Internet Journal of Transmissible Spongiform
Encephalopathy
(June 1997) It appears that the IJTSE simply cannot become
organised with a major publisher: what has happened is that this
became too complex to be worthwhile. Further publication is
being taken over as a journal (paper) with abstracts on the
internet; 'Prion Research' Further details about this can be
obtained from:
Horizon Scientific Press,
P.O. Box 1,
Wymondham,
Norfolk, UK
NR18, 0EH
Also, the latest information about the journal is becoming
available on web site http://www.horizonpress.
com/prion
Further information on the IJTSE that was to be published:
This is a journal for the publication and dissemination of
scientific findings concerning TSE. Information will remain
available for many years in the same way as published articles.
The rapid rise in the research field of TSE, as a result of
both the epidemic of BSE and the risk of unknown size that has
been taken concerning human health, will require that
information is available rapidly to researchers throughout the
world.
The aim of the journal is to carry out this publication in an
independent manner and using rigorous scientific review
policies. It is important that both much of the research that
has not reached the literature for various non-scientific
reasons does so because in such an expanding field the newcomers
will only be able to start with what is published in order to
organise their work.
It was decided that an internet journal was required because
of the advantages that it brought:
- There are currently neither charges for publication nor
for receiving the journal
- Publication is in colour and available in English although
computer translators will now be able to alter this into any
language locally.
- There are only minor limits to publication size: articles
may be either very small or large. This was felt to be
important as many of the pieces of data produced in the TSE
field would often be thought of by standard publishers as
inadequate or verbose.
- Publication is daily
- Abstracts will be on Medline and other computer search
systems.
- Publication is rapid. We expect the time from receiving
the article to publication to be less than one month
- Publication is significant in terms of patent preference or
for discoveries being claimed by individual groups
- An internet conference system, newsgroup, and website are
associated with the journal, allowing criticism of the article
to be made quickly and openly. The publishers felt this to be
essential in that there is much difficulty in interpretation of
data and readers can be thought of as a help in this.
- No articles will be made in the foreseeable future that
IJTME articles will not be republished elsewhere by the same
authors
- Articles may be anonymous. This is expected to be unlikely
but will be at the discretion of the editor.
There are, however initial problems with the IJTSE:
The time taken to transfer data from one computer to another
depends on the standard of the connection and currently there
are many servers that can receive at only 2k bits per second or
less. As a result, images (and not letters or numbers) may take
a long time for transmission and therefore graphs will be
initially small and photographs cannot be accepted. Also, the
backlog of research data that has not been published for various
reasons is known to be large and will give an initially odd
appearance to the articles published. This will not continue
for very long but it is essential that it should not make the
journal appear to follow any particular viewpoint during this
time.
Other internet services associated with publication
At the time of writing there are two, the web site, which is to
be found on http://www.airtime.co.uk/bse/welcome.htm and the
newsgroup which is on BSE-L@RZ.UNI-KARLSRUHE.DE
The newsgroups must be joined officially by each person and this
is being organised currently.
Instructions to authors (July 1996)
There is currently no specific layout demanded for published
articles. It is preferred that the same layout is used as for
the Lancet but this is not essential. It should be noted that,
although it will be in colour for some browsers, this may not be
true for all and, as such, the author should try to think of
this when designing graphs. No photographs will be acceptable.
The data used for the manufacture of graphs should also be sent
so that, if it is felt that this would be easier to transmit to
recipients then this will be used. It should be remembered that
images will be small, usually less than 60 square centimetres
as seen on a screen and hence complex images should possibly be
split. A signed letter from the major author requesting
publication and stating that all other authors have given their
permission should be sent through the post.
Articles can either be e-mailed to the editor
(deal@airtime.co.uk) or sent to him directly. It is essential
that a copy is kept. The author will receive an e-mail or
letter showing that the article has been received. The article
will be sent to 2 reviewers after being inspected by the editor.
The reviews will be sent to the author for alterations but, if
it is acceptable, it may be possible to publish both the reviews
and the article. This would not take place without the author's
permission.
For publication, the article will have to be translated into
HTML and hence the image seen on the internet will not be
identical to that sent as it depends on the computer set-up of
the recipient browser. The author should be aware of this.
Current editor
Dr. Stephen Dealler. Consultant Medical Microbiologist in UK.
Involved in the publication of research concerning the potential
risks of BSE to the population in the UK. This political
tarnish should not be of significance following March 1996 when
BSE was admitted to be a risk of unknown size to the population.
Has published a popular book and approximately 30 articles on
the subject.
e-mail to
Articles for publication should be sent to me at: The Pathology
Laboratory, Burnley General Hospital, Burnley, UK BB10 2PQ
It is important that we know who wants information about IJTME
and what you think about what is here.
If you would like regular information mailed to you on the mailing list or the internet journal please tell us.
No responsibility is accepted for the validity of the
information sent and it must be remembered that anyone can gain
access to the data on these pages