Welcome to Oncogenesis

Abstract

A very, very long-time ago, way back before there was email, science was communicated in two ways. We would read papers that were actually on paper, bound into journals, and sent to libraries, offices and homes by something called mail (not to be confused with the aforementioned email). To find a paper, we would scan tables of contents, and physically turn the pages to a title of potential interest. The other way was to attend meetings, which we still do of course, but then it was to hear about papers that might be ‘in press,' by which we meant ‘being printed on an actual printing press,' and it would be months, at least, before the print arrived in our ‘mail boxes.' Reading a paper, although, was trivial compared with actually preparing our work for possible publication. These had to be typed by hand, on machines called ‘typewriters' (you can still see these in museums). Graphs were hand drawn and lettered, and photographs were developed in tanks of chemicals. When I started out (yes, this was all in my lifetime), photocopied papers were not acceptable—copies had to be prepared separately, although the use of carbon paper was allowed (don't ask). Yes, we were very primitive, but we could fill up the gas tanks of our cars for <5 $ (you might say, ‘petrol' and ‘pounds,' and oh yes, we didn't have euros then, either). Anyway, that was then. While we don't have flying cars or teleportation (pity), we do have video telephones and the amazing internet. And now we have electronic publishing—we can access the entire collection of scientific (and other) writing from the comfort of our desks, assuming, of course, that ours is comfortable (mine is, thank you). But there's a catch—you, or your institution, or your friend's institution, must have a subscription to whatever journals (we still call them journals) you would like to read. And if you'd like to read a paper I've written, I certainly hope you can access it. The thing is, companies that produce the journals we read have to make money—at least enough to cover costs (and there is a lot of cost) and then some (if they want to be a profitable company). Then came the idea of open access. Since I would very much like you to read about my discoveries, maybe I would pay to make them free to everyone. The science itself is enormously expensive compared with what this access would cost, and so this might be a way to go. And indeed, the pioneers of open access have shown that it can work. And so, Nature Publishing Group has brought Oncogenesis to us, a journal about the molecular basis of cancer, freely accessible by anyone with an internet connection. But Oncogenesis is more than that—it is the ‘sister' journal of Oncogene, a more traditional journal with the same theme, and one with a well-regarded place in the world of cancer biology. In launching Oncogenesis as an open access journal, we have made some conscious decisions. This will be a place where scientific information, properly peer reviewed for content, will be made available even when the science may not have come to a point where it is definitive—where the observations may not necessarily be fully explained or extended to allow general conclusions. If the experiments have been done carefully and can be considered of potential interest, if the conclusions are supported by the data, and if the scientists who performed them stand behind the results, then they will be shared with the scientific community. Indeed, shared with anyone who wishes to read it. We all know that sometimes we discover things we cannot completely understand. Or we obtain results that seem to be at odds with conventional wisdom. We perform detailed experiments using one cell line, and may not have the time or resources to conduct the same experiments in a wide range of cell types or in in vivo systems. And although we feel that the work and our conclusions are significant, we cannot navigate the demands of more conventional journals. Now you can. Welcome to Oncogenesis. We invite papers investigating the molecular basis of cancer and related phenomena; indeed, any work that can be considered of interest to cancer biologists. The editors are academic researchers who will work with you to bring your work to light—to scientists, everywhere, who may find it useful.