Recent developments at BioMed Central

BMC Biology celebrates fifth birthday
As BMC Biology reaches its fifth birthday, the Editorial team reflect on the past five years and how the journal came to receive its impressive debut impact factor of, appropriately, five!

Alzheimer's Research & Therapy open for submissions
Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, a new BioMed Central journal aiming to become the major forum for translational research into Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, is now accepting submissions.

New abstracts from BMC Health Services Research
BMC Health Services Research has published the abstracts from the 24th Patient Classification Systems International (PCSI) Working Conference. Lisbon, Portugal, 8-11 October 2008.

Last chance to nominate for BioMed Central's Research Awards
Nominations for BioMed Central's 3rd Annual Research Awards close at the end of this year. Don't forget to nominate the best research article published in one of BioMed Central's 196 journals in 2008.

Molecular Neurodegeneration announces the 2009 ICMN
Molecular Neurodegeneration and the Institute for Biomedical Research at Xiamen University are co-organizing the 2009 International Conference on Molecular Neurodegeneration (IUMB). The conference will be held from 18th-20th May 2009 in Xiamen, China. Interested delegates can register online now.

New proceedings published in Critical Care
Critical Care has published the proceedings of Severe community-acquired pneumonia update: mortality, mechanisms and medical intervention (Barcelona, Spain, 21 April 2008) and the abstracts from Sepsis 2008 (Granada, Spain, 19-22 November 2008).

Dr Ben Berkhout awarded Retrovirology Prize for contribution to HIV research
Dr Ben Berkhout, a retrovirologist from the Netherlands, has been awarded the 2008 M Jeang Retrovirology Prize.

New proceedings published in BMC Bioinformatics
BMC Bioinformatics has published the proceedings of the BioNLP 08 ACL Workshop: Themes in biomedical language processing (Columbus, OH, USA, 19 June 2008), and the abstracts from the Fourth International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) Student Council Symposium (Toronto, Canada, 18 July 2008).

Show off your open access credentials on our Facebook page
We are offering a £50 Amazon voucher to the fan uploading the most interesting / unusual / entertaining open access-related photo or video to BioMed Central's Facebook page before 15 December. Sing a song... write a poem... take your photo in a BioMed Central shirt - it's up to you. Become a fan to take part.

New supplement from BMC Proceedings
BMC Proceedings has published the Proceedings of the 2007 Disease Surveillance Workshop. Disease Surveillance: Role of Public Health Informatics. Bangkok, Thailand, 11-12 September 2007.

Online Information 2008 in London, UK 2 - 4 December 2008
BioMed Central will be exhibiting at booth #618.

ICBME in Singapore, 3 - 6 December 2008
BioMed Central will be exhibiting at booth #4.

Abstracts from the Journal of the International AIDS Society
Journal of the International AIDS Society has published the abstracts from the Ninth International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection held in Glasgow, UK, 9-13 November 2008.

Italian Journal of Pediatrics joins BioMed Central
Recently moving to BioMed Central, Italian Journal of Pediatrics aims to provide the latest research and developments for pediatricians across the globe.

Arthritis Research & Therapy - Accredited CME Webcast
Clinical Conundrum: Use of COX-2 Inhibitors, nsNSAIDs and ASA in Patients with Cardiovascular Risk provides education to meet the needs of primary care physicians and rheumatologists.

Genome Medicine celebrates upcoming launch
Last week, Genome Medicine announced its upcoming January 2009 launch at a special reception held at the American Society of Human Genetics, in Philadelphia. In addition to publishing high-quality research, Genome Medicine serves the international research community as a forum for the discussion and critical review of information about all areas of medicine informed by genomic research.

New abstracts from BMC Pharmacology
BMC Pharmacology has published the abstracts from the 14th Scientific Symposium of the Austrian Pharmacological Society (APHAR) to be held in Innsbruck, Austria, 21-22 November 2008.

