Editor of the Year

Stephan Feller joined BioMed Central’s stable of Editors in 2008, when he stepped in to head up Cell Communication and Signaling, a journal that was launched in 2003 but had yet to gain traction in the community. Once on board he worked tirelessly to improve the standing of the journal, in a very competitive field.

Working hard to commission articles from key opinion leaders, coupled with ensuring the most appropriate referees were assigned for rigorous peer review of all manuscripts, Stephan’s work resulted in an impressive first Impact Factor of 5.5 in 2012.

Stephan takes his role as Editor very seriously and ensures a fair review process for all authors. He is committed to providing an excellent author service and most manuscripts receive a first decision within three weeks.

Stephan always has both his journal’s and BioMed Central’s reputation and prestige as a motivator behind his actions. He is an open access advocate, has advised us on image manipulation and joined the Editors’ Advisory Group in 2013. He has shared his experience of developing a successful journal at previous conferences and has spoken on important topics such as open access and publication ethics at this year’s Editors’ conference in London.

Stephan is an enthusiastic supporter of junior scientists, using a journal fund to sponsor their attendance at conferences, as well as spearheading efforts to close the communication gap between scientists and the general public. He introduced lay summaries for Cell Communication and Signaling, with the intention of making the journal more accessible to interested patients, students and science educators.

Section Editor of the Year

Stephen P Povoski joined BMC Cancer as Section Editor in 2012. He was the driving force behind extending the scope of the ‘Clinical oncology’ section to include surgical oncology and imaging, and more recently the creation of the stand-alone ‘Surgical oncology, cancer imaging, and interventional therapeutics’ section. He has personally recruited all the Associate Editors in his section, and built a close, personal relationship with all of them.

Stephen is an excellent communicator and his way of fostering open, direct and clear communications between external Editors and in-house staff, always making sure all relevant parties are included in communications, has been central for the development and growth of his section.

Stephen works very hard to ensure all submissions to his section move through peer review as swiftly and efficiently as possible, and he is always happy to provide clear and extensive comments for authors, to help them improve their manuscripts and the presentation of their findings. He is an excellent advocate for the journal, and very proud of his role and his contribution to improving the quality of the research we publish.

We are pleased to recognize both Editors’ passion and achievements. They are worthy recipients of their awards.