Newswise — NEW YORK, NY, May 29, 2012 – The Cancer Research Institute, Inc. (CRI), a U.S. nonprofit organization established in 1953 to advance the discovery and development of safe and effective immunotherapies for cancer, today announced the relaunch of the open access, online journal Cancer Immunity, the official journal of the Cancer Research Institute. Cancer Immunity, first established in 2001, is the only journal in the field of cancer immunology and immunotherapy dedicated to open acesss, as well as to providing a broad set of resources and opportunities for interaction and exchange that go beyond the traditional scientific journal model to openly and comprehensively facilitate knowledge sharing and accelerate research.
“At this time in cancer immunology and immunotherapy, there is a great need to access and share research results and tools rapidly to move the field forward faster,” says James P. Allison, editor-in-chief of Cancer Immunity and director of the CRI Scientific Advisory Council. “Cancer Immunity is the only journal of its kind, committed to providing open access to a great breadth and depth of valuable scientific resources, enabling it to advance the field in a way that cannot be achieved through the traditonal journal model.”
The relaunch of Cancer Immunity encompasses the implementation of a new journal management system to facilitate submission and review of manuscripts, redesign of the journal’s website, and reorganization and expansion of the Cancer Immunity Editorial Board. To mark the relaunch, Cancer Immunity has also published a special issue, dedicated to the journal’s founding editor-in-chief, Lloyd J. Old, M.D., who died in November 2011 of prostate cancer. The issue features a collection of nine personal reflections by Dr. Old’s closest collaborators on different periods throughout his career, as well as a series of scientific commentaries on the topic of antibodies in cancer therapy.
“Instead of using our journal to support our mission by generating revenues—either through subscription fees, which limit public access, or author fees, which put an unnecessary burden on researchers—Cancer Immunity furthers CRI’s mission by giving our scientists and the field as a whole a vehicle to publish their results openly, as well as to access the results of others immediately and freely,” says Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, Ph.D., CRI’s chief executive officer and director of scientific affairs. “This represents a completely new step in CRI’s programmatic history, enabling us better to facilitate scientific exchange, accelerate research, and, ultimately, further the development of new immunotherapies for cancer patients.”
To view the full table of contents for the May 2012 issue, view the new Editorial Board, browse the Cancer Immunity archives, access the journal’s various databases and web tools, or submit a paper, go to www.cancerimmunity.org.
About the Cancer Research InstituteThe Cancer Research Institute (CRI), established in 1953, is the world’s only nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to transforming cancer patient care by advancing scientific efforts to develop new and effective immune system-based strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure cancer. Guided by a world-renowned Scientific Advisory Council that includes three Nobel laureates and thirty members of the National Academy of Sciences, CRI has invested more than $200 million in support of research conducted by immunologists and tumor immunologists at the world’s leading medical centers and universities, and has contributed to many of the key scientific advances that demonstrate the potential for immunotherapy to change the face of cancer treatment.
To accelerate the pace of progress in the field, CRI convenes and coordinates global collaborations among academics, industry scientists and decision makers, regulatory representatives, and health research associations focused on discovery, development, and refinement of new cancer immunotherapies. A founding visionary and scientific leader in tumor immunology, CRI is helping to shape the emerging field of immuno-oncology, and is ushering in a new era of medical progress to bring more treatment options to cancer patients sooner.
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