Kidney News Online recently spoke with Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, FASN ( @zalaly ), the chair of the ASN Publications Committee, a staff nephrologist and the Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Education at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System. The ASN Publications committee began the initial talks for Kidney360 and will play a large part in its implementation going forward.

1. What is ASN’s vision for creating Kidney360?

The vision is to create a forward looking general open access kidney journal to further promote innovation and scientific discovery in kidney science. We aim to facilitate timely and broad dissemination of kidney science by offering rigorous and expeditious peer review and rapid open access publication. Kidney360 will promote open science and encourage authors to share data, experimental protocols, code, etc. and will leverage innovation in publishing tools to enhance the engagement of our authors and readers. Kidney 360 will place an emphasis on promoting reproducibility of kidney science, and will consider robustly designed clinical trials which yielded negative results-both are critically important to scientific progress.

2. What opportunities does Open Access and Online Only provide ASN and the publication?  This is a new direction for ASN, why this and why now?

The ASN is a global organization and we believe that Kidney360 will provide us with the platform to communicate our scientific findings without any barriers (or any paywalls) across the globe. Anyone with an internet connection can access Kidney360. The online only open access platform allows us to engage actively with a wider sphere of stakeholders.

The open science and open access movement is growing very strongly; some funders (Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust) are requiring that research funded by them be published in open access journals. Kidney360 will fill this gap in our portfolio of journals and provide our authors with an open access ASN journal coupled with the excellence and integrity the ASN publications program is known for around the world.

3. In the search for the first editor-in-chief, what do you hope he or she will bring to the publication?

We are looking for a dynamic leader with energy, vigor, and strong determination to further expand the impact and reach of kidney research. We envision Kidney360 as hub for innovation in publishing, and the EIC will play a leading role in shaping this effort to fulfill the mission of Kidney360. This will require a strategy to engage all relevant stakeholders including, bery importantly, the community of people with kidney diseases.

4. Are there any geographic limitations for the EIC position? Can individuals outside the US apply?

There are certainly no geographic limitations for the EIC position. And yes, individuals outside the US may certainly apply. The ASN is a global institution, it is the largest professional kidney society in the world, and we have members from more than 130 countries. Across the functions of the organization, we place a large emphasis on engaging all our membership regardless of geographic location. Our editorial boards are very diverse and inclusive, and they represent the whole world. Kidney360 will further promote this; we will certainly consider all candidates without regard to geography. And regardless of where the selected EIC is located, our editorial board will reflect the rich diversity and inclusiveness of ASN in the broadest sense.  

If you are interested in applying for the editor-in-chief of Kidney360, please see the instructions on the

5. What are you most excited about as the start of Kidney360 draws nearer?

We are all very excited about identifying the inaugural editor-in-chief and working with her or him on putting together the foundational pieces to launch the publication. Kidney360 is a new star in the ASN portfolio of journals and we are enormously excited about it. I very much look forward to seeing the first article and the first issue published online. This will be a great milestone for ASN and a great milestone for everyone who cares about kidney diseases.