《植物方法》是一本面向植物研究社區的開放獲取、同行評議的在線期刊，涵蓋了植物科學技術創新的所有方面。毫無疑問，我們已經進入了一個令人興奮的植物生物學的新時代。擬南芥基因組序列的完成，以及其他植物基因組項目的迅速進展，為植物科學的所有領域提供了前所未有的進展機會。然而，如果我們想要了解基因組中每個基因的功能，以及各個部分如何協同工作來構成整個有機體，就面臨著巨大的挑戰。實現這些目標將需要前所未有的合作努力，將高通量、全系統的技術與更集中的方法結合起來，將細胞生物學、生物化學和分子遺傳學等傳統學科結合起來。技術創新可能是任何科學學科進步的最重要催化劑。植物方法的目標是促進發展和采用新的和改進的技術和研究工具，并酌情促進方法的一致性，以便更好地綜合來自不同實驗室的數據。

Plant Methods is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal for the plant research community that encompasses all aspects of technological innovation in the plant sciences.There is no doubt that we have entered an exciting new era in plant biology. The completion of the Arabidopsis genome sequence, and the rapid progress being made in other plant genomics projects are providing unparalleled opportunities for progress in all areas of plant science. Nevertheless, enormous challenges lie ahead if we are to understand the function of every gene in the genome, and how the individual parts work together to make the whole organism. Achieving these goals will require an unprecedented collaborative effort, combining high-throughput, system-wide technologies with more focused approaches that integrate traditional disciplines such as cell biology, biochemistry and molecular genetics.Technological innovation is probably the most important catalyst for progress in any scientific discipline. Plant Methods’ goal is to stimulate the development and adoption of new and improved techniques and research tools and, where appropriate, to promote consistency of methodologies for better integration of data from different laboratories.