Public Library of Science - PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases

2007 Impact factors for PLoS Journals

Mark Patterson — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:57:13 -0700

The latest impact factors (for 2007) have just been released from Thomson Reuters. They are as follows:
PLoS Biology - 13.5
PLoS Medicine - 12.6
PLoS Computational Biology - 6.2
PLoS Genetics - 8.7
PLoS Pathogens - 9.3

As we and others have frequently pointed out, impact factors should be interpreted with caution and only as one of a number of measures which provide insight into a journal’s, or rather its articles’, impact. Nevertheless, the 2007 figures for PLoS Biology and PLoS Medicine are consistent with the many other indicators (e.g. submission volume, web statistics, reader and community feedback) that these journals are firmly established as top-flight open-access general interest journals in the life and health sciences respectively.

The increases in the impact factors for the discipline-based, community-run PLoS journals also tally with indicators that these journals are going from strength to strength. For example, submissions to PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS Genetics and PLoS Pathogens have almost doubled over the past year - each journal now routinely receives 80-120 submissions per month of which around 20-25 are published. The hard work and commitment of the Editors-in-Chief and the Editorial Boards (here, here and here) are setting the highest possible standards for community-run open-access journals.

Another measure of impact is media coverage, and all of our journals routinely attract substantial media attention, which reflects the importance and public interest of much of the work that is published. Witness for example coverage of the recent research article about anti-depressants in PLoS Medicine. And our two newest journals, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases and PLoS ONE, are no strangers to the world’s media (see the recent coverage of a PLoS ONE paper about pterosaurs). We provide regular digests of this media coverage both in traditional media and the blogosphere, via the ‘In the news’ channel of the PLoS blog.

Although Thomson is yet to index our two youngest journals, other indexing databases are. The subscription-only Scopus citation index (owned by Elsevier and, incidentally, including many more journals than Thomson’s offering) is already covering PLoS ONE (though so far, only as far back as June 2007). But authors don’t need to rely on subscription-only indexes such as those owned by Thomson and Elsevier, and can instead use the freely-available Google Scholar. Using Google Scholar, for example, one can find that the article by Neal Fahlgren and coauthors, about the cataloguing of an important class of RNA in plants and one of the most highly cited PLoS ONE articles so far has been cited 42 times - strong evidence that good research, even if published in a new journal, will rapidly find its place in the scientific record when it’s made freely available to all.

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Le marché du mardi, n°15

from Marlene's corner on Thu, 2008-07-03 07:55

TECHNO
- On connaissait les outils pour raccourcir les urls (type TinyURL), voici un outil pour raccourcir les textes : TinyPaste réduit un texte en une url (courte).
- Transformer son blog (ou n'importe quel fil rss) en un joli document pdf pour le...

Is PLoS Coming of Age?

from Greg Laden's Blog on Wed, 2008-07-02 18:12

Heavyweight science journalist Sir Delcan Butler has published an update, of sorts, on the status of the Public Library of Science (PLoS), published today in the journal Nature.* In it, he presents a study carried out by Nature on the financial status ...

Impact Factors 2007

from A Blog Around The Clock on Wed, 2008-06-18 11:24

If anyone is interested, Thompson has just released the new Impact Factors for scientific journals. Mark Patterson takes a look at IFs for PLoS journals and puts them in cool-headed perspective. One day, hopefully very soon, this will not be...

Peter Hotez Responds to US President's Initiative to Combat NTDs

Gavin Yamey — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:01:06 -0800

The following is a statement from Peter Hotez, Editor in Chief of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, and President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, in reaction to President Bush’s announcement yesterday of a new global initiative to combat neglected tropical diseases.

This initiative will make a total of $350 million available over five years to provide integrated treatment of more than 300 million people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and target seven major NTDs: lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis); schistosomiasis (snail fever); trachoma (eye infection); onchocerciasis (river blindness); and three soil-transmitted helminthes (STHs – hookworm, roundworm, whipworm).

Peter Hotez writes:

"The announcement today by President Bush provides great hope to the millions of people worldwide who are deeply suffering from crippling neglected tropical diseases. Many of the afflicted are the world’s poorest citizens who have no where else to turn for treatment. With this announcement, President Bush has sent a strong signal that the United States cares deeply about those who are so often forgotten. This Initiative says that these diseases should be neglected no more.

