EDITORIAL
crossm State of the Journal Thomas J. Silhavy, Editor in Chief, Journal of Bacteriology Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
T
he year 2016 was a special 100th anniversary year for the Journal of Bacteriology (JB). Despite its venerable age, JB remains the second most highly cited journal in the field of microbiology, and it is worth noting that the most highly cited journal, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, is another journal published by the American Society for Microbiology and is a direct spin-off from JB, first published in 1953. Other notable spin-offs include the Journal of Virology (1967), Infection and Immunity (1970), and Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (1972). As part of the birthday celebration and to help demonstrate the impact that JB has had on the field of microbiology, in the summer of 2015 I asked the editors and Editorial Board members to identify papers published in the journal that have had significant impact on their work. They responded with a list of about 120 papers. Beginning with the January issue and in every issue published last year, some of these influential papers were highlighted with a Classic Spotlight written by an editor. These brief spotlights explain why these papers were so important in ways that we think will be comprehensible even to nonexperts. One fact that was immediately apparent is that the most highly cited articles are not the most influential. Another fact is that the true importance of some of these papers was not apparent for years. However, terms like outer membrane and transcriptional activator and concepts like biofilms and bacterial chemotaxis appeared first in JB. The Classic Spotlights are terrific, and I hope you will encourage your colleagues to read this series of short articles. Many scientists, especially younger scientists, follow their field with keyword searches. Consequently, they do not look at the table of contents of the journal. Accordingly, I am concerned that many do not know this series exists. Over the past few years, we have implemented several changes to highlight the excellent papers we publish and help explain the significance of the work to a broader audience. Articles that the editors think merit special attention are highlighted by a short Spotlight, which is written by the authors. We also continue to publish Commentaries, which are written by experts in the field, to put the work in a broader context or give it a different perspective. Besides the traditional abstract, we now ask authors to add a second summary describing the significance of the work that is understandable to a general readership. I welcome comments on these issues. As editor in chief, my most important job is to maintain the high standards of the journal, and the first step in this process is to recruit outstanding editors who are top scientists in the field. Last year Peter Christie reached the end of his second term and retired. He was a tireless worker for the journal, and he will be missed. I am extremely proud of the JB editors. Short career summaries for most of us can be found on the journal home page (http://jb.asm.org/). Community support for the journal is evidenced by the large number (⬎500) of ad hoc reviewers that contributed their expertise to the journal last year. These scientists are listed in volume 198, no. 24, p. 3245–3247, 2016. Because of the editors and the Editorial Board, helpful, high-quality reviews were provided to authors with an average time to first decision of only 25 days. January 2017 Volume 199 Issue 1 e00684-16
Journal of Bacteriology
Accepted manuscript posted online 17 October 2016 Citation Silhavy TJ. 2017. State of the journal. J Bacteriol 199:e00684-16. https://doi.org/ 10.1128/JB.00684-16. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved. Address correspondence to [email protected]. The views expressed in this Editorial do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal or of ASM.
jb.asm.org 1
Editorial
Journal of Bacteriology
A number of our Editorial Board members deserve special recognition. They stood out based on two very important criteria. First, during the last 12 months, these scientists reviewed at least seven manuscripts each, and second, they did so with an average turnaround time of 18 days or less. Heartfelt thanks go to them all: Sarah Ades, Pennsylvania State University Birgit E. Alber, The Ohio State University Lori L. Burrows, McMaster University Ciaran Condon, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique Andrew J. Darwin, New York University School of Medicine Michael J. Federle, University of Illinois at Chicago Alain Filloux, Imperial College London Clay Fuqua, Indiana University Mark Gomelsky, University of Wyoming Patrick C. Hallenbeck, U.S. Air Force Academy James Imlay, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Daniel B. Kearns, Indiana University Patricia J. Kiley, University of Wisconsin David L. Popham, Virginia Tech Natividad Ruiz, The Ohio State University Peter Setlow, University of Connecticut Health Center Teresa Thiel, University of Missouri—St. Louis Christopher M. Waters, Michigan State University Chris Whitfield, University of Guelph Alan J. Wolfe, Loyola University Timothy L. Yahr, The University of Iowa This year, five new scientists were appointed to the Editorial Board to replace retiring members: Ivan Berg, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg Thomas Bobik, Iowa State University Mark Buttner, John Innes Centre Cezar Khursigara, University of Guelph Carin Vanderpool, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Each of them brings recognized expertise to the journal, and speaking for all of the editors, I welcome them.
