Is there an excess of research journals that deal with stem cells? This question was asked by Cesar Borlongan and Drs. Paul Sanberg from the Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair at the University of South Florida. Their article has been published in the recent issue of Stem Cell Reviews and Reports.
They are both preoccupied regarding the quality of the science that is being published in the flourishing stem cell journals
Sanberg stated that due to the ability of stem stems to differentiate and proliferate, a great augmentation has been observed in research into stem cell-based regenerative medicine over the previous ten years. He advanced that paralleling this tendency in research is a comparable differentiation and propagation of stem cell journals.
The authors propose that the propagation of stem cell journals may be associated with the recent trend of issuing ‘open access’ and online journals as well as their article consists of a review of stem cell journals, taking into consideration their circulation at the beginning of the year in addition to the impact factors.
Borlongan declares that stem cell research remains one of the most creative areas of medical science. It is therefore not surprising that entrepreneurial publishers have put in place a number of publication outlets.
The authors drew the conclusion that whether an advanced proliferation of stem cell journals persists or not depends on if or not the field of stem cell “differentiates” into a research arena that is more mature. Their recommendations to prospective authors are to pursue good publications practices when they are deciding on their place to work. This also includes the assessment of the editorial board membership, associated organizations, the publisher, manuscript review process, as well as, specifically, the scientific reliability of studies that are published by stem cell journals that are comparatively new.
Sanberg concluded that the pivotal point of the expansion of a stem cell research arena that is more mature will rest on the quality of stem cell science peer review.
Sources: E-science News and University of South Florida
Fri, Aug 20, 2010
Stem cells