Progress Or A Journal Publishing Face-Off?
Author: RON KAUFMAN, p.1,6,22..
Early this year, the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) was officially established to provide molecular evolutionary biologists with information about their field. Just two months later, a different group of scientists formed the International Society of Molecular Evolution (ISME) with a similar mission.
While both societies claim that the advancement of their discipline was an important motivation for their formation, the two sides also acknowledge that a significant reason for their existence is the promotion of their respective scholarly journals--a publishing, rather than scientific, matter. But some molecular evolutionists view the situation as a sign of healthy competition that ultimately will assist in the maturation of this still-evolving field.
"I would never have started the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution if Springer-Verlag [New York Inc., sponsor of ISME and publisher of the Journal of Molecular Evolution (JME)] ...
