A Publisher with an Open Heart

Abstract

It's always exciting launching a new journal, and it's even better when you feel that it can genuinely benefit the community. That's how we feel about the launch of Biology Open (BiO). Discussions among the Directors of The Company of Biologists have focused in recent years on the 'pain to publish' experienced by authors-and from these discussions grew the idea of a journal that could lessen that pain. So last year, the Company conducted a survey of authors in the communities associated with its three established journals: Development, Journal of Cell Science and The Journal of Experimental Biology. Not only did the results confirm the challenges faced by authors in finding a home for their papers, but they also told us what our new journal would need to offer to make a difference.

Biology Open: evaluating impact

“…The Company Directors ( ), all research-active biologists, together made the decision to launch BiO in 2011. They identified the need for a journal that strives to support the members and researchers of the biological sciences community by publishing sound research without a requirement for novelty or impact ( Hunt and Moulton, 2012 ). Editor-in-Chief Jordan Raff perceived BiO as part of the solution to a system that is “no longer fit for purpose” ( Raff, 2012 ).…”

A new brand for Disease Models & Mechanisms and The Company of Biologists

“…We conducted a survey of our authors, editors and reviewers; the results confirmed the challenges faced by authors in finding a home for their papers. Later in 2011, a call for papers went out for the Company's newest journal Biology Open (BiO; bio.biologists.org) ( Hunt and Moulton, 2012 ). BiO is an online Open Access journal that publishes peer-reviewed original research across all aspects of the biological sciences.…”

Untangling the Use of Blockchain in Distributed AgriFood Supply Chains: IoT data privacy and ABAC policy smart contract

“…In the AgriFood supply chain, IoT devices and sensors have been used during agricultural production [7], disease management, smart harvesting [8], storage [9] and transport [10] of food, to provide a variety of important information about vegetation, soil, nutrients, used fertilizers [11], identification, location and status of food [12], state of the environment in which the food is stored or transported, these data are commercially sensitive, often provided to consumers and data buyers, but providing them without leaking confidential data of the proprietary, poses a greater challenge [13]. In addition, the devices used have special characteristics such as limited performance, mobility and distributed deployment [14] [15], making it difficult to guarantee security, privacy, and write access control of sensors and read access control of users in Internet of Things networks. Blockchain technology, as a distributed, decentralized and immutable ledger, is a potential solution to address the limitations of current IoT networks.…”