What's New at BOR? Expanded Scope, Special Issues, and More!

In this episode of The Future Conceived, the official podcast of the Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR), host Dr. Pam Monahan welcomes the editorial team from Biology of Reproduction (BOR), the flagship journal of SSR. Listen in as BOR's Editor-in-Chief Dr. Romana Nowak, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Mary Zelinski, and Publications Manager Ms. Jenny Kimball discuss exciting new features and updates at BOR. This insightful conversation provides a run-through of the academic peer-review publishing process and the structure of scientific journals. Discover the benefits of publishing in and reading BOR, learn about its newly expanded scope and categories, and get a sneak peek at upcoming special issues. The editorial team also shares ways for the reproductive science community to get involved with BOR, including becoming a peer reviewer or joining committees. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in reproductive research and the valuable resources offered by BOR and SSR, including the benefit of free publication for SSR members.

Transcript

Hello, listeners, and welcome to this episode of The Future Conceived, the official podcast of the Society for the Study of Reproduction. My name is Pam Monahan, and I'm a lecturer from Northwestern University, and I'll be your host for this episode. Today I'm delighted to welcome the editorial team from Biology of Reproduction, BOR, the flagship journal of the Society for the Study of Reproduction. So BRR has been a longtime cornerstone for cutting-edge reproductive research, and today we'll be discussing some exciting new features the journal is offering. So first, let's start off with introductions. Could you let our listeners know a little bit about yourself and how you came to be involved in supporting BOR? Uh, I have a long history of being part of SSR in general. I, my first meeting was in 1979. And being involved in the journal, I had very good examples. My undergrad master's advisor was Philip Shuck, one of the founding members of SSR. My PhD advisor was Janice Barr, who was editor-in-chief of BOR and also president. So as a graduate student, we were very much involved in getting on committees and helping out with the meeting. And it just sort of started from there. And I've been a member of the society for a long time. It's a wonderful society and working on the journal has turned out to be one of the most exciting and interesting things for me in terms of helping the society and being involved in BOR. I've been an associate editor and Now I have the privilege of being Editor-in-Chief with Mary. So it started all back when I was a graduate student. Hi, I'm Mary Zielinski. I'm a professor at the Oregon National Pimate Research Center in the Division of Reproductive and Developmental Sciences. And I, like Romana, also started in graduate school. Way back in 1977, which makes me a 48-year member. It's scary to think about that, but also wonderful. Um, my mentor was Fred Stormcheck, who is also, um, there in the beginning of the start of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, and my postdoc mentor is Dick Stauffer, who was president of the society as well. Um, we hosted at Oregon State two meetings, so very ensconced in the society from a very early age as a reproductive biologist. I also served on the Board of Reviewing Editors twice in my career and on the Board of Directors as well. So SSR is my home society, always has been. It will be So the day I leave and it's been a fantastic experience and being editor-in-chief with Romana has been one of the highlights of my career as well. All right, and I am Jenny Kimball. I'm the Publications Manager for SSR. I've been with SSR since the fall of 2020, so I was, I started Just before Mary and Romana started their term as editors-in-chief, so I came on to assist with that transition and then provide editorial support. To the team, um, to, to keep the OR, uh, moving forward and implement some, um, really exciting changes that Mary and Romana have instituted during their term. Fantastic. Welcome to all of you. Uh, so since our listener base is comprised of a broad community of scientists, including early trainees and maybe some lay folk who are unfamiliar with the publishing process, Could you give us a brief run through of how academic peer review publishing works in science and how most journals are structured? So, um, the way things work is you have a super fantastic experimental research that you want to get out to the world and so you write a manuscript According to the instructions to authors and each journal has their own specific instructions to authors that will get submitted to the journal publisher. Um, as it comes in, Romana and I, as editors in chief, kind of, um, look at it ahead of time to see if it fits within the scope of the journal and Whether it is worthy of going out for review. So we're kind of the triage team a little bit. And then it goes to our associate editors. We have thirteen of them with their own special expertise. So this manuscript will get sent to one of the AEs whose responsibility then is to find at least two reviewers and we aim for three reviewers, peer reviewers of the manuscript. The peer reviewers are instructed to return their decision within two weeks and that decision can be rejected. It can be, uh, revised with, uh, major revisions, um, except with minor revisions or be accepted. And then if it needs some revisions, the manuscript goes back out to the original peer