The History of Applied Biosafety : 30 Years in Review

Applied Biosafety (APB), the Journal of ABSA International, promotes global biosafety and biosecurity awareness to prevent occupational exposures and adverse effects of biohazardous releases.

We are excited to present this new issue, Volume 30 Number 1, which commemorates the 30th year ABSA’s journal has been in publication. In 1995, Dr. Melvin First proposed the idea of creating a journal committed to publishing articles focused on biosafety that would supplement the existing sources of information at that time, which included the ABSA newsletter, website, and annual conference as a means of disseminating technical information to the members. The ABSA membership voted to fund the journal during the annual conference in October 1995, and work began to publish Volume 1, Number 1, in 1996. Dr. First was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal which was titled, Journal of the American Biological Safety Association. Over the last 30 years, the journal has widely shared high-quality content to become recognized as a global resource for credible information on biosafety, biosecurity, and related topics.

To help broaden the distribution and readership, the journal was rebranded in 2001 as Applied Biosafety followed by the attribution, Journal of the American Biological Safety Association. In 2012, the cover was restyled and modernized and the reference to Journal of the American Biological Safety Association became a banner running across the bottom of the front cover. The evolution of the journal name and cover are showcased in Supplementary Figure S1.

In addition to name and cover changes, APB also experienced editorial changes. At the invitation of Dr. First, the responsibility of Editor-in-Chief was transitioned to Dr. Richard Knudsen in 1999, and in 2000 Dr. Knudsen invited Dr. Ira Salkin to become Coeditor-in-Chief. Following Dr. Knudsen’s passing, Dr. Barbara Johnson and Karen Byers became Coeditors-in-Chief, and David Gillum and Dr. Scott Patlovich were recruited to serve as Associate Editors. The journal’s Production/Managing Editor, Karen Savage, has served the journal since its original inception and continues in this role to this day. The journal has benefited from the many Associate, Assistant, International, and Guest Editors who volunteered their time and helped strengthen the journal through the years. APB has also undergone changes in publishers. The journal was originally self-published by ABSA in 1996, and then transitioned to Sage, Inc. in 2016, and then to our current publisher Mary Ann Liebert in 2021. Each change in publishers has brought new insights and innovations that have helped to enhance and refine the journal as well as increase its distribution.

From 1996 to 2001, the total number of issues published in a volume each year typically ranged from one to four issues based on the volume of submissions to the journal. From 2002 onward, the journal has consistently maintained production of four quarterly issues per volume and now averages the publication of 26 articles per year for a total of 256 pages. Based on continued growth in high-quality article submissions, the journal has published several Supplemental Issues and Special Issues. The first Supplemental Issue was published in 2021 acknowledging international progress with the theme “Global Biosafety and Biosecurity Initiatives.” In 2024, Special Issues focusing on Synthetic Genomics were published. In recognition of APB’s 30th anniversary, an Expanded Special Issue will soon be published on Biosafety and Biosecurity for Potential Pandemic Pathogens and Dual-Use Research of Concern.

The success of any professional journal is dictated heavily by a competent and committed Editorial Review Board to conduct blind peer-review of the content. APB has significantly increased and diversified its Editorial Review Board over the years, recruiting both domestic and international practicing professionals to serve as reviewers. Many of those reviewers have expertise in specialized fields tangential to traditional biosafety as authors submit articles regarding novel and emerging challenges to the biosafety and biosecurity landscape. In our quest to represent global equities and challenges, APB has recruited reviewers from over 40 countries. The journal has proudly published articles from every continent except Antarctica (Supplementary Figure S2). To further enable the dissemination of information globally, ABSA helped to negotiate a reduction to the embargo (the time from initial publication to Open Access to the public) on published manuscripts to two years in 2011, and further reduced the embargo to one year in 2018. APB articles are made Open Access by the authors or through philanthropic support secured by the journal Editors.

