Protist, Vol. 149, 1, February 1998 © Gustav Fischer Verlag

EDITORIAL

Protist - A New Old International Journalof Protistology

Protist

When Fritz Schaudinn founded the Archiv fur Pro­tistenkunde in 1902, he noted that publications onprotists (in his view including bacteria, but nowrestricted to unicellular eukaryotes) could be foundonly widely scattered in the publication outlets ofdiverse disciplines such as zoology, botany, cytol­ogy, physiology, anatomy, pathology, hygiene, etc.and that a scientific journal devoted exclusively toprotists was lacking. Furthermore, autotrophic andheterotrophic protists ('protophytes' and 'protozoa'in his terminology), which he thought to be oftenclosely related, were traditionally studied within therealms of strictly separate disciplines (botany andzoology) by botanists and zoologists, in differentdepartments and using a different classification sys­tem, code of nomenclature and terminology.

And while the situation clearly changed upon theinauguration of the Archiv fUr Protistenkunde and itssubsequent rival protistological journals (ably dis­cussed by John O. Corliss in the accompanying edi­torial), almost 100 years after the foundation of the'Archiv' the 'Protistan Perspective' has still notarrived in the contemporary Biological Sciences.The great majority of publications using protists ­often from a general biological perspective the moreinteresting ones - are not published in protistologi­cal journals; the diversity of disciplines in which pro­tists are used as experimental systems is not wellrepresented in current protistological journals; allprotistological journals (except perhaps the 'Archiv')are biased towards heterotrophic protists, whereasautotrophic protists are mostly confined to phyco­logical journals thus perpetuating the old obsolete

division of protistology between zoology and bo­tany. This is why the editors of Protist (the successorof the Archiv fUr Protistenkunde) have chosen to(re)establish a new old international protistologicaljournal based on Schaudinn's far-sighted vision.

Protist aims to become the international forum forreporting substantial and novel findings in any areaof research on protists. In addition to the more tradi­tional areas of protist research we are particularlyinterested in publishing original research in areassuch as molecular, cell and developmental biologyand biochemistry of protists, research which is atpresent largely published in 'mainstream' biologicaljournals. Integration of these rapidly developing bio­logical disciplines with the more traditional areas ofprotist research (systematics and ecology) could beessential for the further development or even thevery existence of protistology as a distinct disciplinein the next century. Again following Schaudinn Pro­tist will publish in addition to Original Papers a'News and Views' section (Protist News) to keepreaders abreast of the latest developments in allfields of protist research. A third section (From theArchives) builds on the long tradition of the ArchivfUr Protistenkunde and will provide short historicalperspectives about important research on protistspublished decades ago in the pages of the 'Archiv'.

The transformation of the Archiv fUr Protisten­kunde to Protist gives us the opportunity to thank S.Jost Casper and his team of Editors and Advisorsfor their excellent job in editing for many years theoldest protistological journal in the world and inkeeping Schaudinn's legacy alive.

January 1998

Michael Melkonian, EditorCologne

Bernd Rolle, PublisherJena

Protist, Vol. 149, 1, February 1998 © Gustav Fischer Verlag

EDITORIAL

Protist - A New Old International Journalof Protistology

Protist

When Fritz Schaudinn founded the Archiv fur Pro­tistenkunde in 1902, he noted that publications onprotists (in his view including bacteria, but nowrestricted to unicellular eukaryotes) could be foundonly widely scattered in the publication outlets ofdiverse disciplines such as zoology, botany, cytol­ogy, physiology, anatomy, pathology, hygiene, etc.and that a scientific journal devoted exclusively toprotists was lacking. Furthermore, autotrophic andheterotrophic protists ('protophytes' and 'protozoa'in his terminology), which he thought to be oftenclosely related, were traditionally studied within therealms of strictly separate disciplines (botany andzoology) by botanists and zoologists, in differentdepartments and using a different classification sys­tem, code of nomenclature and terminology.

And while the situation clearly changed upon theinauguration of the Archiv fUr Protistenkunde and itssubsequent rival protistological journals (ably dis­cussed by John O. Corliss in the accompanying edi­torial), almost 100 years after the foundation of the'Archiv' the 'Protistan Perspective' has still notarrived in the contemporary Biological Sciences.The great majority of publications using protists ­often from a general biological perspective the moreinteresting ones - are not published in protistologi­cal journals; the diversity of disciplines in which pro­tists are used as experimental systems is not wellrepresented in current protistological journals; allprotistological journals (except perhaps the 'Archiv')are biased towards heterotrophic protists, whereasautotrophic protists are mostly confined to phyco­logical journals thus perpetuating the old obsolete

division of protistology between zoology and bo­tany. This is why the editors of Protist (the successorof the Archiv fUr Protistenkunde) have chosen to(re)establish a new old international protistologicaljournal based on Schaudinn's far-sighted vision.

Protist aims to become the international forum forreporting substantial and novel findings in any areaof research on protists. In addition to the more tradi­tional areas of protist research we are particularlyinterested in publishing original research in areassuch as molecular, cell and developmental biologyand biochemistry of protists, research which is atpresent largely published in 'mainstream' biologicaljournals. Integration of these rapidly developing bio­logical disciplines with the more traditional areas ofprotist research (systematics and ecology) could beessential for the further development or even thevery existence of protistology as a distinct disciplinein the next century. Again following Schaudinn Pro­tist will publish in addition to Original Papers a'News and Views' section (Protist News) to keepreaders abreast of the latest developments in allfields of protist research. A third section (From theArchives) builds on the long tradition of the ArchivfUr Protistenkunde and will provide short historicalperspectives about important research on protistspublished decades ago in the pages of the 'Archiv'.

The transformation of the Archiv fUr Protisten­kunde to Protist gives us the opportunity to thank S.Jost Casper and his team of Editors and Advisorsfor their excellent job in editing for many years theoldest protistological journal in the world and inkeeping Schaudinn's legacy alive.

January 1998

Michael Melkonian, EditorCologne

Bernd Rolle, PublisherJena