AIP announces new journal

The Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy will publish its first issue online in 2009. AIP is looking for submissions at this time. Access will be free for 2009 and will require a subscription subsequently. Topics will include the following:

• Bioenergy – bioreactions and bioengineering
• Geothermal energy – geysers, heat pumps, and novel devices
• Marine and hydroelectric energy – waves, tides, and dams
• Nuclear energy – fission and fusion
• Solar energy – photovoltaics and solar thermal converters
• Wind energy – turbines and electrical systems and controls
• Energy conversion – solid oxide and proton exchange membrane fuel cells and novel devices
• Energy efficient buildings – photovoltaics, solar thermal converters, and passive solar approaches
• Energy storage – hydrogen and batteries
• Power distribution – conventional and superconducting transmission, fluctuating loads, and controls
• Renewable energy resource assessment
• Transportation – hydrogen, batteries, fuel cells, bioenergy, and vehicles

In addition, a Web site will correspond to the journal and feature news, a blog, and more. For more information, visit the JRSE Web site.

New open-access journals added

At Professor Wetzel's suggestion, two open-access journals have been added to our online collection:

Numeracy: Advancing Education in Quantitative Literacy: This journal is published by the National Numeracy Network. Started in 2008, it is a peer-reviewed focusing on education at all levels.

Spreadsheets in Education: Also peer-reviewed, this journal publishes articles on use of spreadsheets in the classroom. Prof. Wetzel and student Peter Whicker published an article, Quick Correct: A Method to Automatically Evaluate Student Work in MS Excel Spreadsheets, in 2007.

Know of any other open-access journals that would e great for Eckerd's online journal collection? Just let me know.

Open Access publishing for Eckerd

As a participant in The Oberlin Group, a consortium of liberal arts college libraries, Eckerd College is a Supporter Level member of Biomed Central (BMC). What does this mean for our researchers? We receive a discount for publishing in any one of 182 peer-reviewed, open access journals published by BMC. As a supporting member, The Oberlin Group has its own Web page, where its researchers are featured. Functionality on the page filters articles that Oberlin Group researchers have published recently, as well as articles that have been accessed the most within a month and a year. This feature provides extra exposure to authors from Oberlin Group institutions.

According to BioMed Central, some of the reasons for publishing in a BMC open-access journal are the speed of publication, international exposure, a highly dedicated promotional process undertaken by BMC, inclusion in major bibliographic indices (e.g., PubMed), and now, and the addition of a Thomson ISI impact factors for some journals. Additional promotion is available through BioMed's "Highly accessed" designation, which can be mentioned as a measurement when authors refer to their work.

Authors for BMC retain copyright over their own work through a Creative Commons license. Work published in BMC journals are made available for free through BMC permanently. Works are archived in various locations so if BMC loses control of its works, open access articles will remain available through other venues.

Some of the recent titles from Oberlin Groups researchers include the following:

Toward the automated generation of genome-scale metabolic networks in the SEED
Matthew DeJongh1, Kevin Formsma1,2, Paul Boillot1, John Gould1, Matthew Rycenga3,4 and Aaron Best2

1. Department of Computer Science, Hope College
2. Department of Biology, Hope College
   
3. Department of Chemistry, Hope College
4. Department of Chemistry, University of Washington

BMC Bioinformatics 2007, 8:139 doi:10.1186/1471-2105-8-139

Analysis of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae proteome with PeptideAtlas
Nichole L King, EricWDeutsch, Jeffrey A Ranish, Alexey I Nesvizhskii, James S Eddes, Parag Mallick, Jimmy Eng, Frank Desiere, Mark Flory, Daniel B Martin, Bong Kim, Hookeun Lee, Brian Raught, and Ruedi Aebersold

Abstract: We present the Saccharomyces cerevisiae PeptideAtlas composed from 47 diverse experiments and 4.9 million tandem mass spectra. The observed peptides align to 61% of Saccharomyces Genome Database (SGD) open reading frames (ORFs), 49% of the uncharacterized SGD ORFs, 54% of S. cerevisiae ORFs with a Gene Ontology annotation of 'molecular function unknown', and 76% of ORFs with Gene names. We highlight the use of this resource for data mining, construction of high quality lists for targeted proteomics, validation of proteins, and software development.

Genome Biology 2006, 7:R106 (doi:10.1186/gb-2006-7-11-r106)

New science journal focuses on sustainability

The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) and Wiley and Sons have joined forces to offer a new journal, Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biorefining. According to Bruce E. Dale, editor-in-chief from Michigan State University,

movement towards a bioeconomy presents great opportunities for forward-thinking institutions to become catalysts for beneficial change and reap the related benefits.

This journal is meant to be the forum for scientists to communicate their research related to the bioeconomy. The journal publishes peer-reviewed critical reviews, commentary, business news highlights, policy updates, and patent information.

At this time, the first issue is available online via http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/114071350

In addition, a related Web site with free content is being launched. Visit http://www.biofpr.com/ for free content, a links directory, and, in the future, a forum for like-minded individuals. Sign up for updates and you have a chance to win the book Renewables-Based Technology: Sustainability Assessment, edited by Jo Dewulf & Herman Van Langenhove.

History of science journal to change name

In a press release dated August 2, 2007, University of California Press announced that the journal Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences will change its name to Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences. In addition, beginning February 2008, the journal will be published quarterly. The full press release can be found at http://www.ucpressjournals.com/newsDetail.asp?newsID=34