Journal of General Virology: 50 years of publication

05 January 2017

This year marks the 50th birthday of one of the Microbiology Society’s peer reviewed journals, Journal of General Virology.

The first issue of Journal of General Virology was published in January 1967, in response to the growing number of submissions in virology to Journal of General Microbiology (now Microbiology).

Journal of General Virology was founded by the distinguished and highly successful virologists Professor Colin Kaplan and Professor Peter Wildy, who became Co-Editors-in-Chief. Colin Kaplan served as an Editor-in-Chief for five years; Peter Wildy took on the role of President of the Society for General Microbiology (now Microbiology Society).

Current Editor-in-Chief Professor Mark Harris, University of Leeds, explains the reasons for the journal’s longevity:  “The discipline of virology has changed over the past 50 years. However, the journal has maintained an international leading reputation in the field, illustrated by its rise in Impact Factor. Today, Journal of General Virology continues to publish high-quality research articles, reviews and short insight reviews – covering the full range of viruses from animal and plant to bacteriophages. The diverse scope includes molecular biology, immunology, virus–host interactions and antivirals/vaccines, with an expert Editorial Board offering authors the option of gold open access publication.”

To mark the half-century the journal will be running various promotions throughout the year, including an article collection of the past 50 years, insights of the journal from our Editors, submission campaigns and poster prizes.

If you would like to know more about Journal of General Virology, please visit our journal’s homepage. If you would like to submit a paper to the journal, please do so using our online submission system.