A Process of Invitation

JALA accepts scientific manuscripts on an ongoing basis throughout the year.

With this issue of JALA, I mark the beginning of my second year as executive editor. As I do so, I am amazed by how quickly the last year passed. We began 2007 with an impressive special issue on programming languages and automation by Guest Editor Neil Benn of Cenex BioScience in Germany. In October, we followed up with our annual showcase of work from LabAutomation2007 by Guest Editor Anthony Lozada of Velocity11. In between, we published 4 general issues comprised of 12 original reports, 19 technical briefs, 31 technology reviews, 3 feature stories, 1 tutorial, and 40 regular columns.

As I look forward to 2008, I am pleased to say JALA will publish another volume of first class scientific manuscripts from a range of specialties, including drug discovery and development, food and agricultural science, forensics and security science, clinical molecular diagnostics, and more. In the process, we will continue to embrace the JALA Spirit of Mentorship, offering patient guidance and informed direction to committed authors.

The members of the JALA Editorial Board and other JALA manuscript reviewers play a key role in the JALA Spirit of Mentorship. Their willingness to share their expertise and to work with authors to find ways to make papers publishable is what differentiates the JALA team from other editorial referees. The JALA peer-review process is not a process of elimination. It is a process of invitation.

Last year, nearly 200 different lab automation professionals accepted this invitation, and published their work in JALA. This year, we encourage ALA members and nonmembers alike to build on this important momentum. JALA accepts scientific manuscripts on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Please consider accepting our invitation and sharing your achievements with the lab automation community. Manuscript submission information is posted at www.labautomation.org.

Sincerely,

Douglas Gurevitch, P.E.