Entering new publication territory in chemoinformatics and chemical information science

Repositioning the Chemical Information Science Gateway

The Chemical Information Science Gateway (CISG) of F1000Research was originally conceptualized as a forum for high-quality publications in chemical information science (CIS) including chemoinformatics. Adding a publication venue with open access and open peer review to the CIS field was a prime motivation for the introduction of CISG, aiming to support open science in this area. Herein, the CISG concept is revisited and the development of the gateway over the past four years is reviewed. In addition, opportunities are discussed to better position CISG within the publication spectrum of F1000Research and further increase its visibility and attractiveness for scientific contributions.

Expanding the chemical information science gateway

Broadly defined, chemical information science (CIS) covers chemical structure and data analysis including biological activity data as well as processing, organization, and retrieval of any form of chemical information. The CIS Gateway (CISG) of F1000Research was created to communicate research involving the entire spectrum of chemical information, including chem(o)informatics. CISG provides a forum for high-quality publications and a meaningful alternative to conventional journals. This gateway is supported by leading experts in the field recognizing the need for open science and a flexible publication platform enabling off-the-beaten path contributions. This editorial aims to further rationalize the scope of CISG, position it within its scientific environment, and open it up to a wider audience. Chemical information science is an interdisciplinary field with high potential to interface with experimental work.

On the evolving open peer review culture for chemical information science

Compared to the traditional anonymous peer review process, open post-publication peer review provides additional opportunities -and challenges- for reviewers to judge scientific studies. In this editorial, we comment on the open peer review culture and provide some guidance for reviewers of manuscripts submitted to the Chemical Information Science channel of F1000Research.