Only connect: the merger of BMC Pharmacology and BMC Clinical Pharmacology

This month, our two pharmacologically-based titles within the BMC series, BMC Pharmacology and BMC Clinical Pharmacology, join forces under the new title BMC Pharmacology and Toxicology. The scope of the combined journal is broad, retaining the full scopes of the original titles while also expanding to explicitly include the field of toxicology. The decision to merge the journals was taken in response to feedback received from key opinion leaders in the field and in consultation with our Editorial Boards. The vast majority were in favour of a wide-ranging journal, offering researchers the opportunity to submit to and browse a general journal with a wider audience than either of its component parts. A selection of the feedback we received is given below.“I think the merger is an excellent idea, especially since the borders between pharmacology, clinical pharmacology and toxicology can be rather ‘blurry’ and because of clinical and translational sciences being a major effort in the US and elsewhere”Paul Insel, University of California, San Diego, USA“The policy of launching the new BMC Pharmacology and Toxicology journal is a far-sighted and modern view and certainly the adjourned scopes and the new sections are more appealing since they cover more adequately the inter-related fields of Pharmacology and Toxicology”Giorgio Palu, Universtiy of Padua, Italy“Launching the merged journal is an excellent opportunity to publish cutting-edge research on the border of pharmacology and toxicology, which is essential for modern drug discovery”Maria Miteva, Inserm - University Paris Diderot, France“This merger would allow different readers, in terms of cultural background and scientific interest, to get new knowledge and expand their vision of science”Maurizio Memo, University of Brescia Medical School, ItalyThe merger not only reflects the growing cross-disciplinary nature of the field in this era of translational medicine, but also to paraphrase Gregory Petsko, recognises that