As biotechnology improves, the rate of discovery in biomedical research is accelerating. Scientists are discovering more and more of the intricacies that produce life, cause disease, and affect growth and development daily. This information can inform important decisions about medical treatment or general healthcare.
However, basic biomedical research relies on the traditional scientific convention of reporting on new studies though peer-reviewed publications. While this process helps ensure that new discoveries meet the standards and rigors of quality science, it creates a narrow pipeline through which the increasing volume of new discoveries must squeeze before they are disseminated and can be put to practical use in the clinic. Also, with improved technology that enables measurements of many thousands of features in a single study, research data has become increasing more complex. As a result, the practical implications of many findings are not obvious to healthcare professionals unless they take a lot of time to go into fine details and research background information. This sort of investment of time of effort is only possible by exception so a majority of recent findings can be easily missed.
Is there a better way to communicate the latest scientific findings that would maintain the integrity of the peer review process but enable this information to be more readily accessible to healthcare professions? The article, Are Scientific Publications Too "Old School" for 21st Century Bioscience? explores this question.
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