Forum:Why do bioinformatics scientists collaborate and why that's good for science?

Question

[MAPK2]

Hi All,

I need to explain it to the US government official why bioinformatics collaboration is good for science and why bioinformatics scientists do not always publish papers in "bioinformatics-specific" journals. Is there any resource I can cite for that? Could someone please point me to the .gov or .edu or even a journal article so I can cite that information? Thank you in advance.

[manaswwm]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3220874/ - this is the very first hit on Google for "bioinformatics collaboration". This line from the manuscript is hitting on the point -

"Moreover, each of the above problems requires, in addition to computational (in silico) analysis, experimental (in vivo) biological analysis. The need to induce close interaction between in silico and in vivo researchers from different groups has recently prompted the development of new methods and tools (mostly domain independent) for bioinformatics collaboration"

Maybe the NCBI link would help make your point (its technically a .gov)

[GenoMax]

Sounds like this question is related to a visa application. Are you working with a lawyer? If there is a specific query that you received based on your application that would likely need a specific answer, which you are unlikely to get from a forum. Simplest argument is "bioinformatics is an integral part of most genome based/wide studies and thus needs to be an integral part of all such research publications".

[Dunois]

Is this some kind of a joke?

That said, if you are serious, maybe show them the impact BLAST has had and AlphaFold2 will have? And what do you mean .gov and .edu resources? Like web pages from university websites?

[MAPK2]

It's not a joke. I recently filed an application with the government and they are questioning why my publications are mostly in experimental biology and not in "bioinformatics". So, I need to ague that with "valid sources".

[Dunois]

Well that's a really tough situation to be in. Have you also tried asking this over at Academia Stack Exchange? They generally seem to have good resources/answers for this sort of stuff.

Answer 1

[Vic]

I suppose they don't publish in bioinformatic only journals because bioinformatics is a tool by which scientists answer questions, and journals are aimed at subjects more broadly. For example, in biogeography or population demographics journals there will be bioinformatic methods used. The development of new software, code, or new suggested methods to tackle a question would be and often are in bioinformatics journals.

As for collaboration, if you literally put that into google scholar you'll get loads of sources. But the transferring of skills, ideas, and fresh perspectives are all part of the reason people collaborate.

[MAPK2]

Thanks. That's what I had written in my explanation, but I also need a valid source to cite.

Answer 2

[Istvan Albert]

I would look for papers like this:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1122955/

where they state that:

Bioinformatics is defined as the application of tools of computation and analysis to the capture and interpretation of biological data. It is an interdisciplinary field, which harnesses computer science, mathematics, physics, and biology. Bioinformatics is essential for the management of data in modern biology and medicine.

then make the point that you are working in the field where you are assisting life scientists.