An exciting time to launch the World Journal of Hematology

Abstract

This first issue of the World Journal of Hematology (WJH) marks the birth of a new member of the World Series Journal family and comes at one of the most exciting times in stem cell biology and translational medicine. The pace of discovery in the field of hematology has accelerated signeificantly in recent years, due to important scientific discoveries and new technologies for purification of hematopoietic stem cells and identification of specific stem cell biomarkers; whole genome sequencing using next-generation sequencing technology; and development of molecularly-targeted therapies, leading to the translation of highly promising science into advanced diagnosis and proven targeted therapies for hematopoietic disorders. The WJH is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal, which is officially published on June 6, 2012. The WJH Editorial Board consists of 102 experts in hematology from 26 countries. There is clearly a niche for this new journal, which provides access to all articles without boundaries to all internet users throughout the world. The WJH aims to provide rapid access to high impact publications in fundamental and clinical hematology, with multidisciplinary coverage, through an established system that is targeted at dissemination to the scientific community via online open-access.

Key Words: Hematology; Biomedical sciences; Translational medicine; Stem cell biology; Next-generation sequencing; Molecular targeted therapies; Tyrosine kinase inhibitors; Chronic myeloid leukemia; Acute promyelocytic leukemia; Peer-reviewed; Open-access; Journal

INTRODUCTION

I am Xiaoyan Jiang (Figure 1), an Associate Professor from the University of British Columbia and a Senior Scientist at the BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver, Canada. Together with Dr. Thomas J Kipps, Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, United States, we will be the co-Editor-in-Chiefs of the World Journal of Hematology (World J Hematol, WJH, online ISSN 2218-6204, DOI: 10.5315). I am very pleased to announce that the first issue of the WJH, on which preparation was initiated on December 14, 2010, is officially published on June 6, 2012. The WJH is a bimonthly, peer-reviewed, online, open-access journal supported by an editorial board consisting of 102 worldwide experts in basic and clinical hematology from 26 countries. It is my great honor and pleasure to introduce the WJH as a new forum for exchanging thoughts and publishing exciting, high impact, advanced research and clinical studies that contribute new knowledge and understanding in both fundamental and clinical hematology. Congratulations to the publisher, members of the editorial board, all the authors and readers on this memorable event!

Figure 1 Editor-in-Chief of the World Journal of Hematology. Xiaoyan Jiang, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia; Senior Scientist, Terry Fox Laboratory, BC Cancer Agency, 675 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1L3, Canada.

The launch of the WJH comes at an exciting time for the field of hematology. Over the last decade, there has been remarkable progress towards identification of new hematopoietic stem cell markers, using advanced cell purification technologies, and discovery and understanding of key genes and microRNAs regulating the properties and biology of normal and leukemic stem cells, leading to the translation of highly promising science into proven molecularly-targeted therapies for hematopoietic disorders[1-8]. In particular, the introduction of Imatinib Mesylate (IM, Gleevec), a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor that blocks the catalytic activity of the BCR-ABL oncoprotein, has revolutionized the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) worldwide[4,9,10]. CML is a clonal myeloproliferative disorder of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells that has been paradigmatic to our understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of human malignancies[6,11,12]. It is an excellent example of how a specific molecular abnormality can be targeted therapeutically to transform a life-threatening malignancy into a chronic disease. Interestingly, by combining traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine, all-trans retinoic acid/arsenic trioxide-based therapy has provided dramatic improvement in the 5-year disease-free survival rate of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patients, from approximately 25 percent to 95 percent, making this therapy a standard of care for APL treatment throughout the world, and turning one of the most fatal diseases into a highly curable one[13,14]. In addition, the recent discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells marks a new era for the potential clinical application of patient-specific pluripotent stem cell therapy in hematological disorders[15,16]. The pace of discovery in the hematology field has also been marked by remarkable levels of in vitro expansion of hematopoietic stem cells; gene targeting strategies that gave power to understanding biological functions of key regulatory genes and generation of experimental diseased models; whole sequencing of the genome of acute myeloid leukemia and lymphomas; and various gene transfer technologies that have advanced the dream of genetic therapy for major hematological diseases leading to multiple successful clinical trials[3,5,17-21]. Indeed, the pace of current research and clinical discovery in the field of hematology will continue to provide new and exciting information to enable better understanding of stem cell biology, advances in regenerative medicine and new molecularly-targeted and combination therapies that will achieve the ultimate goal of personalized medicine. The WJH is committed to being a new forum for the presentation of many of these exciting advances in our field, with your strong interest and support.

