richard Durbin
Jonathan Eisen
David Eisenberg
Mark Gerstein
David Haussler
Steve Henikoff
David Hillis
Eddie Holmes
Peter Hunter
Simon Levin
Wen-Hsiung Li
John Mattick
Diana Murray
Andrej Sali
Chris Sander
Arend Sidow
Janet Thornton

Posted by Kevin Messner at January 14, 2005 12:42 AM