Electronic Journal of Biology

Electronic Journal of Biology (eJBio) is a peerreviewed,all-electronic,biological journal available at no charge to readers via the Internet at https://www.ejbio.com/. eJBio is,as far as we know,the first e-journal specifically devoted to Chinese scientists to provide an academic publication platform to communicate their biological research. This editorial to the first volume of eJBio is to answer the following questions:

1. Why a new journal?

Why a new journal on general biology at a time when there is already a proliferation of related journals and newsletters? Our answer is that it is not enough,especially for Chinese scientists. Existing journals do not meet the growing needs of the community of biological scientists and engineers. We decided that there was a need for a high-quality,fast publication,electronic journal accessible at no charge to anyone,anywhere,at anytime.

Many Chinese biologists are willing to publish quickly their research reports in international journals. But due to current volume limitation and language problems,only parts of manuscripts are published after a long publication time. Moreover,these serious papers featuring biology research by Chinese scientists are scattered among various publications,which obstructs global perspective on biological research by Chinese scientists.

We believe that eJBio will fill this gap. eJBio provides Chinese biologists a quick publication platform to report their original research,discoveries,experimentation,reviews,etc. eJBio offers their achievements available immediately upon receipt,free of charge,over the web,with copyright retained by the author; a rapid publication schedule,within several weeks. We encourage publishing in the form of "short papers" or "letters" or "communications",rather than full-length articles. Furthermore,our journal is not restricted to the development of the Mainland China,but all over the world,as Chinese scholars work globally. In this sense,eJBio is a Chinese-oriented international journal publishing biological research articles of exceptional interest and importance.

2. Why web publication?

Web publication on the Internet offers many advantages over conventional print journals,including speed of publication,wide distribution,and ease of access. More and more conventional print journals now have electronic versions. We expect that this electronic journal will be in the same format as that of standard ones.

A journal on the Web,provided with an efficient Web and e-mail based reviewing process,should overcome these deficiencies and enhance the distribution ad availability of scientific information throughout the worldwide scientific community. Articles are published as soon as they are accepted rather than waiting for an issue to be completed.

By publishing on the Internet,costs are minimized,allowing free subscriptions to eJBio. Moreover,Authors can present data and results that cannot readily be presented in print journals. This includes color figures,with no extra charge. It is also possible to incorporate audio and video data. Authors can also include links to their articles in their own or departmental online websites and in messages to colleagues,informing them of publication. Thus,they will save postage costs and delays in the availability of their material to interested readers.

We have an open journal system (OJS) for electronic handling of papers at the journal. It improves the turnaround time of papers from submission to publication and make life simpler for bother authors and referees.

3. What are eJBio's aims and scope?

As its name suggests,this journal is devoted entirely to biology affairs in which both scientific and nonscientific matters will be addressed. The overall aim of eJBio is to introduce the latest research development from all fields of biology obtained by Chinese scientists. eJBio also provides an international perspective to research conducted by Chinese scientists. This is reflected in the international nature of the papers from all over the world and from a diversity of scientific areas covered.

We aimed at establishing a general biology journal,rather than being restricted to a specialized area. The Journal's scope is rapid publication of original scientific short papers that are part of the advancing frontiers of bioscience and biotechnology. The Journal will cover all major areas of life science,biological engineering,medical & pharmaceutical science,agricultural science & technology,biological engineering & technology,biological education and other related topics. The Journal will publish:

Original research article in short-length

Experimental studies

Review articles based on comprehensive and objective analysis

Short communications reporting results on innovations

Contemporary news items

Conference/workshop's proceedings

PhD abstracts,and

Exceptional commentaries on major events.

4. How to submit?

All papers submitted to the eJBio for publication must demonstrate original work not previously published. The submission should not be under consideration for publication by any other journal or other publisher. Papers should provide significant results and the reporting of incomplete work is discouraged.

Papers should be electronically submitted in electronic form as a single file including all figures and tables. Supplementary material should be submitted as separate files. Revised versions of papers accepted subject to revision should be submitted in Microsoft Word (.DOC or .RTF) (Windows) format. If submitting your paper for inclusion in a special issue,please contact the editors and make this clear in your cover letters.

To accelerate the reviewing process when submitting their manuscript,authors of original research papers should provide the names of three suitable reviewers,from whom the editors may select at their discretion. A list of up to six keywords or short phrases should also be provided to characterize the paper,the specific research area to which results apply. All papers will be peerreviewed. Reviewers will be asked to review papers within 10 days. A publication time of less than 2 months is intended. Please note: papers that are narrow in scope,and/or address an issue with less originality,are subject to editorial rejection.

5. Is everything archived?

All materials will be available in an archive that can be browsed/searched in many useful ways. Our web server is extensively well developed and we have a commitment to provide access 24 hours a day,7 days a week.

6. Can articles be printed out?

Yes. Articles appear on the web either as HTML documents,which are easily viewed on a computer screen,or as (Adobe Acrobat) PDF documents,which appear in a normal print journal format,and can be printed as such,with the corresponding journal page numbers.

7. How much does it cost to publish?

There is no charge to publish in eJBio. It is free to anyone who is interested. eJBio won’t reach everyone who could use it,but it will be available to several million people that can,and that number is increasing fast.

8. Copyright?

In addition,we are an open source journal and part of the expanding worldwide open source community. This means that the copyright of your articles published in this journal is retained by the authors,with first publication rights granted to the journal. eJBio is your archive of record,meaning that future publications should reference this site. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal,articles are free to use,with proper attribution,in educational and other non-commercial settings.

9. How are eJBio articles cited?

Citations are the same as for a print article,as eJBio articles have volume numbers,issues and pages,just as is true of any other publication. Example: Ming Chen (2005) eJBio: Electronic Journal of Biology,Electronic Journal of Biology,1(1): 1-2.

Over the past several months,a professional team of Associate Editors and Review Board has been assembled to assist in the publication of this new journal. An international panel of known experts from different fields could be won to act as the Editorial Board. I am confident that together we will realize the full potential of eJBio.

We anticipate eJBio with tremendous optimism and hope for the future. We encourage you,the reader,to let us know your thoughts and your suggestions for improving the journal to better meet your needs or for subjects that you would like to see included in our journal. We also look forward to receiving your articles for publication in eJBio. We hope that you will work with us so that eJBio fulfills the goal of facilitating communication of the latest developments in biology.

Ming Chen
Editor-in-chief
Wei Qian,Jiangxin Wang,Ming Yue
Associate editor
14 December 2004