News
Issue: Biofuels
26 November 2013 article
JMM Case Reports - announcing a new open access journal from SGM
The Society will launch an exciting new open access journal, JMM Case Reports, in January 2014. The journal is already accepting submissions for early publication and article processing charges are waived during the launch period.
JMM Case Reports is a peer-reviewed, Gold Open Access, online-only journal publishing original case reports on medical, dental and veterinary microbiology, and infectious diseases, including bacteriology, virology, mycology and parasitology. The journal also accepts case series, case reviews and case quizzes, as well as submissions for its image of the month competition.
The news was welcomed by members and delegates at SGM’s Autumn 2013 Conference held at the University of Sussex in September, and marks almost 50 years since the Society last launched a new journal.
JMM Case Reports, a sister publication to SGM’s Journal of Medical Microbiology, will be led by Editors-in-Chief Professor S. Peter Borriello and Dr Johannes G. Kusters. When announcing the journal at the conference, Dr Kusters explained:
‘Case reports are very well read, statistically they have the highest usage counts of any paper type, but there is no forum for these papers. We want to have an individual platform for these really important papers that is online only and so allows us to publish papers quickly as well as be fully open access.’
For more information on the journal, or to submit an article, please visit the SGM Journals website.
SGM Publishing blog launched
SGM Publishing is a new blog from the Society’s publishing team and is a place to stay up to date with the latest developments in our publishing programme. Subjects discussed will range from hot research topics, best practice for submitting scholarly articles and open access issues. Readers are encouraged to contribute by posting in the comments section. Visit the blog and join the conversation.
News of members
The Society notes with regret the passing of Sir Michael Stoker (SGM Honorary member since 1988). Michael played an important role in the development of virology. He was appointed to the very first UK Chair of Virology in 1958 at the University of Glasgow.
We are also sad to announce the death of microbiologist Professor J. Gerald Collee. His later career focused on BSE transmission to humans. He also worked on a variety of medically related bacteria, and was a founding member of the editorial board of the SGM’s Journal of Medical Microbiology.
Contribute
The Society welcomes contributions and feedback from members, particularly news items that appear in this section, future magazine theme suggestions and ideas for the Comment article. Please contact the Editorial Office at [email protected] with ideas.
SGM at ASE
On 9–11 January 2014, we will be returning to the Association for Science Education (ASE) Conference in Birmingham. Angela Murray (University of Birmingham) will be giving a talk on Waste into Energy as part of Biology in the Real World. The SGM team will be in the exhibition marquee (free entry and you don’t have to be an ASE member!). If you are going along, drop by to say ‘hello’!
New members of Council, Committees and Divisions
Council are pleased to announce that the following members have been appointed to the Council, Committees and Divisions:
COUNCIL
- Stephen Diggle, University of Nottingham
- Pat Goodwin, C3 Collaborating for Health
- David Pearce. Northumbria University/British Antarctic Survey
COMMITTEES
Communications
- Phillip Aldridge, Newcastle University
- David Bhella, University of Glasgow
Policy
- Scott Nicholson, University of Leeds/Leeds General Infirmary
Professional Development
- Matthias Dittmar, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
DIVISIONS
Virology
- Miren Iturriza Gomara, University of Liverpool
- James Stewart, University of Liverpool
- Alain Kohl, Medical Research Council/University of Glasgow
Prokaryotic Microbiology
- Thorsten Allers, University of Nottingham
- Mark Webber, University of Birmingham
- Alan McNally, Nottingham Trent University
Irish Division
- Achim Schmalenberger University of Limerick
For more information about the SGM Council, Committees and Divisions please visit the ‘About us’ section.
Historical question
Many thanks to those who responded to the call, in the September newsletter, for information regarding the dairy bacteriologist Leslie Alfred Allen (1903–1964), who served as the first joint Secretary of the Society with R.T. St John-Brooks. His obituary was published in the Journal of General Microbiology vol. 42, no. 2 (1966), pp. 169–170. The obituary can be found in the ‘Our history’ area of the website. This and some related information has now been forwarded to Dr Sona Strbanova, the historian from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, who is writing a biography on Marjory Stephenson, one of the founders of the SGM.
If anybody else has further information regarding L.A. Allen, please could you contact Dariel Burdass, SGM Head of Communications.
16th European Congress on Biotechnology
The European Federation of Biotechnology’s 16th European Congress on Biotechnology (ECB16) is taking place on 13–16 July 2014 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The European Federation of Biotechnology is Europe’s non-profit federation that brings together academic and industrial biotechnologists from all of Europe. Over 1,400 delegates are expected to walk through the doors of ECB16, including over 50 exhibitors. Attendees will come from biotechnology companies, national biotechnology associations, universities and scientific institutes; and individual biotechnologists will also attend. At no other congress will you find as many biotechnologists coming together to promote biotechnology, and thus ECB16 provides an excellent opportunity to network, collaborate and share ideas.
SGM is pleased to be an ECB16 partner. Registration is now open, visit the ECB16 website to register or find out more about the congress.
SGM Membership subscriptions 2014
All membership organisations face the challenge of being fit for the 21st century. For the SGM to remain attractive both now and in the future, we are introducing some changes to our 2014 membership categories.
We are streamlining the number of categories to make joining easier and linking these more closely to our grants programme to make applying for, and receiving a grant, more seamless. We have reviewed the membership structure, benefits and subscription rates to bring these more into alignment and, for many grades, we have introduced a discount for those who elect to pay by direct debit. Membership has also been opened up to include those who are not working in the field but have an interest in microbiology and its advancement.
The membership categories and rates were agreed at the AGM of the Society on 2 September 2013.
Members are reminded that their 2014 subscriptions are due for payment by 1 December 2013.
As in previous years, no journal or conferences information will be despatched to members who are in arrears, and there will be no guarantee of provision of back numbers of journals for members who pay their subscription late.
Image: Thinkstock.