Potential Privatization of the Journal “Environmental Health Perspectives;” Request for Comment, 54951-54952 [05-18596]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 180 / Monday, September 19, 2005 / Notices
oral, dental and craniofacial diseases. In
this context it is important for the
Institute to insure that the future
configuration of the IRP will maximize
progress toward the goals that have been
set for the IRP in the new era of
biomedical research.
Charge to the Panel
Since the Panel is charged with
assessing the future opportunities and
challenges for the IRP within broad
goals that have already been set, the
focus of the BRP will be to provide
recommendations for an efficient and
effective alignment of the IRP with
directions and opportunities and
resources available within the broader
framework of NIH intramural research
programs and the interest of the
Institute complementing, rather than
duplicating research already supported
through the extramural research
program of the Institute. To accomplish
this, the BRP will address challenges to
the IRP in the context of its mission, its
relationship with the overall mission of
the Institute, its position within the
larger NIH intramural environment, and
its relationship to the extramural
program supported by the NIDCR. The
Panel will be asked to provide advice
about how to best position the IRP,
using both current and to-be-developed
resources, in a way that will maximize
its contributions to current, emerging
and future research questions about
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of
dental, oral and craniofacial diseases.
• Balance between intramural and
extramural research programs including
funding levels and scientific topics
covered by each
• Quality of post-doctoral training
(career development) including
preparation for independent research
funded by government and nongovernment sources
• Recruitment issues (underrepresented individuals and missing
areas of expertise) including specific
areas to redress gaps
• Interactions with the Office of the
Director, other Institutes, central
services (Office of Research Services,
Clinical Center, Center for Information
Technology) including special problems
or opportunities that may affect the
mission and directions of the IRP
Members of the public interested in
providing their views to the Panel are
asked to restrict their comments to the
specific areas outlined above.
Further Information
For further information, please
contact: Dr. Norman S. Braveman,
Assistant to the Director, NIDCR,
Building 31, Room 5B55, 31 Center
Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892;
telephone (301) 594–2089; fax (301)
480–0964.
Dated: September 12, 2005.
Anthony M. Coelho, Jr.,
Acting Director, Office of Federal Advisory
Committee Policy.
[FR Doc. 05–18602 Filed 9–16–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140–01–M
Questions to the Panel
The specific questions to be addressed
by the Panel and written public
comment are drawn from the list of
topics suggested by the EAC:
• Innovation/impact of research on
the broader field including the extent to
which research conducted in NIDCR IRP
laboratories influences research
conducted throughout the world
• Basic organization of the intramural
program (laboratory and branch
structure) including the optimal use of
resources and opportunities unique to
NIH-based scientists as well as the
extent to which the organization
facilitates partnerships and
collaborations within the IRP and with
other research entities (e.g., those
supported by NIDCR extramural
research grants, other NIH IRP
scientists, industry) conducting research
• Effectiveness of the BSC review
process in identifying world-class
innovative research and in providing
guidance for future research directions
• Optimal balance and connection
between clinical and lab-based research
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:48 Sep 16, 2005
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
Potential Privatization of the Journal
‘‘Environmental Health Perspectives;’’
Request for Comment
National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences
(NIEHS), National Institutes of Health
(NIH), Department of Health and Human
Services (DHHS).
ACTION: Request for Comment.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: For several decades, NIEHS
has published Environmental Health
Perspectives (EHP), a leading
biomedical publication in the field of
environmental health science, to
provide a forum for research in
environmental health science. EHP has
well fulfilled this purpose, but NIEHS is
now considering new channels to
inform scientists, clinicians, patients,
families, and the general public about
environmental health research findings.
PO 00000
Frm 00060
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
54951
NIEHS is exploring web-based and other
methods to disseminate such
information and anticipates
development of a new system to
communicate important recent findings
in a timely and efficient manner.
NIEHS conducts ongoing review of all
its research, training, and
communications programs and has
recently determined that it is now
appropriate to consider phasing out
Institute sponsorship of this journal.
NIEHS has not reached a final decision
about potential privatization of EHP nor
has an implementation plan for carrying
out such a decision been developed.
Should such a decision be reached, it is
our goal to implement it in a manner
that will be least disruptive to the field
and to authors, reviewers, editorial
board, staff, and subscribers. The
current request for comment poses a
series of questions around core elements
that may comprise an implementation
plan for privatization of EHP. These
elements include: (1) Feasibility of
privatizing EHP, (2) a business plan for
continuation of the journal, (3) a
timeline and plan for transfer of
responsibility, (4) an editorial policy
plan, and (5) continued online access.
