Medical Virology

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Academic publishing in pandemic times
(ASSAf, 2020-09-21) Preiser, Wolfgang; Preiser, Rika
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Even though it tends to feel like ages, it has not been that long since the final days of 2019, when cases of severe respiratory illness (now known as COVID-19), caused by a previously unknown coronavirus (since named SARSCoV- 2), were reported from China. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented disruption to almost every area of our daily and professional lives. Science has not been spared, nor has scientific publishing. Most researchers have been unable to continue with their work, and many had to all but re-invent their teaching. Quite a few have re-invented themselves as coronavirus researchers.1 As biomedical researchers, we are astonished to see how much interest the public is taking in our findings. For no other disease do members of the public so fervently seek out reports in traditional and social media about the latest research findings. These reports often trigger controversial discussions, mostly on social media platforms, about rather complicated aspects of epidemiology, diagnostics, pathogenesis or therapy. Many of these issues are matters outside the realm of everyday life and normally left to experts to assess the evidence and translate it into practice.