chemistry

Journal of Biological Chemistry

Journal of Biological Chemistry is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Journal of Biological Chemistry rather than just read about it. In short: The Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1905. Since 1925, it is published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Key takeaways

Journal of Biological Chemistry belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Journal of Biological Chemistry to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Journal of Biological Chemistry from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1905. Since 1925, it is published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It covers research in areas of biochemistry and molecular biology. The editor is Alex Toker. As of January 2021, the journal is fully open access. In press articles are available free on its website immediately after acceptance.

Editors The following individuals have served as editors of the journal:

Ranking and criticism of impact factor The editors of the Journal of Biological Chemistry have criticized the modern reliance upon the impact factor for ranking journals, noting that review articles, commentaries, and retractions are included in the calculation. Further, the denominator of total articles published encourages journals to be overly selective in what they publish, and preferentially publish articles which will receive more attention and citations. Due to these factors, the journal's practice of publishing a broad cross-section of biochemistry articles has led it to suffer in impact factor, in 2006 ranking 260 of 6,164, while remaining a highly cited journal. When science journals were evaluated with a PageRank-based algorithm, however, the Journal of Biological Chemistry ranked first. Using the Eigenfactor metric, the Journal of Biological Chemistry ranked 5th among all ISI-indexed journals in 2010. The impact factor of the journal in 2021 was 5.486.

History and classic papers The journal was established in 1905 by John Jacob Abel and Christian Archibald Herter, who also served as the first editors; the first issue appeared in October 1905. The location of the journal's editorial offices has included Cornell Medical College (until 1937), Yale University (1937–1958), Harvard University (1958–1967), and New York City (from 1967). As of 2017 the journal is published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The most cited paper of all time was published in the journal by Oliver H. Lowry on Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent and describes the Lowry protein assay, and has been cited well-over 300,000 times. In 1990, librarian Eugene Garfield wrote that the "Journal of Biological Chemistry lead the list of journals ranked by the number of SCI Top papers published", with 17 of the top 100 most cited papers published. The next journals on the list were Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, with 6, then Nature, with 5.

Social media The journal is very active on social media. In March, the journal hosts "Methods Madness," a tournament styled after March Madness. The event takes place on Twitter and lets users vote for their favorite biochemistry or molecular biology methods.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Journal of Biological Chemistry

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Journal of Biological Chemistry claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Journal of Biological Chemistry before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Journal of Biological Chemistry ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Journal of Biological Chemistry

In research: Journal of Biological Chemistry appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Journal of Biological Chemistry in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Journal of Biological Chemistry is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1905 establishments in the United States, Academic journals established in 1905, Academic journals published by learned and professional societies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Journal of Biological Chemistry outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Journal of Biological Chemistry in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Journal of Biological Chemistry means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Journal of Biological Chemistry out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Journal of Biological Chemistry in simple terms?

Why does Journal of Biological Chemistry matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Journal of Biological Chemistry?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Journal of Biological Chemistry.