STM publisher Springer is set to publish the Journal of Biorheology, the official publication of the Japanese Society of Biorheology, starting in May 2009. Naoki Sasaki, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, serves as Editor-in-chief of the journal.

  The International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) has announced that the British Psychological Society is the latest to join the Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information (PERii). Under the initiative, the Society will offer free access to its online materials to thirty of INASP's partner and network countries in 2009.

  The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) has announced that it will incorporate NexCura Cancer Profiler Tools from Thomson Reuters into its website. The 20 online tools will provide cancer patients with critical, customised information about their treatment options. All information provided by the NexCura Cancer Profiler Tools is peer-reviewed.

  Educational material publisher McGraw-Hill Higher Education has announced a strategic alliance with Hands-On Labs, Inc. (HOL), a science education company that designs and produces academically aligned collections of laboratory materials for higher education students and institutions worldwide. Under the deal, McGraw-Hill science curricula will be combined with HOL-produced LabPaqs, to create a specialised LabPaq product package which will allow students to perform genuine 'wet lab' science experiments at their convenience - inside or outside the classroom.

  Online submission system provider Aries Systems Corporation has announced that it has entered into a multi-year distribution agreement with ATLAS Co. Ltd, Japan. Under the terms of the agreement ATLAS will market and support Aries' Editorial Manager submission and peer review system in Japan. ATLAS will introduce Editorial Manager at a Tokyo seminar from June 8, 2009.

  Construction information solutions provider Reed Construction Data (RCD) and CADworks have announced an agreement to partner to extend the delivery of high-quality content to building product manufacturers (BPM's) and help accelerate the adoption of building information modeling (BIM). The partnership will allow the Reed Construction Data national sales force to identify BIM opportunities for MEP manufacturers.

  Ovid, part of Wolters Kluwer Health, has announced that it is adding new modules to its suite of 3D interactive human anatomy offerings from Primal Pictures, a producer of multimedia products for teaching human anatomy. Human Anatomy: Systemic Edition, 3D Head & Neck Anatomy for Dentistry and a Spanish-language version of Essential Regional Anatomy are now available via OvidSP, the company's precision search and discovery platform. Cost-effective packages of multiple modules are also now available to Ovid's global customer base.

  STM publisher Elsevier has announced the launch of a new journal, Epidemics - the journal on infectious disease dynamics. This peer-reviewed journal will publish papers on infectious disease dynamics in the broadest sense. Authors are invited to submit their work to Epidemics through the online submission and review system.

  Content solutions and services provider Really Strategies has announced the availability of the RSuite Engine, a tool that lets organisations jumpstart the development of content management projects on top of MarkLogic Server, an XML server. The tool, which forms the foundation of RSuite CMS, seeks to provide a robust API for technical teams to accelerate the development of sophisticated content management applications.

  STM publisher Elsevier has announced that ten new eBook Specialty Collections have launched on MD Consult, its online clinical reference tool. This launch provides online availability of market-leading specialty content in dermatology, dermatologic surgery, family medicine, general radiology, geriatric medicine, hand surgery, neonatology, otolaryngology, pathology, and shoulder surgery.

  STM publisher Springer Science+Business Media has launched www.stemcellgateway.net, a one-stop destination resource designed to strengthen the stem cell community and foster the exchange of information among researchers in this field. The website offers published, peer-reviewed content from Springer’s stem cell programme, including both the journal Stem Cell Reviews and Reports (SCRR), as well as the book series Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.

  Academic and professional literature publisher Emerald Group Publishing Limited has published a special issue of the International Journal of Energy Sector Management focusing on energy sector management issues in China. The Special Issue highlights the growing importance of developing countries like China in the global energy scene, along with the increasing energy needs of China and the related energy supply issues.

  Electronic research databases provider EBSCO Publishing has announced that the beta version of the Dentistry & Oral Sciences Source database is now available on EBSCOhost. The database contains cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for 160 journals and dozens of monographs.

  The Research Information Network (RIN) and Universities UK (UUK) have published new detailed and practical guidance aimed at all those involved in open access (OA) publishing - funders, publishers, authors and higher education institutions. The guidance document, titled Paying for open access publication charge, calls for a strategic response in the UK - at both institutional and national levels - to the opportunities as well as the challenges posed by OA publishing. It also moots good communication between all the parties involved.

  STM publisher Thieme Publishing Group has released the third edition of Essentials of Audiology. The latest edition of the publication provides students and professionals in communication sciences and disorders with current, practical information on a field that is steadily growing and developing.

  RefWorks, the research tools arm of ProQuest, LLC, has announced the launch of RefMobile, a new interface that enables students and researchers to use the RefWorks web-based research management service from anywhere, via web-enabled mobile phones, smart phones, and personal data assistants (PDAs). The new interface gives users immediate access to the most commonly used RefWorks functions.

  ACP Press, the book publishing program of the American College of Physicians, has announced that more than 40 books published by the Press are now available for purchase in digital format at ACP's new electronic publishing site www.acppress-ebooks.com. Visitors can search the full text of an entire book, view sample pages online before making a purchase, and purchase digital copies of books at reduced "eBook" prices.

  Oxford Journals, a division of Oxford University Press (OUP), has announced that the journal Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, which has been discontinued, will be accessible through two preservation services - CLOCKSS and Portico. Archival content from volume 1, issue 1 (2001) to volume 8, issue 4 (2008) will be removed from the Oxford Journals online platform on June 1, 2009. The preservation partners will provide access to the title and take responsibility for its ongoing long-term preservation.