reviewers. They look at it again and say, is it, you know, tell us if it's okay to publish or it might need a few other little tweaks before it goes on. And then that decision from the AEs comes back to Romana and I, and we make the final decision of accepting the manuscript for the journal. And then it's up to the publishing people to take the manuscript and make sure it's formatted correctly and um, It eventually ends up in a list of manuscripts that Romana and I choose from to make a monthly issue. And we create that monthly issue from all of these manuscripts. Wonderful accepted papers and then it will become a, um, a publication in the journal. And I think most, um, journals follow this very similar format. Peer review is the pillar for absolutely all the journals and that's really important responsibility for all of us in the review chain. And then that helps ensure that we get the highest quality and the most interesting papers in team biology of reproduction. Yeah, no, I think when I first started as a trainee I wasn't quite familiar with the entire process and it's, I think, always enlightening to see kind of what the layers of peer review actually look like. Romana, could you maybe tell us a little bit about how journals in general are structured? I know we'll get a bit more into how BOR is structured and the content of it, but just in general, could maybe you give us a slight overview of what it is? What a journal would look like? Most journals, particularly journals in the field of reproductive biology or cell biology, endocrinology, they tend to have very similar structures. If you're talking about the journal itself in terms of what makes up an issue of the journal, most of the journals are going to consist primarily of original research articles. And then there are also review articles. And then some journals will have what are called letters to the editor where authors or readers can actually write letters with commentary about a particular paper, about a particular subject. Now, BOR does not really do that. We don't really have those types of commentaries, but there are other journals that do. And then we also have interviews in our journal. Um, that's something that Hugh and Wei, our previous EIC started, and I think it's been a really nice thing in terms of allowing members and readers to get to know a lot more about the journey that various established scientists have had. It's something that's fairly unique, I think, to BOR. Don't see that very much in a lot of other journals. In terms of the way the journals are structured for taking papers in and review, They tend to be pretty similar. I will say that there are some journals that have a much larger list of associate editors. And so there are many sort of subheadings and subtopics with a lot of different editors who can handle papers. But for our journal, having the thirteen has, uh, worked quite well. So, um, I think one could say that they're structured in a similar manner, but there are certain types of articles that might be a little bit unique And for us, I think it's the interviews. And then we also have research highlights, which is another category that Hugh and Wei instituted when they were our EICs. And these are also nice and I think kind of unique to our journal in that it's an opportunity for someone to write an overview and commentary about a paper that's been recently published. That is a very impactful paper, very exciting paper. It doesn't have to be a paper that was published in BOR. It can be a paper that came out in a different journal. But it's something that is very relevant to our field and to our readers. So that's, I think, also an example of something that's a little bit different maybe from some of the, you know, other established journals. Are there any other components of BOR specifically that uh, maybe other journals don't have or that are maybe Less well known. I mean, we, I think we all think about the research, the primary research that's being published in the reviews, but you just mentioned interviews. Are there other types of journal, uh, components that are, are featured in BOR as well? Yes, that, uh, we also have what are called forum papers and those have turned out to be really, really interesting and diverse types of papers. A lot of times they are going to be a paper that is going to be a sort of a summary About a meeting that's taken place and what have been some of the key points and things that have come out from a meeting. Or the forum article can be about a particular topic that is something that is maybe slightly controversial in our field or is a concern in our field and someone can write a forum article about that. Uh, we also have brand new category of methods papers and those are, uh, have proven to be very interesting and exciting for us because, uh, they started out as an initiative with the, um, I mean, virtual education community, but it's turned out to be a very nice category of papers. It allows people to publish a new method or something, and it allows it to be made available. To all of the readership. In other words, they can find out about a new way to analyze follicles and ovaries or various other types of things. So that's a category that I think is also a somewhat unique to BOR, but, uh, very useful and important to the readers. Definitely something very valuable, especially, you know, it makes it easier that you don't have to dig into the paper too much to figure out how the authors communicated it or having to reach out and maybe you don't have somebody who's as responsive. Definitely having