Biology of Sex Differences introduces annual award for best OSSD member publication

Laura Winton on December 9, 2013 at 3:25 pm - 0 Comments

The study of sex differences is relevant to all fields spanning biology and medicine. The sex of cells and tissues can have a large impact on their basic physiology, their susceptibility to certain diseases, and their response to therapeutic drugs. Experimental results can vary considerably depending on the sex of the experimental subjects.

Biology of Sex Differences is an open access journal that aims to publish research on all aspects of the effects of sex on biology and disease. The journal is affiliated with the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences (OSSD), an international membership society of researchers and physicians. With the growth of personalised medicine and therapies adapted to the individual patient, the need to further explore …

Targeting metabolic pathways: a new therapeutic approach for cancer?

Claire Barnard on December 9, 2013 at 2:47 pm - 0 Comments

Wikimedia commons (Fir0002/Flagstaffotos)

Although it was first reported that cancer cells have altered metabolism almost a century ago, metabolic pathways have only been recognized as potential therapeutic targets for cancer in recent years. This renewed interest has occurred as researchers have demonstrated that signaling pathways affected by genetic mutations have a profound effect on cancer metabolism.

Research into this area is now rapidly accelerating. Earlier this year, a clinical trial demonstrated that exercise-induced changes in estrogen metabolism could reduce breast cancer risk, and results from animal studies suggested that drugs used to treat metabolic diseases such as diabetes may be effective against lung cancer. These and other studies indicate that metabolism could be an important target for cancer …

Expert insights into epigenetic interactions and processes

Sam Rose on December 5, 2013 at 12:01 pm - 0 Comments

To mark the BioMed Central conference Epigenetics & Chromatin: Interactions and processes that took place in Boston earlier this year, the open access journal Epigenetics & Chromatin has published a series of review articles that focus on addressing some of the biggest questions in epigenetics today.

The final review of the series, by Anton Wutz (ETH Zurich, Switzerland), has been published today, discussing how haploid genomes illustrate epigenetic constraints and gene dosage effects in mammals. In this review the authors, who have significantly advanced our understanding of haploidy in mammals, provide an insightful summary of systems available to study haploid genomes.

Other reviews in the series include a description of the role of the …

Tropical fever, malaria vaccines and cholera control: BMC Medicine at the ASTMH 62nd annual meeting

Claire Barnard on December 4, 2013 at 12:25 pm - 0 Comments

Tropical diseases–illnesses that are prevalent in tropical or subtropical regions–are most commonly spread by insect vectors that carry infectious parasites, bacteria or viruses. The majority of tropical diseases affect the poorest people living in remote areas, and these poverty-promoting chronic infectious diseases have been termed “neglected tropical diseases” (NTDs). It is thought that the incidence of NTDs has increased in recent years due to the exploration of rainforests and increased tourism in tropical areas. Experts are becoming increasingly concerned about the global spread of dengue, a febrile NTD spread by mosquitoes, with the recent emergence of the virus in several parts of the US. This week, warnings have also been issued about the increased …

Mega Bites – how open data and gastronomy are proving a recipe for success

Kam Marwaha on December 2, 2013 at 5:11 pm - 0 Comments

This blog was jointly written by Ben Johnson, Associate Publisher of Flavour Journal here at BioMed Central, and Amye Kenall, our data guru, who spearheads open data initiatives and advocacy. Take time to enjoy this morsel of open data goodness.

Earlier this week, at a research press conference involving a Champagne tasting for our journal Flavour, I spoke to authors Vanessa Harrar, Barry Smith, Ophelia Deroy, and Charles Spence about their latest article ‘Grape expectations: how the proportion of white grape in Champagne affects the ratings of experts and social drinkers in a blind tasting‘, published last week in the journal.

The study, as do most studies, had collected far more …

Cerebellum & Ataxias is now open for submissions!

Elizabeth Bal on November 29, 2013 at 3:50 pm - 0 Comments

There is a major interest in the role of the cerebellum in behavioural and cognitive tasks, and the field of cerebellar ataxias is now evolving as a clinical discipline internationally.

As an exciting development – in keeping with the direction of the field – Cerebellum & Ataxias, a new open access journal from BioMed Central, is now accepting submissions.

Led by Editor-in-Chief Mario Manto, FNRS, Belgium, the journal hopes to mirror the success of its older, sister journal The Cerebellum, and complement its focus on the fundamental neurosciences of the cerebellum in providing a platform for more clinical cases and scientific reports of the numerous forms of ataxias.

Cerebellum & Ataxias welcomes both research and clinical …

Connecting up post-publication commentary via integration with PubMed Commons

Matthew Cockerill on November 29, 2013 at 3:08 pm - 0 Comments

The launch last month of PubMed Commons, which makes it possible to post comments on PubMed for any indexed article, could mark a significant change in scientific communication.

BioMed Central, like many other publishers, has long encouraged readers to comment on published journal articles, but has found that uptake of this functionality has been limited. PubMed’s exceptional breadth of content, combined with its huge traffic, could change that.

For now, PubMed Commons remains in pilot phase. Comments are invisible to most PubMed users, but anyone who is listed as an author on an article which has been indexed by PubMed can participate in the pilot by logging in with a suitably authorized NCBI account, which enables the reading and …

Demographics over the past 10 years- where are our authors based?

Lin Lee on November 29, 2013 at 2:09 pm - 0 Comments

During this past week, the editors at BMC Medicine have been discussing how the journal has been changing over the last 10 years in terms of the impact of our articles, measured by various means. Of course, one of the best ways in which an article can impact on the scientific community is to drive other research within the field and to positively influence clinical practice.

As an open access journal, we hope we have enabled authors to freely access articles that can facilitate their own research. As discussed in a previous blog, article and Twitter chat, open access can be considered particularly important in resource-limited settings.

Since the launch of the journal a decade ago, …

BMC Medicine: authors’ and reviewers’ experiences

Ursula D'Souza on November 28, 2013 at 1:54 pm - 0 Comments

To highlight our 10 year anniversary this week, the editors at BMC Medicine have been discussing the top 10 published articles based on their accesses, citations and social media impact. Today, we focus on the authors’ and reviewers’ experience with the journal.

The high standard of service to all authors and reviewers is a key focus for the journal. Submitted manuscripts that are within the scope of the journal are stringently reviewed by at least two experts in the field. We aim to send authors our editorial decision (after peer review) within 4-6 weeks of submission. Reviewers are required to declare any competing interests and we operate an open peer review process. Compared with closed …

Impact of BMC Medicine articles in the news and social media

Joanna Denyer on November 27, 2013 at 12:28 pm - 0 Comments

Today, as part of our 10 year anniversary, we take a look at a more contemporary measure of article level metrics in BMC Medicine, by looking at our top 10 articles as ranked by Altmetric.com. Altmetric quantifies the media response of an article over a variety of online platforms including news items, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Reddit among others, to give a measure of the interest the article has received. This response is indicated via an Altmetric ‘donut’ which BioMed Central added to all published articles in May 2012. More information can be read in a previous blog.

On publication we regularly tweet about our articles from our @BMCMedicine Twitter account and also encourage authors to share …