Today marks the launch of Nature Reviews Disease Primers (NRDP), an online-only, peer-reviewed journal that introduces a new format to the NPG portfolio. NRDP will publish review articles—called Primers—that provide overviews of diseases and disorders. Alongside each of the articles is an accompanying PrimeView—an illustrated summary of the Primer. The journal is online here.
Complementary to the more-focused, specialized articles that are published by the existing Nature Reviews titles, NRDP aims to cover a broad spectrum of medical conditions and will be an invaluable resource for researchers and educators alike. NRDP will cover ‘classic’ diseases such as melanoma, systemic sclerosis and Huntington disease, in addition to other important health-related topics, including the consequences of ageing such as menopause, which increases the risk for cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.
Primers are intended to provide an authoritative, global perspective for the benefit of biomedical scientists, putting current clinical and translational challenges into context. Modular in nature, Primer articles describe all aspects of a condition from epidemiology to disease mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment. The Primers also include an ‘Outlook’ section in which the authors discuss the open research questions in the field. The corresponding illustrated PrimeView mini-poster can be printed out and hung on the walls of classrooms, laboratories and offices.
Mina Razzak, PhD, the Chief Editor of NRDP said: “We commission leading international experts from across the research spectrum—including laboratory scientists and clinical researchers—to summarize our current understanding of a particular disease or disorder with a global perspective. Our goal is for NDRP to be a tool for early career researchers to gain an understanding on particular topics, and for experts to use the Primer as a reference resource or for teaching.”
