Introducing Viewpoints – Breast Cancer Research'snew style literature appraisal service

Abstract

Literature awareness is an essential requirement for successful research. Breast Cancer Research has launched a new Viewpoints section, which replaces the Paper Reports section as a means of highlighting important research articles relevant to the biology of breast cancer and bringing them to the attention of the breast cancer community.

As publications on breast cancer (ranging from basic science through to results of clinical trials) continue apace, it is essential that those involved in the field are made aware of key developments. To facilitate this, Breast Cancer Research launched a Paper Report service in May 1999. The original format highlighted recent publications specifically relevant to breast cancer in the form of a short report. Each report, which was published on our web site, included a brief description of the research and comments from the reporter. The reports were based on articles selected by the reporter from a broad range of journals covering all areas of science relevant to research in breast cancer. Since the service began, we have published 188 Paper Reports on our web site http://breast-cancer-research.com/reports/browse.asp?sort=paper, with some key reports additionally printed in the paper version of Breast Cancer Research.

The service was revised in June 2002, taking advantage of the web-based literature awareness service, Faculty of 1000 http://www.facultyof1000.com. Faculty of 1000 is provided by BioMed Central and offers scientists a continuously updated insider's guide to the most important papers within a chosen field of biological research. Papers are highlighted and evaluated on the basis of their scientific merit by members of a faculty of over 1400 leading scientists. By using Faculty of 1000, Breast Cancer Research eliminated the need for the reporter to compile a précis of an individual paper. Instead an invited reporter compiles a short report from a selection of recent Faculty of 1000 article evaluations relevant to breast cancer, usually with a related theme. Faculty of 1000's evaluations of selected new findings are also provided.

To underline the difference from the old-style paper reports, Breast Cancer Research has now re-launched the revised service as Viewpoints, the first of which have already been published [1–5] and can be found on our website at http://breast-cancer-research.com/reports/browse.asp?sort=Viewpoint. All Viewpoint articles are sent to PubMed/PubMedCentral.

Currently, Faculty of 1000 only provides this service for biology papers, however a medical service is in the process of being set up and BioMed Central, the publisher, anticipates launching it in early 2004. In the meantime, new developments in translational and clinical research into breast cancer will be covered by additional bimonthly commentaries.

We realise that a service like Faculty of 1000 is not immune to criticism and there may be cases where some of our readers do not agree with the selection of papers or their evaluation. Any selection would be subject to such criticism and our reporters are free to include other additional papers of importance in their Viewpoint articles, wherever suitable.

We anticipate Viewpoints will become a recognised resource and a key feature of Breast Cancer Research, highlighting important articles and bringing them to the attention of the breast cancer community.