a methods component is, I would say, very helpful, especially to a lot of graduate students who are building out new projects. So I know we touched on it a little bit in terms of like the review process, but SSR as a whole has really fostered an amazing environment for trainee development. And getting involved in the process of publishing is an important component to developing a rigorous scientist. So what stage in their career does the scientist need to be in order to be a reviewer for BOR? To be a reviewer in BOR, you definitely have to have your Ph.D. and be, um, at the, uh, assistant professor level, um, lecture instructor level. And, um, for the trainee reviewers that we have, they also have to have a PhD and we ask that their current mentor send a letter of recommendation to Romana and I so that we can be sure that they are, have had enough experience and are ready to be a peer reviewer on their own. Um, and to get that experience, it's usually an aspect of your training for your PhD or even your master's that your mentor helps you to Learn how to peer review. So you would get, um, you know, unidentified author papers from your mentor and then Go through it with your mentor and learn all the steps of peer review so that by the time you get your PhD and you want to start actually peer reviewing, you can do that at VOR as a trainee reviewer. Awesome. Yeah, I remember being a part of this when I was a trainee as well before I got my PhD like learning the ropes and then as I became a postdoc really transitioning into being a reviewer in my own right. And we love the trainee reviewers. We encourage all trainees out there to consider joining the team. And we have to say that the trainee reviewers probably write some of the best reviews that we get. They're very thorough and very enthusiastic reviewers, so please consider that if you haven't already. Definitely. So I know we touched a little bit on what BOR has in terms of components. But maybe let's refresh our listeners' brains a little bit on BOR and what it has to offer our community of reproductive scientists. So how can reproductive scientists benefit from actually publishing or reading BOR? What's the benefit to publishing in BOR? Well, first of all, BOR is one of the most highly cited reproductive biology journals. So it is a terrific place to put new papers and get them published because a lot of people will see them and read them. So that's, you know, it's a high quality journal, always has been. Um, so it's a benefit, obviously, to be publishing in that journal. But it's also a benefit to being a reader because we have a wide scope of papers. Uh, you know, a lot of our members, uh, work in a lot of different animal models and Your very broad areas of research. And so BOR, I think, uh, supports publications in all those areas. We're not only focused, for example, on human reproduction infertility or reproductive diseases. We're only focused on large animal reproduction. So I think one of the advantages of our journal is that it is broad in terms of the types of species and topics that are covered. Uh, it's also an advantage in terms of with these other types of articles that we have, I think it offers more in terms of For example, uh, learning a little bit more about what's going on through the forum articles, learning more about our members with the interview articles. So it's not only original research and reviews, which is what many journals are at this time. But I, I feel that it sort of is operating more in terms of other ways to be interacting with the society and with society members. And I know Mary, you might want to have more comments on this. I think you've hit all the main points and that Jenny can comment on this a little bit more. What we instituted this year is that members can publish for free in the journal. And that's a big perk, um, moving forward. Uh, we noticed that a lot of journals were not having publication charges and we were one of the hold-ons. And then manage to change that so now that members can publish free. It's a tremendous benefit. Publishing costs are not something that I think a trainee really understands. I think it's definitely a huge benefit to our members. I know BORscope has historically been research that provides mechanistic insight into animal reproduction, reproductive diseases, and embryonic development. Uh, but BOR has recently expanded its scope. So can you tell our listeners a bit more about BOR's new expanded scope and give a bit of insight into the new categories that BOR readers will be able to see in upcoming issues? So we decided to expand our scope because we needed to increase the submissions that come to our journal. And eventually increase the, um, numbers of papers that are accepted so that we can transition perhaps someday to open access publishing, which can be a whole nother topic in and of itself. But, um, we were noticing that we were getting papers that were outside of our scope and then we thought, well, why don't we just put them in our scope? So we changed, uh, the scope a little bit this year and the new categories are, um, Reproductive immunology, reproductive microbiome biomics, uh, cancers of the gonads and accessory glands and reproductive tract. And a little more emphasis on reproductive toxicology. Although we got a few of those, we would like to encourage more of those kinds of submissions. So, um, the papers don't always have to be mechanistic. If they are, um, a descriptive paper that is first in species, for example, That would build a foundation for further studies. We will accept those