In the past few years, we have strived to make the Journal of Cell Biology the best it can be (Nunnari and Alvania. 2016. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201604011). Term limits for editorial board members were introduced to ensure that more individuals have the opportunity to serve. Indeed, 1/3 of our board are new members. Both of these changes are part of an ongoing proactive effort to better represent the diverse and international cell biology community at JCB. To date, we have increased the number of women on our board to over 30%—a trend that we will continue to build on. We have maintained the outstanding quality of our scientist-driven editorial decisions, but have made changes so that the editorial process is easier on authors: we now allow transfer of reviewer comments from other journals; we have reduced the time from acceptance to online publication by over 30%; we now offer an immediate open access option; and author fees have been reduced by an average of over 40%.
With all these changes, it was a perfect time to update the look of the journal (http://www.rupress.org/NewLook). Because our readers primarily find our content online rather than through the print journal, we launched a new journal website last year with a cleaner design that better showcases our published research. We hope you have enjoyed the new experience. A redesign of PDF articles will be revealed in the coming months. The redesigned PDF uses new fonts known for their clarity and legibility, has improved figure legend and table formatting, includes clear links to referenced content, and provides citation information on every page. JCB has long believed that the articles we publish should contain all the information needed for readers to assess and reproduce the work. Thus, we will continue to have no limits on Materials and methods or References, and the new PDF design will have a Materials and methods section with an increased font size to enhance readability.
As part of our redesign, we are also excited to introduce the new JCB cover and journal logo (Fig. 1). The new journal logo is both a nod to the past and a reinvention. JCB was first launched in 1955 as The Journal of Biophysical and Biochemical Cytology. The name was changed to The Journal of Cell Biology in 1962 and in 2004 the logo JCB, already widely used by the community, was added to the cover. The journal cover and logo have also changed color several times. Initially it was a light blue and then red for many years; the current orange was not introduced until the late 90s. Now in 2017, we have gone back to red, which complements the microscopy images that often grace our covers. The new cover design is clean and uncluttered to better showcase our authors’ images. The logo itself is updated with a new font that is elegant and timeless, like the science we publish.
We also wanted to use this redesign as an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between our sister journals, Journal of Experimental Medicine and Journal of General Physiology, at Rockefeller University Press (RUP). Although our journals have different scientific communities, we share the same core principles long-championed by RUP: the highest editorial integrity, science that stands the test of time, and decisions by scientists for scientists. A new RUP logo—intended to evoke the fluidity and dynamism of biological systems—is now incorporated throughout the journals to cement our shared history and vision.
This redesign marks a time of exciting change and growth for JCB. We will be continuing to roll out new initiatives in the coming year aimed at increased transparency, reproducibility, and inclusivity.
We are excited to unveil the new look of JCB and we hope you like it.
