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Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology – First year anniversary

First year anniversary

One year after launch, Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology has been evaluated as one of the most successful BioMed Central Independent journals. Out of 185 submitted manuscripts, 146 articles have been published to date; 77 are Research articles, three Debates, two Editorials, two Hypotheses and 62 Reviews. An Open Access policy attracts both the authors and the readers.

The most accessed articles are those originating from thematic mini-review fora, which have been initiated and co-ordinated by editorial board members. They include: "Recent advancements in corpus luteum development, function, maintenance and regression" – coordinated by Dr. John S. Davis and Dr. Bo R. Rueda, "Ovarian cancer" – coordinated by Dr. Peter C. K. Leung, "New technologies for genetic manipulation of animal models" – coordinated by Dr. John F. Engelhardt and Dr. Ziyi Li, "Toward therapeutic cloning and regenerative biology research" – coordinated by Dr. Xiangzhong Yang, "Fertility and pregnancy" – coordinated by Dr. Marek Glezerman, "Extracellular matrix" coordinated by Dr. Daniel D. Carson, "Frontiers in reproductive immunology" – coordinated by Dr. Peter J. Hansen, and "New approaches to male infertility" – coordinated by Dr. Maciej K. Kurpisz. Forum "Mini reviews on Trophoblast" – coordinated by Dr. Thomas E. Spencer and Dr. Fuller W. Bazer, is currently close to be completed. In addition, a set of mini-review articles from "International Embryo Transfer Society Post Conference Proceedings" – coordinated by Dr. Don P. Wolf, Dr. Richard L. Stouffer and Dr. Mary B. Zelinski-Wooten, is under preparation for publication. In the near future, the Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology editorial board will continue to determine important topics for thematic mini review series and invite leading scientists to contribute.

Content overview

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology represents a global platform for reproductive and developmental biologists, reproductive endocrinologists, immunologists, theriogenologists, infertility specialists, obstetricians, gynecologists, andrologists, urogynecologists, specialists in menopause, reproductive tract oncologists, and reproductive epidemiologists. The journal scope covers gametogenesis, fertilization, early embryonic development, embryo-uterus interaction, reproductive development, pregnancy, uterine biology, endocrinology of reproduction, control of reproduction, reproductive immunology, neuroendocrinology, and veterinary and human reproductive medicine (except Case Reports). All vertebrate species are covered. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology also covers clinical subjects such as the pathophysiology of reproduction (e.g. sterility, infertility and abnormal pregnancy, and reproductive tract infections), age-associated changes and disorders of the reproductive tract (e.g. peri- and postmenopausal periods, urinary incontinence and other pelvic floor disorders, impact of hormone replacement therapy), reproductive tissue cancers (e.g. prostate, ovary, uterus, cervix, breast), and the impact of environmental and occupational hazards on reproduction.

Journal indexing

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology is currently indexed in PubMed, PubMed Central, Medline, Scirus, Google, Citebase, and OAIster, The BioMed Central is working closely with the Institute for Scientific Information to ensure that citation analysis of our articles, including those already published, will be available.

Article types considered and benefits for contributors

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology considers the following types of articles: Research, Review, Hypothesis, and Methodology. Debate article types include Letters, News & Commentary sections in order to highlight recent breakthroughs in a given field and to discuss controversial topics. They also include introduction and comments to the sets of mini-review articles.

Articles are published online immediately upon acceptance (after peer review) and all article types are freely and universally accessible to everyone, either through the Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology homepage, or PubMed Central (the NIH's free access archive for research in the life sciences), as well as being listed in PubMed. Just one click, no password is required. Rapid and broad dissemination of research results enables accelerated referencing of articles, contributing to the success of applications for funding. Access statistics give the authors information on the number of individuals who actually read his/her contribution. The journal enables fast publication of good science with Open Access to the public. Decisions about manuscript acceptance are based on the quality of the work, not on whether the authors can pay the article-processing charge. The processing charge is waived for contributors from developing countries.

Contributors to Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology will benefit from:

1) Fast and professional peer review of manuscripts.

2) Unlimited number of color charts and high quality color figures.

