Lost on Route 66

Traditionally, researchers sequester their data/analysis until it is either presented at an academic conference (with limited attendance/digital footprint) or published in a peer-reviewed journal (potentially, more than a year after the original research).  H1N1 requires rapid sharing of information across disciplines to increase the speed of research and understanding to create vaccines, interventions, etc.

PLoS Currents: Influenza - a mash-up of the Public Library of Science (PLoS), Google Knol, and the National Library of Medicine's National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) - combines three unlikely partners to enable researchers to share and discuss research before publication, promoting rapid advances in H1N1 research.

The peer review process for publication of scientific research can take years.  This lag stifles innovation.  In order to effectively respond to the H1N1 pandemic, research findings must be quickly shared in a manner that promotes discussion and derivative research, while ensuring that scientists are credited in the traditional (slower) system of peer-reviewed publication.

This is accomplished not by bypassing the peer-review process, but by setting up a system for information exchange prior to peer-review. 

Scientists who wish to share information in this way start by creating a knol in Google Knol for their findings.  Google Knol is a user-generated/moderated content system designed to encourage discussion, allowing for different viewpoints to be presented (as opposed to tradition wikis which require consensus, creating the potential for "edit wars.").  Knols have a variety of addition features, such a user profiles, ratings, and reviews, which enhance community interaction.

The knol is then submitted to PLoS Currents: Influenza and reviewed by PLoS subject matter experts.  This is NOT a traditional peer-review process.  Reviewers do not evaluate articles at the same level of scrutiny.  They simply evaluate if the work has scientific merit.  Those articles which are deemed appropriate are added to PLoS Currents: Influenza.  Publishers are expected to not consider an article in PLoS Currents as "prior publication."  Discussion between researchers, meanwhile, happens in the knol, which displays the PLoS Currents banner.

Once included in PLoS Currents, articles are archived at NCBI's Rapid Research Notes (RRN).  This is separate from PubMed.  Articles are licensed under Creative Commons to encourage further use.

Since PLoS Currents: Influenza went online in August, only 42 articles have been added.  However, the system demonstrates how new methods of communication and collaboration within the research community can be developed without encroaching on tradition.