Year: 2012
Type: editorial
Abstract: Our journal is, in a way, like a family treasure that is being handed down from generation to generation. Unlike a family treasure, however, the journal continually changes as it makes its way from one editorial board to the next, and authors and research themes shift over times. Reflecting a widening scope, PCR has become PCMR, the impact factor has improved substantially, new sections have been added, and spectacular cover pictures help each issue stand out on any book shelf. Many of these changes are due to the efforts of Colin Goding and Ze'ev Ronai, our tireless and dedicated predecessor editors-in-chief, who have made PCMR what it is today. We owe them our deepest gratitude. Perhaps the greatest reflection of our appreciation of their work is the fact that none of us felt willing to step in alone, and so we will divide the heavy workload of guiding the journal through the next years among the three of us, another novelty in the history of PCMR. Marcus Bosenberg will focus on the melanoma part, Heinz Arnheiter on the pigment part, and Robert Kelsh will handle the considerable load of Reviews, Perspectives and News and Views pieces. As in the past, we co-editors shall be supported by two executive editors, Marisol Soengas for the melanoma side, and Lidia Kos for the pigment side of submissions. In addition, Lionel Larue will serve as profile editor. This division of labor will certainly present some challenges for coordination, but we hope that you, authors and readers alike, will be served well by us co-editors and that PCMR will be able to continue on its path to increasing visibility and importance in our field. As in the past, we envision our journal to remain the major home for well-controlled and rigorous studies related to pigment cells in the widest sense, covering evolutionary aspects, a wide range of species and types of pigment cells including their interacting partners in skin and internal organs and of course aberrations of these cells of any kind. We also recognize, however, that experimental research shall not be l'art pour l'art but shall, in the end, augment our scientific insights to treat diseases and alleviate suffering. We, therefore, shall also welcome papers with a clinical perspective, provided they are relevant and sound. To be clear, we shall return without review any study that simply reports an interesting case or tests a novel agent for its effect on pigmentation without providing mechanistic insights or a model for its action. But clinical papers that are deemed likely to change directly clinical practice will be considered very carefully for inclusion. In this way, we hope we can further improve on the quality and impact of our journal. In fact, we envision, in the best of possible scenarios, that publications in our journal may start to influence the thinking and progress in other fields, including those focusing on general cell biology and oncology. Finally, we would like to stress that the quality of PCMR, or any journal for that matter, depends to a large extent on the quality of submissions. We, therefore, encourage all prospective authors to consider PCMR for their outstanding contributions. We shall make every effort to handle your manuscripts expeditiously and fairly and clearly convey our reasoning for our final decisions. In this effort, we co-editors are greatly helped by an excellent editorial board whose members serve as expert reviewers and contributors. They also serve as a sounding board for all that is exciting in the field, but we encourage any of you who hear about newsworthy stories to alert us for possible inclusion as a ‘News and Views’ piece. Likewise, we are always open to suggestions of timely topics for review articles. At this point, we would like to thank all outgoing members of the board for their outstanding help, and we extend a warm welcome to our new members, Marianne Berwick, Elizabeth Patton, Lukas Sommer, and Norman Sharpless. Looking forward to a continuing great collaboration.
Source: Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research
DOI: 10.1111/pcmr.12052
Language: English
Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1981216055