As the journal of the Biophysical Society, the Biophysical Journal serves a diverse and multi-discipline research community of authors and readers. It needs to reflect the mission to publish “…work that elucidates important biological, chemical, or physical mechanisms and provides quantitative insight into fundamental problems at the molecular, cellular, and systems and whole-organism levels. Articles published in the journal should be of general interest to quantitative biologists, regardless of their research specialty.” It is a tall order and one the journal takes seriously. Through self-examination, talking with members, listening to author feedback, and reaching out with publication surveys as the Society did recently, the journal strives to reflect the community it serves.
It is clear that there is a faithful core of Society members who regularly submit papers to the journal (as well as acting as reviewers, in many cases). A recurring theme among BPS members who do not regularly submit to the BJ is that they feel that the journal has no place for their particular specialty, because they never see papers in the journal that are relevant to their own work. In a large sense, this perception is cultural — papers that are published in the journal encourage similar papers to be submitted. There are also Society members who do not appear to consider the journal as the natural place to submit their papers. But I would argue that the Biophysical Journal is there for all biophysicists. I see it as a forum for any work that describes itself as biophysics. I would like the journal to be regarded as a place where articles of general interest to wide biophysical fields are read by people from many specialties.
Through the organizational structure of subject area Sections, the journal has, over the years, adapted to changes in the field of biophysics by embracing emerging areas; expanding Sections in growth areas; combining, renaming, and splitting Sections to reflect the ebb and flow of submissions and to attract papers in new areas. Sections are intended to guide authors in their submission decisions and guide readers through the Table of Contents.
Sometimes, however, even good things need to change. As we examine the scope of the current seven Sections in Biophysical Journal, we know that many of the papers submitted and published can span multiple Sections. This creates confusion at submission and means some articles may not get read because they are categorized “incorrectly” in the Table of Contents. Some authors perceive the Sections as exclusive rather than inclusive; if they don’t envision their research falling within a subject area heading, they believe the journal won’t welcome their work.
How can we broaden the reach of the journal to include more of the specialties that are included, for example, in the Annual Meeting? Beginning January 1, 2019, authors will be asked to submit manuscripts to an Associate Editor rather than to a Section and the Journal’s Table of Contents will be free of subject headings.
Rest assured, we will ensure that our editors have expertise that reflects the breadth of biophysics and our ever expanding reviewer pool draws from all the interdisciplinary areas of science that are represented in the work of biophysicists.
Although a small change, it is our hope that this will position the journal to be more inclusive of all of the flavors of biophysics, and, as always, encourage all biophysicists to regard BJ as their go-to place for biophysics publication.
—Jane Dyson
Editor In Chief, Biophysical Journal