DATES: Comments must be received by
October 28, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be
submitted at https://www.niehs.nih.gov/
external/ehp/home.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
EHPfeedback@niehs.nih.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background Information on EHP
EHP’s mission is to disseminate
credible environmental and
occupational health information around
the world. An overarching goal is to
raise global awareness of the
connectivity between the environment
and human health. EHP is read in nearly
every country of the world. EHP has an
impact factor of 3.93 and an Immediacy
Index of 1.20, ranking the journal
second of 132 environmental sciences
journals and fifth of 90 public,
environmental, and occupational health
journals. As a full open-access journal,
EHP provides XML-formatted content to
the digital archive Pubmed Central. EHP
also has partnerships with Medscape
and JSTOR.org (an organization that
maintains an archive of scholarly
journal) to facilitate access and
distribution of EHP’s content.
Electronic submission and review are
the norm for the 1,200 manuscripts that
EHP receives annually, and the rejection
rate is about 80%. EHP publishes all
articles within 24 hours of acceptance
on its Web site (https://
E:\FR\FM\19SEN1.SGM
19SEN1
54952
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 180 / Monday, September 19, 2005 / Notices
ehp.niehs.nih.gov/) as EHP-in-Press
articles. These articles are completely
citable using CrossRef’s Digital Object
Identifier system. The Web site is
visited by approximately 150,000
unique visitors every month. The timeto-print after publication on the website
is about 3 months. The EHP Web site
(https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/) contains all
current issues, all archival issues,
foreign language articles, and the
Student Edition plus teacher lesson
plans and has a search-by-topic feature.
The journal publishes monthly issues
with sections devoted to environmental
news, environmental medicine, and
children’s environmental health. On a
periodic basis, an issue may contain a
mini-monograph (a group of up to six
papers that address a single topic). EHP
also publishes one or two special topical
issues each year. In total, this full-color
journal publishes approximately 3,000
pages annually.
The journal’s Environews section
provides balanced and objective
analyses of topical issues. These articles
take the form of long, investigative
features (Focus articles) or brief reports
(Forum articles). Other articles provide
balanced analyses of legal, regulatory,
public policy, and social aspects of
environmental health (Spheres of
Influence) and new discoveries or
approaches in environmental health
research, remediation, monitoring, and
public health policy (Innovations).
Science Selection articles summarize
selected research articles appearing in
the same issue, putting current EHP
research findings into perspective.
Other services include book reviews of
important current publications, a
calendar of events, position
announcements, and updates on the
latest news from the NIEHS grants
division. EHP also publishes a highly
successful monthly Student Edition and
sponsors development of teacher lesson
plans based on environmental news
articles published within the Student
Edition. These materials are available in
print (currently, approximately 5,000
copies distributed) and on the EHP Web
site (https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/).
EHP’s global health initiatives are
ongoing on four continents (Africa,
Asia, North America, and South
America). These programs include
providing complimentary print
subscriptions to readers in developing
countries, publishing a quarterly
Chinese-language edition (35,000
distribution), and translating the ‘‘In
This Issue’’ section of EHP (which
encapsulates each issue’s news and
research content) into five languages:
Chinese, French, Japanese, Russian, and
Spanish. EHP cooperates with non-
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:48 Sep 16, 2005
Jkt 205001
English language journals for translation
and publication of EHP news content in
EHP sections within their journals. The
journal works with the University of
Iowa to provide EHP journal content to
their eGranary Digital Library WiderNet
Project. EHP and the Journal of
Environmental and Occupational
Medicine have an agreement to copublish selected research articles both
in English and Chinese. EHP also hosts
the website for the francophone journal,
Mali Medical.
Q5. How should EHP’s current open
access policy and commitments to
provide content to public archives be
addressed in a potential privatization?
6. Other considerations.
Q6. Overall, how would a
privatization of EHP be an advantage or
disadvantage to the NIEHS and to
environmental health science?
Q7. What other suggestions do you
have for facilitating communication
activities at NIEHS?
Request for Comment
Dated: September 8, 2005.
Samuel Wilson,
Deputy Director, National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences.
[FR Doc. 05–18596 Filed 9–16–05; 8:45 am]
The NIEHS invites public input on
the issue of potential privatization of
EHP. Please note that the NIEHS has not
reached a final decision about potential
privatization of EHP. If the Institute
decides to move forward with
privatization, then an implementation
plan would need to be developed. This
implementation plan will need to
address several core topics listed below.
