Editorial by Michael Greenberg
Reference: Biol. Bull. 185: 333-334. (December, 1993)
An Animal Resources Section and a Marine Models Electronic Record for The Biological Bulletin
With the next issue of The Biological Bulletin (February, 1994; Volume 186, Number 1), we inaugurate a new section of the journal devoted to nonmammalian marine organisms that serve, either altogether or in part, as experimental models in basic biological research. Of special interest will be reports on the collection and husbandry of these model organisms, the preparation of their cells or tissues, and research techniques specifically applicable to them.
This new animal resources section should help in promoting the use of marine organisms for the study of fundamental problems in biology and, if that goal is fulfilled, it should also make the road easier for the converts. To those ends, the section will:
- Present methods, new and old, in greater detail than would be possible in a typical research paper, including even the minor details that make a procedure work;
- Preserve, in some cases, years of practical experience in an organized and accessible form;
- Provide an outlet for results obtained at the Marine Resources Center of the Marine Biological Laboratory and at similar facilities throughout the world; and
- Identify widely distributed sets of models, any of which could be used to perform a given experiment, but (on the other hand) some of which may have special advantages.
Notwithstanding the compelling argument for a section of model organisms, difficulties do emerge. For example, we would expect the reports submitted to this section to be quite practical and thus to appeal to interests much narrower than those of the general readership of The Biological Bulletin. But presented in the aggregate, as reviews or integrated clusters of papers about a particular model, the appeal and value of these data should broaden dramatically. However, such reviews could appear only slowly (no more than two per year), whereas contributions about a variety of species and biological processes are ready or are being written now. In addition, these reviews, like all others, would begin to age from the moment of their publication. Therefore, to speed availability, solve the temporal discrepancy between contribution and print publication, and retard obsolescence, the marine resources section will be published both electronically and in print--but not necessarily in the same format or at the same time. Here is how the system will work:
- The Biological Bulletin and the Division of Information Systems of the Marine Biological Laboratory will establish and publish a Marine Models Electronic Record (BB-MMER). The database will comprise numerous subdivisions (called drawers), each characterized by both an organism (e.g., Limulus polyphemus) and some phenomenon that it models (e.g., vision). The BB-MMER will provide hypertext links between the drawers since, for example, horseshoe crabs are also used to study immune responses.
- Papers on marine models that are submitted (on disk, or hard copy) to The Biological Bulletin will be reviewed, evaluated, and edited as usual. Once accepted, these reports will be published immediately in the BB-MMER where they will be accessible to researchers everywhere.
- Because the reports in the BB-MMER will have been reviewed, they can be cited like any other paper or short report appearing in the Bulletin. Furthermore, each printed issue of the Bulletin will include a list of reports added to the BB-MMER, together with a brief summary of each.
- Once the contributions in a drawer have ripened, they will be retrieved and integrated, and a printed review or compendium will be produced. Conversely, once the data have been reviewed, additions to the drawer in the BB-MMER will keep them fresh and current. These important functions will be in the hands of a drawer-editor who will also be a member of The Biological Bulletin editorial board.
The possibilities for this new section of The Biological Bulletin, for its novel mode of publication, and for the entrance of this nonagenarian journal into the world of cyberspace are manifest. As for the details__e.g., submission, citation, access, preparation of reviews__they will be forthcoming in the February issue, and they will be widely publicized.
Note that some of the published details will be vague, and in any event, none of them will be carved in stone. This enterprise will evolve over several years, and we will always be interested in your ideas and comments. You can send them to: William D. Cohen,1 the associate editor for this section; Catherine N. Norton,2 who heads the Division of Information Systems and will be our electronic publisher; or me.
--Michael J. Greenberg
- W. D. Cohen (FAX: 212-772-5227; E-mail: bcohen@mbl.edu)
- C. Norton (508-540-6902; cnorton@mbl.edu)
- M. J. Greenberg (904-461-4008; michael@icbr.ifas.ufl.edu)