EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
editor ial
William S. Hancock Barnett Institute and Department of Chemistry Northeastern University 360 Huntington Avenue 341 Mugar Bldg. Boston, MA 02115 617-373-4881; fax 617-373-2855
[email protected] ASSOCIATE EDITORS
A Problem of Modern Science: The Minimum Publishable Unit
Joshua LaBaer Harvard Medical School
György Marko-Varga AstraZeneca and Lund University
CONSULTING EDITOR
Jeremy Nicholson Imperial College London
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Ruedi H. Aebersold ETH Hönggerberg
Leigh Anderson Plasma Proteome Institute
Ettore Appella U.S. National Cancer Institute
Rolf Apweiler European Bioinformatics Institute
Ronald Beavis Manitoba Centre for Proteomics
John J. M. Bergeron McGill University
Richard Caprioli Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Christine Colvis U.S. National Institutes of Health
Catherine Fenselau University of Maryland
Daniel Figeys University of Ottawa
Sam Hanash Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Stanley Hefta Bristol-Myers Squibb
Denis Hochstrasser University of Geneva
Donald F. Hunt University of Virginia
Barry L. Karger Northeastern University
Daniel C. Liebler Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Lance Liotta George Mason University
Matthias Mann Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry
David Muddiman North Carolina State University
Gilbert S. Omenn University of Michigan
Aran Paulus Bio-Rad Laboratories
Jasna Peter-Katalini´c University of Muenster
Emanuel Petricoin George Mason University
Ruth VanBogelen Pfizer Global Research & Development
Peter Wagner Zyomyx
efore I discuss this scourge of modern science, I would like to recall the origins of the Journal of Proteome Research as a sister journal of the flagship publication in the analytical field, Analytical Chemistry. I was an associate editor of Analytical Chemistry for some nine years and established a close relationship with the editor, Royce Murray. When JPR was launched, I left that position to assume my duties as editor of the new journal. I appreciated the support of Royce in this transition and his confidence that the two journals could synergistically serve the rapidly expanding bioanalytical field. Since then, he and I have been in touch occasionally to discuss matters related to publications in this shared area and to deal with some ethical issues. I thus acknowledge Royce’s insights into the publication process in the following observations, which I think will be of value to JPR authors and reviewers. With the rapid growth of the proteomics field and the proliferation of tools in information processing, many journals in the field have experienced a rapid increase in the number of manuscripts submitted. Much of this growth is a result of welcome dynamism in the field. But some of the increase is less positive: It can be attributed to the slicing and dicing of studies and the publication of incremental advances. Furthermore, in some cases, there is the added problem of the lack of proper and complete referencing. The editor is forced to conclude that, in such cases, authors are deliberately subdividing research into multiple papers with the goal of padding their résumés and supporting their grant applications. A journal’s defense against such behavior is a robust review process. In fact, many papers are declined by referees because the research described is an incremental advance; this is especially true when the referees can see the citations of previous work. I therefore view the omission of citations to related work that has been submitted or is in press as an ethical violation of the review process. The following information has been reproduced from various parts of the ACS’s Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Research (underline added for emphasis): An author should cite those publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work and that will guide the reader quickly to the earlier work that is essential for understanding the present investigation. . . . An author is obligated to perform a literature search to find, and then cite, the original publications that describe closely related work. Fragmentation of research reports should be avoided. A scientist who has done extensive work on a system or group of related systems should organize publication so that each report gives a well-rounded account of a particular aspect of the general study. Fragmentation consumes journal space excessively and unduly complicates literature searches. In submitting a manuscript for publication, an author should inform the editor of related manuscripts that the author has under editorial consideration or in press. Copies of those manuscripts should be supplied to the editor, and the relationships of such manuscripts to the one submitted should be indicated. I hope that this editorial helps to ensure the continuing success of the journal, which has as a primary goal the publication of high-quality, original research. And I thank all of the authors who carefully reference the literature and who want to build a résumé of solid, substantial papers. You are the foundation on which we are building a successful journal.
B
Keith Williams Proteome Systems
Qi-Chang Xia Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry
John R. Yates, III The Scripps Research Institute
© 2005 American Chemical Society
Journal of Proteome Research • Vol. 4, No. 6, 2005
1895