Proceedings from Environmental Health
Environmental Health has published the Proceedings of the Centers for Oceans and Human Health Investigators Meeting held in Woods Hole, MA, USA, 24-27 April 2007.

Neuroscience 2008 in Washington, DC 15 - 19 November 2008
BioMed Central will be exhibiting at booth #210.

New from Journal of Biology
A minireview by Barbara Panning explains the issues in X-chromosome inactivation and discusses the recent findings of Neil Brockdorff and colleagues, published in the launch issue of Epigenetics & Chromatin, which implicate Dicer in Xist promoter methylation.

Proceedings from BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making has published the proceedings of the First European Conference on SNOMED CT held in Copenhagen, Denmark

BioMed Central launches three innovative journals
As part of our independent journals program, BioMed Central has introduced three new publications in the last month that are expected to establish themselves among the leading journals in their respective fields. Fibrogenesis & Tissue Repair is the first journal dedicated solely to the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of fibroproliferative disorders. Epigenetics & Chromatin aims to become a home for cutting-edge research providing novel insights into epigenetic inheritance and chromatin-based interactions. Meanwhile, PathoGenetics aims to become the journal of choice for studies identifying the molecular mechanisms that are disrupted in genetic disease.

Fibrogenesis & Tissue Repair publishes first articles
A new BioMed Central journal, Fibrogenesis & Tissue Repair, launched on 13th October. The journal publishes high-quality studies providing novel insights into the mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases characterized by chronic wound healing and fibrogenesis.

Arthritis Research & Therapy's 10th anniversary issue
To mark its 10th anniversary, Arthritis Research & Therapy is publishing a comprehensive collection of review articles, 'The Scientific Basis of Rheumatology: A Decade of Progress'. Featuring 40 reviews by renowned experts, this special issue will provides an in depth overview of the current status of basic and clinical research in rheumatology.

BioMed Central acquired by Springer Science+Business Media
Earlier this month, BioMed Central was acquired by Springer Science+Business Media. Springer is absolutely committed to maintaining BioMed Central's policy of full open access to all research.

APHA in San Diego, CA 25 - 29 October 2008
BioMed Central will be exhibiting at booth #1402.

New supplements from Arthritis Research & Therapy
Arthritis Research & Therapy has published two supplements of review articles: Co-stimulation blockade: from bench to bedside edited by Jörg J Goronzy and New insights in the role of nitric oxide in the management of osteoarthritis edited by Steffen Gay and Lars C Huber.

ACR in San Francisco, CA 24 - 29 October 2008
BioMed Central will be exhibiting at booth #1221.

New content in BMC Proceedings
BMC Proceedings, a recently launched journal devoted specifically to conference publications, has published the meeting abstracts from Infectious diseases of the nervous system: pathogenesis and worldwide impact, Paris, France, 10-13 September 2008 and Proceedings of the Experts Meeting on Lung Cancer and the Use of Erlotinib, New York, USA, 10 November 2007.

Journal of Ovarian Research publishes first articles
Launched on 1st October, Journal of Ovarian Research focuses on research that provides new insights into ovarian functions, as well as prevention and treatment of diseases afflicting the organ.

First articles published in Thyroid Research
Thyroid Research launched on 29 September. The journal publishes the latest research in thyroidology and associated fields and aims to provide authors with high visibility, wide accessibility and full indexing.

Asia-Pacific Family Medicine moves to BioMed Central
Asia Pacific Family Medicine, the official journal of the Asia Pacific Region of WONCA, re-launched recently on BioMed Central's publishing platform. As highlighted in the launch Editorial, it is anticipated that this move will increase the exposure of the journal to the widest possible global audience.

UEGW in Vienna, 18 - 22 October 2008
BioMed Central will be exhibiting at booth #75.

New supplement from Journal of Foot and Ankle Research
Abstracts from the 1st Congress of the International Foot & Ankle Biomechanics (i-FAB) Community. Bologna, Italy, 4-6 September 2008.