January 2017 Volume 199 Issue 1 e00684-16
jb.asm.org 2
crossm State of the Journal Thomas J. Silhavy, Editor in Chief, Journal of Bacteriology Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
T
he year 2016 was a special 100th anniversary year for the Journal of Bacteriology (JB). Despite its venerable age, JB remains the second most highly cited journal in the field of microbiology, and it is worth noting that the most highly cited journal, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, is another journal published by the American Society for Microbiology and is a direct spin-off from JB, first published in 1953. Other notable spin-offs include the Journal of Virology (1967), Infection and Immunity (1970), and Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (1972). As part of the birthday celebration and to help demonstrate the impact that JB has had on the field of microbiology, in the summer of 2015 I asked the editors and Editorial Board members to identify papers published in the journal that have had significant impact on their work. They responded with a list of about 120 papers. Beginning with the January issue and in every issue published last year, some of these influential papers were highlighted with a Classic Spotlight written by an editor. These brief spotlights explain why these papers were so important in ways that we think will be comprehensible even to nonexperts. One fact that was immediately apparent is that the most highly cited articles are not the most influential. Another fact is that the true importance of some of these papers was not apparent for years. However, terms like outer membrane and transcriptional activator and concepts like biofilms and bacterial chemotaxis appeared first in JB. The Classic Spotlights are terrific, and I hope you will encourage your colleagues to read this series of short articles. Many scientists, especially younger scientists, follow their field with keyword searches. Consequently, they do not look at the table of contents of the journal. Accordingly, I am concerned that many do not know this series exists. Over the past few years, we have implemented several changes to highlight the excellent papers we publish and help explain the significance of the work to a broader audience. Articles that the editors think merit special attention are highlighted by a short Spotlight, which is written by the authors. We also continue to publish Commentaries, which are written by experts in the field, to put the work in a broader context or give it a different perspective. Besides the traditional abstract, we now ask authors to add a second summary describing the significance of the work that is understandable to a general readership. I welcome comments on these issues. As editor in chief, my most important job is to maintain the high standards of the journal, and the first step in this process is to recruit outstanding editors who are top scientists in the field. Last year Peter Christie reached the end of his second term and retired. He was a tireless worker for the journal, and he will be missed. I am extremely proud of the JB editors. Short career summaries for most of us can be found on the journal home page (http://jb.asm.org/). Community support for the journal is evidenced by the large number (⬎500) of ad hoc reviewers that contributed their expertise to the journal last year. These scientists are listed in volume 198, no. 24, p. 3245–3247, 2016. Because of the editors and the Editorial Board, helpful, high-quality reviews were provided to authors with an average time to first decision of only 25 days. January 2017 Volume 199 Issue 1 e00684-16
Journal of Bacteriology
Accepted manuscript posted online 17 October 2016 Citation Silhavy TJ. 2017. State of the journal. J Bacteriol 199:e00684-16. https://doi.org/ 10.1128/JB.00684-16. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved. Address correspondence to [email protected]. The views expressed in this Editorial do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal or of ASM.
jb.asm.org 1
Editorial
Journal of Bacteriology
A number of our Editorial Board members deserve special recognition. They stood out based on two very important criteria. First, during the last 12 months, these scientists reviewed at least seven manuscripts each, and second, they did so with an average turnaround time of 18 days or less. Heartfelt thanks go to them all: Sarah Ades, Pennsylvania State University Birgit E. Alber, The Ohio State University Lori L. Burrows, McMaster University Ciaran Condon, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique Andrew J. Darwin, New York University School of Medicine Michael J. Federle, University of Illinois at Chicago Alain Filloux, Imperial College London Clay Fuqua, Indiana University Mark Gomelsky, University of Wyoming Patrick C. Hallenbeck, U.S. Air Force Academy James Imlay, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Daniel B. Kearns, Indiana University Patricia J. Kiley, University of Wisconsin David L. Popham, Virginia Tech Natividad Ruiz, The Ohio State University Peter Setlow, University of Connecticut Health Center Teresa Thiel, University of Missouri—St. Louis Christopher M. Waters, Michigan State University Chris Whitfield, University of Guelph Alan J. Wolfe, Loyola University Timothy L. Yahr, The University of Iowa This year, five new scientists were appointed to the Editorial Board to replace retiring members: Ivan Berg, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg Thomas Bobik, Iowa State University Mark Buttner, John Innes Centre Cezar Khursigara, University of Guelph Carin Vanderpool, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Each of them brings recognized expertise to the journal, and speaking for all of the editors, I welcome them.
January 2017 Volume 199 Issue 1 e00684-16
jb.asm.org 2
