Cytometry 2000 (2000)

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you good health and every kind of success in the New Year. You now know that Cytometry is Y2K proof. What else did you expect? Cytometry is the journal of the technologically savvy International Society for Analytical Cytology. We can downplay the importance of the year 2000 as hype. According to the Jewish calendar, we are now in the year 5660. My Chinese staff lost count, but the Chinese calendar predicts the Year of the Dragon to begin in the Western world's February 2000. India calculates the year to be 1698, whereas Catholic experts tell us that the new millennium actually does not start for another year. As an international society, we respect and acknowledge this diversity. On the other hand, Y2K is a milestone, and therefore a good reason to stand still, to celebrate, and to reflect on our progress. This new century starts with major interest and fast progress in the areas of genetics and molecular and cellular biology comparable to the state of affairs in physics and chemistry at the beginning of the 19th century. The expectations are high for major discoveries in biology and its applications for the benefit of mankind in medicine, agriculture, and ecology. More scientists than ever are attracted to these fields, and both governments and industries are facilitating research with organizational support and record amounts of money. The International Society for Analytical Cytology is part of this community, and the expectations for ISAC's health are also accordingly high. This will be reflected in its journal and other publications, membership, meetings, and educational activities. In the course of 1999, Bioimaging and Cytometry merged into one journal. As a consequence, our editorial board is now strengthened by the addition of colleagues knowledgeable in this field. You will find their names on the new masthead. Several of these new associate editors served on our board in the earlier years of Cytometry. We are happy to have them aboard again, and we welcome all the new associate editors. Please feel free to contact them for assistance in submitting manuscripts and reviews. Cytometry, incorporating Bioimaging, as well as the sister journal Communications in Clinical Cytometry, covers the basic and applied science conducted by the members of ISAC, the Clinical Cytometry Society, and their colleagues. Examples of new areas studied by this community include apoptosis, intracellular trafficking, mitochondrial activity, gene expression analysis, SNPs, and DNA microarrays. The focus of Cytometry is on methods and tools for the identification and analysis of biological processes in cells and tissues, including medical, microbiological, agricultural, and related applications. The field is a challenging environment for physicists, chemists, mathematicians, and all varieties of biologists and medical specialists — all of whom are represented in ISAC. While other major journals discourage the inclusion of detailed descriptions and discussions of methods and equipment, Cytometry is keen to solicit original articles that include new technology, progress in the development of instrumentation, cytochemistry, and image and data analysis. Progress in biology and medicine is highly dependent on these developments. One important contribution to the advancement of new technologies is the publication of review articles. Review articles provide an efficient means for our colleagues interested in applying new methods to their research to select the most appropriate method and to identify the relevant literature. One of our New Year's resolutions will be to publish more review articles in Cytometry. I urge you to contact me with ideas and suggestions for review articles so we can enhance this important feature of our journal. Another important contribution to the advancement of new technology has been the development of Cytometry's electronic journal. With Cytometry available online, articles can now be downloaded as pdf files or accessed as html files with hyperlinks. The input of the users, your input, is highly appreciated as the publisher continues to enhance the electronic offering for the journal. Another resolution for Cytometry will be for the review process to become increasingly Internet-based as we implement an electronic submission and peer review system. Electronic submission of manuscripts to facilitate communication between the editorial office, associate editors, and reviewers is, at present, an experimental option requiring cooperation from all involved. This experimental phase is necessary to smooth out the difficulties in communication related to the diversity in hardware, software, and local customs. The transfer of high-quality images and mathematical equations often presents problems. We are aware that there are means to circumvent most difficulties with electronic submission, and will address these issues systematically throughout the year. Electronic submission will speed up the review process by at least several weeks, and it is expected to reduce the number of errors in editorial office transactions. However, we acknowledge that many reviewers and editors prefer to work on a paper version of the manuscript. Therefore, we envision that the practical implementation of this development will be a mix of electronic and paper versions that makes use of the Internet, as well as fax and mail. Similarly, it is assumed that most of our readers enjoy receiving a paper copy of the journal in addition to the electronic version. The ISAC board is interested in hearing from you on ways to improve the distribution of the journal and individual papers both electronically and in print. Again, my best wishes for the New Year. We look forward to receiving your original articles, reviews, technical notes and rapid communications.