Meet the Editors | Interview with Dr. Oswaldo Palenzuela—Section Editor-in-Chief of Section “Infection Biology” in Biology

In this captivating series, we had the privilege of interviewing the eminent Dr. Oswaldo Palenzuela, Section Editor-in-Chief of the “Infection Biology” Section of Biology (ISSN: 2079-7737). Renowned for his groundbreaking contributions in fish pathology, parasitology, aquaculture, myxozoa, amoebozoa, microsporidia, cryptosporidium, ciliophoran, veterinary medicine, pathology, diagnostics, hylogeny, and host–parasite relationships, Dr. Palenzuela shares his invaluable insights and takes us on an exclusive journey into the inner workings of the journal. Through these interviews, our aim is to offer a unique perspective on the publishing process, straight from the Editors-in-Chief themselves.

The following is a short Q&A with Dr. Oswaldo Palenzuela, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views on the research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role of Section Editor-in-Chief?

I have served as a member of the Biology Editorial Board for a bit longer than a year now, and during that time I have got more and more involved in the dynamics of the journal for selecting and reviewing quality manuscripts in different areas. One of the appeals of serving for Biology is the wide spectrum of topics covered by the journal and the thematic permeability across different Sections, which give exposure to manuscripts from thematic areas that are sometimes peripheral to my own research activity. I find this exposure rather stimulating and it is sometimes energizing to run some tests or tackle new research objectives in my own field. In addition, I have had the chance to see, first-hand, the critical role of journal editors to screen and to undergo fair and timely peer review. I thought that by taking the role of Editor-in-Chief of the “Infection Biology” Section I would have a better chance to contribute to the development of this Section and the journal in general while I keep my own exposure to exciting research slightly outside of my routine.

2. What is your vision for the Section?

Infection is an essential biological process involving intimate relationships between all life kingdoms. At its core lie the most prevalent causes of illness and death. As a research theme, it is transversal and focuses on the biology and mechanisms of infection of a vast diversity of pathogens, at molecular, cellular, individual and population levels. My vision for the “Infection Biology” Section is wide, and I would like to contribute to see it populated with exciting manuscripts from different disciplines and approaches, focusing on infections and infectious diseases involving bacteria, viruses or parasites. This Section should maintain a healthy overlapping and permeability with other Sections of Biology such as “Microbiology”, “Medical Biology” and “Immunology”, but could also be an incubator for future Sections such as “Parasitology” or “Animal Infectious Diseases”. Given its wide scope and multidisciplinary nature, the “Infection Biology” Section could be populated with Special Issues on numerous subjects.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?

It looks exciting. There is no other discipline where the newest cutting-edge discoveries in biological sciences have better applicability than understanding, fighting, and mitigating human, animal and vegetal infectious diseases.

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?

It can be judged from several points of view, but it cannot be denied that this change seems to be here to stay. As an academic in the public sector, the change is not as dramatic as it has been for the scientific editorial sector and for other players for whom research money needs to be allocated to open access publishing fees. With all the issues associated with the transition, especially for small and academic-oriented publishers, in my opinion, the key issue is the need to incorporate and maintain ethical values and fair motivation along the publication process, and particularly during peer review. This is the true key to maintaining fairness and publication quality and the explosive growth of the open access model is evidence more than ever that quality peer review is the true bottleneck of scientific publication.

We wish Dr. Oswaldo Palenzuela every success in his current position as Section Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to his future contributions to the journal.