This blog is part of our Research Roundup series, hearing from the Editors-in-Chief of our three journals, Physiology Reports, Experimental Physiology and The Journal of Physiology each month. Their blogs are featured in our Research Roundup, a monthly newsletter, summarising the recent research published in our family of journals.
Professor Damian M. Bailey
Editor-in-Chief, Experimental Physiology
I can’t believe how quickly summer has come and (almost) gone, although I’m not entirely convinced it ever arrived here in the UK! And it reminds me that time does indeed fly by faster the older we get, a well-documented albeit difficult to decipher perception, that continues to forge an integrative union between physiologists, psychologists and physicists alike to help explain (I do love an extension of the ‘neural pacemaker’ theory posited by Bejan). Musings aside, the past few months have been action-packed for Experimental Physiology and, conscious of Voltaire’s (note extensive allusions to physiology!) etheral quote, ”The secret of being a bore is to tell everything”, I’ll keep this blog short, sharp and to the point. Actually, four points, if I may be so bold!
First, we are proud to celebrate publication of our first ‘complete’ Registered Report in physiology, including both a Protocol and Results. Conceptually, Registered Reports differ from traditional scientific reporting, differentiated by the integration of peer review before data collection physically begins, and it offers unique benefits. Please consider this publication category, since we at Experimental Physiology are fully committed to improving how research is conducted, assessed, reported, and incentivised. And keep an eye out for an upcoming Editorial by our Senior Editor, Dr Peter Rasmussen, who will help put this into clearer practical perspective to whet your creative appetite.
Second, we’re beginning to pour more oil on our Special Issues (SI) fire! Keep your eyes peeled for Physiology and the Olympics, and Space physiology: challenges and solutions for a journey to Mars that are soon to be published. Those that are currently ‘live’ on our platform include Exercise as Medicine, Mechanotransduction, muscle spindles and proprioception, and The cellular/molecular mechanisms and potential treatment strategies for kidney diseases. We’re thrilled to have additional specialist support from Josh Hersant, who has been promoted to Deputy Managing Editor (congratulations Josh!) to help with building our SI pipeline. Please reach out to us (ephjournal@physoc.org) if you have any ideas you’d like to throw into the ring; it’s a great opportunity and you’ll have excellent guidance and support from our talented team.
Third, I’d like to congratulate the winner of our Mid-Career Researcher Prize, Dr John Ussher (The Multifaceted Roles of Ketones in Physiology) and the runners-up, Drs Oliver Witad (Perioperative nutrition for preservation of musculoskeletal health outcomes following orthopaedic surgery) and Davide Filingeri (How hot is too hot? A review of the complex interplay amongst physiological, perceptual, and behavioural mechanisms of human tolerance to heat stress). This is an important prize category that rewards and highlights our future leaders in physiology (see the original Editorial by one of our Assistant Reviews Editors, Dr Jospeh Costello).
And on a fourth and final note, further focused on the future of physiology (alliteration abounds!), keep your eyes peeled for the winners of our Future Leaders Scheme, that will soon be announced. The Future Leaders will join our Editorial Board for a period of two years, and implement their SI proposal (as part of the selection criteria) under the close mentorship of a selected member(s) of our Senior Editorial team. Upon successful completion of their term, our ‘Future Leaders’ will be invited to join the Editorial Board as a Senior Editor. The future of physiology is (and will be) bright!
And to you our readers, we welcome comments and suggestions that could improve the quality and visibility of the journal, your journal. Do reach out.