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are the most common afflictions of people living on less than $2 per day in developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and tropical regions of the Americas, NTDs are a primary reason for keeping people in extreme poverty due to their adverse impact on child health and development, pregnancy outcome and worker productivity. Just one disease - chronic hookworm infection in childhood - reduces future wage earnings by an extraordinary 43%.

Fortunately, unlike some other global diseases, many NTDs can be effectively treated. In 2005, the leaders of the major public-private partnerships devoted to fighting NTDs, together with a new NTD Department at the World Health Organization, designed a package of drugs known as the “rapid impact package” that treats the seven most common NTDs for a modest 50 cents per person per year. The Global Network for NTD Control now administers these packages throughout the affected regions. In 2007, the partners of the Global Network administered 34 million treatments in Africa.

The announcement today could lead to the treatment of almost 30 percent of the people at risk in Africa for the NTDs. This is an important first step towards the Global Network’s goal of launching a $1-2 billion global NTD fund. Such a fund would provide almost all of the coverage needed for the poorest people in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the at-risk populations in Asia and the Americas. The NTD fund would be an important topic for the upcoming Group of Eight (G8) meeting in Hokkaido, Japan this summer.

If the President’s Global Initiative is enacted, access to these proven effective treatments could increase ten-fold – saving millions of people from the suffering of these painful and sometimes deadly diseases.

The Global Network and its partners look forward to working with the Administration and Congress in supporting this groundbreaking initiative. It is an investment that not only reduces suffering, but will help lift the world’s poor out of devastating poverty."

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Partnering for Global Health Forum 2008, Guest Blog by Joanna Lowell

Gavin Yamey — Wed, 6 Feb 2008 15:47:26 -0800

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases invited Dr Joana Lowell, Project Director at the non-profit Bio Ventures for Global Health, to write a Guest Blog on the upcoming Partnering for Global Health Forum.

GUEST BLOG: Partnering for Global Health Forum 2008, Joana Lowell PhD MPH

How are breakthrough scientific discoveries translated into commercially available drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, or biomarkers? A key step in the creation of most new products is the formation of collaborations and partnerships between biotechnology companies, the pharmaceutical industry, and investors. In areas like oncology, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, one critical avenue by which innovators connect to potential partners is via formal “partnering meetings.” At these events, companies have the opportunity to present their platforms and pipelines and expand their networks with the goal of ultimately inking a deal.

To date, those working on products for diseases without the potential for blockbuster financial returns – diseases such as African sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, hookworm, and lymphatic filariasis just to name a few – have been left out of the partnering frenzy because there hasn’t been a similar meeting format to support global health initiatives. The Partnering for Global Health Forum, to be held on March 11th and 12th, 2008, in Washington, D.C., aims to fill this void. Co-hosted by BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH), a non-profit organization working to harness the assets of the biotechnology industry to address neglected diseases of the developing world, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), and sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Forum will bring together “innovators” (companies, research institutes, and academic centers of excellence) who are actively seeking to expand into neglected tropical disease product development with “funders” (product development partnerships, investors, and foundations) in hope of catalyzing partnerships to build a new global health product pipeline.

Innovator presentations will include the Sabin Vaccine Institute (headed by Dr. Peter Hotez, editor-in-chief of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases), the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, and the Infectious Disease Research Institute as well as companies actively engaged in global health product development such as Intercell AG and GlaxoSmithKline. Funder presenters will feature the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, the Foundation for Innovative Diagnostics, and PATH. Prior to the start of the Forum, all registrants have the opportunity is to schedule 1-on-1 meetings with one another using BIO’s partnering system.

The Forum will also feature panels and talks on topics such as new incentives to draw industry investment in global health, lessons learned from existing partnerships, and innovation in the developing world. On March 12th, Senator Sam Brownback (R, Kansas) will deliver a keynote address on Priority Review Vouchers, a novel incentive included in last year’s FDA reauthorization act to attract industry initiative to global health. Additional confirmed speakers and panelists include Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Margaret McGlynn, president of Merck Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Solomon Nwaka, manager of genomics and discovery research at WHO/TDR.

