Abstract
Dear Colleagues,
I am honored to have been chosen as the new Editor-in-Chief of Tumor Biology. Much has changed since the Journal was launched in 1980. Initially known under the name of Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine, it is the official journal of The International Society of Oncology and Biomarkers (ISOBM), founded by scientists researching the proteins involved in embryonic development as tumor markers. These included Dr. Gary Abelev, who discovered alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), and Dr. Phil Gold, who discovered carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Over the years, following major developments in experimental and clinical cancer research, the scope of the journal has broadened, and Tumor Biology has become one of the largest (in terms of the number of publications) in the field of tumor biology. In 2016, the journal reached an Impact Factor of 3.650 (Source: 2016 Journal Citation Reports®, Clarivate Analytics, 2017).
I would like to acknowledge the support and cooperation of our new publisher. When SAGE Publishing took over in January this year, Tumor Biology became fully open access, so that the articles are now readily available to the research community. We also have a distinguished Editorial Board, including internationally recognized opinion leaders, and I am grateful to those new members of the Board who recently agreed to join us, as well as to the existing membership. I will be relying on your expertise and advice to help shape and develop the journal. I will also be open to readers’ suggestions for improving the journal. Please share your thoughts and ideas with me at
I would also like to express my gratitude to my predecessor, Professor Torgny Stigbrand, who has been fully committed to the journal for 17 years and who has been enormously helpful during this transition period.
My vision for Tumor Biology is to maintain and enhance its important position as a cancer research journal, publishing high-quality articles, significant and interesting for tumor biology scientists, diagnosticians, and oncologists worldwide. To achieve this objective, I will continue to focus on tumor markers/molecular biomarkers, mechanisms of tumor development and progression, and tumor targeting. I will also welcome translational cancer research studies, hot-topic reviews, and inspiring commentaries, including controversies, current research trends, and future developments in the field. I will also welcome guidelines for the use of tumor markers. Special issues around significant, high-profile topics and conference proceedings will also be published.
We need to recognize that we currently face a number of challenges. In the first place, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find experts willing to review. Second, scientists are under growing pressure from their institutions to publish extensively and rapidly, and unfortunately, this is often at the expense of quality and sometimes at the expense of scholarly integrity. At the same time, we are all aware that this kind of publishing is increasingly competitive, with new journals launched frequently, some turning articles around remarkably quickly. Tumor Biology, while aiming for rapid publishing decisions, runs a rigorous review process and gives particular attention to ethical issues such as plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and conflicts of interest. All papers are reviewed by independent reviewers only to provide accurate evaluations.
I would like to encourage all prospective authors to submit manuscripts to Tumor Biology. Thanks to our effective collaboration with SAGE Publishing, your submission will be professionally handled at peer-review stage and speedily processed in order to reach the target audience.
I am looking forward to working with the authors, the Editorial Board, and SAGE Publishing on developing the journal for the benefit of the research community.