[BOAI] Randy Schekman to Lead New Open Access Journal

[Peter Suber]

[Forwarding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  --Peter Suber.]


 *Randy Schekman to Lead New Journal*

 Randy W. Schekman, a distinguished cell biologist and the 14th editor of
the *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences*, has been named the
first editor of a new journal that the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the
Max Planck Society, and the Wellcome Trust aim to launch next year.

“It is my strong feeling that there is a need for a scientific journal at
the very high end that is run by active practicing scientists embedded in an
academic environment, individuals who experience both the frustrations and
satisfactions of research,” says Schekman. “The scientific journals that are
now at the high end are doing some things right, but I think there is room
at the top for an alternative approach.”

Schekman will assume his new responsibilities in August. His first
priorities will be recruiting a managing executive editor responsible for
overseeing the journal’s business functions and identifying the scientific
editors, including two deputies, 10-12 senior editors, and a larger board of
reviewing editors.

Sir Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, says, “Randy Schekman is
an outstanding cell biologist who has edited the *PNAS* with great
distinction. We are delighted that he has agreed to lead the new journal
that we are founding, which will provide a major new vehicle for publication
of the world's best research in the life sciences. Randy and the new journal
share the values of our organizations - this journal will support the
brightest minds in science.”

Leaders of the three research organizations announced their intention to
launch the new journal at a London press conference on June 27 and outlined
their fundamental goals: publication of highly significant research; an
independent editorial team comprised of active, practicing scientists; and a
rapid and transparent peer review.

Professor Herbert Jäckle, Vice President of the Max Planck Society, says,
“Publishing top science requires the leadership of the best active
scientists to reliably judge the quality of the submitted work and the
reviewers’ responses, and to take rapid and unbiased decisions that are
transparent both for the authors and the scientific community. Randy’s
commitment as a founding editor of the new journal guarantees that these
essentials become reality."

Expected to launch in about a year, the journal will be online and open
access. Schekman says he does not expect the journal to hold the copyright
to the literature, but to utilize Creative Commons licenses so that the data
can be widely shared.

Schekman has been an HHMI investigator at the University of California,
Berkeley, since 1991. He will devote half of his time to the new journal,
but will also help guide *PNAS* until the National Academy of Sciences
identifies a successor.

For more than 30 years, Schekman’s research has focused on the molecular
machinery that enables proteins to be trafficked within cells. Working in
yeast, he made fundamental discoveries about how vesicles bud off from the
cell’s endoplasmic reticulum – a membranous network inside the cell – and
transport proteins for further processing for internal or external use.
Schekman and his colleagues identified more than 50 genes involved in the
process, methodically determining the order and role each played. He shared
the 2002 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award with James Rothman, now
of Yale University, and has received other major awards including the
Gairdner Foundation International Award and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize.

Robert Tjian, President of HHMI, says, “Randy is the ideal founding editor
in chief; his scientific judgment is impeccable, he is broadly
knowledgeable, widely regarded as fair minded, and highly respected
internationally. Perhaps equally important is his extensive experience as an
editor in chief and his obvious zeal and commitment to making the new
journal the most successful in a generation.”

Schekman has served as editor of *PNAS* since 2006, succeeding the late
Nicholas R. Cozzarelli. Like Cozzarelli, he focused on elevating the quality
and visibility of the journal by increasing the number of direct submission
articles that are subject to rigorous peer review. Under Schekman’s
leadership, *PNAS* earlier this year also launched an online-only option for
direct submission articles. Called *PNAS Plus*, it provides for a longer
digital article and a companion summary in the print journal.

“I have a track record of making independent decisions, but I think this
journal also has an important founding principle: We will seek the best
research papers from all over the world and will not favor scientists
supported by the founding organizations,” Schekman says.

Schekman reports that editors will be appropriately compensated, noting for
example that senior editors will be expected to devote 20 percent of their
time to the journal and would be paid accordingly. He has already begun
speaking with potential scientific editors.

For the first three to four years, to help establish the journal, no fees
will be charged to authors. Once the journal is established, it is
anticipated that authors will be charged an article processing fee to cover
some of the ongoing costs of publication.

“My priority will be to launch the new journal promptly and with great
visibility,” says Schekman. “Open access is the future and we will build on
the pioneering efforts of the Public Library of Science so that scientists
will have access to this literature and the data anywhere they are.”

###

*About the Howard Hughes Medical Institute*
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute plays a powerful role in advancing
scientific research and education in the United States. Its scientists,
located across the United States and around the world, have made important
discoveries that advance both human health and our fundamental understanding
of biology. The Institute also aims to transform science education into a
creative, interdisciplinary endeavor that reflects the excitement of real
research. www.hhmi.org

 *About the Max Planck Society*
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is an independent,
non-profit research organization. The primary goal of the Max Planck Society
is to promote research at its own institutes. The Max Planck institutes
perform basic research in the interest of the general public in the natural
sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. Currently, the
Max Planck Society operates 80 institutes, four of which are in Italy, the
Netherlands and the USA. www.mpg.de/en

 *About the Wellcome Trust*
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving
extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the
brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The
Trust’s breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the
application of research to improve health. It is independent of both
political and commercial interests. www.wellcome.ac.uk
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.ecs.soton.ac.uk/pipermail/boai-forum/attachments/20110711/dc677d48/attachment-0001.html