Happy New Year from Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences!

Happy New Year to all our Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences readers! We hope that the past year has been successful and enjoyable, and wish you well in 2005.

From the launch of the journal in 2002, the aim of the Owner Societies and our publishers, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), has been to produce a world-class journal for the rapid publication of articles from all areas of the photosciences. We feel this has been achieved. Looking firstly at publication times, the typical time to publication (from receipt through to publication on the Web) for articles is currently just under 100 days for a Full Paper, and just under 50 days for a Communication. Fig. 1 illustrates the speed of publication for articles in Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences, compared to times for other photoscience journals.

Fig. 1 Publication times of photoscience journals (median receipt to publication time for full papers in photoscience journals).

We wish to thank the hundreds of referees who have helped to ensure that high standards and rapid publication rates are maintained. We also thank those members of the Editorial Board who retired during 2004 for their contribution to the smooth running of the journal, Lesley Rhodes and Jacek Waluk (the previous EPA Chair). It is a pleasure to welcome to the Ownership Board Professor David Phillips, who was elected Chair of the European Photochemistry Association (EPA) in July 2004. We are sure we will benefit from his considerable experience in all things photochemical.

It is with great sadness that we report that Professor Jean Kossanyi died of lung cancer on December 23rd 2004. Jean was one of our original Associate Editors, who devoted much of his time and effort to EPA affairs. He served as one of the Secretaries on the Executive Committee of the EPA (1973–77) and has been the Membership Secretary, and Managing Editor of the EPA Newsletter (since 1999). It was not surprising that the first Special Issue of Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences (ref. 1) should have been dedicated to Jean Kossanyi to mark his 70th birthday. Jean was not only an eminent photochemist but a good friend to so many. We have lost one of the greatest, kindest, and most loved and admired members of our community, who will be sorely missed. The Spring meeting 2005 of the French Photochemistry Group of the EPA will be held in honour of Jean.

The Ownership and Editorial Boards have worked together to plan a series of Perspectives and Special Issues to represent the different subject areas that fall under the general terms of photochemistry and photobiology. The excellent Perspectives published in the journal in 2004 are listed in Table 1. Last year, the journal built on the successes of the Special Issues published in 2003 (ref. 23), with the publication of special issues in the areas of Photosensitized Inactivation of Microorganisms (ref. 24), Biological Photosensors (ref. 25) and articles arising from the 10th ESP Congress, 2003 (ref. 26).

Table 1 Perspectives published in Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences in 2004

Title	Ref.
Photochemical α-cleavage of ketones: revisiting acetone	2
Reactive species formed on proteins exposed to singlet oxygen	3
Photochemical behaviour of phenylurea herbicides	4
Photosensitized inactivation of microorganisms	5
Divergent mechanisms for the tuning of shortwave sensitive visual pigments in vertebrates	6
Regulatory pathways in photodynamic therapy induced apoptosis	7
Protein oxidation in plant mitochondria as a stress indicator	8
The suppression of immunity by ultraviolet radiation: UVA, nitric oxide and DNA damage	9
Photochemical and electrophysical production of radicals on millisecond timescales to probe the structure, dynamics and interactions of proteins	10
Carotenoids and UV protection	11
Pro-carcinogenic activity of β-carotene, a putative systemic photoprotectant	12
The photoreactivity of ocular lipofuscin	13
Targeting of the vascular system of solid tumours by photodynamic therapy (PDT)	14
Hypericin as a potential phototherapeutic agent in superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder	15
Biological UV dosimetry using the DLR-biofilm	16
The digital photobiology compendium: perspectives on a web-based teaching tool from learners and developers	17
Time-domain fluorescence lifetime imaging applied to biological tissue	18
Photoremovable protecting groups based on electron transfer chemistry	19
Photodynamic therapy in oesophageal carcinoma: an overview	20
Antibacterial photodynamic therapy in dermatology	21
Erythrocytes—the ‘house elves’ of photodynamic therapy	22

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Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences is a world-class, international journal, with contributions in 2004 from 26 different countries. An overview of the international nature of the journal is given in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 Geographical composition of PPS's author base.

Papers that are published in Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences are considered for featuring in the RSC's publication, Chemical Science, which aims to draw together the best research papers published in RSC journals, on a monthly basis. Three Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences papers have been thus featured and highlighted to a wide audience: Cleaning-up of oil taint stones by using H₂O₂, metallic salts and light, by J. L. Bourdelande and co-workers (ref. 27), Photooxidative degradation of beer bittering principles: product analysis with respect to lightstruck flavour formation, by K. Huvaere and co-workers (ref. 28), and Autofluorescence properties of isolated rat hepatocytes under different metabolic conditions, by A. C. Croce and co-workers (ref. 29).

We fully expect to see more Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences featured in Chemical Science in 2005. More details about Chemical Science can be found on the website www.rsc.org/chemicalscience.

In 2004 the online service for Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences' authors and referees improved further, with the launch of ReSourCe (www.rsc.org/resource), as described earlier by one of us (ref. 30). Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences’ referees can update their details to ensure they are sent only the most appropriate articles to peer-review, and even see the outcome of the peer-review process for papers that they have reviewed for RSC journals. Authors can, amongst other features, keep track of submitted articles in real time, simply by consulting their information on ReSourCe. The development and launch of ReSourCe demonstrate one of the ways in which the RSC works to provide the best publishing service for our research community. Authors may also be interested in the Experimental Data Checker (ref. 31).

