Editorials from The Biological Bulletin
The following editorials introducing the Marine Models Electronic Record (then referred to as the BB-MMER) appeared in The Biological Bulletin in 1993 and 1994.
Please note that some of the information contained in them, such as the URL listed and certain of the instructions to authors, is already outdated. Nevertheless, these editorials can provide a useful overview and general introduction to the objectives and development of the MMER.
1. Greenberg, M.J. (1993). An Animal Resources Section and a Marine Models Electronic Record for The Biological Bulletin . Biol. Bull. 185: 333-334.
2. Greenberg, M.J. (1994). The Biological Bulletin-Marine Models Electronic Record (BB-MMER): An Electronic Companion to The Biological Bulletin . Biol. Bull.186: 137-138.
Reference: Biol. Bull. 185: 333-334. (December, 1993)
An Animal Resources Section and a Marine Models Electronic Record for The Biological Bulletin
With the next issue of The Biological Bulletin (February, 1994; Volume 186, Number 1), we inaugurate a new section of the journal devoted to nonmammalian marine organisms that serve, either altogether or in part, as experimental models in basic biological research. Of special interest will be reports on the collection and husbandry of these model organisms, the preparation of their cells or tissues, and research techniques specifically applicable to them.
This new animal resources section should help in promoting the use of marine organisms for the study of fundamental problems in biology and, if that goal is fulfilled, it should also make the road easier for the converts. To those ends, the section will:
- Present methods, new and old, in greater detail than would be possible in a typical research paper, including even the minor details that make a procedure work;
- Preserve, in some cases, years of practical experience in an organized and accessible form;
- Provide an outlet for results obtained at the Marine Resources Center of the Marine Biological Laboratory and at similar facilities throughout the world; and
- Identify widely distributed sets of models, any of which could be used to perform a given experiment, but (on the other hand) some of which may have special advantages.
Notwithstanding the compelling argument for a section of model organisms, difficulties do emerge. For example, we would expect the reports submitted to this section to be quite practical and thus to appeal to interests much narrower than those of the general readership of The Biological Bulletin. But presented in the aggregate, as reviews or integrated clusters of papers about a particular model, the appeal and value of these data should broaden dramatically. However, such reviews could appear only slowly (no more than two per year), whereas contributions about a variety of species and biological processes are ready or are being written now. In addition, these reviews, like all others, would begin to age from the moment of their publication. Therefore, to speed availability, solve the temporal discrepancy between contribution and print publication, and retard obsolescence, the marine resources section will be published both electronically and in print--but not necessarily in the same format or at the same time. Here is how the system will work:
- The Biological Bulletin and the Division of Information Systems of the Marine Biological Laboratory will establish and publish a Marine Models Electronic Record (BB-MMER). The database will comprise numerous subdivisions (called drawers), each characterized by both an organism (e.g., Limulus polyphemus) and some phenomenon that it models (e.g., vision). The BB-MMER will provide hypertext links between the drawers since, for example, horseshoe crabs are also used to study immune responses.
- Papers on marine models that are submitted (on disk, or hard copy) to The Biological Bulletin will be reviewed, evaluated, and edited as usual. Once accepted, these reports will be published immediately in the BB-MMER where they will be accessible to researchers everywhere.
- Because the reports in the BB-MMER will have been reviewed, they can be cited like any other paper or short report appearing in the Bulletin. Furthermore, each printed issue of the Bulletin will include a list of reports added to the BB-MMER, together with a brief summary of each.
- Once the contributions in a drawer have ripened, they will be retrieved and integrated, and a printed review or compendium will be produced. Conversely, once the data have been reviewed, additions to the drawer in the BB-MMER will keep them fresh and current. These important functions will be in the hands of a drawer-editor who will also be a member of The Biological Bulletin editorial board.
The possibilities for this new section of The Biological Bulletin, for its novel mode of publication, and for the entrance of this nonagenarian journal into the world of cyberspace are manifest. As for the details - - e.g., submission, citation, access, preparation of reviews - - they will be forthcoming in the February issue, and they will be widely publicized.
