Biochemical Journal

Infobox Journal


discipline = Biochemistry
abbreviation = "Biochem J", BJ
publisher = Portland Press
country = U.K.
frequency = 24 per year, in 8 volumes
history = Founded 1906
openaccess = After 12 months and where authors have opted to pay
impact = 4.009
impact-year = 2007
website = http://www.biochemj.org/
ISSN = 0264-6021
eISSN = 1470-8728

The "Biochemical Journal" ("Biochem J" or BJ) is a peer-reviewed academic journal which covers all aspects of biochemistry, as well as cell and molecular biology. It is published by Portland Press Ltd from its editorial offices in London, UK and La Jolla, USA. First published in 1906, it is among the oldest continuously published scientific journals.

History

The journal was founded in 1906 by Benjamin Moore, holder of the first UK chair of biochemistry at the University of Liverpool, with financial support from Edward Whitley, an heir of the Greenall Whitley brewers. [http://www.bjcentenary.com/news/jclark.htm Clark J. Biochemical Journal Centenary (2006)] (accessed 30 September 2007)] The two served as the first Editors and the journal was initially published by the University Press of Liverpool. [http://www.biochemj.org/bj/001/1/admin.pdf Anon (1906) "Bio-Chemical Journal" 1: i–iii] (accessed 30 September 2007)] It was acquired by the Biochemical Club (later renamed the Biochemical Society) in October 1912, shortly after the society's foundation; at that time the journal had 170 subscribers. From 1913, it was published in conjunction with Cambridge University Press, with W.M. Bayliss and Arthur Harden chairing the Editorial Board; the original title of "The Bio-Chemical Journal" became "The Biochemical Journal" at that date. [ [http://www.biochemj.org/bj/007/1/admin.pdf Anon "Biochemical Journal" (1913) 7: i–vi] (accessed 30 September 2007)]

The journal at first appeared at irregular intervals, with between three and twelve issues appearing annually in a single volume. From 1948, two volumes were published annually, with four or five parts per volume, and the frequency increased rapidly over the years, reaching the current frequency of eight volumes in three parts in 1974. [ [http://www.biochemj.org/bj/toc.htm?S=0 BJ Central: Contents by Issue] (accessed 30 September 2007)]

Current journal

Eight volumes are published each year with each volume consisting of three parts (24 issues per year).

To mark the centenary of the journal in 2006 a free online archive back to its first issue in 1906 was launched.

The journal won the first ALPSP/Charlesworth Award for Best Online Journal in 2007. [http://www.alpsp.org/ngen_public/default.asp?id=251 ALPSP: ALPSP/Charlesworth Awards 2007] (accessed 30 September 2007)] [ [http://www.biochemist.org/news/page.htm?item=24790 "Biochemical Journal" hits the heights "The Biochemist" (14 September 2007)] (accessed 30 September 2007)] The judges described the online journal as 'visually attractive and easy to use ... maintains the character of the journal while exploiting the digital medium to offer a range of additional features'.

Portland Press Ltd has developed an innovative way of viewing journal articles online called Enhanced Electronic Serials Interface-View (EESI-View). EESI-View employs a novel 3-frame approach to solve the frustrations of reading journal articles online. It enables the reader to view text, figures and author information at the same time, analogous to the printed page, with easy automatic resizing of frames, simple navigation, linking, roll-overs to authors’ affiliations and references, all customizable to suit the reader.

In 2008 Portland Press Ltd launched Opt2Pay, a new pay-to-publish option whereby authors who publish in the Biochemical Journal can choose to pre-pay to make the final authoritative version of their journal articles freely available immediately on publication, ensuring the journal is compliant with the publishing mandates of The Wellcome Trust, MRC, CRUK, BBSRC, etc. The journal is also compliant with the NIH mandate – where authors may deposit their accepted peer-reviewed manuscripts in PubMed Central on acceptance for public release 12 months after publication.

The "Biochemical Journal" is indexed in BIOBASE, BIOSIS, CAB International, Chemical Abstracts Service, Current Contents, EMBASE, International Food Infomation Service, Medline/Index Medicus, Proquest Information & Learning and Science Citation Index. The impact factor for 2007 is 4.009 (ISI).

Editorial Board

As of 2008, the chair of the Editorial Board is Peter R. Shepherd (University of Auckland, New Zealand); the Vice Chair (the Americas) is Guy Salvesen (Burnham Institute for Medical Research, San Diego, USA); the Reviews Editor is Alex Toker (Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA). Previous chairs include Deryck Walker (1969–1975), Chris Pogson (1982–1987), Tony Turner (1987–1994), Ken Siddle (1995–1999), Peter Parker (2000–2003) and George Banting (2004–2007). [ [http://www.biochemist.org/bio/02802/0052/028020052.pdf Burgess, M (2006) "Biochemical Journal" celebrates its 100th birthday. "The Biochemist", 28: 52] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.biochemj.org/ "Biochemical Journal" website]
* [http://www.biochemj.org/50.htm Top 50 most frequently read papers and reviews]
* [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=journals&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=1011 NCBI Journals Database: Biochemical Journal]