Wake Forest University School of Medicine Scientists Publish World's First Dynamic e-Review...

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BOYNTON BEACH, Fla.--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 13, 2001

"An Interactive Database of Cocaine-Responsive Gene Expression", to be published in TheScientificWorldJOURNAL, will be demonstrated at the 31st Annual Meeting

"This effort represents a new paradigm for scientific publishing - a novel approach that allows instant access to an entire field of validated science; this means an interactive, amendable, living document, an always current and comprehensive literature review - in perpetuity - that can be created for any given body of knowledge." Dr. Kent E. Vrana, Dept. of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine

The world's first dynamic e-review, "An Interactive Database of Cocaine-Responsive Gene Expression," to be published in TheScientificWorldJOURNAL, is being demonstrated for the first time, today, at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience held in San Diego. This interactive and dynamic e-review of cocaine-induced changes in gene expression, which will be constantly updated as research progresses, provides instantaneous access to all of the primary literature underpinning the field, as well as more detailed insight into the genetics of each gene. The latter feature is particularly significant in the post-genome era, wherein entirely new properties are continually being described for previously characterized genes.

The demonstration of the world's first dynamic e-review is being given by its lead authors, Kent E. Vrana, Ph.D., of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Willard Freeman of the Oregon Health and Science University. "As soon as a review is submitted for publication in the traditional scientific journal publishing environment, it becomes obsolete. Even as it is being peer-reviewed, new results are likely being published elsewhere," explained Dr. Vrana, a professor of physiology and pharmacology. "Moreover, with the tremendous treasure of information that is now available, as well as the impending explosion of genetic data, it is now almost impossible to represent adequately the breadth and depth of a topic within a few sentences of a review of the body of knowledge on any given subject. It seems that a fresh approach is required. The e-review provides such a new publishing environment.

For this new e-review publishing format to reach its full potential," said Dr. Vrana, "it needs to remain a dynamic entity. This will occur automatically as the "Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man" (OMIM, an online database of human genes and genetic disorders) entries of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) databases are updated. New applications or observations for existing genetic elements will, in this manner, become part of the review without active modification."

"On the other hand, researchers in the field are encouraged to make editorial comments and bibliographic contributions," said Dr. Freeman, a post-doctoral research associate at the Vollum Institute of OHSU in Portland, Oregon. "Direct submission of recent findings to the authors permits timely updates of the e-review and insures complete coverage of a given research field. In a similar vein, errors of interpretation or omission can be readily corrected."

According to Dr. Vrana, a dynamic e-review has three big benefits over the traditional scientific publishing approach:

1. An e-review permits instant access to the literature: As currently configured, the Flash-based e-review will provide instant access to all of the primary scientific literature in a given subject. For example, when a specific gene product within a discrete brain region is highlighted in Dr. Vrana's e-review, the source journal article will be accessed at the click of a button, providing an unbiased view of what the original author(s) presented.

2. An e-review is readily amended: In response to the concern that critical citations might be omitted in this literature-rich scientific world, the e-review will permit the ready and nearly instantaneous correction of omissions or errors in attribution. For example, considering Dr. Vrana's paper, because these various genes have roles in non-drug abuse and non-CNS settings, the e-review also provides direct links to the general genetic databases (e.g., OMIM) that are routinely updated to include new data and findings concerning the various genetic entities.

3. An e-review is a dynamic and living document: Imagine a situation in which a review is posted to the Web and some weeks later a seminal experiment is reported in the literature? With the e-review, this work can be added in advance of the formal publication and be highlighted as 'emerging technology'. In this way, the e-review does not become obsolete and remains a vibrant and dynamic resource in spite of the passage of time.

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BULLETIN!!

Wake Forest University School of Medicine Professor Kent E. Vrana, Ph.D., will be a guest of TheScientificWorld Inc. at exhibit booth #719 today in the San Diego Convention Center, from 10:00 A.M. until 12:00 P.M. and again from 3:00 P.M. until 5:00 P.M. (PST), at the Society for Neuroscience's 31st Annual Meeting. Dr. Vrana will give a demonstration of the breakthrough scientific-publishing paradigm, the dynamic e-review, on the subject of 'cocaine brain'. The news media are welcome.