Carcinogenesis, Vol. 21, No. 3, 339,
March 2000
© 2000 Oxford University Press
Carcinogenesis, 19801
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Introduction |
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 Top Introduction |
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In 1978, IRL Press developed the initial concept for a journal that dealt with the area of carcinogenesis in response to feedback at a European meeting attended by one of their executives. The publishers searched for an editor for such a journal and were able to interest Colin Garner, working in the Department of Biology, University of York, UK in this undertaking. Since IRL Press had been successful with Nucleic Acids Research, a camera-ready journal with a rapid publication time, using a strategy that had editorial offices, based both in Europe and in the USA, a similar strategy was planned for the new journal concept. Initially, a title of Environmental Carcinogenesis with Colin Garner as European Editor and Hans Marquardt as the US Editor was planned and an Editorial Board was appointed. However, Hans' decision to return to his native Germany to continue his research career prevented this specific plan from being implemented.
Anthony Dipple was then asked by Colin Garner to take over as US Editor. However, the introduction of a new editor brought with it new views on the journal concept. It took some time to redefine this concept and to get the first issue launched (January, 1980). At times, this process seemed frustratingly slow. On several occasions, the Editorial Board was polled to settle issues that the Editors could not resolve themselves. Though such polls were taken merely to solve problems, it is clear in hindsight that these polls were a form of unintentional market research that led to a fairly rapid acceptance of the new journal. A major impetus for the formation of a new journal was the long time, sometimes 9–12 months, that were then common between manuscript receipt and publication. Carcinogenesis, the journal that emerged owes a great debt to the first editorial board. Its members were: J.Ashby, B.A.Bridges, R.A.Cartwright, I.Chouroulinkov, J.E.Cleaver, C.C.Harris, P.T.Iype, F.F.Kadlubar, P.Kleihues, T.Kuroki, P.D.Lawley, M.W.Lieberman, J.R.Lindsay Smith, H.W.J. Marquardt, C.N.Martin, F.Oesch, L.Santini, J.K.Selkirk, F.J.de Serres, K.C.Smith, J.A.Styles, J.Sugàr, T.Sugimura, S.W.Tromp, J.E.Trosko, V.Turusov, J.H.Weisberger, and G.N.Wogan. Additionally, Tony Woodcock, and the late Elaine Coast and Kit Woolcott of IRL Press each played major roles in the creation of this journal.
To facilitate rapid publication, Carcinogenesis was launched directly as a monthly publication. The first issue contained papers from well-recognized scientists in the field, many of whom were editorial board members. This issue got the journal off to a strong start. A couple of weeks after the first issue came out, it occurred to us that we might not get enough papers submitted to make another issue. However, these doubts were rapidly relieved by a substantial flow of manuscripts submitted to the journal that has continued to the present. Figure 1 summarizes the growth of Carcinogenesis over the years and also reflects the effects of recent attempts to head off uncontrolled growth by raising the level of referee priority scores that are required for acceptance of a manuscript for publication.
A major milestone in the journal's history was the addition of Curtis C.Harris as a second US editor in 1984. Curt came to the journal's rescue when Tony Dipple was incapacitated by a sudden illness, and Curt agreed to share editorial duties with Tony after his recovery. In 1989, IRL Press became a part of Oxford University Press and management of the journal became the responsibility firstly, of Martin Richardson and currently, of Janet Boullin, Journals Editorial Director, OUP. More recently, further major editorial changes took place. Apart from a brief period of editorial support from Peter Herrlich in Germany, Colin Garner, with the assistance of Carl Martin for several years, was responsible for the European office of the journal from inception until 1996. At this point, having nursed the journal from inception to adulthood, Colin retired from his editorial duties to spend more time on his many other commitments. Fortunately, Allan Balmain and Robert Brown agreed to take over Colin's editorial responsibilities and the European Editorial Office was moved from York to Glasgow as of January 1997. The new editors have had a positive effect on the journal and have helped to ensure that research published in Carcinogenesis is at the forefront of the field. We are pleased that Carcinogenesis has played a significant role in research into cancer etiology and prevention and that such work is recognized to be as important as improvements in diagnosis and treatment.
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Notes |
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1 Tony wrote this brief historical perspective prior to his untimely death. The Editors, indeed the `Carcinogenesis' scientific community, valued his friendship and the considerable skills he brought to the Journal. The substantial scientific accomplishments of Tony Dipple have been chronicled in Carcinogenesis 20:1387-88, 1999.
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