JOURNAL INTERVIEWS - 2008

In the interview below, the journal's Editor-in-Chief and Chairman of the Editorial Board, Richard Perham, talks with ScienceWatch.com about the journal's history and citation achievements.

Did you expect FEBS Journal to become highly cited, or is this surprising to you?

It is highly encouraging and a reward for all the hard work that has gone into making FEBS Journal a place where seriously good and exciting new work is being published. We have tried to raise the profile of the journal, and it is pleasing to find that our efforts are being noticed.

How would you account for the high citation rate of FEBS Journal?

In addition historically to being a general journal covering the traditional areas of biochemistry, we have tried to broaden our appeal across the molecular life sciences and to take account of interesting new growth points. We have been successful in appointing distinguished scientists from across the world to the Editorial Board and Advisory Board, and they increasingly reflect the spread of the molecular approach to biology into the life sciences, including medicine.

We do not compete with "niche journals" but are pleased with and proud of the enduring nature of what we publish: FEBS Journal has the longest half-life of citations of papers published by any of the major journals in the field of biochemistry/molecular and cellular biology, with the exception of review journals such as Annual Review of Biochemistry.

Would you give us a brief history of the journal?

The journal began life as the European Journal of Biochemistry in 1967. It replaced the ancient and famous Biochemisches Zeitschrift and represented a new international departure for European biochemistry as a whole. It is a not-for-profit journal owned by the Federation of European Biochemical Societies, a charity registered in London. The first Editorial Office was in Liège, later in Zürich.

I took over as Chair of the Editorial Board (Editor-in-Chief) in 1998. At that time we moved the Editorial Office to Cambridge and embarked on a series of new ventures with a new publishing partner, Blackwell (now Wiley-Blackwell). The name of the journal was changed to FEBS Journal in 2005, to reflect its broadened scientific basis and widened international appeal and to parallel the name of its sister journal specializing in the rapid publication of short communications, FEBS Letters. Although the journal has its origins in Europe, it is of course an avowedly international journal, as a glance at its content will testify.

What historical factors have contributed to the success of FEBS Journal?

Biochemistry and molecular biology have always been strong in Europe, with many aspects of the life sciences as we now know them having originated with Europeans. The emphasis on FEBS Journal as an international journal, with a reach beyond Europe and especially into North America, the Antipodes, India, and Asia, has coincided with (and been aimed at) the rapid growth of the molecular life sciences worldwide.

Have there been specific developments in the fields served by FEBS Journal that may have contributed?

The molecular approach to the life sciences is now widely pursued, and has brought with it the recognition of the interlocking and interdependence of apparently disparate fields of research. FEBS Journal has consciously acknowledged this and attempted to evolve with the subject.

What, in your view, is this journal’s main significance or contribution in the field of Biology & Biochemistry?

FEBS Journal offers an efficient internationally minded vehicle for the publication of high-profile full-length research papers and timely reviews. Features include: an exceptionally rapid publication process (good papers can appear in three months); referees and an Editorial Office with a reputation for fairness and helpfulness; user-friendly online submission and refereeing; online publication before hard copy; no page charges; free color if the Editor deems it essential; and a wide range of reviews, which are made immediately available online free of charge.

As a publication of a learned society, FEBS Journal participates fully in programs such as HINARI and AGORA to make the journal content available to economically less advantaged readers worldwide, without the normal wait of one year; it also endeavors to help and encourage young scientists by offering each year the FEBS Journal Prize of 10,000 euros to the first author who is still a graduate student or a post-doc no more than three years from receiving the Ph.D. degree, of the paper judged by the Editorial Board to be the best published in FEBS Journal during that year.

How do you see your field(s) evolving in the next few years?

We do not wish to relinquish our broad appeal as a general journal in the molecular life sciences. But we are increasing our stake in molecular cell biology, molecular medicine, bioinformatics (genomics and proteomics), and systems biology. Nanotechnology will figure too.

What role do you see for your journal?

FEBS Journal is a not-for-profit journal owned by FEBS, a major force worldwide in the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge in the molecular life sciences. FEBS Journal is an important player in that process, open to scientists across the world and supportive of young scientists everywhere. We expect the journal to continue to evolve and to reflect the growing points of our chosen field, while taking care not to lose its broad appeal or sacrifice quality.

FEBS Journal
Richard Perham, Editor-in-Chief and Chairman of the Editorial Board
Wiley-Blackwell, publishers, on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies

Keywords: FEBS Journal, biochemistry, molecular life sciences, molecular biology, molecular medicine, bioinformatics, systems biology, molecular cell biology, journal availability, young scientists.