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Giving credit where credit is due

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 12, page 634 (2005)Cite this article

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To the editor:

Structural genomics1,2 efforts have now been underway in the United States for five years under the auspices of the Protein Structure Initiative (PSI). The first phase of the PSI is nearing completion, with the second one to follow. A number of centers in other countries are also engaged in similar work. Although the emphasis on solving structures quickly with little or no time to analyze them in any detail did not receive great enthusiasm from many old-fashioned structural biologists (including this writer), it is no longer possible to ignore the contribution of structural genomics to modern structural biology. Many structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB)3 are the result of structural genomics efforts4 (1,540 by a recent count). The US rules require deposition of the PSI-derived structures within six weeks of completion (to be shortened to four weeks in the second phase of PSI), and the worldwide rules allow only a six-month delay. Usually, their release by the PDB follows almost immediately, leaving little time for publication. This raises two questions: what rules should apply to the use of structural genomics results by others, and how should these structures be referenced in order to appropriately credit the scientists who solved them?

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  1. Macromolecular Crystallography Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, 21702, Maryland, USA

    Alexander Wlodawer

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  1. Alexander Wlodawer
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Wlodawer, A. Giving credit where credit is due. Nat Struct Mol Biol 12, 634 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb0805-634a

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