Abstract
Applied Biosafety (APB): Journal of ABSA International, is published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The journal publishes articles on a quarterly basis with evidence-based original research, reviews, and commentaries on critical biosafety problems, with a competitive median 25-day response to the first decision and 53 days to the final decision. We are pleased to announce that APB has received its first published Journal Impact Factor of 1.5. This metric recognizes that the journal is part of a globally recognized selective database of scholarly journals.
To promote biosafety awareness and education to the broader scientific and policymaking community, free access to seven research articles was provided for a limited time, an additional eight articles were made Open Access. There were >66,000 article downloads between January and June 2023, a 27% increase from January to June 2022. In addition, Scopus announced the 2022 CiteScore for APB articles published was 2.2, an increase of 47% from 2021. APB is fully searchable in Pub Med Central. The outstanding articles, and the support provided by the editorial board and publication team, enabled achievement of these goals.
Volume 28, Issue 1 contains a variety of novel and core biosafety topics spanning cross-training of safety professionals to build resilience, a strategy for sustainability when using consumables, assessment of mobile air purifiers using a biological challenge, implementing pandemic/epidemic preparedness measures for the future, and strengthening national biosecurity and biosafety. Volume 28, Issue 2 is a themed issue on evidence-based biosafety and contains several review articles summarizing biosafety knowledge and gaps for key pathogens and for viral replicon systems.
An original research article highlights laboratory exposure risks by measuring droplet release when opening tubes using various methods. Together, they provide applied guidance in biorisk management. Volume 28, Issue 3 contains a themed section focused on transformative biosafety innovations in risk assessment for gene therapy process manufacturing at large-scale, and the development of cell and gene therapy safety data sheets. Two articles explore decontamination of animal pathogens under laboratory and environmentally challenging conditions. Highlights in Volume 28, Issue 4 describe knowledge and gap analysis of priority pathogens, use of computational fluid dynamics in assessing exposure risks, and assessments of international biosafety governance and practices.
In 2023, LaTonya Clay was awarded the prestigious annual Award for the Best Paper by women and under-represented minorities for her work published in Applied Biosafety. The award is presented by the Rosalind Franklin Society in partnership with Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Dr. Clay's article “Monitoring Laboratory Occupational Exposures to Burkholderia pseudomallei” provided valuable and actionable information to inform decisions regarding the prevention of laboratory exposures and subsequent laboratory-acquired infections.
A special issue will be published in 2024 focusing on examining the potential risks posed by synthetic genomics technologies and proposed mitigation efforts. It will review existing and forthcoming government policies to determine whether there are gaps that still need to be addressed and consider the role of biosafety and biosecurity experts in the development of policies and guidance. The deadline for submission is December 1, 2023.
We thank our outstanding reviewers and authors for their informative contributions to the journal. We invite article submissions from leading investigators in the field and encourage you to take a moment to recommend the journal to your library.
—Barbara Johnson and Karen Byers
Coeditors-in-Chief