July 2026- Core facility management belongs at the forefront of imaging science. In recognition of that, Wiley’s Journal of Microscopy (JoM) now accepts community- and staff-driven articles in its regular issues.

Read the article in pdf format here: Strengthening-core-facilties.pdf.

Growing funding uncertainty and increasing pressure on research infrastructures are affecting imaging scientists in many parts of the world. Despite their tremendous impact on research and development, imaging service providers and facility staff remain underrecognized. While their careers are on the line, so is the future of open-access facilities.

In response, the imaging community is drawing closer together.

Joint publications co-authored by imaging scientists across the world show how much scientific progress depends on well-supported, well-run facilities. At the center of this work are imaging scientists, facility staff and service providers who keep facilities running and up to date, support researchers, develop new technologies and train the next generation of imaging professionals.

Although publications on facility management, career paths and training are not traditionally featured in research journals, they have found a home in Wiley’s Journal of Microscopy (JoM) through its special issues.

Following the strong interest in the first special issue on Light Microscopy Core Facility Management[1], JoM has now published a second volume[2] covering career perspectives, recommendations for core facility management, lessons from train-the-trainer courses and global surveys on the current state of instruments, facilities and staff.

Similar to the first issue, these articles are among the journal’s most downloaded articles, and so JoM has made a deeper commitment to the field:

The journal now welcomes community-driven articles in its regular issues, publishing them alongside research papers and expert reviews.

This is more than a publishing decision. Imaging infrastructures, core facilities and service providers enable discoveries across virtually every area of the life sciences. Excellence in facility staff translates directly into excellence in research.

If publications remain one of the principal currencies of academic recognition, then the scholarship of imaging support scientists cannot remain an exception. Publishing the knowledge required to establish, improve, maintain and sustain imaging facilities—and to develop and retain the people who run them—is not ancillary to research. It is an essential contribution to the research ecosystem itself.

This development is therefore more than an expansion of scope for one journal. It is a recognition that the work of imaging scientists and facility staff deserves a visible place in the scientific record.

And it is a testament to a resilient, collaborative and forward-looking community that continues to invest in people, share expertise and strengthen imaging infrastructures for the benefit of science worldwide.

[1]: Journal of Microscopy. 294(3), Special Issue: Light Microscopy Core Facility Management, June 2024, pp. 251–447.

[2]: Journal of Microscopy. 302(3), Special Issue: Light Microscopy Core Facility Management, Volume 2, June 2026, pp. 241–464.