A pattern is something that repeats, which is why milestones like this one—our first anniversary issue—mean so much to us, and we are so very pleased to have you celebrate with us.
So, what have we learned over the past year? We’ve learned that we can work together from our studies, our living rooms, and our bedrooms, with good humor and a deep sense of caring and empathy. We’ve learned that science keeps going, even in the face of significant challenges. We’ve learned that researchers want to help and want to use their talents and skills to make the world a better place.
We’ve learned that face-to-face meetings are important, and are sorely missed. We’ve learned that human contact and understanding still happen, even without face-to-face conversation. We’ve learned that there is so much that is wonderful out in the world, and there is so much that could be made better, and that there are people who actively want to share, understand, and grow.
We’ve learned that there has been a huge need in the community for a journal such as Patterns and that our publication of original research and opinion pieces have prompted discussion and engagement around the world. We’ve learned that data science is fundamental to so much of what humanity does to progress, and we’ve learned how data science can be developed and used to manage and help solve the challenges we face as a species. We’ve brought together data and computer scientists with researchers in the data-intensive domains and data stewards and engineers to share their experiences and solutions to common problems.
We’ve learned that there is so much that we don’t know but also have developed the confidence to grow and change in response to new situations.
Many patterns change and evolve as they repeat, and that is our plan. In the future, we will build on and develop what we’ve achieved so far to create a journal that is richer, more useful, and (dare I say it?) more beautiful than before.
You may be raising your eyebrows at the idea of a beautiful journal, but it’s not so strange. It’s well known that science, and mathematics in particular, has an eye for beauty. It’s good enough if a solution to a problem works, but we want more than that. We want to make it elegant, smooth, sleek, and streamlined—in other words, beautiful.
Patterns as a journal is all about sharing data science solutions for problems that cross domain boundaries. Patterns is also about sharing the impact and importance of data science, not just from the point of view of how it’s used for everyday things but how it can be used to create art and how it can be used to affect our societies in ways (both good and bad) that we haven’t considered before.
Patterns is also about sharing knowledge, with the aim of encouraging others to share their experience and understanding, knowing that open science, open data and code, and a willingness to come together and communicate can result in impressive and quick results. With that in mind, we present a short, and not entirely serious, methodology for launching a new journal in a global pandemic.
A (not-serious) method for launching a journal in a global pandemic
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1
Assemble an amazing launch team of experienced publishers, operations managers, press and PR people, and scientific editors.
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2
Work together to find a name, develop the journal’s scope and aims, and figure out how best to communicate those to the wider community, via conversations, site visits, conferences, newsletters, etc.
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3
Work with the art team to develop beautiful imagery and the web team to develop a journal website full of all the information potential authors need.
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4
Have the editor-in-chief travel around to as many conferences and meetings as possible, talking with potential authors, recruiting papers, and finding out about all the cool new topics in data science and how they might be applicable across domain boundaries.
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5
Assemble an excellent and diverse advisory board from all around the world, actively encouraging membership from underrepresented groups, resulting in a board membership that is 39% women and has representatives from each continent (yes, including Antarctica).
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6
Get grounded from all travel by COVID-19. Re-evaluate plans and strategies for meeting new authors as well as figure out the logistics of working from home for the foreseeable future.
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7
Put together an issue full of informative, entertaining, and enlightening content and release it to the world as Open Access content.
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8
Repeat step 7 on a monthly basis as many times as required, modifying the sub-steps according to the global circumstances. Keep smiling and keep learning.
We have learned so much this year, and we have so many people to thank.
We want to thank all our authors. In our first year we have published over 160 articles, including original research articles, descriptors, reviews, perspectives, previews, and opinion pieces. We have supported conversations and communicated research, and we are so glad to have such a wide range of authors covering such a wide range of domains publishing with us.
Our esteemed advisory board has grown to 61 members, with members from all around the world and at many different career stages from early researcher to senior professor. They have supported us with their wisdom, by writing for us and by promoting us to their communities, and all their efforts are very much appreciated.
We have joined an exciting and dynamic community in Cell Press, one that has welcomed us with open arms and has provided advice, support, and contacts. It’s a pleasure to work with all our colleagues in Cell, Cell Systems, Joule, Molecular Cell, Chem, One Earth, Cell Reports Physical Science, iScience, Trends in Chemistry, Trends in Ecology and Evolution … the list goes on, because we all use data in one way or another and learn from each other.
Our deepest thanks also go to you, our readers. You have downloaded and read our articles and have talked about them in journal clubs and on Twitter. You have started conversations with us and learned with us, and that is an amazingly valuable thing.
The first year of Patterns has been an incredible rollercoaster ride through a world that has changed beyond whatever we could have predicted this time last year. Thank you for sharing your stories with us, and we are looking forward to sharing even more data science knowledge and wisdom in the future.
Let’s keep the pattern going.