Associate Editors recruited to the BMC Series
The recruitment of Associate Editors for the BMC series is increasing the ties of these journals to the research community and improving the service we provide to authors. Associate Editors recruited range from new lab heads to well established opinion leaders, and it is their well-informed perspective that will guide us as the BMC series continues to grow.

Today is Open Access Day
The first international Open Access Day is being held today. Founded by SPARC, Students for FreeCulture, and the Public Library of Science, the aim is to broaden awareness and understanding of open access.

BioMed Central on Facebook - become a fan!
BioMed Central now has a Facebook page. Show your support for open access and 'Become a fan' of BioMed Central. This page will be continually updated with news, events, photos, videos and more.

October 14 is Open Access Day
The first international Open Access Day will be held next Tuesday (14 October). Founded by SPARC, Students for FreeCulture, and the Public Library of Science, the aim is to broaden awareness and understanding of open access.

Increasing significance of medical case reports: JMCR leads the way
Journal of Medical Case Reports announced recently that it has published its 500th case report. Since its launch in 2006 over 530,000 case reports have been downloaded from the journal's website - indicative of the increasing significance and usage of case reports in the industry.

SRA in National Harbour, MD 9 - 13 October 2008
BioMed Central will be exhibiting at booth #205.

New supplement from Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
Abstracts from the 2008 International Society of Sports Nutrition Conference and Expo. Las Vegas, NV, USA, 9-10 June 2008.

Human Resources for Health publishes an international joint special issue
Human Resources for Health, along with WHO and 19 top medical journals around the world, has launched an international joint special issue, exploring the theme "Towards a scaling-up of training and education for health workers". Over the next year each participating journal will address the critical need for a skilled, sustainable health workforce in the developing world and internationally.

Journal of the International AIDS Society launches as an independent journal
The Journal of the International AIDS Society is dedicated to the dissemination of HIV-related research from various disciplines. This is an official journal of the International AIDS Society and is now accepting submissions.

ERS in Berlin, Germany 4 - 8 October 2008
BioMed Central will be exhibiting at booth #4.87.

New supplement from BMC Genomics
Proceedings from the IEEE 7th International Conference on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering at Harvard Medical School. Boston, MA, USA, 14-17 October 2007.

Three more independent journals to receive Impact Factors
Three independent journals were recently accepted for tracking by Thomson Reuters and set to receive Impact Factors in due course, these include: Cardiovascular Diabetology; Radiation Oncology; and World Journal of Surgical Oncology.

WONCA Asia Pacific in Melbourne, Australia 3 - 5 October 2008
BioMed Central will be exhibiting at booth #50.

BioMed Central's journals in the news
Research articles ranging from glowing fish to a comparison of commercial weight loss programmes all proved to be popular stories in the worldwide news. Coverage varied including articles in IT News, New Scientist, National Geographic, BBC, The Independent and US Daily.

European Commission introduces new pilot open access policy
As part of its ongoing program of investigation into the issue of open access to the results of scientific research, The European Commission recently announced the introduction of a pilot open access project in relation to the EC Seventh Research Framework Program (FP7) of funding.

BMC Surgery a popular source of material for Medscape's Continuing Medical Education Program
The advantages of open access publishing for educational purposes are demonstrated by the success of BMC Surgery as a source of articles for Medscape's free online Continuing Medical Education (CME) material.

New supplement from Pediatric Rheumatology
Pediatric Rheumatology: abstracts from the 15th Paediatric Rheumatology European Society (PreS) Congress. London, UK, 14-17 September 2008.

APLAR in Yokohama, Japan 23 - 27 September 2008
BioMed Central will be exhibiting at booth #F5.

38ème congrès de l'ADBU in Pau, France 18 - 20 September 2008
BioMed Central will be exhibiting, please drop by our stand!

BMC Evolutionary Biology featured on ScienceWatch
BMC Evolutionary Biology is this month's featured journal on the Thomson Reuters ScienceWatch website. In the few years since its launch the journal has already published 608 papers which have been cited a total of 2,819 times. In recent years, BMC Evolutionary Biology's growth and success has accelerated as it has become one of the most well-known and respected journals in its field.

