December 2003 • Volume 37 • Number 12

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APS Participates in Development of New Guidelines for Publication of Scientific Information

Alan R. Biggs, Chair of APS Publications Board

Six months ago, The American Phytopathological Society adopted a new procedure for evaluating manuscripts submitted to its journals. The intent is to prevent release of information that could lead to any use of plant pathology contrary to the welfare of humanity, including the use of plant pathogens as biological weapons. Since that time, no manuscript has been rejected for security reasons or delayed due to elevated bioterrorism concerns. Development of the new procedure is a proactive response to the biosecurity issues raised by federal policymakers. This is our opportunity to develop procedures that we know can work for us, rather than have procedures imposed on us by nonscientists. The APS Publications Board has adopted a procedure that we believe will minimize the additional work required and that will have a minimal impact on scientific freedom. At the same time, however, the new system allows for biosecurity concerns to be flagged at several points in the editorial and review process, greatly reducing the chance that inappropriate material would be published. We believe that the number of submissions likely to be impacted is very small. The American Society for Microbiology has screened several thousand manuscripts submitted to its 11 journals, and only three were flagged for additional scrutiny. Each of the articles was eventually published.

APS Publications Board Statement About APS Publication Policies and Procedures:
 
The APS Publications Board has prepared a set of guidelines, available at /members/ppb/BiosecurityAPSPubBoardPolicy.pdf, to use for monitoring manuscripts submitted to its journals for content that might constitute inappropriate use of the science of plant pathology. During the development of these guidelines, the APS Publications Board resolved to emphasize its requirement for the inclusion within all articles submitted of all materials relevant to the review and reproducibility of the research contained therein. This requirement includes a provision for the clear indication of the fungi, bacteria, plasmids, viruses, nematodes, and living materials (such as microbial strains and cell lines) newly described in the article, and that they be made available from a national collection or will be made available in a timely fashion and at reasonable cost to members of the scientific community for noncommercial purposes. The policies and procedures set forth by the APS Publications Board represent in the strongest possible terms an affirmation of the APS Code of Professional Conduct (http://www.apsnet.org/members/gov/conduct.asp) to which all members of the society subscribe when they join APS.

 

APS Annual Meeting Abstract Notice

Cindy Ash Takes New Position with USDA Forest Service

APS Director of Scientific Services Cindy Ash has taken a new position as a forest pathologist with the USDA Forest Service in Durham, NH. Her last day with APS was October 24. Ash’s new contact information is available in the APS directory. If you need help with APS activities, please contact Michelle Bjerkness (mbjerkness@scisoc.org).

 

 
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