Announcement and call for papers for PLoS Currents: Disasters

PLoS Currents: Disasters http://currents.plos.org/disasters/ is a new open-access publication from the Public Library of Science (PLoS, http://www.plos.org) for the rapid communication of new research results and operational analyses derived from the study or management of all types of disasters. The aim of PLoS Currents: Disasters is to provide a new channel, particularly for data and analyses that might not otherwise be openly shared or where rapid and timely sharing is especially important. PLoS Currents: Disasters will be launching in August 2011.

PLoS Currents: Disasters will consider any content relevant to disasters-natural or manmade, local, regional or global. Possible topics include: description of disasters; effects of disasters on the environment or on human populations; immediate management of disasters, both environmental and clinical; disaster risk management; disaster risk reduction; follow up of disasters, short and long term; implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015.

Specific article types will be:

• Case studies, surveys, or other research (clinical, environmental, etc.) of previous or ongoing disasters
• Analyses and evaluation of operational responses and management of disasters
• Protocols for response to disasters

The Editors of PLoS Currents Disasters are:

• Emily Chan, School of Public Health and Primary Care and Director, CERT-CUHK-Oxford Centre for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
• Mike Clarke, Chair of Research Methodology, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK
• Saleemul Huq, Senior Fellow, Climate Change Group, International Institute for Environment and Development, London , UK and Director, International Centre for Climate Change and Development, Dhaka, Bangladesh,
• Virginia Murray, Head of Extreme Events and Health Protection, Health Protection Agency, London, UK
• Fabrice Renaud, Head of the Environmental Vulnerability and Ecosystems Services Section, United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, Bonn, Germany
• David Sanderson, Director, Centre for Development and Emergency Practice, Oxford Brookes University, UK
Plus a reviewer board of more than 30 international experts.

How PLoS Currents: Disasters works:

• Submissions are authored and published using an online authoring tool.
• The review process is overseen by the Editors and individual submissions are moderated rapidly by a board of expert reviewers.
• If deemed appropriate for publication, the content is immediately made public online at PLoS Currents: Disasters, is archived in PubMed Central and indexed in PubMed.
• All content is Open-Access and published using the Creative Commons license
• There is no publication fee

If you have relevant expertise or would like further information on submitting articles or reviewing for PLoS Currents: Disasters please visit the website http://currents.plos.org/disasters/ or contact disasters@plos.org