Starting Our Second Term

Abstract

This issue marks Developmental Cell’s fourth anniversary. I personally find it slightly amazing that four years have passed already, but 48 issues later, here we are. Our underlying goal remains the same as at the time we launched: to provide a forum for exciting research in cell biology and developmental biology, and for the growing body of work that falls at the interface between these two areas. I am very happy to have been able to publish so many excellent papers in both areas over the past four years, and I look forward to continuing to do so. We have also branched out from time to time by publishing studies that made good use of genomic-scale or computational approaches and venturing into other areas, such as evolutionary biology, immune responses, and host-pathogen interactions. This, too, is a trend that we intend to continue. There have been some substantial developments for the journal over its 4 year history, perhaps most notably the switch from a combined Cell/Molecular Cell/Developmental Cell editorial team to an independent journal-specific team in November 2003 and the policy initiated in January 2005 of making all content that is more than one year old freely accessible without a subscription [for more information, see the Editorials in the December 2003 and November 2004 issues; (Sweet, 2003Sweet, D. (2003). Cellular Development. Dev. Cell 5, 817.Google Scholar, Sweet, 2004Sweet D. Some Questions Answered.Dev. Cell. 2004; 7: 627-628Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (1) Google Scholar)]. We and all the Cell Press journals also recently launched a new website design (see www.developmentalcell.com), which includes more information while retaining the simplicity and ease of use that so many readers have told us they greatly appreciate. The website has a number of new features, including RSS feeds and a featured job from our partner Sciencejobs.com. We also include a link to our current annotated table of contents, which provides short summaries of the research papers in the current issue. The “annotated eTOC” is also available by email on the day of each new issue, and I would encourage readers who find the annotations useful to sign up for email delivery. Another change this month is that we are pleased to be welcoming twelve new members to our advisory editorial board: Philip Benfey, Mary Dasso, Robert Duronio, Hiroshi Hamada, Linda Hicke, James Hurley, Helmut Kramer, Sarah Millar, Eric Olson, Alexander Schier, Ulrich Tepass, and Bill Theurkauf. We are very grateful to all our editorial board members for their support and for their advice about submitted papers and other journal policy issues. We are marking our fourth anniversary with a review feature highlighting one aspect of our cell biology coverage—the cytoskeleton. The three pieces are centered around the overall theme of extracellular modulation of cytoskeletal organization. One review, by Markus Affolter and Cornelis Weijer, discusses how chemotactic signaling controls reorganization of the cytoskeleton to generate directional cell movement, both in single cells such as Dictyostelium and neutrophils and in whole animals. A second review, by Klemens Rottner, Theresia Stradal, and Juergen Wehland, focuses on how bacteria at the cell membrane modulate the host actin cytoskeleton to create privileged niches for themselves. The third piece is a meeting review by Alissa Weaver about a recent Keystone meeting on Cell Migration and Adhesion, organized by Frank Gertler and Denise Montell. This article has some overlap with the reviews but also covers other topics related to intracellular cytoskeletal organization, particularly interactions between cytoskeletal structures and their interplay during cell migration. By coincidence, the meeting review is in turn relevant to this month’s cover feature, which discusses the role of the dynein light chain Tctex-1 in organization of the actin cytoskeleton during neurite outgrowth. So, as we embark on our ‘second term’, I see much to look forward to. By far the strongest element of this is, of course, the continuing pace of research and the opportunity we will have to present exciting results in the pages of Developmental Cell. The 2004 impact factors have just been released, and I am pleased to say that Developmental Cell has seen another increase. Our new impact factor is 15.434, and the immediacy index is 3.239. Like last year’s, these indexes compare favorably to those of many other cell-biology and developmental-biology communities. I have received a lot of positive feedback about Developmental Cell and the way it has become established as a resource and venue for the cell biology and developmental biology communities. So, even though the Developmental Cell “ticket” has not had to negotiate a formal election, I hope that you will continue to give us your support as readers and contributors and will help Developmental Cell to flourish with the communities that it serves.