Abstract
“Articles in press are now available for viewership by ALA members…”
Last year JALA's scientific content was made available to the public via JALA Online (www.labautomation.org) 2 years after its initial publication. This decision was made with the expectation that it would increase JALA's reach and impact throughout the scientific community while still providing an exclusive benefit for ALA members. I am happy to report that this has, indeed, been the case. During the first month of open access alone, page views more than tripled. Since then, we have maintained pace at more than double the previous norm with the top users coming from the fields of automated biology/HTS, engineering/informatics, biomedical science, automated chemistry, and clinical automation.
As JALA continues its growth and evolution as a multidisciplinary international forum devoted to the advancement of translational technology for biology and medicine, its online presence has once again been enhanced. Articles in press are now available for viewership by ALA members and on a pay-per-view basis for nonmembers. Articles in press are peer-reviewed, accepted, copyedited, and author corrected scientific papers that are published via JALA Online in manuscript form before they are published in print. Making articles in press available online benefits ALA members by significantly expediting their access to important scientific information and expertise.
This editorial expansion is made possible by JALA's growing popularity among authors. Rapidly increasing submission rates coupled with the JALA Spirit of Mentorship have built a comfortable pipeline of high-impact scientific manuscripts encompassing original research that is serving as the foundation of innovation at the interface of biology and technology. This is exemplified by the articles presented in this special issue, which includes contributions from leading global figures in nanomedicine covering the domains of translational therapeutics, diagnostics/sensing, and micro/nanofabrication.
In addition to allowing JALA readers to take advantage of the information and ideas presented in these manuscripts sooner rather than later, articles in press also serve authors by allowing their work to be showcased more promptly and allowing their work to join the rapidly evolving communities that they impact—a win-win proposition!
JALA continues to serve as a cornerstone of ALA's educational foundation by providing new scientific experiences and perspectives on a year-round basis. ALA members have always ranked JALA as the number one benefit of membership, and we hope these online enhancements will keep it at the top of their list while showcasing its seminal advancements throughout the scientific community at large. If you haven't browsed through JALA Online lately, I invite you to do so soon. I think you'll see why regular users rely on it as a vital problem-solving and information-sharing resource.
Sincerely,
Dean Ho, Ph.D.