mBiosphere is a blog that brings you the latest news from American Society for Microbiology’s first online-only, open access journal, mBio™. With the blog, we'll bring you highlights from articles published in the journal, along with interesting articles about the journal itself. Subjects you'll read about here at mBiosphere might include:
- Summaries of some of the most interesting articles in the journal,
- Interviews with authors of mBio™ papers,
- Descriptions of new features in mBio, and
- mBio’s approach to open-access.
Our audience includes scientists and non-scientists alike, so we strive to get you the skinny on the best mBio™ articles without any more jargon or technical talk than is necessary.
Like many blogs, the tone on mBiosphere is informal and direct. We're also using other social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to get the message out about the journal, but here on the blog we'll offer you a more in-depth look at the science, along with the opportunity to discuss and debate the topics you read about. Blogs are all about participation, so review our simple rules for comments (below) and use the "comments" link at the bottom of any given post to join the discussion.
Your Comments on mBiosphere
One of our goals here at mBiosphere is to encourage participation by you, our readers. We want your comments. If you have anything you want to add, share, or discuss in reference to a blog post, please click the “comments” link at the end of the post and fill out the form.
In the spirit of fostering dialog that adds to the value of our posts and to the knowledge of our readers, we have developed some rules to live by when writing a comment:
- Dissenting opinions are welcome. Inappropriate, insulting, or malicious comments will be weeded out. In short, play nice.
- mBio reserves the right to edit comments for clarity and relevance. Like Gold Five said, “Stay on target”.
- By all means, please include relevant links within your comments. Links to sites unrelated to the topic at hand will wind up on the cutting room floor. Snip!
- Please don’t use keywords in the “author” field. Use your real name or your nickname. If we think there’s a chance you’re using a certain name just for the sake of keywords, then: Snip!
About ASM and mBio
The American Society for Microbiology is the nation’s largest scientific society. Consisting of 43,000 members, with more than one third located outside the United States, ASM members represent 26 disciplines within microbiology plus a division for microbiology educators.
In 2009, ASM launched mBio™, an online-only, open access journal that offers rapid review and publication of the best research in microbiology and allied fields. The inaugural issue of mBio™ will be released in May 2010.
The scope of mBio™ will reflect the enormity of the microbial world, a highly interconnected biosphere where microbes interact with living and non-living matter to produce outcomes that range from symbiosis to pathogenesis, energy acquisition and conversion, climate change, geologic change, food and drug production, and even animal behavioral change. We will encourage authors to explain how their findings fit into the larger picture.
Visit mBio™ online at http://mbio.asm.org
In addition to mBio, ASM publishes 11 other professional journals. Visit these other ASM publications online at http://www.journals.asm.org
About the Blogger
mBio's Social Media Editor, Merry Buckley, Ph.D., contributes blog posts, Twitter updates, and Facebook content for the journal. A scientist by training and a writer through practice, Merry has written about microbiology for print, online, podcast, and radio audiences. You can send a message to Merry at:
mBiosocialmediaeditor [!at!] asmusa {*dot*} org.