for review and if they're very high quality and well written and well controlled, um, not having the mechanism is not a detriment. And we'll consider those for publication. But we're excited to broaden the scope and are looking for more submissions in those areas. Are there types of articles maybe that you've not seen a lot of submissions on for recently? We haven't gotten a lot of people to volunteer to write commentaries, to write a research highlight. And we know there's exciting research going on out there and Romana and I, too, also need to increase our efforts to ask people maybe to do that. We occasionally get wonderful people to volunteer. And they've read a paper in their field that's just, you know, mind-blowing and they want to talk about it. So we would love to have many more of those. And I know our new editor, Suchik, will also be soliciting them a little bit more. And Romana, maybe you want to comment on this, but we always hear that we don't, um, publish enough on large animal, domestic animal, um, reproductive research, and we would like to dispel that myth once again here. That indeed we do. We publish, um, cattle and sheep and, and, uh, pigs and everything. Um, chickens. So please submit your articles and they will. Be reviewed and can be published. I'll just add on a little bit to the issue about the large animal papers. I know that we have some members of society who feel that we don't accept a very high number of papers that are focused on large animal And it's not that we don't accept them. They're usually very good papers, high quality. They're accepted at the same rate as any of the papers that are submitted on mouse models or human or anything like that. For some reason, there aren't as many submissions. They actually do very well. So we really want to encourage our friends and colleagues who are doing work on large animal models, please send your papers. To be your art. We really want those papers. And many of them end up being editor's choice papers. They're really about, you know, beautiful work. We've gotten a few more submissions lately on sort of a more unusual animal models in terms of papers on birds. We've had papers on fish and reptiles. So we want to encourage people who also work in those types of animal models. To please submit to BOR because uh, We've been publishing those papers steadily as they come in. Yeah. Yeah, and I know our community of scientists in reproduction have had a long history of working in farm animals, so large animal species as well. It's always, I think, enlightening to see broadly how our field is advancing. So are there other ways that our community of scientists can actually get involved with BOR? I will say that one of the best things they can do to help BOR is to agree to be peer reviewers. First of all, submit your good papers to BOR, but second, please be willing to be a peer reviewer. Um, if you're submitting a paper, of course, you hope that you are going to get good reviewers will be fair and we'll evaluate your manuscript. So in return, please be willing to be a reviewer if you're invited and asked to be reviewing a paper in your, in your area. It's very important. It really helps the journal. I think, um, members also could get involved in the publications committee. They, um, help advise us, uh, with journal issues and Um, it's an, uh, an active committee and always need members who would be enthusiastic in supporting the journal in that way. We've also interacted with the virtual education committee, uh, such as this podcast that's happening and also to encourage the publications of the methods papers. And, uh, trainees can be members of these committees. They can be the representatives. So, uh, if that interests you, please consider doing that. And I'm going to throw this one to Jenny. Uh, there's quite, we have a presence on social media and this is one of Jenny's, uh, areas of expertise. So maybe Jenny, you can talk to us about what's happening there. Sure, so if you don't already follow BLR on social media, we strongly encourage you to do so. You know, in addition to the, uh, the main FSR society account, um, VOR has their own account, um, on Twitter as well as Facebook. So, um, we hope that you will consider following up there so that you can get some of the latest information about, um, about what's going on at the journal. Yeah, and I, I definitely use my social media accounts as kind of a curation of what are the new and exciting things that come out in, in journal articles. It'll be like a feature. And then I'll click on it and I'll find some amazing science that either I include in my class or that I just read for enjoyment and excitement of our field. Uh, so I know we've talked about some interesting things that are coming out, uh, from BOR and some changes that are happening. Um, and I know it's, we've, we've advanced a little bit into the year so far, but, uh, looking forward, um, what, what should folks look out for in the next year? Are there any interesting, fun things that are coming out of BOR that, uh, our listeners should look out for? Well, we have several special issues that are in the works and will be coming out. Uh, one of them is a special issue, which is called the date issue. So that's the domestic animal doe had an epigenetic special issue and, uh, Dr. Marc-Andre Serard is the guest editor for that. That came out of the meeting that he had organized at the SSR meeting in Dublin last year. So that is coming along. And Mary, I don't know if we have a, or Jenny, you have an idea. It might be coming out hopefully maybe in