New proceedings from Genome Biology
Genome Biology has published the proceedings of The BioCreative II - Critical Assessment for Information Extraction in Biology Challenge. Madrid, Spain, 23-25 April 2007.

Chemistry Central Journal due to receive first Impact Factor next year
Chemistry Central Journal has recently been accepted for tracking by Thomson Reuters. The journal will be included in the Science Citation Index, starting from Volume 1 (2007), which means it is due to receive its first Impact Factor next year.

BioMed Central at the Festival of Science in Liverpool
As part of the upcoming Festival of Science, BioMed Central is holding a free forum entitled 'How science addresses developing world issues'. This will take place at the University of Liverpool (UK) this week, bookings are essential and entry is free.

BMC Cancer celebrates 1000th article milestone
BMC Cancer recently announced a major achievement – the publication of its 1,000th article: 'Importance of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in potentially curable colorectal cancer liver metastases' by Birgit Gruenberger and colleagues from the Medical University Vienna.

New abstracts from Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica
Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica has published the abstracts from The 21st Symposium of the Nordic Committee for Veterinary Scientific Cooperation (NKVet). Værløse, Denmark, 24-25 September 2007.

Updated Impact Factor for Microbial Cell Factories
Thomson Reuters have now confirmed the correct Impact Factor for Microbial Cell Factories, which had an erroneously low Impact Factor in the initial release of the JCR. The correct Impact Factor is 3.36.

Re-launch of Cell Communication & Signalling
Cell Communication & Signalling, the official journal of the Signal Transduction Society, was re-launched a fortnight ago. The journal provides a forum for the signal transduction research community.

BMC Medical Research Methodology celebrates 250 publications
BMC Medical Research Methodology has achieved its 250^th publication. The journal has grown steadily since its launch in 2001 and publications have doubled in the last three years, a sign of the journal's increasing reputation among medical methodologists.

Test your biological knowledge with Biology Image Library's Quiz
Test your knowledge by playing our multiple-choice image quiz for a chance to win a Kodak Easyshare 7" Digital Picture Frame. Register on the website to play.

Proceedings from BMC Bioinformatics
BMC Bioinformatics has published the proceedings of the Fifth Annual MCBIOS Conference. Systems Biology: Bridging the Omics. Oklahoma City, OK, USA, 23-24 February 2008.

Tobacco Induced Diseases moves to BioMed Central
The official journal of the International Society for the Prevention of Tobacco Induced Diseases, Tobacco Induced Diseases recently moved to BioMed Central's open access publishing platform.

Bioinformaticists take up BioMed Central's Rubik's challenge
Whilst exhibiting at last month's Intelligent Systems in Molecular Biology 2008 conference in Toronto, BioMed Central drew crowds of spectators to its booth when it held a Rubik's Cube challenge. Competitive delegates battled to solve the Cube in the fastest time.

Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine moves to BioMed Central
SJTREM, the official journal of The Scandinavian Networking Group on Trauma and Emergency Management, provides a high-quality forum for all health professionals involved in pre- and in-hospital emergency medicine, critical care and trauma management.

New proceedings from BMC Bioinformatics
BMC Bioinformatics has published 'Selected proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop in Data Integration in the Life Sciences 2008' from the meeting held in Evry, France, 25-27 June 2008.

BioData Mining launches
BioData Mining is a new independent journal encompassing research on data mining applied to high-dimensional biological and biomedical data, focusing on computational aspects of knowledge discovery from large-scale genetic, transcriptomic, genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data.

New Proceedings from Diagnostic Pathology
Diagnostic Pathology has published 'New trends in digital pathology: Proceedings of the 9th European Congress on Telepathology and 3rd International Congress on Virtual Microscopy' from the meeting held in Toledo, Spain, 15-17 May 2008.