Editorial
Welcome to Journal of Reproductive Biotechnology and Fertility
Journal of Reproductive Biotechnology and Fertility 2015; 4:1–2 ª The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/2058915815606841 rbf.sagepub.com
Jaffar Ali
The mission of Journal of Reproductive Biotechnology and Fertility (JRBF) is to provide a much-needed forum for freely available research into reproductive biotechnology and fertility, with the aim of making this research more accessible to both developed and less developed areas of the world. The open access model intends to provide access to publications to every individual, irrespective of their means or circumstance. The advent of open access has helped authors disseminate and publicize their work widely. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is without doubt an incredibly important area of research, evidenced by its unprecedented growth in the last three decades which is comparable to that of information technology. In the mid-1970s, there were no more than about four centres worldwide that performed ART, but this has now grown exponentially to well over 5400 centres in the present times. This astounding growth is baffling. Why did this happen? It must be humankind’s insatiable desire to fathom the mysteries of life. Perhaps reproductive biotechnology seeks to answer the very fundamental questions concerning life itself. It is driven by a curiosity to learn how life begins and how the knowledge accrued can be applied for the betterment of all life forms on earth. Those working in this area need not be told that it is an intriguing area of research that challenges the mind, and research in this area has taken off on an enormous scale and at a colossal pace. There is no stopping it. A more practical reason for the increase in research into reproductive sciences since the early 1980s is the alleviation of subfertility and childlessness among couples who have tried but have not succeeded in becoming parents. In the early 1980s, the clinical pregnancy rate following ART treatment ranged from about 9% to 15%, which meant that about 85% to 91% of couples failed to achieve pregnancy. These dismal statistics had enormous social and personal implications to hapless couples who suffered the misfortune of failed ART treatment. The despair childlessness wrought, especially in less developed societies, is known to drive some women in unproductive marital unions to experience mental health problems – or in extreme
cases to commit suicide. Others have been reduced to the status of labourers in societies that practiced joint or extended family life. The exponential growth in ART research over the last 30 decades has helped increase pregnancy rates by between two and four times the rate previously obtained in the early 1980s. This has helped prevent serious social problems and helped many become biological parents. Reproductive research in agriculture is also crucial and has helped humankind increase food production, especially in the meat and dairy industries to help feed the expanding population of the world. Reproductive research is not a luxury but a necessity. In light of this, JRBF is committed to furthering this necessary research and providing an open environment for debate and discussion around the most important topics. Launched in 2010, JRBF was formerly published by Androcryogenics Malaysia (under the name Journal of Reproductive and Stem Cell Biotechnology) and rapidly achieved acceptance within the ART community. It aimed to publish reproductive research free of cost to all and acknowledged that scientific development can be thwarted in some less developed countries due to the high costs involved in conducting and accessing research. With this modus operandi, we hoped that scientific workers of all nations, developing as well as advanced, could benefit from the information freely. Unfortunately, due to a dearth in funding, Androcryogenics was unable to continue publishing and therefore decided to handover the journal to SAGE Publications. With the transfer to SAGE Publications, the journal is now assured of a new lease of life, hopefully, on a permanent basis.
Editor-in-Chief, Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Corresponding author: Jaffar Ali, Editor-in-Chief, Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Email:
[email protected]
Creative Commons CC-BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm).
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Another important change that came into being following the handover was the amendment of the title of the journal – now called the Journal of Reproductive Biotechnology and Fertility (JRBF). Previously, the journal catered mainly to laboratory professionals in ART and related areas of laboratory reproductive sciences. With the inclusion of the word ‘fertility’, the journal has opened its portals to the entire field of ART including clinical, nursing, social, legal and demographic aspects of ART, in addition to reproductive biology and reproductive sciences. In keeping with this change, the journal is pleased to invite well-established and eminent individuals from around the world onto the Editorial Board. They are invited to assume the honorific positions of Associate Editors and to represent the various sub-specialities within the discipline of
Journal of Reproductive Biotechnology and Fertility
fertility. Please email nominations and self-nominations with a one-page resume and a list of publications to the Editor-inChief at the following email address:
[email protected]. The editorial team and SAGE Publications are determined to see the journal become a leading organ for the dissemination and exchange of scientific communication in reproductive biology, ART and related areas. With an outstanding Editorial Board, we are determined to make the journal among the best in the field. We pledge short turnaround times to ensure rapid publication of your research. We welcome and look forward to your continued patronage and support. I, on behalf of the Editorial Board, extend an invitation to the ART and fertility communities for contributions to JRBF.
