With thousands of research papers being published every week, there is a growing need for a research tool that can authoritatively organize and evaluate the essential information within the mass of life science literature. A new product being developed by Biology Reports Ltd, part of the Current Science Group, aims to throw a lifeline to scientists drowning in a sea of research literature.
Faculty of 1000 is a revolutionary new online service that will systematically highlight the most interesting papers published in the life sciences based on the recommendations of over 1000 selected leading scientists - the end-product is a rapid online service, run by scientists, that provides a consensus view of important papers and trends across biology.
Faculty of 1000 will offer researchers a qualitative and concise evaluation tool that will keep them fully up to date with all developments within their research areas, and, perhaps more importantly, an insiders' guide to neighbouring areas of interest.
Set to launch in October 2001 with several thousand article recommendations and updated continuously, Faculty of 1000 divides the entire field of biology into 16 faculties (or subject areas), each of which is subdivided into approximately 10 sections run by 2-4 scientists of international repute. Users will be able to customize the service to their interests and opt for weekly (or monthly) updates by email.
Faculty of 1000 is the newest brainchild of Vitek Tracz, Chairman of the Current Science Group, creator of the Current Opinion series, Current Biology, BioMedNet (HMS Beagle), and the new online site BioMed Central.
As Tony Pawson, Professor of Molecular and Developmental Biology, University of Toronto, Canada, says: "I visited the (demonstration) web site, and got immediately excited. This is just what we need."
Faculty of 1000 is a must for all those working within the life sciences and will be an invaluable research tool. It will be available online with an intuitive, highly developed web interface and will have direct links to PubMed. Online subscriptions will be available to individuals, labs and institutions.
Faculty of 1000 is a new online service produced by Biology Reports Ltd and will be available through BioMed Central Ltd, http://www.biomedcentral.com.
For further information about Faculty of 1000, go to http://www.facultyof1000.com/info.