Preface

Rapid advances in the field of drug design have resulted over the last two decades in a growing number of high quality review articles, many of which cannot be published in a timely fashion because of limited number of fast publication journals. As a result of this, a year or more often delays publications of important and urgent nature. There was, therefore, an acute need of a journal which would publish important review articles rapidly. Drug Design Reviews-Online is thus being launched to meet this need. Drug Design Reviews-Online publishes exclusively online reviews in all areas of rational drug design and discovery written by eminent experts. Areas of coverage include: target / lead discovery, combinatorial chemistry, high throughput screening, molecular drug targets, proteomics in-silico drug design, and structure-activity relationships. The journal emphasizes rapid publication of cutting-edge review articles. Reviews will be processed rapidly and take full advantage of Internet technology for both the submission and peer-review of manuscripts as well as instant online availability to its readers. The online journal is essential for all scientists involved in drug design and discovery who wish to keep abreast of rapid and important developments in the field. There will be four issues of this journal published in 2004. The publication frequency of the journal will increase gradually in the years to come. The internationally eminent editorial board including such eminent authorities as W.-R. Abraham, J.D. Adams, V. Apostolopoulos, S. Balaz, M. Balazy, T. Balla, W.A. Banks, F.C. Barone, N.H. Bell, J.A. Beutler, M. Binaschi, D.H. Boschelli, J. Bremner, A.I. Bush, S.X. Cai, D. J. Canney, S.J. Caradonna, B.K. Cassels, M. Charton, S.B. Christensen, B.G. Christensen, M.J.C. Crabbe, M. Crider, P.A. Crooks, V.J. Demopoulos, H.-U. Demuth, M. Dukat, C.G.-Echeverria, G. Ecker, T.J. Egan, P. Englebienne, E. Estrada, S. Evangelista, R. Evans, R.G. Evans, A.D. Everett, E.I. Ferreira, P.M. Fischer, F. Focher, M. Fraziano, F.K. Friedman, D.M. Freymann, R. Gambari, R.D. Gandour, I.S. -Garcia, D.S. Garvey, R.C. -Gaudreault, V. Geenen, S.S. Gill, U. Haberkorn, W.B. Harnett, V.J. Hruby, A.P. Ijzerman, K.-T. Jeang, W. Jelkmann, A.Y. Jeng, L. Jennings, E. Jirillo, T.I. Kalman, W.M. Kazmierski, J.F.W. Keana, S.M. Kerwin, M.-P. Kieny, D.H. Kim, D. Kirchhofer, Y. Kiso, J. Kukkonen, K. Kuwano, U. Langel, R.J. Leadley, M. Lee, S.E. Lipshultz, J.W. Lown, A. MacKerell, K. Maiese, W. F. Mangel, A. P. Marchand, A. Martinez, T. Mavromoustakos, R. F. Meredith, N.G. Morgan, K. Nakanishi, A.H. Newman, J. L. Neumeyer, V.C.O. Njar, T. Ochiya, A.G. Papavassiliou, A.F. Para, D. Poirier, G. Poli, M.G. Pomper, M. Rademaker, D. Ribatti, K.C. Rice, V. Rotello, J. Russo, T.K. Sawyer, D.J. Schneider, C.H. Selzman, S.P. Sheikh, J.S. Skotnicki, A.T. Sneden, K. Steliou, H.U. Stilz, K. Takeuchi, S. Takai, S.W. Topiol, I. Toth, J.A. Towbin, A. Tropsha, F.M. Uckun, R. Volpe, C.R. Wagner, V. Weissig, P. Wentworth, W.J. Wheeler, M. Wiese, M.V. Williams, J.S. Williamson, P. Workman, Z. Xing, S.-Y. Ying, Z.-Y. Zhang, R. Zhang and F. Zunino will undoubtedly guide us in the editorial responsibilities and ensure the very highest standards are met. The opinions expressed by six Nobel Laureates can be reviewed at www.bentham.org / nobel which reflect the excellent reputation that Bentham Science Publishers enjoy. We keenly look forward to the wide acceptance of this new journal by the community of scientists working in the field of drug design and medicinal chemistry.