Letter from the Editor: Spermatogenesis goes all digital

Abstract

Some of our readers may have noticed that our journal, Spermatogenesis, has gone from print to all digital format. Beginning with Volume 4, all issues of Spermatogenesis will appear in digital only without prints. In our time, this makes perfect sense. For one, our journal is now a more environmentally friendly publication by conserving paper, inks and fuel, better protecting our environment. Second, an increasing number of scientific peer-reviewed journals is adopting an all digital format. Third, most investigators in the field are reading their scientific journals either on-line or from a PDF file with their iPads. Lastly, articles, once accepted, are readily available for reading and distribution through the journal’s website, increasing the rate of dissemination and findings that are important to other investigators in the field. Many of our Board members have also welcomed and supported such changes. Although the funding rate, or the payline, these days at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies, such as National Science Foundation, remains historically low, at ~10%, and this budget constraint is not limited to investigators in the United States since it also affects our colleagues who reside in countries outside the United States, such as in Europe, Australia and Asia. However, new and exciting findings, concepts and ideas keep springing up in the field because investigators remain committed to science due to our passion to science including “Spermatogenesis”. In this issue, we have an interesting review on the role of small regulatory RNAs in spermatogenesis from Dr. Jeremy Wang and his colleague Dr. Qi Fu at the University Pennsylvania. We also have a nice concept regarding the role of receptors and signaling pathways in regulating Sertoli cell differentiation from Dr. Catarina Porto and her colleagues at the Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo in Brazil. Dr. Carla Boitani and her colleagues at the University of Rome, Italy, have also reported findings from a very fine study that examined the role of glutathione peroxidase 4 on the biology of sperm chromatin assembly in the mouse testis during spermatogenesis. Dr. Hanne Lovlie also provides a vivid meeting report based on the 12th Biology of Spermatozoa meeting at Derbyshire, UK, in 2013. I wish our Board members and readers alike to continue to support Spermatogenesis by submitting the best scientific papers, reviews, commentaries and opinions articles from your laboratories in the months ahead.