From ants to zebra finches, The Journal of Experimental Biology's `In This Issue' section has covered the A to Z of experimental biology since it was launched in April 2001. The section contained short reports about some of the papers appearing in each issue. Collectively they described the highs, lows, and breakthroughs in comparative physiology over the last two years. Every article was based on an interview with one of the paper's authors, and as well as describing the science, the articles often reported the amazing lengths that some scientists will go, to solve the most intriguing problems in comparative physiology.
In addition to featuring written reports, each `In This Issue' section was illustrated with a cartoon, produced by one of a talented team of artists: Noya Miller, Neil Smith, Pete Jeffs and Axel Innis. Together, the articles and cartoons formed the hub of the new and exciting developments at the front of JEB.
With the coming of a new year, we have redesigned the front section in the JEB, and we are relaunching `In This Issue' as `Inside JEB' and are introducing a new feature: `Outside JEB'. `Outside JEB' is designed to take some of the leg-work out of keeping up with the literature. Once a month, a team of active research scientists choose recent and important papers from the literature and write short reports that summarise the facts. The section is illustrated with a collection of specially commissioned icons, designed by Pete Jeffs, that represent as many facets of the journal as possible.
Other new features that began appearing in 2002 include `Commentaries' and `Book Reviews'. Commentaries can be short introductory reviews or critical comments about papers appearing in the literature. Commentaries will be a vehicle for the introduction of new ideas and methods, citing the most relevant publications in each subject and complimenting the longer Review articles that the JEB already publishes.
Together, we hope that the new sections at the front of the JEB will prove to be useful additions to the journal, complimenting the high quality research articles that the journal has specialised in for the last 80 years.
Finally, we'd like to thank every author who has contributed to `In This Issue' over the last two years. None of the reviews could have been written without the help of all the authors who responded to the News and Views Editor's often confused questioning and checked each report to make sure that the science is always right. We hope you enjoy reading the reports, and will continue to read them `Inside JEB'.
