¹Immunology and Cell Biology

Immunology and Cell Biology is pleased to announce a new category of research article that will be published by the journal, starting immediately. The new manuscript category is entitled 'Outstanding Observation' and intends to capture research articles in immunology, which describe striking observations that have extremely important conceptual implications but do not delineate the underlying molecular mechanisms involved. Owing to the cutting edge nature of the work, these papers will be expedited through the refereeing process and will be published more rapidly than standard articles. More details about this new manuscript type can be found on the ICB web site: http://www.nature.com/icb.

We believe that there is a worrying trend among scientific journals to refuse to publish novel findings if they do not contain a detailed description of molecular mechanism, even when the observations reported obviously have far reaching implications for the field. In many cases, it is difficult to provide in-depth mechanistic data, particularly with paradigm shifting discoveries. This results in the publication of important findings being delayed for many months and, in some cases, for years. Clearly, such a situation seriously delays the dissemination of scientific knowledge and consequently retards scientific progress.

Let us give a specific example in the field of immunology to illustrate this point. In 1974, Zinkernagel and Doherty¹ published a paper describing the phenomenon of MHC-restriction, a paradigm shifting finding that revolutionized immunology and resulted in them being awarded the Nobel Prize in 1996. Despite the importance of the observations described in their 1974 paper, Zinkernagel and Doherty² had no idea of the molecular basis of MHC-restriction. In fact, it took another 11 years before it was shown that peptide–MHC complexes are recognized by T cells. If the current editorial attitudes toward paradigm shifting observations had existed in 1974, Zinkernagel and Doherty would have undoubtedly experienced great difficulty in publishing their original findings, an outcome that would have seriously inhibited progress in our understanding of the immune response to infectious diseases.

We have introduced 'Outstanding Observation' as a new manuscripts category in Immunology and Cell Biology in response to this unsatisfactory state of affairs. We encourage all Immunology and Cell Biology readers to consider participating in this new innovation in scientific publishing.