To those interested in neglected tropical diseases, a major value of the Forum will be that many of the key players from multiple networks will all be in one place for two days of focused discussions. The Forum will also benefit from the diverse expertise of its sponsor and hosts: BVGH’s work to leverage industry’s assets and capabilities to address neglected tropical diseases; BIO’s extensive expertise running business development and partnering meetings; and the Gates Foundation’s deep knowledge of the health needs in developing countries.

More detailed information about the Forum, including the program and schedule, can be found here. The deadline for early registration is February 22nd, 2008.

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On the Origins of Syphilis

Shabnam Sigman — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:48:59 -0800

Did Christopher Columbus and his men introduce syphilis into Renaissance Europe, after contracting it during their voyage to the New World? Or does this pathogen have a much older history? A study by Kristin Harper and colleagues published last week in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases lends support to what’s known as the Columbian theory of syphilis’s origin while suggesting that the non-sexually-transmitted subspecies arose earlier in the Old World.

The study spread throughout both mainstream press and science blogosphere alike, as did a related Expert Commentary, written by Connie Mulligan and colleagues, that challenged the methods and findings of the syphilis study.

Bora made sure that “syphilis” was the buzzword of the day on ScienceBlogs, and three of his SciBlings’ amazing blogs are highlighted here:

Aetiology: Where did syphilis come from?
Afarensis: Syphils: The View from Bioarchaeology
Greg Laden: The Origin of Syphilis

Jonathan Eisen also blogged about the paper, and drew our attention to a CBC Radio interview with one of the study’s co-authors that you can listen to here.

Carl Zimmer wrote about the paper in Science, and mentions it on his blog.

The study was picked up by more than 100 outlets total. Some of the excellent coverage is highlighted here:

Daily Mail: How Columbus came home with more than he expected
Forbes: Columbus Carried Syphilis From New World to Europe, Study Suggests
Los Angeles Times: Add syphilis to Columbus' discoveries, study says
National Geographic: Did Columbus Bring Syphilis to Europe?
New Scientist: Columbus blamed for spread of syphilis
New York Times: Genetic Study Bolsters Columbus Link to Syphilis
Newsweek: American to Europe: Here, Have Some Syphilis
Reuters: New study blames Columbus for syphilis spread
Scientific American: Did Columbus Bring Syphilis to Europe?
Telegraph: Columbus did bring syphilis from America
Toronto Star: New twist on old scourge
U.S. News & World Report: Columbus Carried Syphilis From New World to Europe, Study Suggests
Wired News: The Real Discovery of Christopher Columbus: Syphilis

The paper was also covered by Economist, Bloomberg, CBC News, CTV.ca, ABC News, MSNBC, Fox News, and, quite unfortunately, Rush Limbaugh.

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SciDev.Net Features PLoS NTDs Study

Gavin Yamey — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:00:52 -0800

As Frédéric Tangy and colleagues explain in their recent study in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, "The development of an affordable pediatric vaccine that could provide long-term protection against all four dengue serotypes remains a global public health priority."

With this priority in mind, they tested a new candidate vaccine in mice, a candidate created using the measles vaccine. In their study, a measles vaccine vector expressing a secreted dengue virus antigen from serotype 1 induced in mice durable serotype-specific virus-neutralizing antibodies.

As reported in a news feature in SciDev.Net, a hugely valuable resource on science and technology for global development, the "encouraging results mean the researchers will now test a similar candidate vaccine, this time 'tetravalent' — targeting all of the four types of the virus."

Frédéric Tangy, quoted in the news feature, said: "We are now performing repetition of the experiments and evaluation of the effects of the vaccine in vitro on human dendritic cells."

"The next step will be to confirm these results in macaque [monkeys], the standard model for dengue evaluation before human clinical trials."

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PLoS NTDs at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting

Gavin Yamey — Mon, 5 Nov 2007 15:24:06 -0800

Tropical disease researchers are gathering this week in Philadelphia for the ASTMH annual meeting, which has given PLoS the opportunity to show them the launch issue of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

If you're at the meeting, please come by to Booth 307, where you can sign up for an electronic alert letting you know about new articles and get a demonstration of the website and its functionality.

From 9.30am-10.30 am each day, we're hosting a "Meet the Editors" session by the booth. About 40 of the Editorial Board, including our Editor in Chief, Peter Hotez, and many of the Deputy Editors are taking it in turns to host these daily sessions.

