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I am very pleased to inform all authors that, in collaboration with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Protein Science is instigating a new procedure which will dramatically reduce the time between submission of manuscripts and electronic publication. In cases where major revisions are not required, the time from submission to release of an article should typically be about four to eight weeks and could be less if there is a need or request for even more rapid publication.

At present, the publication of an article in Protein Science consists of the following three steps, each of which can take several weeks:

(1) Submission of the article, evaluation by the referees and return to the authors for possible revision.

(2) Revision as necessary and acceptance of the final article by the editorial office. Transmission to the publisher.

(3) Preparation of the accepted manuscript for publication. Checking of the proofs followed by release of the electronic version of the article and, subsequently, distribution of the printed version.

Under the new, accelerated procedure, the delay in publication incurred in Step (3) will effectively be eliminated. Once the final version of the manuscript has been accepted for publication by the editorial office, it will immediately be made available electronically, prior to copyediting. This version will be identical to that accepted by the editors--i.e., it will be prior to checking at the proof stage. The great advantage of this procedure is that the article can be publicly available as soon as it has been accepted. There will be no need to wait for preparation of the final, journal-ready form. If authors prefer to have their manuscript made available early, they can so indicate. Otherwise it will not be released until the proofs have been approved. The new procedure is being implemented for all manuscripts accepted for publication as of April 2, 2008.

It goes without saying that all of us associated with the journal are extremely excited about this new procedure. If you have an important article that you need to have published rapidly please keep this initiative in mind. Also, do not hesitate to let us know if you feel that a manuscript being submitted needs to be considered as expeditiously as possible. We will do all that we can to ensure that this is done.

Brian Matthews
Editor-in-Chief