Dalton Transactions, embracing the future!

2006 was an exciting year for us in the Editorial Office, with many new features being introduced to enhance the service for our readers and authors. Perhaps the most obvious development was the introduction of weekly issues for the journal, from January 2006. Publication in weekly issues allows us to provide electronic issues to our readers more frequently (and therefore articles are available earlier) and to provide page numbers and free paginated pdf reprints to our authors even sooner.

Developing the journal's content

Dalton Transactions editorial board is committed to publishing the very best work from the full breadth of inorganic chemistry, and to move quickly in response to changes in publishing technology. 2006, therefore, saw the launch of the innovative Dalton Transactions Web Themes. The first of these ‘Carbon dioxide at metal centres’, with Professor Roger Guilard (Dijon, France) as Guest Editor, commenced publication in September. Dalton Transactions Web Themes are collections on the journal website of articles on a particular topic. The dynamic nature of the Web Themes is such that articles can be added with time to these collections. Moreover, the articles do not necessarily all have to appear in Dalton, thereby enhancing interdisciplinarity. Two more web themes will appear in 2007, on the topics of catalysis and nanomaterials. The Web themes will complement the Dalton Discussion theme issues which are currently published. In 2006, we published, in issue 23, the papers presented during the 9th Dalton Discussion meeting, the theme of which was Functional Molecular Assemblies. The 10th Dalton Discussion meeting will take place on 3–5 September 2007, and is on the topic of the Applications of Metals in Medicine and Healthcare. Further details are available via the RSC Conferences Website. www.rsc.org/ConferencesAndEvents

In 2006, we published more of the increasingly popular Dalton Transactions Perspective and Frontier articles than ever before, covering a range of topics, from all areas of inorganic chemistry. A list of all the Perspective articles published in the journal is available via the journal's website at www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journals/dt/DTPerspectives.asp and www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journals/dt/Dalton_Frontiers.asp. While Perspective and Frontier articles are usually invited, we will also consider unsolicited Perspectives and Frontiers. If you are interested in writing one of these lead articles, please contact the Editorial Office.

Author focus

We are very pleased to be able to say that Dalton Transactions retains its number one position as the fastest journal for the publication of inorganic chemistry, with a typical publication time from receipt to publication of 80 days for full papers, and 45 days for communications. The Editorial Office and Editorial Board remain committed to publishing the highest quality research in the fastest times.

The 2005 impact factors, released by ISI® in June 2006, showed an impressive average increase of over 10% for RSC Journals. Calculated annually, ISI® impact factors provide an indication of the quality of a journal—they take into account the number of citations in a given year for all the citeable documents published within a journal in the preceding two years.

Work published in RSC journals is also amongst the most topical. The immediacy index measures how topical and urgent papers published in a journal are, by dividing the number of citations in a given year by the number of articles published in the journal that year.

These impressive new figures reinforce the RSC's reputation as the home of exciting new research. We are very pleased to announce that the impact factor for Dalton Transactions increased to 3.003, while its immediacy index increased by more than 20%, to 0.728, which, by this measure, places Dalton Transactions as the world's leading general inorganic chemistry journal: Inorganic Chemistry 0.713, Inorganica Chimica Acta 0.396, European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry 0.406.

Authors publishing in RSC journals now have the option of paying a fee in exchange for making their accepted communication, research paper or review article openly available to all via the web, with RSC Open Science. The scheme is only made available to authors once their papers have been accepted for publication, following the normal rigorous peer-review procedures. RSC Open Science operates in parallel with the normal publication route, which remains free to authors. Authors who have published their work in RSC journals are also be able to retrospectively apply for their work to be included in the scheme. Further information can be found at: www.rsc.org/openscience.