We've been impressed by how many researchers already have PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases on their radar screens. Last night, the three of us (Shabnam Sigman, Dan Sarna, and myself) talked to around 500 researchers between us, many of whom had already submitted a paper or were preparing one for submission. It was great to also meet in person a number of the authors from our launch issue.

Talking of the launch, Reuters covered Marie-Eve Raguenaud and colleagues' study on the epidemiology and clinical features of visceral leishmaniasis in Somalia (the Reuters headline was "Sandfly-transmitted disease up sharply in Somalia"). SciDev.net published a feature on Vanesa Olivares-Illana and colleagues' paper showing significant differences in the interface between the two subunits of triosephosphate isomerase from Homo sapiens and Trypanosoma cruzi (the SciDev.net headline was "Discovery opens new avenues for Chagas treatment").

We'll be publishing new articles on a weekly schedule each Wednesday, so please do sign up here to be alerted to new content.

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A new journal, run by the community for the community

Daniel Sarna — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:17:27 -0700

We are delighted today to announce the launch of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the world’s first open-access journal devoted specifically to raising the profile of the ancient diseases of poverty, such as river blindness, elephantiasis, hookworm, leprosy, and schistosomiasis. The inaugural issue now available online is the result of collaboration between hundreds of editorial board members, researchers, reviewers, and staff members based around the globe.

We are particularly pleased that over half of the authors (51 out of 101) in the launch issue are based in developing countries. And to demonstrate the truly international nature of the fight to eradicate neglected diseases, here is the list of countries where authors in the first issue are based: Mexico, Ghana, Cameroon, Thailand, Spain, the Netherlands, Bolivia, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Mali, the United States, the Philippines, Tanzania, Egypt, Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Kenya, and China.

Now that the journal is live, we hope it will facilitate, through unrestricted access to all content and the latest online community tools, communication and cooperation among the researchers, health practitioners, patients, students, teachers, economists, non-governmental organizations, policy makers, and others who comprise our audience. In time, we hope this event will prove to be, in the words of Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, a “turning point in the long and notorious history of some of humanity’s oldest diseases.”

The research showcased in the first issue exemplifies the broad-reaching and globally relevant content that will be featured in this new journal. Researchers apply a variety of approaches, such as epidemiology, cost-effectiveness analysis, genotyping, enzyme screening, clinical trials, and computer modeling to report on a diversity of diseases, such as Buruli ulcer, leishmaniasis, river blindness, Chagas disease, elephantiasis, and strongyloides.

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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases "sneak preview"

Shabnam Sigman — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:10:23 -0700

Today PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases is thrilled to publish its very first set of what we like to call "sneak-preview" articles — articles that are published before the journal officially launches later this year. These two articles showcase the broad-reaching content that will be featured in PLoS' newest journal.

In the Research Article "Genetic Selection of Low Fertile Onchocerca volvulus by Ivermectin Treatment", Roger Prichard and colleagues studied genetic changes in Onchocerca volvulus (the parasite that causes onchocerciasis, or river blindness) following exposure to ivermectin, the primary treatment for onchocerciasis. This new study shows that long-term treatment selects for the heterozygotic form of beta-tubulin, a gene linked to ivermectin resistance.

Then, Sara Lustigman and James McCarter set Prichard et al.’s article in context in their Expert Commentary, "Ivermectin Resistance in Onchocerca volvulus" — Toward a Genetic Basis". These leading experts say that the new study is "a wake-up call for onchocerciasis control programs to select their treatment regimens carefully and to develop plans for detecting ivermectin resistance and the associated genetic markers."

In Prichard and colleagues' study, the genetic changes in beta-tubulin were seen in parasites obtained from patients exposed to repeated ivermectin treatment when compared with parasites obtained from the same patients before any exposure to ivermectin. The researchers also found that the extent of the genetic changes was dependent on the level of ivermectin treatment exposure. Ivermectin has been used for mass treatment of river blindness for up to 18 years and is currently the only safe drug available for mass treatment of the estimated 37 million people infected with O. volvulus.

These two articles are currently available as PDFs; however, once PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases officially launches, all of its content will feature the interactive online functionality that you've come to expect from its sister journal PLoS ONE. Until then, please post your comments below or contact us directly at plosntds@plos.org.

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