Technology keeps Lab on a Chip at the cutting edge

I would like to express my thanks to all Lab on a Chip Board Members on both the Editorial and Advisory Boards as they play a crucial role in promoting Lab on a Chip across the globe, in supporting the journal with high quality submissions from their own groups, and in the refereeing and adjudication of articles submitted by others. There are a number of developments, some new, which Lab on a Chip readers should be aware of as follows:

1 Electronic publishing continues to grow in impact, and Lab on a Chip continues to be at the forefront of such developments. Electronic files of papers can now be uploaded directly onto our web site at www.rsc.org/submissions.
2 Abstracts of all Lab on a Chip papers have been freely available on the web since mid-2002 and access to online Lab on a Chip papers is now free to all just two years after publication.
3 E-mail alerts now include direct links to articles—please sign up at http://www.rsc.org/is/journals/current/ej_update_form.htm to take advantage of this service.
4 Access to the electronic form of any RSC print journal comes free with a 2003 institutional subscription, while those institutional subscribers who wish to receive just the electronic version can now subscribe and save 10%. One institutional print subscription, or online only subscription, allows site-wide access to the electronic version of that journal at no further cost.
5 Users of RSC journals online can now benefit from a new Reference Linking facility. This citation linking backbone is a collaborative reference linking service that allows a user to click on a citation and be taken directly to the target content. Facilities include: free access to the Chemical Abstracts Service abstract for the reference via ChemPort (http://www.chemport.org) and links to the full text of the reference, where available online, on the publisher′s server (a subscription or pay-per-view may be required to access the article), via CrossRef. Future enhancements will include a mechanism to purchase a printed copy of the cited article via the RSC Library and Information Centre′s Document Delivery Service and links to other resources.
6 Where a primary article contains chemical biology, it will be available free of charge for one month following publication in an issue through the Chemical Biology Virtual Journal (www.rsc.org/chemicalbiology). This provides an easy-to-use point of access to chemical biology literature in all RSC publications.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to everyone who has reviewed material for Lab on a Chip in 2002 and responded so magnificently to allow us to maintain the fastest publication times in this sector. The reputation of the journal and, ultimately, its success or failure are dependent on the reports provided by dedicated reviewers. Thus, their input cannot be underestimated. We continue to expand our database of reviewers and hope to lighten the load, a little, for many reviewers in 2003.

As always, Editorial Board members and staff welcome suggestions as to how the journal might be improved or enhanced further. I wish you all every success in 2003.

Harp Minhas

Managing Editor

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