  John Smith & Son, an academic and professional bookselling chain in the UK, has released results of a study proving market demand for e-textbooks and confirming their value as a new revenue stream for publishers. E-textbooks were sold using various sales models, with bundled print and e-textbooks proving more successful than e-textbooks sold as a discounted point-of-sale add-on or as a single full-price product. Not only were e-textbook sales strong in the first semester, but these encouraging sales have continued into the second semester, it has been observed.

  Research Councils UK (RCUK) has published an independent study commissioned by the Research Councils to identify the effects and assess the impact of open access to research outputs on pay-to-publish and self-archiving publishing models. The purpose of the study was to identify the effects and impacts of open access on publishing models and institutional repositories in light of national and international trends. This included the impact of open access on the quality and efficiency of scholarly outputs, specifically journal articles.

  The UK's JISC has announced that, according to a panel at the London Book Fair, a key myth has been shattered by early results from JISC Collections' recently concluded e-books observatory project. During the two-year project, JISC provided free access to 36 core e-textbooks in science, technology and medicine to all UK university students, to monitor their usage patterns. The presumption that increased e-book usage will negatively affect sales was overturned by the report. Its findings revealed that e-book usage actually had 'no impact' on print sales.

  Science and technology journal Scientific American has laid off 5 percent of its staff, according to media reports. The journal's longtime editor John Rennie and President Steven Yee will exit their posts. Executive editor Mariette DiChristina will serve as acting editor-in-chief.

  A recently published editorial in PLoS Medicine looks back over the five years since the journal made its first call for papers and describes a new evidence-based approach to the aims and scope of the journal. This approach emphasises the focus of PLoS Medicine on the diseases and risk factors that cause the greatest losses in years of healthy life worldwide. The editors have emphasised the need to look beyond just the biological causes of disease.

  Academic and professional literature publisher Emerald Group Publishing Limited has announced that the deadline for the 2008/2009 Emerald/EMRBI Business Research Award for Young Researchers has been extended to July 1, 2009. In partnership with the EuroMed Research Business Institute, Emerald will award a cash prize of Euro 1,500 (or currency equivalent) to the winning entry.

  Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3) has announced that five universities and a consortium have signed an expression of interest to re-direct their current subscriptions to high energy physics (HEP) journals to SCOAP3. SCOAP3 is an international consortium that aims to provide free access to major particle physics journals worldwide.

  Classical and Quantum Gravity, published by IOP publishing, has announced the online publication of a special issue devoted to the Proceedings of the 7th International LISA Symposium. The proceedings are published in two journals. A special selection, chosen by the conference organisers, appears in Classical and Quantum Gravity Volume 26 Issue 9. The remainder of the papers from this meeting feature in a volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series.

  The sixth edition of blogspeak is now online. Featured are Charles Bailey (Blended Research and Learning Object Repository: JISC Final Report-CIRCLE); Richard Poynder (Intellectual Property, Open Access, and the Developing World); Charlotte Abbott (Publisher Outreach to Bloggers: New Models); Joe Wikert (Amazon vs. Google); and Peter Jacso (ticTocs Table of Content Service: New Review). A service of Knowledgespeak.com, Blogspeak includes blog posts relevant to the publishing industry, particularly STM publishing. Subscribers are invited to participate in the latest edition of blogspeak at http://www.knowledgespeak.com/
Blog/Blog_Index_More.asp?MID=1#41.

  The International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI) has announced that the ICSTI 2009 conference will be held from June 9-10, 2009, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The conference is organised by the NRC Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (NRC-CISTI). For registration and more information visit, www.icsti2009.org.

  Global library cooperative Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC) has announced that it is connecting the content, technology and expert capabilities of its member libraries worldwide to create the first web-scale, cooperative library management service. Member libraries can try the cooperative service model with a new, 'quick start' version of the OCLC WorldCat Local service.

  NetBase, a provider of research software solutions that enable knowledge workers to mine the Internet and other online data to accelerate research, has announced the launch of the Content Intelligence platform. The platform is projected as a comprehensive intelligent search solution designed to harness additional value and insight from any content source including the Internet, premium and enterprise content.

  Biomedical IT/text-mining Company Bioalma has announced that novo|seek is now capable of executing full-text searches in all Open Access journals housed in PubMed Central. Leveraging Bioalma's text mining capabilities, users can now extend beyond just the abstract to identify - for the first time - key information housed in the full-text article. Additionally, by adding Open Access journals to the novo|seek universe of search targets, Bioalma is extending the number of searchable articles by an average of 1,000 new articles per day, or about 140,000 total new articles.

  DeepDyve, a provider of research engine for the deep web, has launched a suite of tools for publishers and scientific societies to enhance the search capabilities on their websites. The suite seeks to leverage DeepDyve's KeyPhrase algorithm, which allows users to input whole sentences, paragraphs or entire articles as their query to find related results. The products are designed to first make the publisher's content more discoverable in search engines.

  Scientific publisher RSC Publishing, the publishing arm of the Royal Society of Chemistry, has announced the appointment of Dr James Milne as the new editorial director for the Royal Society of Chemistry's Publishing Division. Dr Milne will take up the role, based at the RSC's offices on the Cambridge Science Park, on May 5, 2009.

  Healthcare information provider SLACK Incorporated has announced that Mike Graziani has been promoted to Vice President, Sales. He previously held the position of Senior Director of Sales and Marketing for the Specialty Medicine Division, where he supervised advertising and e-publishing sales, developed special project sales, and directed strategic marketing for the company's specialty medicine brands.

  The American College of Physicians (ACP) has announced the appointment of Dr. Christine Laine as editor of its flagship journal, Annals of Internal Medicine. She succeeds Dr. Harold C. Sox, who will retire in July. A former vice president and senior deputy editor of Annals, Laine will oversee an editorial staff housed at the ACP headquarters in Philadelphia.