We are always happy to receive feedback from authors, especially if it helps us to further improve the publishing experience. Because we believe that RSC Publishing offers the best service of any scientific publisher, we have published a selection of the comments we have received from authors from around the globe—take a look at www.rsc.org/authorquotes

Showcasing hot science from RSC journals in Chemical Science, Chemical Technology and Chemical Biology has proved very popular with readers and authors alike. In fact, the free supplements have become so successful that from January 2007, all issues will be eight pages (in print), contain new article types and come complete with a fresh new look for the front page. Supplementary material will also be available on-line. Both Chemical Science and Chemical Biology are available free in Dalton Transactions. On-line readers of Chemical Biology can also view a contents listing of all chemical biology articles published across RSC journals, making it the best place to find both news and research for those in the field.

An international focus

As we enter 2007, and celebrate the 35th anniversary of Dalton Transactions (previously J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans.), there are many more exciting developments planned. In a significant development for the Editorial Board, we welcome Professor Guo-Xin Jin as Regional Associate Editor for China, and Professor Shinobu Itoh as Regional Associate Editor for Japan. Both Professors Jin and Itoh will represent their respective regions on the Editorial Board, and will act as local contacts for the journal. Biographies for both Professors Jin and Itoh are given at the end of this Editorial. The appointment of two Regional Associate Editors to the Editorial Board reflects the board's continuing commitment to the international status of the journal. The international percentage spread of authors is shown in Fig. 1, indicating that Dalton Transactions is a truly international journal for inorganic chemists.

Fig. 1 Geographical distribution of articles in 2006.

In the autumn of 2007, the recipient of the first Dalton Transactions European Lectureship will be announced. This will be a sister prize to the Dalton Transactions US Lectureship, which in 2006 was awarded to Professor John Hartwig (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA) to recognise his contribution to the application of organometallic chemistry for the development of organic chemistry methods. These prizes are just two of many given by RSC Publishing. In 2006 more than 20 high-profile researchers gained financial support to present their work at events throughout the world, in recognition of their research achievements. More than £15 000 (or $30 00) was granted to the recipients, in total, to cover travel expenses to sponsored lectureships in countries such as China, Japan, US and UK. The deadline for nominations for the new Dalton Transactions European Lectureship is 31st January 2007 so there is still time to nominate!

We thank retiring members of the Editorial Board, Professors Bill Tolman and Heinz Berke and Professors Bianchini, Buhro, Corma, Grutzmacher, Harbrecht, Hill, Horvath, Milstein, Nozaki, Rao, Sanchez-Delgado and Trzeciak from the Advisory Board for their efforts to develop the journal during the past few years, as well as providing support for the journal. We were very saddened to learn of the death of Professor Hubert-Pfalzgraf, who had been a strong supporter of the journal, and a member of the Advisory Board for 5 years.

In addition to Professors Itoh and Jin, we welcome Professors Sylviane Sabo-Etienne (Toulouse, France) and Ian Manners (Bristol, UK), who joined the Editorial Board during 2006. We are joined by new faces in the Editorial Office, Drs May Copsey and Freya Mearns. May joins us from Professor Tristram Chivers group at the University of Calgary, where she worked on metal telluride thin-films, after finishing her PhD studies at Bristol University, UK. Freya completed her PhD studies at the University of New South Wales with Professor Justin Gooding, on the topic of DNA biosensing.

Technological innovation

2006 has seen RSC Publishing invest significantly in technological developments across all of its products. Introduced last year, RSS feeds, or ‘really simple syndication’, have proved extremely popular with our readers. Subscribers receive alerts as soon as an Advance Article is published in their journal of choice, providing both the graphical abstract and text from a journal's contents page. You can subscribe via the Dalton Transactions homepage.

Subscribers to Dalton Transactions will now link from journals' contents lists straight through to the HTML view of selected articles, in just one quick step. Here you can download references to citation managers (such as EndNote, Ref Manager, ProCite and BibTex), sign up for RSS feeds, search for citing articles (otherwise known as ‘forward linking’), print the article with just one click and send the article to a friend or colleague.

