The Scientist at 15

This issue, Oct. 29, 2001, marks the beginning of the 16th year of publication of The Scientist. It is remarkable and sobering to look back over these relatively few years and to see how much has changed in the landscape of science, and even more remarkable how many things have stayed the same. Public awareness of the life sciences has dramatically increased. Stem cell research, the human genome project, and now the grisly threat of bioterrorism mean that life scientists are now more than ever in the limelight of public scrutiny. The first issue of The Scientist, published on Oct. 20, 1986, covered a story on the appointment of William Graham as presidential science advisor after a nine-month search. Today, after 10 months of the Bush presidency, the appointment of James Marbuger as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy is as yet unconfirmed. Both then and now, science, though recognized as one of the key engines of the economic strength of this country, still lacks the political clout that it surely deserves and requires. Also in our first issue was a salary survey that concluded that the median salary for research scientists was between $50,000 and $60,000 per year. Our recent, much larger survey found a median salary for life scientists of $55,000. (The Scientist, 15[18]:30 Sept. 17, 2001). Admittedly there are differences in sample and methodology, but nevertheless, the lack of progress in 15 years is striking. The Scientist itself has, however, made significant progress over these 15 years. Started as a newspaper for the science professional and printed on newsprint, The Scientist was initially directed at the whole of the scientific community. Over the years it has evolved into a full-color news journal printed on quality paper, and focusing on life scientists. Initially supported by paid subscriptions, The Scientist is now distributed without charge to qualified life scientists and is supported primarily by advertising. The basic goal of providing scientists with news and information with direct value and relevance to their professional lives remains the same. Now, The Scientist is planning a bold new venture that we believe will dramatically increase the span of our readership and the value of our publication. This has been spurred by the reactions of our readers in two significant areas. Since 1992, even before the World Wide Web was launched, The Scientist has been available on the Internet. In the past two years, our Web site has expanded and developed to the point where it contains a complete archive back to Volume 1, Issue1. The Web site is free to all, and it now receives nearly 200,000 unique visitors per month who look at almost two million pages. It is particularly significant that more than 40 percent of these readers, the majority of whom are professional life scientists, reside outside the United States. The attraction of our blend of news, insight, and comment to scientists worldwide is evident. Surveys and feedback from our readers have indicated an increased appetite for the type of research coverage that The Scientist prides itself on doing well-articles on the people and the events behind a piece of research, stories that put research findings in a larger context, items that dig out interesting and significant papers from the research literature beyond those trumpeted in the general press by the major science journals. These two trends-pressures, if you will-have led The Scientist into a partnership with the British publishing group that is responsible for BioMedCentral and the Faculty of 1000; two of the most exciting and innovative developments in science publishing today. Starting in January, The Scientist will have a completely new look with a new design and a change in page size to a standard magazine format. It will no longer be confined to circulation in the United States but will be available in print free of charge to life scientists in Canada and western Europe. The content will take on a more international flavor, and in particular will publish a greatly expanded Research section with literature reviews and alerts from the Faculty of 1000 (www.facultyof1000.com/info/). With these changes The Scientist will accomplish another stage in its evolution while continuing to provide its current and future readers with compelling information that will play an important role in their working lives. Alexander M. Grimwade (agrimwade@the-scientist.com) is publisher of The Scientist.

The Scientist at 15

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