And finally, you will have noticed the first new development for 2005: the striking new look for Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences. The new, modern, cover design will enhance the impact of the featured cover artwork, and produce a more eye-catching journal, while the colour graphic abstracts in the contents list enhance the browsing of each issue. The future development of the journal will depend on what you, the Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences reader and author, want from the journal. Please send any suggestions to the Editorial Office (pps@rsc.org). Have a Happy and Successful 2005!

 

Jamie Humphrey

Managing Editor

Janet Bornman

Editor-in-Chief (ESP)

Frank Wilkinson

Editor-in-Chief (EPA)

References

1. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2003, 2(3).
2. Y. Haas, Photochemical α-cleavage of ketones: revisiting acetone, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 6.
3. M. J. Davies, Reactive species formed on proteins exposed to singlet oxygen, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 17.
4. Amina Amine-Khodja, Abdelaziz Boulkamh and P. Boule, Photochemical behaviour of phenylurea herbicides, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 145.
5. G. Jori and S. Brown, Photosensitized inactivation of microorganisms, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 403.
6. David M. Hunt, Jill A. Cowing, Susan E. Wilkie, Juliet W. L. Parry, Subathra Poopalasundaram and James K. Bowmaker, Divergent mechanisms for the tuning of shortwave sensitive visual pigments in vertebrates, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 713.
7. Patrizia Agostinis, Esther Buytaert, Hilde Breyssens and Nico Hendrickx, Regulatory pathways in photodynamic therapy induced apoptosis, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 721.
8. Ian M. Møller and Brian K. Kristensen, Protein oxidation in plant mitochondria as a stress indicator, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 730.
9. Gary M. Halliday, Scott N. Byrne, Johanna M. Kuchel, Terence S. C. Poon and Ross St. C. Barnetson, The suppression of immunity by ultraviolet radiation: UVA, nitric oxide and DNA damage, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 736.
10. Simin D. Maleknia, Jason W. H. Wong and Kevin M. Downard, Photochemical and electrophysical production of radicals on millisecond timescales to probe the structure, dynamics and interactions of proteins, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 741.
11. Helmut Sies and Wilhelm Stahl, Carotenoids and UV protection, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 749.
12. Homer S. Black, Pro-carcinogenic activity of β-carotene, a putative systemic photoprotectant, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 753.
13. Mike Boulton, Malgorzata Rózanowska, Bartosz Rózanowski and Tim Wess, The photoreactivity of ocular lipofuscin, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 759.
14. Christoph Abels, Targeting of the vascular system of solid tumours by photodynamic therapy (PDT), Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 765.
15. Appolinary Kamuhabwa, Patrizia Agostinis, Bisan Ahmed, Willy Landuyt, Ben Van Cleynenbreugel, Hein Van Poppel and Peter de Witte, Hypericin as a potential phototherapeutic agent in superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 772.
16. Petra Rettberg and Charles S. Cockell, Biological UV dosimetry using the DLR-biofilm, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 781.
17. Costanza Bagnoli, Terje Christensen, Francesco Lenci, Santi Nonell and Dennis Paul Valenzeno, The digital photobiology compendium: perspectives on a web-based teaching tool from learners and developers, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 788.
18. Dan Elson, Jose Requejo-Isidro, Ian Munro, Fred Reavell, Jan Siegel, Klaus Suhling, Paul Tadrous, Richard Benninger, Peter Lanigan, James McGinty, Clifford Talbot, Bebhinn Treanor, Stephen Webb, Ann Sandison, Andrew Wallace, Dan Davis, John Lever, Mark Neil, David Phillips, Gordon Stamp and Paul French, Time-domain fluorescence lifetime imaging applied to biological tissue, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 795.
19. Daniel E. Falvey and Chitra Sundararajan, Photoremovable protecting groups based on electron transfer chemistry, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 831.
20. David Mitton and Roger Ackroyd, Photodynamic therapy in oesophageal carcinoma: an overview, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 839.
21. Tim Maisch, Rolf-Markus Szeimies, Giulio Jori and Christoph Abels, Antibacterial photodynamic therapy in dermatology, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 907.
22. Lars Kaestner, Asta Juzeniene and Johan Moan, Erythrocytes—the ‘house elves’ of photodynamic therapy, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 980.
23. J. S. Humphrey, F. Wilkinson and J. Bornman, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, E1.
24. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 403–458.
25. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 495–638.
26. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 713–829.
27. J. L. Bourdelande, J. Marquet, J. R. Herance and U. Balduzzi, Cleaning-up of oil taint stones by using H₂O₂, metallic salts and light, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 329.
28. Kevin Huvaere, Bart Sinnaeve, Jan Van Bocxlaer and Denis. De Keukeleire, Photooxidative degradation of beer bittering principles: product analysis with respect to lightstruck flavour formation, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 854.
29. Anna Cleta Croce, Andrea Ferrigno, Mariapia Vairetti, Roberta Bertone, Isabel Freitas and Giovanni Bottiroli, Autofluorescence properties of isolated rat hepatocytes under different metabolic conditions, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, 920.
30. J. S. Humphrey, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2004, 3, E11.
31. S. E. Adams, J. M. Goodman, R. J. Kidd, A. D. McNaught, P. Murray-Rust, F. R. Norton, J. A. Townsend and C. A. Waudby, Experimental data checker: better information for organic chemists, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2004, 2, 3067.

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