From 2007, authors publishing in RSC journals will see their science “come alive” thanks to an exciting new project pioneered by the RSC. Enhanced HTML in RSC articles will allow chemical and biological compounds mentioned in the text to be identified; by clicking on the compound readers will be able to obtain further information about that compound, including a downloadable structure plus a list of relevant subject areas. The RSC is the first publisher to utilise the International Chemical Identifier (InChI) (a digital equivalent of the IUPAC name for any particular covalent compound where structures are expressed in terms of five layers of information—connectivity, tautomeric, isotopic, stereochemical, and electronic) for a project of this type and scope. The technology will be used to enhance RSS alerts so that future news feeds can include chemical structures and other enhanced information. RSC Publishing intends to evolve this project to match author and reader needs so tell us what you think: we welcome your feedback on this new functionality and will incorporate your ideas to develop the service further. Find out more at www.rsc.org/sciencecomealive

These developments demonstrate the investment in publishing products and services over the past year and 2007 will see us enhancing our products further.

RSC Publishing news

Nanoscience is one of the rapidly developing areas of scientific research. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the subject many RSC journals and books include related content. This wealth of nano material has now been brought together in one convenient webpage, which is regularly updated with the latest research and books from RSC Publishing. Visit: www.rsc.org/publishing/journals/nanoscience/

Meanwhile Chemistry World, the RSC's award-winning magazine, launched two new web features at the end of 2006. The Chemistry World Blog is an interactive forum for news, discussion and opinion, looking at the science hitting the headlines. The Chemistry World Podcast interviews high profile scientists about the latest and hottest topics in science, and is free to download at www.rsc.org/chemistryworld

As well as an impressive portfolio of prestigious journals, the RSC has a wide selection of products for anyone with an interest in the chemical sciences. Visit the shop at www.rsc.org/shop to browse over 400 book titles, subscribe to or purchase an individual article from Dalton Transactions or any other RSC journal, join or renew RSC membership, or register to attend a conference or training event.

In addition, RSC Publishing is pleased to announce the launch of the RSC eBook Collection. RSC books are now available on-line and can be easily downloaded as either chapters or books. The collection is fully searchable and also integrated with RSC journal content. To search the collection or for further information, visit www.rsc.org/ebooks

Thank you for your continued support for Dalton Transactions. We wish you a happy and prosperous 2007.

Dalton Transactions profiles Professors Shinobu Itoh and Guo-Xin Jin, the new Regional Associate Editors for Japan and China, respectively

Regional Associate Editor for Japan, Professor Shinobu Itoh

Plate1 Professor Shinobu Itoh

Professor Shinobu Itoh was born in Fukui prefecture in 1958. He received his PhD in engineering under the supervision of Professor Toshio Agawa and Professor Yoshiki Ohshiro from Osaka University in 1986. Then, he joined Professor Ohshiro's group at Osaka University as Assistant Professor, where he worked on the chemistry of coenzyme PQQ and cofactor TTQ as well as model compounds of galactose oxidase. During that period, he spent a year (1987–1988) as a postdoctoral fellow in Professor Teddy G. Traylor's group at the University of California, San Diego, where he learned the chemistry of heme proteins. In 1994, he was promoted to Associate Professor and worked with Professor Shunichi Fukuzumi at Osaka University, when he started copper/dioxygen chemistry. In 1999, he moved to Osaka City University as a full Professor. His current research interest is focused on chemical modeling and application of novel active sites in biological systems.

Regional Associate Editor for China, Professor Guo-Xin Jin

Plate2 Professor Guo-Xin Jin

Professor Guo-Xin Jin received his PhD from Nanjing University in 1987, after post-doctoral work as an Alexander von Humbold Fellow at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, he joined Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1996 as a professor. In 2001 he moved to Shanghai and held the Chair Professor (CheungKong Scholarship) of Inorganic Chemistry at Fudan University. His research interests are in organometallic chemistry, particularly of metal cluster complexes with carborane dichalcogenolato ligands, half-sandwich metal chalcogenide complexes and the catalysts for olefin polymerization.

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