CRI relaunches Cancer Immunity journal

The Cancer Research Institute, Inc. (CRI), a U.S. nonprofit organization established in 1953 to advance the discovery and development of safe and effective immunotherapies for cancer, today announced the relaunch of the open access, online journal Cancer Immunity, the official journal of the Cancer Research Institute. Cancer Immunity, first established in 2001, is the only journal in the field of cancer immunology and immunotherapy dedicated to open acesss, as well as to providing a broad set of resources and opportunities for interaction and exchange that go beyond the traditional scientific journal model to openly and comprehensively facilitate knowledge sharing and accelerate research.

"At this time in cancer immunology and immunotherapy, there is a great need to access and share research results and tools rapidly to move the field forward faster," says James P. Allison, editor-in-chief of Cancer Immunity and director of the CRI Scientific Advisory Council. "Cancer Immunity is the only journal of its kind, committed to providing open access to a great breadth and depth of valuable scientific resources, enabling it to advance the field in a way that cannot be achieved through the traditonal journal model."

The relaunch of Cancer Immunity encompasses the implementation of a new journal management system to facilitate submission and review of manuscripts, redesign of the journal's website, and reorganization and expansion of the Cancer Immunity Editorial Board. To mark the relaunch, Cancer Immunity has also published a special issue, dedicated to the journal's founding editor-in-chief, Lloyd J. Old, M.D., who died in November 2011 of prostate cancer. The issue features a collection of nine personal reflections by Dr. Old's closest collaborators on different periods throughout his career, as well as a series of scientific commentaries on the topic of antibodies in cancer therapy.

"Instead of using our journal to support our mission by generating revenues—either through subscription fees, which limit public access, or author fees, which put an unnecessary burden on researchers—Cancer Immunity furthers CRI's mission by giving our scientists and the field as a whole a vehicle to publish their results openly, as well as to access the results of others immediately and freely," says Jill O'Donnell-Tormey, Ph.D., CRI's chief executive officer and director of scientific affairs. "This represents a completely new step in CRI's programmatic history, enabling us better to facilitate scientific exchange, accelerate research, and, ultimately, further the development of new immunotherapies for cancer patients."

Source: Cancer Research Institute