Quality Assurance of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Within the hospital environment the departments of Cellular Pathology (Histopathology, Cytopathology), Andrology, Blood Sciences, Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology, Virology and Molecular Pathology, carry out a range of differing tests on different types of specimen. Common to all laboratories, regardless of specialty, is the need to carry out stringent quality assurance (QA) measures. Whether it be the diagnosis of disease, determining prognosis or predicting response to therapy, accuracy and reliability of testing is essential. This can only be achieved by instigating QA measures in the development of new tests and in their subsequent employment on clinical samples. Essential components of QA are;

• Technical and clinical validation of new tests e.g. biomarkers -antibodies, probes, new equipment, etc,
• Internal Quality Control (IQC) procedures and materials - cell lines, tissues bacterial/viral isolates, proteins, nucleic acids, blood components, fluids etc)
• External Quality Assessment (EQA) e.g. the schemes offered by the UK NEQAS, College of American Pathologists (CAP), Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) etc.

In this Special Issue of the British Journal of Biomedical Science (Impact Factor of 4.6 and Citescore of 5.8) we invite high quality articles that investigate the use of novel approaches to the QA of pathology and laboratory medicine. In particular we welcome articles on new markers, tests, procedures and equipment that are likely to have a positive impact on the reliability of clinical results and consequently on patient care. We also welcome results from any of the EQA programs investigating the reliability of new markers and tests. As with all scientific research authors will need to ensure that their investigation, whether it be original research or a review article, has a strong evidence base for it to be considered for publication.

Any questions? Please email the Publishing Office.

IBMS Members
IBMS members can benefit from a full waiver of the APC and should email the Publishing Office with their IBMS membership reference number prior to submission of the manuscript to confirm their waiver.

Article types and fees

This Special Issue accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Special Issue description:

• Biomedical Science in Brief
• Case Report
• Editorial
• Letter to the Editor
• Original Research
• Review

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Special Issue accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Special Issue description:

• Biomedical Science in Brief
• Case Report
• Editorial
• Letter to the Editor
• Original Research
• Review

Keywords: Cellular Pathology, Histopathology, Cytopathology, Andrology, Blood Sciences, Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology, Virology, Molecular Pathology