The NIEHS seeks public input on the
questions identified for each topic to
facilitate reaching a decision on
potential privatization and, if
appropriate, development of an
implementation plan. The NIEHS is
interested in maintaining and enhancing
the capacity of EHP to be a significant
resource for researchers, clinicians,
patients, family members, and the
general public. We similarly seek to
maintain and enhance EHP’s reputation,
credibility, accessibility, and value to
the scientific and lay communities
interested in environmental health and
disease.
1. Feasibility of privatizing EHP.
Q1a. Are there likely to be private
sector commercial or noncommercial
entities interested in publishing EHP?
Q1b. Are there any difficulties that
would be created by transferring
publication of EHP from a government
agency to the private sector? If so, please
elaborate.
2. A business plan for continuation of
the journal.
Q2. What issues should NIEHS
consider in developing an
implementation plan for privatizing
EHP?
3. A timeline and plan for transfer of
responsibility.
Q3. Are there ways to ensure an
efficient transfer of functions such as
editorial oversight, subscriber lists,
archives, and digital content?
4. An editorial policy plan.
Q4. How should the scope of EHP’s
coverage, from news to peer-reviewed
research, be considered in executing a
potential privatization?
5. Online access.
PO 00000
Frm 00061
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
BILLING CODE 4140–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration
Office for Women’s Services; Notice of
a Meeting
Pursuant to Public Law 92–463,
notice is hereby given of a SAMHSA
Advisory Committee for Women’s
Services meeting to be held in
September 2005.
The meeting will be open and include
discussions around the activities of
SAMHSA’s Matrix and women
involving women and trauma/violence,
and developing short reports as they
relate to mental health and substance
abuse. Also, there will be updates on
SAMHSA’s reauthorization and
legislation to reauthorize the Violence
Against Women Act, as well as, a
discussion on SAMHSA’s National
Registry of Evidenced-based Programs
and Practices.
Attendance by the public will be
limited to space available. Public
comments are welcome. Please
communicate with the individual listed
as contact below to make arrangements
to comment or to request special
accommodations for persons with
disabilities.
Substantive program information and
a roster of Committee members may be
obtained by accessing the SAMHSA
Advisory Councils’ Web site (https://
www.samhsa.gov) as soon as possible
after the meeting or by communicating
with the contact whose name and
telephone number are listed below. The
transcript for the session will also be
available on the SAMHSA Advisory
Councils’ website as soon as possible
after the meeting.
E:\FR\FM\19SEN1.SGM
19SEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 180 (Monday, September 19, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54951-54952]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-18596]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
Potential Privatization of the Journal ``Environmental Health
Perspectives;'' Request for Comment
AGENCY: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS),
National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human
Services (DHHS).
ACTION: Request for Comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: For several decades, NIEHS has published Environmental Health
Perspectives (EHP), a leading biomedical publication in the field of
environmental health science, to provide a forum for research in
environmental health science. EHP has well fulfilled this purpose, but
NIEHS is now considering new channels to inform scientists, clinicians,
patients, families, and the general public about environmental health
research findings. NIEHS is exploring web-based and other methods to
disseminate such information and anticipates development of a new
system to communicate important recent findings in a timely and
efficient manner.
NIEHS conducts ongoing review of all its research, training, and
communications programs and has recently determined that it is now
appropriate to consider phasing out Institute sponsorship of this
journal. NIEHS has not reached a final decision about potential
privatization of EHP nor has an implementation plan for carrying out
such a decision been developed. Should such a decision be reached, it
is our goal to implement it in a manner that will be least disruptive
to the field and to authors, reviewers, editorial board, staff, and
subscribers. The current request for comment poses a series of
questions around core elements that may comprise an implementation plan
for privatization of EHP. These elements include: (1) Feasibility of
privatizing EHP, (2) a business plan for continuation of the journal,
(3) a timeline and plan for transfer of responsibility, (4) an
editorial policy plan, and (5) continued online access.
DATES: Comments must be received by October 28, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted at https://www.niehs.nih.gov/
external/ehp/home.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: EHPfeedback@niehs.nih.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background Information on EHP
EHP's mission is to disseminate credible environmental and
occupational health information around the world. An overarching goal
is to raise global awareness of the connectivity between the
environment and human health. EHP is read in nearly every country of
the world. EHP has an impact factor of 3.93 and an Immediacy Index of
1.20, ranking the journal second of 132 environmental sciences journals
and fifth of 90 public, environmental, and occupational health
journals. As a full open-access journal, EHP provides XML-formatted
content to the digital archive Pubmed Central. EHP also has
partnerships with Medscape and JSTOR.org (an organization that
maintains an archive of scholarly journal) to facilitate access and
distribution of EHP's content.