The WJH publishes papers with a quick editorial turnaround and time-to-publication process, aiming to rapidly report results of hematological research and clinical studies through a platform that can facilitate the translation of knowledge into improved human health. To ensure advantages for both authors and readers, as well as a high quality of published work, submitted manuscripts undergo critical peer review prior to publication. The advantage of the open access model is providing free, full-text articles, in PDF and other formats, to experts and the public without registration, eliminating the obstacle that traditional journals possess, which usually delays the speed of the propagation and communication of scientific research results. The open-access model has been proven to be an approach that truly enables the achievement of the ultimate goal of journals, i.e., maximization of value to the readers, authors and society.

SPECIFIC AIMS

In order to achieve this long-term goal, the WJH aims to rapidly report new theories, methods and techniques for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and nursing in the field of hematology. The WJH covers experimental, clinical, oncological and transplant hematology, transfusion science, hemostasis and thrombosis, traditional medicine, integrated Chinese and Western medicine, evidence-based medicine and epidemiology. The journal also publishes original articles and reviews that report the results of applied and basic research in fields related to hematology, such as immunology, physiopathology, cell biology, pharmacology, medical genetics and pharmacology of Chinese herbs.

CONTENTS FOR PEER REVIEW

To guarantee the quality of articles published in the journal, peer review will be undertaken by at least two leading experts in the area of the manuscript. We therefore anticipate that reviews will be both useful and prompt, permitting rapid publication of high quality information. The criteria for peer review includes: (1) whether the contents of the manuscript are of great importance and novelty; (2) whether the experiments are complete and described clearly; (3) whether the discussion and conclusions are justified; (4) whether the citations of references are necessary and reasonable; and (5) whether the presentation and use of tables and figures are correct and complete.

COLUMNS

The columns in the WJH will include: (1) Editorial: to introduce and comment on substantial advances and their importance in fast-developing areas; (2) Frontier: to review the most representative achievements and comment on the current research status in important fields, as well as propose directions for future research; (3) Topic Highlight: this column consists of three formats, including (A) 10 invited review articles on a hot topic, (B) a commentary on common issues related this hot topic, and (C) a commentary on the 10 individual articles; (4) Observation: to update the development of old and new questions, highlight unsolved problems and provide strategies on how to address the questions; (5) Guidelines for Clinical Practice: to provide guidelines for clinical diagnosis and treatment; (6) Review: to systematically review the most representative progress and unsolved problems in the major scientific disciplines, comment on the current research status and make suggestions on future work; (7) Original Articles: to originally report innovative and valuable findings in hematology; (8) Brief Articles: to briefly report novel and innovative findings in hematology; (9) Case Report: to report a rare or typical case; (10) Letters to the Editor: to discuss and make reply to the contributions published in the WJH, or to introduce and comment on a controversial issue of general interest; (11) Book Reviews: to introduce and comment on quality monographs of hematology; and (12) Guidelines: to introduce consensuses and guidelines reached by international and national academic authorities worldwide on research in hematology.

CONCLUSION

In summary, we are introducing the WJH as a new, open access forum for unique, systematic and critical assessment of the literature, to address important questions on a wide array of topics, across multiple hematological disciplines. We welcome any articles that challenge current concepts in fundamental, translational, pre-clinical or clinical fields. Our editorial board members are looking forward to your submissions and anticipate working with you to achieve our mission.