l
ab orator y
Letter to the Editor
a
n imals
l i m i t e d
Laboratory Animals 2014, Vol. 48(3) 271 ! The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/ journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0023677214537957 la.sagepub.com
Towards the future
Laboratory Animals Ltd (LAL) is a charity with the aim to promote education in laboratory animal science, technology and welfare. A very important educational aspect is the publishing of the highly respected journal Laboratory Animals (LA). The income from which is redeployed to help fund other educational activities, such as courses, translations and conferences of subscribing associations. For example, in recent years, two entire courses in Sri Lanka and India have been subsidised under the guidance of the LAL training ambassador. The origins of LAL and the journal trace back to 1967, when the UK Laboratory Animal Science Association (LASA) decided to set this up. Since then, other laboratory animal science (LAS) organisations in Europe and the US have become involved. Membership through subscribing Associations is offered at a highly reduced rate (80%) compared to the institutional or personal subscription rates. Subscribing LAS associations: FELASA, AFSTAL, GV-SOLAS, NVP, LASA, SECAL, SPCAL, ESLAV, LAVA, ILAF and SGV. AALAS Gold members (US) can also take LA at a reduced membership price. These developments illustrate that LA has become a truly international journal. Many working group reports in the field of LAS and the 3Rs have been published in LA. FELASA working group reports, in the field of e.g. education and health monitoring, have been quite influential and cited worldwide. All archival issues of LA that are older than 2 years are available as ‘open access’ to everyone. Articles from the last 2 years are available in full text to subscribers. Recently it was decided that new working group reports will have ‘free access’ immediately because of the broad importance to make these guidelines available for (laboratory animal) scientists, educators and legislators. LA is heavily dependent on the contributions and support of our members. The income generated from the journal directly impacts the amount of money available to LAL for funding bursaries and projects. In consequence of the rapidly changing publishing landscape and the recent global recession, a
questionnaire was held among member associations in 2013. This revealed: Subscribing Associations feel it is very important that LA remains being indexed in Pubmed, that the impact factor is of relative importance, and that there were varied opinions on whether or not LA should be published electronic only. The future challenges are to sustain the viability of the journal and up-to-date from financial and organisational points of view. The work depends heavily on many volunteers, to whom we are extremely grateful. Editorial board members and referees guarantee the scientific quality of the journal plus the review process and do this work unpaid alongside busy full-time jobs. It remains to be seen whether LAL and LA can continue relying on the input from so many volunteers in these challenging times. This will hopefully be the case, since as this fits the goals to achieve scientifically independent evaluations, to strive for high quality science and welfare, and last but not least, to live up to the charity’s goals. We also wish to extend our grateful thanks to the many logical advertisers who support LA for the valuable income generated from this source of promotion. LA is a unique journal dedicated to promoting education and training in LAS, technology and welfare. It will be important to get more European and other international associations on board in order to become truly international. The charity’s work already comprises activities worldwide, so expanding the circulation the journal next to funding activities such as courses and conferences, fits perfectly. In order to keep the journal healthy from an organisational and financial perspective, it is important to have close contacts with Subscribing Associations. To this effect, LAL will seek contact with Subscribing Associations in order to establish affiliation agreements to ensure the continuity of this valuable publication. Any input or sugesstions from subscribing or other organisations is welcomed.
Downloaded from lan.sagepub.com at UNIV OF TOKYO on May 15, 2015
Merel Ritskes-Hoitinga Chair LAL Executive Committee
ab orator y
Letter to the Editor
a
n imals
l i m i t e d
Laboratory Animals 2014, Vol. 48(3) 271 ! The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/ journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0023677214537957 la.sagepub.com
Towards the future
Laboratory Animals Ltd (LAL) is a charity with the aim to promote education in laboratory animal science, technology and welfare. A very important educational aspect is the publishing of the highly respected journal Laboratory Animals (LA). The income from which is redeployed to help fund other educational activities, such as courses, translations and conferences of subscribing associations. For example, in recent years, two entire courses in Sri Lanka and India have been subsidised under the guidance of the LAL training ambassador. The origins of LAL and the journal trace back to 1967, when the UK Laboratory Animal Science Association (LASA) decided to set this up. Since then, other laboratory animal science (LAS) organisations in Europe and the US have become involved. Membership through subscribing Associations is offered at a highly reduced rate (80%) compared to the institutional or personal subscription rates. Subscribing LAS associations: FELASA, AFSTAL, GV-SOLAS, NVP, LASA, SECAL, SPCAL, ESLAV, LAVA, ILAF and SGV. AALAS Gold members (US) can also take LA at a reduced membership price. These developments illustrate that LA has become a truly international journal. Many working group reports in the field of LAS and the 3Rs have been published in LA. FELASA working group reports, in the field of e.g. education and health monitoring, have been quite influential and cited worldwide. All archival issues of LA that are older than 2 years are available as ‘open access’ to everyone. Articles from the last 2 years are available in full text to subscribers. Recently it was decided that new working group reports will have ‘free access’ immediately because of the broad importance to make these guidelines available for (laboratory animal) scientists, educators and legislators. LA is heavily dependent on the contributions and support of our members. The income generated from the journal directly impacts the amount of money available to LAL for funding bursaries and projects. In consequence of the rapidly changing publishing landscape and the recent global recession, a
questionnaire was held among member associations in 2013. This revealed: Subscribing Associations feel it is very important that LA remains being indexed in Pubmed, that the impact factor is of relative importance, and that there were varied opinions on whether or not LA should be published electronic only. The future challenges are to sustain the viability of the journal and up-to-date from financial and organisational points of view. The work depends heavily on many volunteers, to whom we are extremely grateful. Editorial board members and referees guarantee the scientific quality of the journal plus the review process and do this work unpaid alongside busy full-time jobs. It remains to be seen whether LAL and LA can continue relying on the input from so many volunteers in these challenging times. This will hopefully be the case, since as this fits the goals to achieve scientifically independent evaluations, to strive for high quality science and welfare, and last but not least, to live up to the charity’s goals. We also wish to extend our grateful thanks to the many logical advertisers who support LA for the valuable income generated from this source of promotion. LA is a unique journal dedicated to promoting education and training in LAS, technology and welfare. It will be important to get more European and other international associations on board in order to become truly international. The charity’s work already comprises activities worldwide, so expanding the circulation the journal next to funding activities such as courses and conferences, fits perfectly. In order to keep the journal healthy from an organisational and financial perspective, it is important to have close contacts with Subscribing Associations. To this effect, LAL will seek contact with Subscribing Associations in order to establish affiliation agreements to ensure the continuity of this valuable publication. Any input or sugesstions from subscribing or other organisations is welcomed.
Downloaded from lan.sagepub.com at UNIV OF TOKYO on May 15, 2015
Merel Ritskes-Hoitinga Chair LAL Executive Committee
