Blood has covered experimental and clinical hematologic research as the flagship journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). Launched officially on November 29, 2016, the open-access online journal Blood Advances will fill a niche that complements and expands on topics covered in Blood while also transforming the conversation between authors and readers through innovative communication tools.
Taking full advantage of its digital publication model, Blood Advances will emphasize multimedia; a rapid and continuous publication format; and the ability to readily comment on manuscripts, case studies, and debates via discussion boards. The peer-reviewed journal will regularly relay findings through visual abstracts, three-dimensional images, video, and podcasts.
“Journals are critical to the way scientists communicate, and through Blood Advances, we can pioneer new means of interactive, collaborative discussion,” said Editor-in-Chief Robert Negrin, MD, of Stanford University. “Blood Advances stands ready to turn tradition on its head by emphasizing social interaction and visual media.”
Features of New Journal
ASH’s new journal will allow readers to share thoughts and images directly to social media as well as to join discussions within the journal’s website. Another key feature of this new publication is unrestricted access. “We have seen an explosion of progress in hematology at an unprecedented rate,” noted Dr. Negrin. “We’ve made Blood Advances open-access in order to foster global discussion around the latest-breaking science.”
Blood Advances will be a hub for hypothesis-generating papers, pilot studies, and commentary that can spark conversation. As a complement to Blood, the new journal will focus on valuable areas, including, but not limited to, vascular biology, immunology, gene therapy, hematologic malignancies, and epidemiology. In addition to original manuscripts, Blood Advances will publish case reports of exceptional novelty, scientific case reports called stimulus reports, point-counterpoint discussions, and educational materials for the practicing hematologist. Blood Advances will also host a series of short talks on topics of interest to hematologists and scientists.
Included in the inaugural issue—a one-time print publication that was distributed at the 58th ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition—are discussions on the use of platelets as immune-sensing cells and new perspectives on hemostasis, as well as studies on sickle cell disease variants in sub-Saharan Africa, therapeutic solutions for multiple forms of thrombocytopenia, and a novel means of counteracting the effects of hypoxia in the tumor microenvironment.
Dr. Negrin introduced Blood Advances to the more than 27,000 attendees at the ASH Annual Meeting. “Blood Advances promises to be one of the greatest new tools for hematologists to advance our field,” said ASH President Charles S. Abrams, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania. “It’s only natural that we would use the premier hematology event to unveil it.” ■
