How to choose a suitable journal for submission?The editor of the Frontiers section gives suggestions

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About Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences is a new open journal owned by Frontiers. In this period, Molecular Recognition focuses on the molecular mechanism that supports and regulates biological processes in biological body, and explores molecular interactions to control cell pathways and processes.

The journals are mainly concerned about the following 18 directions:

Professor Zhang Jian, Shanghai Jiaotong University, officially served as Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences Journal in 2022. We recently conducted in -depth interviews with Professor Zhang Jian, and he published his own opinions on topics such as journal development and industry prospects.

Zhang Jian

professor

Shanghai Jiaotong University

Zhang Jian, a specially -appointed professor of Shanghai Jiaotong University, director of the Center for Drug Chemistry and Biological Information, members of the Disciplinary Review Team of the State Council, National Outstanding Youth Fund, National Plan, and Yangtze River Scholars Award Plan for young scholars. He graduated from the School of Pharmacy of Peking University in 2002. He obtained a bachelor's degree in pharmacy and excellent graduates of Peking University. He returned to China in 2009 and has been employed at the School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Professor Zhang Jian is mainly engaged in the research of drug design, pharmaceutical chemistry and chemicals, especially precise target recognition and FIRST-in-CLASS original drugs. The communication authors published more than 90 SCI papers in international academic magazines including Nat Chem Biol, SCI Adv, AM J Hum Genet, Nucleic Acids Res, J Med Chem. He quoted more than 5,000 times, the H factor was 43, and 9 domestic and foreign patents (5 first inventors).

Representative work in recent years includes:

Develop clinical sample target recognition methods to identify new anti -tumor targets;

Developing and destructive drug design methods found a variety of new degenerative active molecules;

The first FIRST-in-CLASS drugs are developed by the new anti-tumor target, such as the SIRT6 excitement MDL-800, APC/ASEF, the first inhibitor MAIT-203, etc.

What is the quality of an article or a manuscript? The most fundamental evaluation criteria lies in whether its scientific issues are a major issue that needs to be solved in the scientific research field, and an influential question. This is to determine whether a manuscript is worth being sent for trial Standards.

—— Professor Zhang Jian

01

▶ Journal development direction 发展

"We sincerely call for domestic scientists to transform more original papers, can truly transform the research of applications, and help discover new targets and new mechanism articles, published in our Frontiers journals and columns."

Frontiers: What is the opportunity to make you decide to join Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, Molecular Recognition column editor -in -chief team and serve as Specialty Chief Editor? What are the things that attract you from Frontiers?

Professor Zhang Jian: In recent years, the Frontiers magazine has made a lot of efforts in its influence expansion and attraction of high -level work. This is a obvious achievement in the field of biomedical, academia, and industry. At the same time, Frontiers's journals have provided an important support platform for many discovery, so starting about three years ago, we paid attention to the Frontiers journal, especially as one of the flagship journals. Journals with important influence have formed a good impression.

In the process, we slowly have a better understanding of the development and development goals of Fronties. The process of contact lasted almost a year. At the beginning, because of my work arrangements in all aspects, I would also worry about my investment and adaptation. However, with the deepening of understanding and the continuous improvement of FRENTIERS's influence in the entire field, especially in many important aspects such as peer reputation, this increases our confidence in joining Frontiers and joint promotion.

Probably in the second half of last year, we personally joined some of Frontiers's work: I held the Review Editor of Frontiers in Drug Discovery, and we contributed Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences. The publishing of the articles in the group has received good feedback on the publicity, such as references, and references of some important articles. This has a good improvement for our research team, and also has a good development and driving role in Frontiers. Frontiers: After joining the editor -in -chief team, how do you plan to help the column better? What are your expectations for the Molecular Recognition column of Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences?

Professor Zhang Jian: I want to talk about my thoughts in combination with my experience in other associations or magazines. The biggest expectation is to help to help the new column to achieve influence in this field.

The first is the word of mouth of the magazine. I saw in different branches, and Frontiers ranked higher. Specifically to the column of Molecular Recognition, our column features mainly focus on some popular topics in this field. Of course, in the opening and configuration of the column, due to the consideration of attracting more audiences, we also hope to bring readers the most cutting -edge scientific progress in the field and different voices against these progress.

From this perspective, I think that from the beginning of this column, I have always adhered to the above path. In the future development, we still hope to continue to raise hot issues that everyone pays attention to every year and every quarter, invite important scientists who pay attention to hot topics to join us, and put forward views on different perspectives for the current hotspots, and comprehensively opinion opinions The trend judgment on the future development of the hot spot.

I think these are where the columns continue to be able to go further at a height: asking hot issues, not suppressing the objection, and at the same time, they can combine different sounds to propose overall development expectations. This is the source of continuous vitality of our columns and magazines.