3) Immediate publication upon acceptance.

4) World-wide Open Access to full versions of all Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology publications through PubMed as well as our own site http://rbej.com/home

5) Article access statistics: total and within the last 7 days.

6) Copyright to the work remains with the corresponding author.

7) Rapid and broad dissemination of research results through fast publication and wider readership online.

Submission of manuscripts

Research articles submitted to RB&E should be complete and final scientific reports. Incomplete or preliminary studies will not be considered for publication. Manuscripts must be submitted to RB&E electronically using the online submission system. Full details of how to submit a manuscript are given in the online instructions for authors. Essential (abbreviated) instructions for authors can be requested from the RB&E Editorial Office, rbe@utk.edu.

Peer review

Our contributors benefit from the excellent expertise of our registered internal referees, with a spectrum of specialists for all subjects covered by the journal. The Editorial office is capable of recruiting three relevant reviewers within days, and an Editorial decision is made within three to four weeks. I would like to thank all referees delivering high quality comments within two weeks after receiving complete manuscripts. In my opinion, it is unfair to the authors and potential readers to make an Editorial decision based on the opinion of one or two referees only. The peer review process should be fair, helping the authors to improve their manuscript when the science is good, but prevent publication of manuscripts without sufficient scientific merit. The rejection rate of research articles is 20%. When undecided, the Editorial Office recruits additional referees. According to the Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology's internal rules, the review process of Editor-in-Chief scientific contributions is managed by one of the Deputy Editors. The "Editorials" are subjected to the review by the BioMed Central.

Open access policy

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology's Open Access policy changes the way in which articles are published. First, all articles become freely and universally accessible online; so an author's work can be read by anyone at no cost. Second, the authors hold copyright for their work and grant anyone the right to reproduce and disseminate the article, provided that it is correctly cited and no errors are introduced [1]. Third, a copy of the full text of each Open Access article is permanently archived in an online repository separate from the journal. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology's articles are archived in PubMed Central [2], the US National Library of Medicine's full-text repository of life science literature, and also in repositories at the University of Potsdam in Germany [3], at INIST in France [4] and in e-Depot, the National Library of the Netherlands' digital archive of all electronic publications [5].

Open Access has four broad benefits for science and the general public. First, authors are assured that their work is disseminated to the widest possible audience, given that there are no barriers to reading their work. This is accentuated by the authors being free to reproduce and distribute their work, for example by placing it on their institution's website. It has been suggested that free online articles are more highly cited because of their easier availability [6]. Second, the information available to researchers will not be limited by their library's budget, and the widespread availability of articles will enhance literature searching [7]. Third, the results of publicly funded research will be accessible to all taxpayers and not just those with access to a library with a subscription. As such, Open Access could help to increase public interest in, and support of, research. Note that this public accessibility may become a legal requirement in the USA if the proposed Public Access to Science Act is made law [8]. Fourth, a country's economy will not influence its scientists' ability to access articles because resource-poor countries (and institutions) will be able to read the same material as wealthier ones (although creating access to the internet is another matter [9]).

References

  1. BioMed Central Open Access Charter. [http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/about/charter]

  2. PubMed Central. [http://www.pubmedcentral.org]

  3. Potsdam. [http://www.uni-potsdam.de/over/homegd.htm]

  4. INIST. [http://www.inist.fr/index_en.php]

  5. e-Depot. [http://www.kb.nl/]

  6. Lawrence S: Free online availability substantially increases a paper's impact. Nature. 2001, 411: 521-10.1038/35079151.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Velterop J: Should scholarly societies embrace Open Access (or is it the kiss of death)?. Learned Publishing. 2003, 16: 167-169. 10.1087/095315103322110932.

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  8. Open Access law introduced. [http://www.the-scientist.com/news/20030627/04]

  9. Tan-Torres Edejer T: Disseminating health information in developing countries: the role of the internet. BMJ. 2000, 321: 797-800. 10.1136/bmj.321.7264.797.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Correspondence to Antonin Bukovsky.

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Bukovsky, A. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology – First year anniversary. Reprod Biol Endocrinol 2, 27 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7827-2-27

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