Abstract
As 2013 gets under way, on behalf of the staff at JHC, I would like to wish all our readers, authors, editors, and reviewers a Happy New Year with good health and success in your scientific endeavors. With Volume 61, Number 1, a special landmark has been reached—60 years of JHC in print. The first issue appeared in January 1953, and at the end of this editorial, the table of contents from that issue can be found. It makes interesting reading, not least for the fact that some distinguished scientists contributed to that first issue. The first Editor-in-Chief was Ralph D. Lillie, who remained in this position until 1964. Moreover, he was one of the founders of the journal and The Histochemical Society. In fact, Lillie had papers in each of the first three issues of 1953. In recognition of his many achievements, The Society established the Ralph D. Lillie Award for young scientists to travel and attend the annual meetings of The Histochemical Society.
We can look back on 60 years of accomplishment and progress in JHC. Along the way, many landmark papers have been published, and many firsts in new techniques have been reported in our journal. We should also not forget the role that JHC played in recognizing the value of the highest quality images in articles. There is now a long tradition of excellence that we can all be proud of. Despite ever increasing competition in the cell biology field, JHC holds its own and continues to publish excellent science. It is of course the quality of submitted manuscripts as well as that of our reviewers and Editorial Board that underpin JHC’s success.
Yet the publishing landscape has changed out of all recognition over the past 60 years, and over the past decade in particular. Open Access is with us and will not be going away. This has financial repercussions for many journals, including JHC and many other “Society” journals. There has been a proliferation of new journals offering OA, and it’s my prediction that many of those may not last 10 years, never mind another 60. JHC also offers an OA option, so for those with funding sources that require OA, this can be provided. Additionally, at JHC our publication costs are highly competitive, and particularly among our peer group. We have done away with color charges, an important move for a journal such as ours where high quality images continue to be key components of many articles that we publish. With generous provision for manuscript length and the number of images, I believe it makes JHC an attractive venue for the cell biology community.
What about the next 60 years? It’s hard to predict the next 10 years in science publishing, but we can be sure that further changes are on the way. If the science publishing world continues to move in the direction of OA, as seems likely, then almost certainly online-only articles and journals will prevail. Print will go away, with the exception of the pdfs we download to our desktops. Will we still have a “cover” image if this happens? Some journals still keep with a cover, even though they are online only, and I can see the attraction. Many have commented that our covers are lively, varied, and interesting, and we are now in our third year of this feature. Our website has an archive of cover images. I very much like the idea that we can publicize an article with a contributing author’s image, and I know that many authors also appreciate seeing their work on the cover.
One facet of our science will surely still survive the next decades. Much information on how cells and tissues function still travels to us on beams of light (or electrons). New techniques for visualizing molecules and real time imaging of molecular interactions, dynamics, and expression continue to be developed, but the microscope and imaging remain as constants. The first issue in January 1953 contains many micrographs, in black and white of course, and micrographs are plentiful in the current issue. This signals to me that there continues to be a role for JHC, reporting on new developments and insights into biological processes and disease, while the need for the journal to be nimble in response to the challenges of publishing will be ever more pressing. I am cautiously optimistic and hope that as readers and authors, you will continue to support us with manuscripts reporting on the latest developments in cell and tissue biology. Here’s to the next 60 years! Happy New Year!
John R. Couchman
Editor-in-Chief
Articles
LEE W. WATTENBERG and DAVID GLICK
J Histochem Cytochem January 1953 1:1–7, doi:10.1177/ 1.1.1
R. D. LILLIE and H. J. BURTNER
J Histochem Cytochem January 1953 1:8–26, doi:10.1177/ 1.1.8
ALEX B. NOVIKOFF, ESTELLE PODBER, JEAN RYAN, and ELSIE NOE
J Histochem Cytochem January 1953 1:27–46, doi:10.1177/ 1.1.27
LEON PAUL WEISS and DON W. FAWCETT
J Histochem Cytochem January 1953 1:47–65, doi:10.1177/ 1.1.47
ALEXANDER M. RUTENBURG, MOSHE WOLMAN, and ARNOLD M. SELIGMAN
J Histochem Cytochem January 1953 1:66–81, doi:10.1177/ 1.1.66