By JoVE! (how can I resist the opportunity to use such a quaint English expression?!)

Aside from another name for the Roman god Jupiter, I found out yesterday that JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) is an online, freely available, video database of experimental techniques. Now in its 4th issue, JoVE aims to address poor reproducibility of biological studies by bridging the gap between the methods sections of scientific papers and physical demonstrations of how to perform a technique. Currently arranged in five sub-sections, the site contains video footage of researchers performing advanced experimental techniques in Neuroscience, Developmental Biology, Cellular Biology, Microbiology and Plant Biology.

I thought it odd to call the site a ‘journal’ (opposed to ‘archive’ or ‘database’); especially because, at the moment, submissions are not peer-reviewed. Instead, ideas for submissions go through an associate editor with expertise in the field (there are some well-known names on the editorial board). According to the Editor-in-Chief Moshe Pritsker (speaking yesterday at a HMS postdoctoral association event) the journal format is to encourage submission of ideas and participation in the process by current researchers (its worth noting that JoVE will videotape and edit the final piece and so the researcher is not required to have skills in this area). There are certainly benefits to submitting videotaped experiments to the site, if the take-up rate is good then your expertise in a particular technique will be widely disseminated. Also, having a visual recording of a procedure may help to establish a standard operating procedure and contribute to more effective comparison of experiments between labs separated by distance.

Will people submit details of novel procedures to JoVE? Progress in biology is founded on the dissemination of ideas and techniques, and in theory, once a technique is published it is in the public domain unless patented. However, brief methods sections in written journals can potentially ‘buy time’ so that a lab pioneering the new technique does not lose its leading edge. In addition, publishing a less detailed methods section in the context of a full scientific paper can encourage interested parties to contact the lab that has published the technique and this may potentially lead to useful collaborations. It is likely to be difficult for JoVE to establish the kind of reputation that will encourage scientists to submit reports of novel techniques, and it may be that this idea of a visual record of experiments will be appropriated by the more established journals. How long before ‘print’ journals go multimedia and each technical article contains a weblink to the video record of the experiment?

All random speculations and theoretical considerations aside, I think that JoVE will become a useful resource because, as far as I can tell, the detailed demonstrations are of a good standard. Whilst video will not replace quality one-to-one tuition it’s still really useful for anyone who wants to check out a technique, in detail, before getting hands-on. Most people that I’ve showed it to far seem pretty impressed too. Check it out at: www.jove.com