Genetics Selection Evolution: news for the period January 2009 - May 2010 and editorial announcements

Comparing statistics between 2008 and 2009 provides some initial indication on the consequences of the "Open Access" conversion.The total number of manuscripts submitted in 2008/2009 was similar i.e. 98/93. Except for manuscripts originating from China (22 in 2008/12 in 2009), there was little variation between 2008 and 2009: origin and number of manuscripts were quite stable with a large range of origins concentrating over Norway (8 in 2008/10 in 2009), USA (8/9), the Netherlands(7/10), France (7/8), Spain (6/5), Australia (3/6), UK (3/4), Germany (2/4) and Italy (1/4). Thus, in 2009 introduction of an author pay charge (APC) had little effect.The total number of manuscripts published was higher in 2009 (54) than in 2008 (40), which is partly due to the success of the call for sponsored papers in spring 2008 to promote new Open Access GSE i.e. eight sponsored papers were published. The increase in number of published papers is made possible by the fact that with the Open Access online model, there is no restriction in page number as before with the paper version.Over 2008 and 2009, the number of submissions per field was as follows: methodological and quantitative genetics (25 in 2008/37 in 2009), applied and experimental genetics (25/29), population genetics and genetic diversity (24/12), molecular genetics (16/7) and others (8/8). Thus, about three quarters of the submitted manuscripts concerned in equal proportions methodological, applied and population genetics in 2008 while in 2009, we observed a clear increase in manuscripts dealing with methodological and quantitative genetics and a clear decrease in manuscripts on genetic diversity.Clearly, GSE is established as a journal specialized on the quantitative and applied aspects of genetics and selection in farm animals.GSE works with many peer reviewers all experts in their own field. Thorough peer reviewing is essential to guaranty the quality and the relevance of the papers published in GSE. We are well aware