The Scientist: Magazine of Life Sciences is a professional magazine intended for life scientists. Coverage includes reviews of widely noticed research papers, informing its audience of current research, updates to technology, updates to career information, profiles of scientists achieving noteriety, as well as other columns and reports of interest to its audience.

The editor-in-chief is Mary Beth Aberlin. The magazine has been published monthly since 1986 and is available in print and online through personal or institutional subscription. The Scientist was published by the Faculty of 1000

Faculty of 1000

Faculty of 1000 is a service for researchers and clinicians that provides ratings of and commentary on scientific research papers. The service acts as a filter, identifying and evaluating the most significant articles from biomedical research publications...

 until October 2011. Its closure was announced in October 2011 but then the LabX Media Group announced its intent to purchase and continue publishing it. The Group officially acquired the magazine at the end of October 2011.

Overview

The Scientist was founded by Eugene Garfield

Eugene Garfield

Eugene "Gene" Garfield is an American scientist, one of the founders of bibliometrics and scientometrics. He received a PhD in Structural Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1961. Dr. Garfield was the founder of the Institute for Scientific Information , which was located in...

. Its aim is to provide print and online coverage of the latest developments in life sciences research, technology, and business. Subject matter covered by the journal includes:

• Science policy
• Careers
• Financial topics
• Groundbreaking research
• Industry innovations
• Economics of science
• Scientific ethics
• Profiles of scientists
• Lab tools
• Hot papers
• Product spotlight, guides

Starting with the May 2010 issue, additional sections and features were added from the Faculty of 1000

Faculty of 1000

Faculty of 1000 is a service for researchers and clinicians that provides ratings of and commentary on scientific research papers. The service acts as a filter, identifying and evaluating the most significant articles from biomedical research publications...

. The additional content includes reviews of highly-rated research papers and profiles of up-and-coming scientists.

Best Places to Work survey

Since 2003, The Scientist has conducted "best places to work" surveys: one for postdoctoral researchers in all sectors, one for all life scientists working in industry, and one for all life scientists working in academia. These surveys aim to find what aspects of the workplace are most important for job satisfaction and which institutions measure up to those standards. Throughout the year, The Scientist publishes overviews of these surveys' results, highlighting the top-ranking institutions.

Salary survey

The Scientist conducts an annual survey of researchers, educators, and industry executives across various life science disciplines to learn about their income and job satisfaction. This is a highly valued resource amongst science professionals. Results are published annually.

Top 10 Innovations

Since 2008, The Scientist has awarded the top innovations in science technology. Nominations are submitted, entries reviewed by a panel of judges, and the winners are announced at the end of the year; in the December edition of the magazine.

Laboratory website, video and multimedia awards

Beginning in 2007, The Scientist began recognizing laboratories who were best using the Internet to further science. Labs using YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

, Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...

, JoVE, and other tools to best collaborate, communicate, and research were nominated by readers around the world. Every year they invite scientists to contribute videos and offer awards in various categories.

The Scientist online

The Scientist offers a website that complements the print version by offering life science news and interactive multimedia features. The current month's magazine content, news blog

Blog

A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...

s, and podcast

Podcast

A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...

s are freely available with registration, while premium subscribers are also given access to the magazine's archives of articles, news, and editorials.

Awards

The Scientist has won many awards, including most recently:

• 2009 Gold 'Eddie' Award for Best Business-to-Business Science Website
• 2009 Gold 'Eddie' Award for Best Business-to-Business Science Magazine
• 2009 Gold 'Eddie' Award for Best Business-to-Business Single Science Article
• 2009 Magazine of the year, circulation less than 80,000
• 2008 Magazine of the year, circulation less than 80,000
• 2007 Nomination as one of the Top 10 Business-to-Business Magazines
• 2007 Gold for Best Publication Redesign
• 2007 Silver for Best Individual/Company Profile for Ishani Ganguli’s "A Complementary Pathway"
• 2008 Gold 'Eddie' Award for Best Business-to-Business Science Magazine
• 2008 Gold 'Eddie' Award for Best Business-to-Business Single Science Article
• 2007 Gold 'Eddie' Award for Best Business-to-Business Science Magazine
• 2006 Gold 'Eddie' Award for Best Business-to-Business Science Magazine