Broadening the scope of The Analyst and fostering innovation

---

Abstract

How can novel approaches involving new detection strategies, chemistries and/or principles that may ultimately lead to fresh directions or quantum leaps in analytical performance be recognised and fostered? In this guest editorial Michael Freund stresses the need to avoid focusing exclusively on figures of merit.

---

In an editorial on ‘Expectations for the quality and originality of articles submitted to The Analyst,’ Michael Thompson, Associate Scientific Editor, expressed the Editorial Board's commitment to ‘promote analytical chemistry that is concerned with quantum scientific advances in the detection, characterization and quantitative determination of analytes’ (2002, 127(5), iii). The editorial addressed ‘expectations for quality and originality of articles submitted to The Analyst.’

Issues of particular concern in the editorial included the need to avoid articles that simply present ‘recipes’ which do not advance analytical chemical science. Another concern was the practice of fragmenting articles for the purpose of increasing the number of publications without consideration of the repetitive nature of the articles or the dilution or duplication of the science. Finally, the use of outdated methodologies in light of the increased sophistication and technical possibilities was recognized as an impediment to the advancement of analytical chemistry. The opinions expressed by the Editorial Board set a clear threshold for what should be considered a significant contribution to knowledge, originality and quality for the journal, and in turn to promote the advancement of analytical chemistry.

In addition to requiring excellence and integrity in the research published in the journal, there is also a need for the community to focus on ways to broaden the scope of the articles. This requires the recognition and fostering of novel approaches to analysis that involve new detection strategies, chemistries and/or principles that may ultimately lead to new directions or quantum leaps in performance. However, new approaches and directions do not always immediately impact sensitivity, selectivity or the limit of detection (the bottom line in the field). Typically, immediate advances in the bottom line occur through incremental improvements in well-established techniques and methods. While new directions can have a less obvious impact on the bottom line, as reviewers, we must not loose sight of the importance of fostering innovation that does not necessarily immediately surpass the figures of merit offered by established, highly refined methods.

For example, a detailed mechanistic study of a reaction involved in signal transduction that has important implications for the development of analytical methods should be viewed as a significant contribution to the field. Similarly, the development of a new sensing strategy that may overcome fundamental limitations of the current state-of-the-art should be viewed as an important new direction even if the figures of merit do not surpass the current state-of-the-art. In addition, an unconventional combination of the spatiotemporal nature of chromatography with the spatiochemical nature of sensor arrays to create a new approach that provides increased informing power and speed for analyzing complex mixtures should also be viewed as an important new direction.

As reviewers, we must avoid focusing exclusively on figures of merit. While it is easy to reject an article based on lack of innovation due to duplication of previously published work or outdated methodologies, we must avoid the temptation of rejecting an article simply based on the figures of merit. One way to facilitate this is to make an explicit statement to authors and reviewers to this end. An additional means for emphasizing this point would be to require an explicit letter of justification by the author (as suggested in the previous editorial, 2002, 127(5), iii) as a means for framing the argument that the work is in fact innovative. While this is often done by authors in submission letters to the editor, it is important that these justifications reach the reviewers as well. Some would argue that this justification should be contained in an article's introduction; however with the increasing volume of articles to be reviewed, a succinct letter can be very helpful in providing context to the arguments that emerge in the article. Figures of merit, while still the ultimate goal of analytical-methods development, should not lead to restrictions in the scope of papers published in the journal. New detection strategies, chemistries and/or principles should appear in this journal and not be lost to journals outside the field of analytical chemistry.

Michael Freund

Michael Freund holds the Canada Research Chair in Conducting Polymers and Electronic Materials in the Department of Chemistry at University of Manitoba, Canada. He was one of the Emerging Investigators featured in the June 2003 special issue of The Analyst (2003, vol. 128, issue 6). His research interests include material science (conducting polymers and polymer interfaces), analytical chemistry (electrochemistry, sensor arrays and artificial neural networks), surface science (scanning probe microscopy, ESCA as well as novel approaches to surface modification) and electrochemically-based actuators and pumping.

---