About StemBook

StemBook is an open access collection of content covering a range of topics related to stem cell biology written by top researchers in the field. StemBook is aimed at stem cell and non-specialist researchers and, together with StemJournal, is one of the components in the StemHub portal that is forthcoming from IOS Press.

CHAPTERS
StemBook publishes both invited and spontaneously-submitted reviews, which have been submitted to StemJournal. These review articles are republished as chapters in StemBook. All submitted reviews undergo the normal peer-review process. Submissions are welcomed via StemJournal. Please read the submission guidelines at: stemjnl.org/review-articles.

Each chapter in StemBook includes the date it was last revised. The more up-to-date a chapter is, the more use it will be to the community. After several years, major revision may be in order and authors are encouraged to update chapters. Earlier versions of chapters are archived and always available to readers on the StemBook website. Any new revisions should be submitted to StemJournal as review articles; for guidelines, go here.

Indexing/abstracting
Chapters are indexed by PubMed and available via the NCBI Bookshelf. See the StemBook entry here.

PROTOCOLS
StemBook also publishes validated protocols, in collaboration with Stem Cell COREdinates, encompassing various methods to generate, edit and differentiate induced pluripotent stem cells into various lineages. New protocols, submitted for peer review and accepted for publication in StemJournal, will be archived in StemBook under the appropriate topic in the Protocols section. The StemJournal senior editor overseeing all protocol submissions is Laurence Daheron, PhD (read more here). To submit a protocol, please go to the StemJournal website and follow the submission guidelines at: stemjnl.org/protocols.

OTHER CONTENT
News, commentaries and meeting announcements of interest to stem cell researchers will also be published in StemBook. Additional content includes:

Journal Stream – weekly curated selections of the very latest stem cell literature;
Forums – discussions with and profiles of researchers and laboratories;
Resources – laboratory resources, funding sources, etc.

BACKGROUND
StemBook was launched by the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in collaboration with the MIND Informatics group at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2008. The online platform was populated with contributions of the Editorial Board and the stem cell research community, along with several other enterprises, in particular Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Stem Cell COREdinates and Harvard’s Initiative in Innovative Computing. The Initiative in Innovative Computing created the Scientific Collaboration Framework (SCF), the extensible software infrastructure used for the project. SCF and the StemBook project were funded, in part, by a generous grant from an anonymous foundation and also appreciates the input of WormBase's Textpresso team.

In 2017, IOS Press acquired StemBook (see here), with an aim to continue the original StemBook idea at its own risk and expense. At the end of 2018, the site was relaunched (see here). IOS Press endeavors to further develop and expand stembook.org to include new content and new functionalities. IOS Press continues to seek collaboration with leading research institutes and funders.

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