As I begin my tenure as Editor of Toxicological Sciences, I want to first acknowledge the leadership and dedication of Curtis Klaassen and his staff over the past five years. Under Curts direction, the journals content and impact factor have improved dramatically. In fact, the impact factor for the journal now stands at an all-time high. Thank you, Curt, for setting high standards of quality for the editors, authors, and readers of Toxicological Sciences to emulate.
In looking ahead, my goal for the journal is for it to be the most widely-read toxicology journal. It should be an indispensable resource for every practicing toxicologist as well as a venue by which scientists in other disciplines recognize the importance and relevance of toxicological research. In addition, I want Toxicological Sciences to be global in its scope, with increased contribution of articles from scientists around the world and increased representation of international scientists on the Editorial board.
Over the past several months, a major focus of my office has been to increase and improve access to Toxicological Sciences on the internet. Weve converted to a web-based system for manuscript submission and review. To date, our experience with the system has been quite good, and we are expecting it will increase the overall efficiency of peer review. Remember to submit manuscripts online for consideration at http://toxsci.manuscriptcentral.com. Additional features still being developed include publication of articles online, ahead of print (coming soon), and electronic appendices that will allow large data sets or databases to be available electronically. Electronic appendices will enable readers to access useful data that would otherwise not be available in print form.
While the web-based upgrades may not be immediately apparent, one change I hope everyone has noticed is that weve redesigned the cover of the journal. As the first thing readers see, our intent was for the cover to present vitality and enthusiasm. However, the cover is just thatwhile it may be eye-catching, its ultimately the content of the journal that is essential for its continued improvement and sustained success. To that end, publishing high-quality, hypothesis-driven research articles encompassing all areas of toxicology will continue to be the mainstay of the journal. Other features, including the Forum section for the discussion of relevant positions and regulatory decisions and timely, topical review articles will continue as well. We plan to add more Editorials and to increase contributions to the journal from scientists whose work impacts toxicology.
I would like to call your attention to the lead article in this issue, a position statement from the Society of Toxicology on the safety of genetically modified foods. This article was developed by directive from and approved by the Council of the Society of Toxicology. The human safety of genetically modified foods has been a controversial topic in both scientific and public arenas for some time. We are not the first professional society to publish such a position statement, and it was certainly time for toxicologists to develop such a document. Furthermore, toxicologists need to be more actively involved in educating the public on the facts regarding how such systems are developed, what safety evaluations have been conducted and what work is ongoing or needed to ensure human safety of these products. I encourage everyone to read this article and comment as you feel appropriate.
In a broader sense, the position statement on genetically modified foods also symbolizes the character of Toxicological Sciences. I noted that the journal should be diverse in its scope, global in its outlook, and indispensable to both toxicologists and scientists in other fields of biomedical and environmental research. In a direct parallel, the article on genetically modified foods was developed by a diverse group of scientists representing expertise from academia, industry, and government, and this group worked to bring together differing points of view into a balanced, reasonable perspective. We look forward to publishing additional position statements from the Society in the future.