PLoS Computational Biology at ISMB 2008 – news, events and giveaways

PLoS Computational Biology, the official journal of the International Society for Computational Biology, is getting ready for this year’s ISMB meeting (Toronto, Canada, July 19-23), where you’ll find us at Booth 1 in the exhibition hall.

We’re delighted to be involved in two special events at this year’s meeting:

1. Professional Development Tutorial (Saturday July 19th 8.30am-12.30pm)—Run by Editor-In-Chief Philip E. Bourne, the Tutorial will follow the structure and content of the hugely popular Ten Simple Rules Collection and is aimed at graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Topics covered are varied and include guidance for how to publish your work, make a good poster presentation, ensure successful collaboration, or apply for a grant.

2. Special Session on the Future of Scientific Publishing (Wednesday July 23rd 10.45am-12.40pm)—Organized by Scott Markel, ISCB Publications Committee Chair and Editorial Board member of PLoS Computational Biology, the Session includes talks by Robert Murphy on Mining the Combination of Images and Text in Literature Archives, Mark Gerstein on Mining Publications to Study the Structure of Science, and Gianni Cesareni on the FEBS Letters Initiative. To close, speakers from BioMed Central, Oxford University Press, and the Public Library of Science will address the question “How do you see scientific publishing changing in the next five years?”

What else do we have going on at this event?

ISCB Annual Awards —The ISCB awards two prizes at the conference in July: the Accomplishment by a Senior Scientist Award and the Overton Prize. This year, we are pleased that both recipients – David Haussler and Aviv Regev, respectively – are members of the Editorial Board of PLoS Computational Biology. Be sure to attend their Keynote presentations at the meeting.

Meet the Team—PLoS Computational Biology team members Evie Browne, Publications Manager, and Catherine Nancarrow, Managing Editor, will answer your questions at Booth 1 about PLoS, open access, the NIH Public Access Policy, and publishing your work in PLoS Computational Biology, the highest ranking journal in the Mathematical and Computational Biology category.

Don’t forget to visit the booth and collect some FREE PLoS goodies:

• T-Shirts – Once again, PLoS will be giving away our 2008 t-shirt to delegates who sign up to receive free email content alerts. This year’s shirt with its unique design is only available at this event, so be sure to stop by, sign up, and claim yours while stocks last.

• Buttons/Badges designed for our Authors, Editorial Board members, readers, and supporters

• Fact sheets that showcase the editorial board and top papers

• Postcards, to remind yourself and your colleagues why you should publish in PLoS Computational Biology.

We look forward to seeing you very soon.