Frontiers: What are the latest research results you see in this column? What are the suggestions for Chinese scholars who are interested in submitting to this column in the future?

Professor Zhang Jian: For Chinese readers, we cannot get rid of the current scientific research atmosphere and consideration mechanism.

After 2018, China's scientific research field pays more attention to basic science, such as application science (for our field is the transformation of results). We pay more attention to the transition from science to application, and pay more attention to the results of basic research output.

From my perspective, in terms of journal content, whether it is biology, medicine, or even subdivisions such as pharmacy, we hope to see more applications brought by the basic research, including basic science, clinical or and with and and with and. Articles connected in the field of industrial. We look forward to taking this opportunity to bring more industrial exchanges, including conference exchanges. Perhaps the earliest articles in the industry awards will come from the Frontiers journal. At the same time, we also hope that there will be more research from clinical medicine, or about the emergence of traditional Chinese biomedical methods, and explore more deeply from the level of molecular biology or molecular mechanisms, so as to find new targets, new methods, new methods, methods, and methods for future drugs. The new mechanism has a view to bringing more clues and opportunities to later research.

Although our work is difficult to fully realize the closed loop from demand, basic research to practical applications, it will bring a follow -up effect. We sincerely call for domestic scientists to transform more original papers and can truly transform the research on application, which helps to discover new targets and new mechanism articles published in the journals and columns of our Frontiers.

Frontiers: In your opinion, what is the standard of good articles?

Professor Zhang Jian: This question is a question that all the author who regards scientific research as a profession or is interested in scientific research work: What kind of manuscript is a "good article"?

In my opinion, the standards of "good" are different for different journals. Overall, a good manuscript, the scientific problem it contains should be a General Interest, that is, most people in this field will be interested in a topic or problem. Even though this problem is not directly related to your own research, the solution contained in this scientific issue may bring ideas expansion to the segments you are engaged in, and even parallel research. So what is the quality of an article or a manuscript, and the most fundamental evaluation criteria is whether its scientific issues are a major issue that needs to be solved in the scientific research field, and an influential issue. Standard for review.

As an editor, the first judgment of the article is: whether to send it. At this time, the problem raised is the most important. Is it possible to be included in a journal, which involves the ability to solve the problem by the manuscript itself.

When we raise major scientific issues in the field, our work focuses on whether it can be systematically and logically solve the scientific problems we have proposed. From the molecular level, the cell level, and the animal level, the cocoon and strict seams are discussed. If we can logically solve this problem and conform to most of the scientific views currently known, this article is very likely to be accepted by the journal. This is actually a process of raising problems, solving problems, and forming a perfect closed -loop. The "good" standard is also based on this. Of course, there are differences in good requirements for different journals. Frontiers: For scientific researchers, how to choose suitable journals for submission?

Professor Zhang Jian: From my perspective, journals may be divided into 4 categories.

The first category is a comprehensive journal with major influence internationally. This type of journals often focus on some very important or very sometimes breakthroughs. For example, it has solved the scientific issues that have troubled humans for decades, or some of the new original technical means with subversiveness, or an important breakthrough on a certain time -time key issue, such as this new crown treatment plan. For the first level of journals, the research of "good" is to solve the research of major scientific issues or comprehensively explain scientific issues covering General Interest.

The second (journal) category is a major issue recognized by scientists in the field of biology, chemistry, medicine, physics, and computing science on major scientific issues in the fields of different disciplines. Take the medical field, the original research mechanism of anti -tumor, the new physiological regulation method against aging, and the first pilot of a target target. This is a major scientific issue in their respective disciplines.

At the third level, we will further subdivide. For example, in biology, subdivide biophysics, biology, chemistry, genetics, etc., and in pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology, etc. In these segmented areas, we usually start to solve some technical problems. For example, in the field of pharmacy we are familiar with, when a chemical molecule has a biological activity of a certain target, can the molecular activity enter the clinic? This is actually a process of continuously optimizing scientific research. This part of the problem does not meet the General Interest mentioned in the previous two layers, but in the field of subdivisions, such as the areas of drug chemical optimization molecular activity, everyone thinks it is more important. Therefore, in the segmentation of a certain discipline, if you find a solution for such scientific problems and have a strong influence, we usually choose the third level of journals for submission to obtain "small peers" (subdivided segmentation "(subdivision segmentation" (subdivision segmentation "(subdivision segmentation" The recognition and familiarity of the peers in the field.

The fourth field is actually the work other than the above three areas. These tasks are also scientific, but in terms of importance dimension, it may not be attracted by the scientists of the field, even the scientists of the subdivision discipline. It is limited to further discussions in the small direction of your research, such as in -depth research in technology or certain scientific cognition.

In my opinion, most of the journals are positioned at these four different levels. When we choose a journal, we must first look at the scientific issues solved by our manuscript, which levels this level, and then choose the corresponding journal that meets our expectations for submission.

