Abstract
Dear SLAS members and JBS subscribers/readers,
At the onset of 2012, we welcome a year of change. This represents a continuation of the evolution of both the Society and Journal of Biomolecular Screening (JBS). We will hold our first united Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) conference and exhibition (SLAS2012) from February 4 to 8, 2012, in San Diego. Over time, JBS has changed as well, increasing the number of issues from 8 to 10 in 2008 and broadening its scope to reflect the evolving science of drug discovery thereby better serving the interests of SLAS members. In addition, an annual JBS Special Issue solely dedicated to one focused topic was introduced to provide more in-depth coverage of an exciting area of science—drug discovery. In 2009, our first Special Issue was published on Compound Management, thanks to a hard-working team of Guest Editors (Christine Rigby and Sue Holland-Crimmin). This was succeeded by a Special Issue on High-Content Screening, Imaging, and Data Analysis in 2010 (Guest Editors: Oscar “Joe” Trask, Steve Haney, and Anthony Davies) and now the December 2011 and January 2012 two-part Special Issue on Epigenetics-Targeted Drug Discovery (Guest Editors: Andrew Pope and Tom Heightman). I wish to thank all of the Guest Editors for their hard work in coordinating these well-appreciated special issues, the authors who contributed, the reviewers who were encouraged to meet strict deadlines, and the publishing staff at SLAS (especially Nan Hallock) and SAGE for bringing the issues to fruition. For 2012, Guest Editors Marcie Glicksman, Kelvin Lam, and Laura Pajak are working diligently to compile a Special Issue on Stem Cells in Drug Discovery. I encourage all our members and readers working in the stem cell field to consider contributing to this issue or encourage others to do so. The deadline for abstract submissions is February 1, 2012. For details, please visit http://www.slas.org/publications/journals.cfm.
In 2012, my personal commitment to JBS is to continue to hold the bar high with regard to manuscript quality via thorough review and increase the value of JBS to SLAS and the broader scientific community. Since its inception in 1999, JBS manuscript submissions have increased more than fivefold, from approximately 40 to over 200 in 2011 (from over 30 countries!). Our review process has become more rigorous as the science of drug discovery has evolved, with rejection rates currently ranging between 30% to 35% (in 1999, rejection rates were less than 5%!). Together with our publisher, SAGE, JBS has been able to expediently publish content online to accelerate access to accepted articles. More review articles would serve to better educate and share cumulative bodies of work, especially in rapidly moving scientific disciplines. I believe it is critical that we understand not only the pros and cons of the technologies and methodologies we use but also the molecular targets and how our assays reflect the “physiological state” of those targets (i.e., in their native cellular context). Although I will continue to invite review articles from experts in the field, I also wish to issue an open invitation to all our readers and their colleagues to consider submitting review articles. Please send review manuscript outlines to me directly at
Again, I wish to extend my personal thanks to all who have contributed to the ongoing growth and success of JBS. If you have suggestions for improvement or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me or Nan Hallock, Director of Publishing (