Electronic submission and review are the norm for the 1,200
manuscripts that EHP receives annually, and the rejection rate is about
80%. EHP publishes all articles within 24 hours of acceptance on its
Web site (https://
[[Page 54952]]
ehp.niehs.nih.gov/) as EHP-in-Press articles. These articles are
completely citable using CrossRef's Digital Object Identifier system.
The Web site is visited by approximately 150,000 unique visitors every
month. The time-to-print after publication on the website is about 3
months. The EHP Web site (https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/) contains all
current issues, all archival issues, foreign language articles, and the
Student Edition plus teacher lesson plans and has a search-by-topic
feature.
The journal publishes monthly issues with sections devoted to
environmental news, environmental medicine, and children's
environmental health. On a periodic basis, an issue may contain a mini-
monograph (a group of up to six papers that address a single topic).
EHP also publishes one or two special topical issues each year. In
total, this full-color journal publishes approximately 3,000 pages
annually.
The journal's Environews section provides balanced and objective
analyses of topical issues. These articles take the form of long,
investigative features (Focus articles) or brief reports (Forum
articles). Other articles provide balanced analyses of legal,
regulatory, public policy, and social aspects of environmental health
(Spheres of Influence) and new discoveries or approaches in
environmental health research, remediation, monitoring, and public
health policy (Innovations). Science Selection articles summarize
selected research articles appearing in the same issue, putting current
EHP research findings into perspective. Other services include book
reviews of important current publications, a calendar of events,
position announcements, and updates on the latest news from the NIEHS
grants division. EHP also publishes a highly successful monthly Student
Edition and sponsors development of teacher lesson plans based on
environmental news articles published within the Student Edition. These
materials are available in print (currently, approximately 5,000 copies
distributed) and on the EHP Web site (https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/).
EHP's global health initiatives are ongoing on four continents
(Africa, Asia, North America, and South America). These programs
include providing complimentary print subscriptions to readers in
developing countries, publishing a quarterly Chinese-language edition
(35,000 distribution), and translating the ``In This Issue'' section of
EHP (which encapsulates each issue's news and research content) into
five languages: Chinese, French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. EHP
cooperates with non-English language journals for translation and
publication of EHP news content in EHP sections within their journals.
The journal works with the University of Iowa to provide EHP journal
content to their eGranary Digital Library WiderNet Project. EHP and the
Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine have an agreement to
co-publish selected research articles both in English and Chinese. EHP
also hosts the website for the francophone journal, Mali Medical.
Request for Comment
The NIEHS invites public input on the issue of potential
privatization of EHP. Please note that the NIEHS has not reached a
final decision about potential privatization of EHP. If the Institute
decides to move forward with privatization, then an implementation plan
would need to be developed. This implementation plan will need to
address several core topics listed below. The NIEHS seeks public input
on the questions identified for each topic to facilitate reaching a
decision on potential privatization and, if appropriate, development of
an implementation plan. The NIEHS is interested in maintaining and
enhancing the capacity of EHP to be a significant resource for
researchers, clinicians, patients, family members, and the general
public. We similarly seek to maintain and enhance EHP's reputation,
credibility, accessibility, and value to the scientific and lay
communities interested in environmental health and disease.
1. Feasibility of privatizing EHP.
Q1a. Are there likely to be private sector commercial or
noncommercial entities interested in publishing EHP?
Q1b. Are there any difficulties that would be created by
transferring publication of EHP from a government agency to the private
sector? If so, please elaborate.
2. A business plan for continuation of the journal.
Q2. What issues should NIEHS consider in developing an
implementation plan for privatizing EHP?
3. A timeline and plan for transfer of responsibility.
Q3. Are there ways to ensure an efficient transfer of functions
such as editorial oversight, subscriber lists, archives, and digital
content?
4. An editorial policy plan.
Q4. How should the scope of EHP's coverage, from news to peer-
reviewed research, be considered in executing a potential
privatization?
5. Online access.
Q5. How should EHP's current open access policy and commitments to
provide content to public archives be addressed in a potential
privatization?
6. Other considerations.
Q6. Overall, how would a privatization of EHP be an advantage or
disadvantage to the NIEHS and to environmental health science?
Q7. What other suggestions do you have for facilitating
communication activities at NIEHS?
Dated: September 8, 2005.
Samuel Wilson,
Deputy Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
[FR Doc. 05-18596 Filed 9-16-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P
