Journal Vita advances nation's global science prowess

The Chinese-led international academic journal Vita has published more than 60 high-impact papers to date and recently unveiled its inaugural print issue, marking a significant step in the nation's efforts to establish world-class scientific publications.

The life and biomedical sciences journal was launched in August last year by the Alliance of Open Life Science, a nonprofit coalition comprising 39 universities and research institutions from the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

It has received more than 400 submissions and published 60 of them, including notable original research. The Vita series also includes five sister journals.

The first print issue of the main edition was released by Higher Education Press and the Alliance of Open Life Science in Beijing on Aug 12. It features 14 studies led by researchers from institutions including Westlake University, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Wuhan University and the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation.

The cover story reports on the discovery of the open-state structure of voltage-gated sodium channels in human neurons — a finding that could advance the development of drugs for neurological and cardiovascular diseases, as well as for chronic pain. The research was led by Yan Ning, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and founding president of the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation.

Li Dangsheng, co-editor-in-chief of Vita and chief scientific officer at the Shanghai Academy of Natural Sciences, said that original research papers on the Vita website have received more than 300,000 views in total, with an average of more than 10,000 views per paper.

According to the publishers, Vita aims to publish research with scientific standards similar to those of the journals Cell, Nature and Science — widely regarded as the world's most prestigious scientific journals.

The journal will highlight research that either delivers crucial conceptual advances toward understanding intriguing and fundamental biological questions, or presents disruptive technological breakthroughs in all areas of life and biomedical sciences.

Li said that Vita defines excellence by originality and innovation rather than chasing topical trends. The journal now operates on an open-access model and does not charge authors publication fees.

China's research prowess has grown substantially in recent years. Data released at the ceremony marking the inaugural print issue indicates a constant increase each year in the number of high-quality research papers published by Chinese researchers. However, the vast majority of these papers are still published in foreign outlets.

"China now produces an increasing number of world-class research results in the life sciences and contributes knowledge and technology that command global respect. However, its voice in global academic discourse does not reflect that output," said Shi Yigong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of Westlake University.

The publishers said that China, as a pivotal member of the global scientific community, has the responsibility and the opportunity to shape the future of scientific exploration and define standards of excellence.

That vision extends to providing public goods that benefit the global scientific community — the very spirit in which Vita is launched, they said.

Li, co-editor-in-chief of Vita, said that as China transitions from a participant and contributor to a trailblazer and leader in scientific innovation, it is important to establish a comprehensive support system, with top-tier journals playing a leading role.

"By developing flagship journals, we can drive the growth of life sciences publishing across diverse disciplines," he added.