Posts

Showing posts from August, 2010

Bible virology: pay to play?

The authors of a paper about influenza in biblical times , which appeared online on 21 July 2010 in Virology Journal (operated by BioMed Central Ltd. ), argue that "the woman with fever in the Bible is among one of the very early description of human influenza disease." Sébastien Boisvert reports. Perhaps this is the most hilarious paper to have ever existed. And the bizarre event is even documented on Wikipedia . On 1 August 2010, Paul A Gray , at Washington University School of Medicine in Saint-Louis, U.S.A., asked Virology Journal Editor-in-Chief Robert F Garry , at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana, if "the Editor actually read this submission and decided that no peer review was necessary." "I had my qualms about BioMedCentral journals and this only makes then stronger.", he added. The Editor-in-Chief at Virology Journal then responded quickly stating clearly that "this article was read by an Editor and peer