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The Arthritis Research non-peer-review depository

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As readers may already be aware, the NIH have declared a plan that invites any journal that wishes to participate to deposit non-peer-reviewed research into PubMed Central, the new central repository for biomedical research data. To further the aim of Arthritis Research to act as a focus for communication about all aspects of research into arthritis and related autoimmune diseases, a new non-peer-review depository will be launched in the journal in 2000. This new initiative will offer the community of arthritis researchers a valuable resource for depositing data which traditionally is not published in existing scientific journals. As editors, we believe that a facility for depositing non-peer-reviewed research data can bring major benefits for the dissemination of research findings, and we are enthusiastic about the availability of this new service.

Researchers often have findings which are not currently published partly because of the space restrictions imposed by traditional journals, and partly because no tradition has developed about how to handle particular kinds of information. These may nonetheless be findings that could usefully add to scientific knowledge, even sometimes in a minor or marginal way. Arthritis Research will consider submission of the following types of findings into the new non-peer-review depository:

  • improvements in techniques

  • detailed laboratory protocols

  • design of experiments

  • unexpected observations

  • preclinical work on drug development

  • design of clinical trials

  • genome data

  • microarrays

  • DNA sequences

We are aware that the development of the non-peer-reviewed public deposition of research findings may bring some problems as well as the expected benefits. As responsible editors we will be sensitive to the potential dangers and we will respond quickly when problems occur. As with all new endeavours, we very much depend on all our colleagues who we hope will both participate in this newly available service and give us feedback.

Facilities for depositing research findings will be made available in the Arthritis Research website (http://arthritis-research.com), with full instructions about how to use this new service.

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Lipsky, P.E., Maini, R.N. The Arthritis Research non-peer-review depository. Arthritis Res Ther 2, 1 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1186/ar63

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/ar63

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