02

▶ Field Outlook 展

"Study the authenticity of itself, not a journal ranking,

The criteria for determining the right or wrong "

Frontiers: Combining your research experience, where do you think the importance of molecular identification related research? In terms of molecular identification research in China, what is the biggest challenge currently facing research? What do you think should we work for more efforts?

Professor Zhang Jian: Molecule Science is an area that is currently in the field, or even in the next 50-100 years. With the breakthroughs of our progress in basic disciplines such as physics, chemistry, and mathematics, we have more tools to solve the phenomenon of "what you see and see" in the past.

Now, through the tools such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, we can summarize these phenomena into laws, and then guide the design or manufacturing of emerging life. When the basic discipline develops to a certain degree, one of the challenges is to create an effective life body like yourself, which is the most difficult step.

Therefore, for the field of Molecule Science, this process has grown from the original atomic level to the current PORTION Design, and can even be designed for some organ sub -cells. In more cutting -edge studies, through induction, scientists can turn stem cells into stem cells into A complete organ. The above processes are covered in the range of molcular bioscience, so I think that in the next 50 to 100 years, this field may bring us the biggest progress in our lives, or in technology, or even our current cognition of our current cognition The field of life is completely transformed to possible digital fields, and may even be converted into eternal bodies. We are already on this road.

In the Molecule Science, the scientific issues we discuss are also around these two levels. One level is a physiological level and the level of our normal state. The second level is the pathological level. Whether at the physiological or pathological level, its changes and occurrences are based on big data models and data deductions. The development goal of the artificial intelligence we are talking about in the field of biological/life medicine is to fully show the entire life image of life. Putting the physiological and pathological state obtained by basic life and medicine, put it into a large In the framework, the completion of the "Life Encyclopedia" filling is the main work of our next period of time. Many international scientists try to achieve breakthroughs in this direction. And in the field of Molecule Science, we have made great progress in the past 20 years. Of course, compared with the United States, we must admit that we are still in the position of chasing. However, from the perspective of development, a considerable part of Chinese scientists began to return slowly, and the scientists independently trained in China have gradually grown. In the current biomedical field, we have made both in the United States in some branches, and even in some some in some branches, even in some some of them. In the subdivided field, China still has a certain weak advantage.

Overall, we must admit that we still belong to the chase in terms of science and technology development. The chaser has its unique advantages: we know where the goal in front of us is, and we start from a relatively high starting point and initiate a catch -up.

We can see that many young scientific workers who return from overseas, their starting point is actually based on some important scientific research in the United States, Britain or other European countries, and returns to China for secondary development and second development. Therefore, such a starting point will bring great help to Chinese scientific research and science and technology in catching up and even overtaking.

Journal is an important tool for this process, and even said to be an important bond. It can work with Chinese scientists to break the "hereditary system" that may exist in the academic world in the past. New journals need to challenge the past "nobles" journals, and more new forces need to be achieved together.

In my opinion, in the process of development, FRERONTIERS takes China as a platform to absorb more excellent manuscripts. On the one hand, it can help China's outstanding young scientific workers to show their results. It is different opinions; on the other hand, such help is also conducive to the future development of Frontiers. Because we know that in the field of scientific research, studying its own authenticity rather than the ranking of journals, determining the criteria for research on the right and wrong, and authenticity is often in the hands of a few people. This process is an important booster for start -ups and start -ups, and even journals such as Frontiers.

Frontiers: You just mentioned the future of Chinese scholars and journals, which are particularly exciting. At present, some international journals have a high proportion of Chinese manuscripts. What do you think of this phenomenon?

Professor Zhang Jian: I personally think that this is the result of the common role of the environment and the law of science. From the perspective of the environment, China, as a developing country, is in the process of science from science, and has just experienced the process of scientific activities that develop from the beginning to truly forming a relatively large scale. The overall scale is from scratch.

The number of manuscripts mentioned in the question is the number of the Chinese scientific community under normal operation. The amount of issuance of the annual posts is the normal output of Chinese scientific activities, but because of the small amount of manuscripts in China, everyone can see it. The increase in the sudden manuscript has caused us to think that some journal Chinese manuscripts are now many. However, if you look back at the number of American manuscripts, in many important journals, articles from the United States may account for more than 80%, and even in some Top Journal, American manuscripts may account for more than 50%.

This aspect is because the development of the United States is the world's number one, and this is the fact that we must admit at this stage. But on the other hand, the United States has entered the stage of steady development of scientific research, and everyone is accustomed to it. In fact, in the initial development process, other countries have also experienced a stage of development like China. From the small number to a large scale, from the population, theoretically, the scientific population in China should be the United States’s in the United States 4 ~ 5 times, so the amount of posting should be 4-5 times.

