New to Journal of Lipid Research

Abstract

It is now the fourth year of my Editorship of the Journal of Lipid Research (JLR), and I would like to share with the readership the progress we have made in the past year and changes we anticipate in the future. The Journal continues to prosper and the number of submissions is increasing. This is probably due, in part, to the inauguration of online submissions in January 2002. The online submission process has gone smoothly and has been highly successful, since, as of April 2002, 86% of submitted papers were received electronically. The high number of online submissions in such a short period of time suggests that authors find this a more convenient and rapid method for submitting manuscripts. To speed the process even more, JLR has adopted an electronic review process that has considerably decreased the turnaround time for a manuscript, i.e., time from submission to first decision. To further improve the efficiency of the submission and review process, the JLR will make online submission of manuscripts mandatory on January 1, 2003. The Journal has recently instituted JLR Papers in Press (PIPs). Newly accepted papers will be published online in searchable PDF format on a twice-monthly basis (on the 1st and 16th of each month). The PIP reduces the time to publication, since it will appear 8–12 weeks before the print version. The date the PIP appears is the citable date of publication for the paper, for the purpose of establishing priority. Each PIP has a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI) that needs to be used when citing the paper. For more information on JLR PIPs, visit the JLR web site (www.jlr.org). One year ago JLR inaugurated its Thematic Review Series; this has been a highly successful endeavor, given the large number of “hits” on these articles as they appear online. These reviews are designed to focus on an area of current interest in the field of lipid research; reviews on various topics within the area of interest appear in a series in consecutive months. The first series focused on the ABC Transporters, the second on Regulation of Sterol/Lipid Metabolism and Transport, and the third (current) series on Lipases and How They Modulate Gut Uptake and Plasma Disposal of Lipids. The fourth series, coordinated and edited by Linda Pike and Dennis Voelker, will commence on January 2003, and is entitled Membranes and Polar Lipid Dynamics. The JLR is very interested in your input into the Thematic Reviews, and I would be very happy if readers would let us know what area they feel is “ripe” for a review series. In addition to suggestions on review topics, we would like to have volunteers to coordinate and edit the series. In addition to Thematic Reviews, JLR also publishes regular review articles. We encourage such reviews and look forward to suggestions for review topics from the readers of JLR. As always, we look forward to your comments and suggestions. Trudy M. Forte, Editor-in-Chief e-mail: [email protected]