In earlier years, the journal hosted recurrent special feature columns on various topics included but not limited to laboratory-acquired infections, containment engineering, animal biosafety, molecular biosafety, breaking news, and others (Supplementary Table S1). APB reduced the number of recurrent columns as original article submissions increased and began publishing themed sections and Special Issues (Supplementary Table S2) that focused on biosafety and biosecurity hot topics, core requirements, and emerging challenges.

Mary Ann Liebert, in partnership with the Rosalind Franklin Society, launched an initiative to recognize the best article of the year in each of their journals by a woman or underrepresented minority. The APB Editors chose the following authors for their insightful articles: •

2021: Dr. Samantha Grist, “Current Understanding of Ultraviolet-C Decontamination of N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators,”

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2022: Dr. LaTonya Clay “Monitoring Laboratory Occupational Exposures to Burkholderia pseudomallei,”

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2023: Dr. Karen van der Meulen, “Viral Replicon Systems and Their Biosafety Aspects,” and

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2024: Dr. Nicole Wheeler, “Developing a Common Global Baseline for Nucleic Acid Synthesis Screening.”

We have had the privilege of publishing original articles that have been pivotal in biosafety practice over the last 30 years. The Special Issues on Synthetic Genomics have improved our ability to effectively monitor the use of synthetic biology and artificial intelligence. Review articles on the evolving fields of human gene therapy, and the use of viral replicons, gene drives, and bacteriophage uses have also expanded our risk assessment of modern technology.

To address COVID-19 pandemic challenges, APB deposited relevant articles in a freely accessible repository that were downloaded at a very high rate. Examples included N95 respirator decontamination and reuse methods in response to a critical shortage of personal protective equipment, novel ventilation designs to protect clinical staff from exposure, changes to undergraduate, graduate, and professional teaching programs, processing clinical samples, temporary hospital planning, mobile diagnostic labs, and the impacts on Environmental Health and Safety programs.

Other hallmark articles included information on research laboratory exposures to Zika virus, Burkholderia pseudomallei, and Francisella tularensis. A knowledge and gap analysis for biosafety practice in human and veterinary laboratories was published for avian influenza virus, mpox virus, Bacillus anthracis, foot-and-mouth disease virus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and other key pathogens. Articles focused on field biosafety for bat and rodent sampling, and the risk of zoonotic pathogen transmission, have also been published in APB.

The basic tools of the biosafety professional are addressed in every volume of APB. The lifespan of High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters was discussed in Volume 1; evolving methods of decontamination of HEPA filters using vaporous hydrogen peroxide and chlorine dioxide were novel when first published and now are standard procedures. Manuscripts detailing best design, engineering, and construction practices and standards provide global insights to enhancing facility biosafety and biosecurity. Methods for validation of agent-specific chemical disinfectant methods is area where more research is needed. Research on the potential risk inherent to certain laboratory procedures may further improve risk assessments and having evidence-based data improves scientists’ acceptance of the changes required to minimize risk.

As part of the journal’s growth and accessibility over time, APB is now indexed by three premier sites: Scopus (2016), PubMed Central (2019), Web of Science: Emerging Sources Citation Index™ (ESCI) (2021), and is also listed in five additional indexing sites (Supplementary Table S3). As a historical reference, the journal’s articles began being published online in advance of the hardcopy in 2016. From the time downloads have been tracked in 2016, they have increased steadily each year from 27,967 to 126,588 in 2024 (Supplementary Figure S3). During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the number of downloads surged to 201,644 as the journal served as an important resource for the international community.

The growing value of APB to biosafety and biosecurity professionals, researchers, human and animal health practitioners, and policymakers is evidenced by the steady increase in full content downloads. To continue this momentum, we strongly encourage APB readers to submit high-quality content to the journal to share evidence-based and applied biosafety principles and practices that continue to add to the body of knowledge, and for readers to suggest topics for articles they would like recruited for special sections and Special Issues. As APB celebrates its 30th year, we thank each author, reviewer, and editorial member, both present and past, who have volunteered countless hours and energy to contribute to the success of this journal. APB has had a positive impact on the profession and global biosafety; we look forward to further contributions in the years ahead.