From the perspective of scientific laws, as mentioned earlier, General Interest, discovery in large fields, discovery of discipline branches, and the improvement of personal interests, correspond Similar research on Chinese scholars in the department journal, which is actually caused by the laws of science, because after all, there are not many major scientific issues facing. The stronger the symbiosis of the problem, the more similar to the scientific research laws or scheme routines involved.

In summary, from the perspective of the environment, the proportion of Chinese population and the number of scientific researchers has increased year by year. China's rapid development and catching up are the facts, so what we see now is a slice of the process of rapid growth.

Frontiers: What else can Chinese researchers do in the process of moving from Me-TOO/ Me-Better to FIRST In Class? Professor Zhang Jian: In recent years, the drug approval policy of our country has changed, and the market has also responded to this, which actually reflects an important turning point in our country from basic science to transformation of scientific development. Our team has been engaged in innovative drug research for nearly 30 years. The development process of our own team is like a miniature of great development: from the beginning of the discovery and research on new targets in basic research, to some original heart -brainized identification, to transformation to transformation to transformation In order to develop pre -clinical process, cooperate with enterprises, and finally push drugs to the market.

China is now experiencing the process of transformation from Me-TOO/ Me-Better to FIRST In Class. From a global perspective, this (transformed) process has experienced in the past Britain and the United States. For example Sidak has just established, and the development of innovative drugs in the United States is also experiencing this process of transformation and breakthrough.

Therefore, the development needs of innovative drugs in China are what happened after completing the original accumulation of early generic drugs in China. From an enterprise perspective, in -early imitation or patent transformation in the early days to obtain primitive accumulation; from the perspective of the regulatory authorities of our country, in the past, we faced the state of lack of some major domestic diseases in China to fill in blank filling and introduced foreign abroad abroad. Drugs, these two aspects have contributed to the market status of our country in the past 30 years.

Of course, at this stage, when our country has manpower and material resources in all aspects of drug development, innovative drugs will inevitably form a development trend. In the research and development of innovative drugs, there are two main constraints: one is the improvement of the system: the Food and Drug Administration (NMPA) of our country has made many reforms in the past ten years, and slowly develops innovative drugs research and development The listing process is systematic and regular.

On the other hand, scientific researchers lacking drug research and development, whether in academia or in the industry. At present, this aspect is the bottleneck of our country in innovative drug development. From the process of transformation and transformation of generic drugs to innovative drugs, the national policy has created a regular and clear path, but looking around, we found that the person who can really engage in the research and development of innovative drugs is extremely scarce. Take Shanghai, although Shanghai is already a concentrated highland for Chinese drug research and development, when we try to set up a team of innovative drugs, a group that can cooperate with each other for drug development is more difficult.

In this process, we still need to attract as much as possible in the research and development of innovative drugs as much as possible, or excellent scientists with many years of R & D strength in these large pharmaceutical factories, come to China, come to Shanghai, and jointly promote China's innovation The development of medicines; in the local area, we also try to cultivate young workers engaged in the research and development of innovative drugs through universities and research institutes, and jointly break through the bottleneck of talent.

If we successfully break through the bottleneck of talents, other aspects will be broken. In fact, investment institutions in our country have begun to inject important large -scale funds into these innovative pharmaceutical companies.

In China, the first test of innovative drugs has appeared, but I think that with the promulgation of policies and the relief of talent dilemma, the injection of funds, China's BIOTECH and creative drug companies must be based on innovative drugs as an important development development. Power, slowly abandon the original generic or imitation innovation drugs, gradually advance with international drug research and development, integrate the international forefront market, and participate in the competition of innovative drugs.

Welcome again and thanks Professor Zhang Jian as editor -in -chief of the journal column. We look forward to his leadership, Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences journal Molecular Recognition column will make great development.

Regarding the details of journal information and submission, please read the official website of the journal through the link below or at the end of the article:

https://fro.ntiers.in/tnu7

前沿专刊（Research Topic），是Frontiers赋能学术工作者的创新方式之一：前沿专刊由客座主编确定某领域内的研究方向，接收相关领域作者的投稿，最终以文章合辑的形式发表在期刊正Published.

The advantage of becoming the editor -in -chief of the guest is:

Enjoy the advantages of opening up and publish, quickly enhance the influence of your scientific research results;

Promote the scientific research progress of the art, leaders' more active academic discussions;

Strengthen your cooperation and exchanges with scientific research with scientific research in the art;

Rich academic resumes and enhance your academic influence with collaborators.

As the editor -in -chief of the guest, three steps need to be completed before the front -edge special issue is officially established:

Determine the theme of the special issue;

Invite 1-3 experts (need to include at least one international expert) as the co-editor-in-chief organized special issue;

It is recommended to have a potential author list.

How to become a closure editor?

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