PLoS Computational Biology: A New Community Journal

Welcome to PLoS Computational Biology, a community journal from the Public Library of Science dedicated to reporting biological advances achieved through computation. The journal is published in partnership with the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB). The importance of this partnership is described in the accompanying letter from Michael Gribskov, ISCB president. What motivates us to start a new journal at this time? Computation, driven in part by the influx of large amounts of data at all biological scales, has become a central feature of research and discovery in the life sciences. This work tends to be published either in methods journals that are not read by experimentalists or in one of the numerous journals reporting novel biology, each of which publishes only small amounts of computational research. Hence, the impact of this research is diluted. PLoS Computational Biology provides a home for important biological research driven by computation—a place where computational biologists can find the best work produced by their colleagues, and where the broader biological community can see the myriad ways computation is advancing our understanding of biological systems. PLoS Computational Biology is governed by one overarching principle: scientific quality. This quality is reflected in the editorial board and the editorial staff. The editorial board members are leaders in their respective scientific areas and have agreed to give their valuable time to support a quality journal in their field. Behind the scenes, through a rigorous presubmission process, three quality reviews for each paper, and an acceptance rate below 20%, the editors and staff already knew in the six months since the journal was launched that we were producing a first-rate product. The scientific content is now here for all of you to see and will continue to build in the months and years to come.