Note that some of the published details will be vague, and in any event, none of them will be carved in stone. This enterprise will evolve over several years, and we will always be interested in your ideas and comments.
--Michael J. Greenberg
Reference: Biol. Bull. 186: 137-138. (April, 1994)
The Biological Bulletin-Marine Models Electronic Record (BB-MMER) : An Electronic Companion to The Biological Bulletin
As you read this, The Biological Bulletin-Marine Models Electronic Record (BB-MMER; pronounced "bee'-mer") has begun publication. The primary mission and goals of this electronic record were explained in the December 1993 issue of The Biological Bulletin; the BB-MMER will publish papers on the collection and husbandry of marine model organisms, the preparation of their cells or tissues, and research techniques and experimental protocols specifically applicable to these systems. The BB-MMER will also take on special publishing projects for the scientific community, and one of these is described at the end of this editorial. The BB-MMER will have the same editorial board and stable of reviewers as The Biological Bulletin, but it will have its own International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) and copyright. All of the records published in the BB-MMER will be stored on-line on a server at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. This server - - and thus the BB-MMER's archives - - will be available 24 hours a day through the Marine Biological Laboratory's World Wide Web Server (see below). The electronic publication and 24-hour availability via the Internet will make every article accessible to a global audience. Indeed, over 55% of Bulletin subscriptions are foreign, and for those people, this mode of publication is especially useful. The address of the BB-MMER World Wide Web Server is as follows:
http://www.mbl.edu/BBMER.html
[Editor's note, 2003: this address has been changed to http://www.mbl.edu/BiologicalBulletin/mmer.html]
If you do not currently have access to the World Wide Web Server, contact your local network manager to have Mosaic software installed on your computer.
Articles should be submitted as manuscripts in triplicate, as described in the current Instructions to Authors (see the front pages of each issue of the journal). After review, the final accepted version of the paper should be sent on a 3.5" disk to the editorial office in Woods Hole. We prefer Microsoft Word 5.O or WordPerfect 5.1 (specify whether Macintosh or PC format), but we will cope in any event.
Manuscripts that have been reviewed and accepted will be published as follows:
- Most accepted reports will be published immediately in the appropriate section of the BB-MMER and will be citable at once (see Citation below). Because the articles in this electronic journal are published as they are accepted, they will, of course, appear irregularly. They will also be listed and summarized briefly, in print, in the next issue of The Biological Bulletin.
- Some manuscripts may be considered by the editors to be of general interest, and thus likely to capture a substantial fraction of the broad and diverse readership of The Biological Bulletin. These articles may be published in print, and the abstract added, perhaps with additional technical material, to the appropriate electronic section of the BB-MMER.
A major advantage of electronic publishing is that articles can readily be revised and updated. We envision that the process will involve interaction with readers, as follows. All readers will be encouraged to send signed, constructive suggestions directly to the author, with a copy to the editors of the BB-MMER. After 6-12 months, the author will collect these comments (together with his or her own second thoughts) and will produce a revision which will be reviewed. Of course, the revision will not suit everyone; unsatisfied correspondents will be encouraged to contribute a note to the BB-MMER which will be reviewed and published separately. In summary, the BB-MMER will have some characteristics of an electronic bulletin board, but all material appearing in it will be reviewed.
Because electronic articles can be revised and updated, they will change with time, and citations of these article must do the same. Consider, for example, the following article, which has been submitted for electronic publication in the BB-MMER. Let us say that it finally appears in June, 1994, that it is updated in March, 1996, and that someone wants to refer to it in September, 1997. The citation would be as follows: Kuzirian, A. Hermissenda crassicornis: a monographic record of a biomedical research model. BB-MMER [serial online] 1994 June: [updated 1996 March 25; cited 1997 Sept. 2]. Available from: http://www.mbl.edu/ BBMER.html. Directory: MBL Databases, File BB-MMER. Note that the pertinent history is defined by the dates of original publication, of updating, and of last perusal of the article. The citation format shown above is modified from the recommendation of Karen Patrias of the National Library of Medicine. Further information is available from the National Technical Information Service. (Report Number: NLM-LO-9101.)
--Michael J. Greenberg, Editor-in-Chief
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