about three months, maybe in the summertime. Maybe even every second to be finalized. Yeah, we expect it to be finalized this summer. We have a lot of great submissions that came out of that symposium. Um, so, uh, that should be a great special issue to look out for. That'll come up pretty soon. And then we also have a special issue that is focusing on reproductive biology in Europe. And again, that kind of came out from having the meeting in Dublin last year. We felt that it would be really exciting and nice to feature excellent, you know, Exciting reproductive biology research done by our colleagues in European countries. So, uh, Nora Spears and Stephen Bowersox are our guest editors for that issue and that one is coming along and Now, that might be completed and come out in early all, Jenny? Do you think that that seems reasonable? Yeah, that should be out before the end of this year. And then a third one is a special issue on environmental impacts on reproductive health. Uh, Ulrika Luderber is going to be the guest editor for that issue, and that's just starting. We're just getting a list of people to invite to be contributors. But that'll come out towards the end of the year, early in 2026. And the other very exciting news and That's when it happened is we have new EICs coming in. Jeremy Wang and Alex Reykjavik, who are absolutely fantastic and very excited and they will be taking over on July 1st. Lots of exciting things coming up. Uh, definitely look out for those special issues and, um, yeah, infusing new, new blood into the, into the editorial team here at BOR. So how can folks ask questions or share information with the BOR editorial team? How does our community get in touch with you? You know, the editors are always available for questions or comments. If you, you know, have a topic that you're not sure if it's within the scope of PLR, you know, you can always reach out to the editorial team or to myself in the editorial office. Um, and we can help provide some direction there. Um, you know, we certainly want to hear from you. I'm happy to answer any questions that you have. And I also want to plug in for anyone who is attending SSR 2025, this year in Washington, D.C. that VOR always has a booth at the annual meeting. The editors are there. Usually during most of the, uh, most of the breaks in the meetings, um, and are happy to talk to attendees with any questions, uh, or suggestions that you might have for the journal. If you are attending SSR 2025, please plan to stop by the BOR booth. And it's quite easy. You can just directly email Romana and I and the new EICs when they come in with your question. And if there's things we can't answer, we ask Jenny to help us out. But we encourage you to contact us. So in short, it's really easy to talk to anybody involved in the editorial team at BOR, which I think is fantastic. And I think a necessary part of the publishing process is to be able to Directly interact with those who are creating these issues that are being digested by our community and and by the broader community of scientists and maybe even lay folk as well. I would just say that the interactions we have where People are writing to us are some of the very enjoyable interactions. People write to us with lots of questions about a paper they're thinking of submitting and do they think it, you know, will it perhaps fit the scope of the journal? Trainees, right. They would like to become trainee reviewers. We're always excited and would like to encourage them. So that part of being an editor in chief is actually really a lot of fun. If you're not happy with something, we want to hear from you as well. So, um, you know, things happen and we like to solve the dilemmas that come up. And also, uh, provide some diplomatic, um, decision-making sometimes on our review. If someone is not happy with their review, you know, just email us and we will hear you. And comment back to you. And, um, not everything goes 100% smoothly, but we hope that the majority of our interactions are positive. I just think that we would as a team like to say thank you so much to all the members who have contributed their excellent research to the journal. Um, thank you to the trainees who have showed up as trainee reviewers and who are thinking about it. We want you very badly. And we have to remember that the journal subsidizes a large portion of the annual meeting. So by publishing your papers into UR, you are keeping your registration fees lower. Uh, then they would be if, if the journal was not there to help support it. So BOR is your journal. It is part of your career and your life in reproductive biology and we hope that you enjoy the experience that you have with the journal and with the society in general. Great. Well, thank you, Mary, Romana, and Jenny for joining me on this episode. That brings us to the end. So a huge thank you. To the three of you for joining us and sharing all the exciting updates about BOR and the benefits of SSR membership. So if you are an SSR member, be sure to take full advantage of everything BOR has to offer, whether it's Accessing groundbreaking research, submitting your own work, or exploring new features designed to support the reproductive science community. If you're not a member, now's the perfect time to join and be a part of this incredible network of researchers and professionals who are shaping the future of reproductive science. Thank you for tuning in, and don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and follow us on social media for more updates on the latest in reproductive research.