Exciting times for Chem Soc Rev
Abstract
Happy New Year and welcome to the first issue of Chem Soc Rev for 2010. In this Editorial, we review some of the highlights for 2009 and look forward to an exciting 2010.
First in its class
Chem Soc Rev had a great year in 2009. Its impact factor rose to 17.4 (ISI®, 2008), an impressive 33% increase over 2008 and the largest percentage increase for all general chemistry review journals (Fig. 1). We published 225 reviews in 2009, making Chem Soc Rev the largest review journal covering the chemical sciences. And, yet again, the journal’s immediacy index (3.668) is the highest in its class, demonstrating that it is publishing exciting and topical reviews. These results underline the continuing success of the journal, making Chem Soc Rev ‘first in its class’. | ||
| Fig. 1 General chemistry review journals impact factors. | ||
Following the announcement of the 2008 impact factor, 100 of the most cited Chem Soc Rev authors from 2006 and 2007 were invited to a celebration dinner at the 238th ACS National Meeting in Washington, DC, US. The event provided the opportunity for the RSC to thank these prestigious authors for choosing to publish in Chem Soc Rev, while highlighting the success of their publication.
We would like to thank all our authors, referees, Editorial and Advisory Board members for their continued and ever growing support.
High impact publishing
Publication of the 2008 impact factors also brought good news for authors and readers of other RSC journals. Nearly all RSC journals increased in impact factor, immediacy index and article influence, with an impressive average impact factor increase of 8.2%. Overall, the average impact factor for the RSC portfolio now stands at 4.7, equal to that of the ACS collection (Fig. 2). | ||
| Fig. 2 Average impact factors. | ||
RSC journals feature in the top 10 rankings (by impact factor and immediacy index) in 6 of the 7 core chemistry categories as listed on ISI, and of the top 100 chemistry journals, ranked by impact factor, 15 are from RSC Publishing. 2009 also saw a 75% increase in the number of articles published in RSC Journals compared to 2007 so not only are our impact factors leading the way in the chemical sciences, but there are a wider variety of articles available for you to choose from.
Celebrating success
Congratulations to Professor Bernhard Lippert (Technical University of Dortmund, Germany), who was the recipient of the 2009 Chem Soc Rev Lecture Award. The award, presented by Professor Zijian Guo (Chem Soc Rev Editorial Board) and RSC president Professor David Garner at the 14th International Conference on Biological Inorganic Chemistry in Nagoya, Japan, was in recognition of Professor Lippert’s significant contribution to the field of bioinorganic chemistry.Following its successful launch in 2008, the 2009 Chem Soc Rev Emerging Investigator Award was presented to Dr Matthew Gaunt (University of Cambridge, UK) (Fig. 3). He delivered the lecture, entitled ‘New Catalytic Strategies for Chemical Synthesis’, at the 14th Annual Loughborough University-Astra Zeneca Synthesis Symposium in Loughborough, UK. The award recognises Dr Gaunt’s contributions to the development of metal catalysed C–H bond functionalisation and enantioselective catalysis methods for chemical synthesis.
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| Fig. 3 Robert Eagling, editor, presenting the Chem Soc Rev Emerging Investigator Award to Matthew Gaunt (left). | ||
The nominations for the 2010 Chem Soc Rev Lecture Award and Emerging Investigator Award close on 29th January and will be announced shortly afterwards. For further details, see the Chem Soc Rev website (www.rsc.org/chemsocrev).
As part of our promotional activities to highlight the success of Chem Soc Rev, and to reward excellent work by younger researchers, we awarded several poster prizes at the following conferences: Nanotech Insight 2009 (Barcelona, Spain), Southampton Supramolecular Chemistry Symposium (Southampton, UK) and IV Joint Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (Maastricht, the Netherlands).
Themed issues
In 2009, the themed issues have, once again, been of the highest quality and have covered some of the most exciting and cutting edge topics in the chemical sciences.Creating and securing sustainable energy supplies is one of the key challenges for the modern world, making issue 1 on renewable energy solutions particularly timely. Guest edited by Professors Daniel Nocera (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US) and Dirk Guldi (Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany), the issue collected together the work of scientists who, in the words of Professor Nocera, ‘seek to transform the dream of a solar-powered society into reality’. Covering topics ranging from bioenergy conversion to solar energy capture to hydrogen storage, the issue remains a must-read for all interested in confronting the energy challenge head-on.
March’s themed issue on chiral nanoscale systems, guest edited by Dr David Amabilino (Materials Science Institute, Spain), demonstrated how chiral chemical systems with nanometre-scale features are important to the whole of society. A top line up of international experts reviewed the preparation, structure, properties and function of nanoscale systems, highlighting their relevance for pharmaceuticals, materials and catalysis.
Metal–organic framework chemistry is developing at an extraordinary pace and issue 5 captured the latest progress in this interdisciplinary area. Guest edited by Professors Jeffrey Long (UC Berkeley, US) and Omar Yaghi (UC Los Angeles, US), the issue contained 18 reviews by leading academic and industrial researchers in the field on topics such as catalysis, storage and separation.
In June, the themed issue dedicated to Professor Jean-Pierre Sauvage on the occasion of his 65th birthday was published. The issue featured an array of world leaders, including former co-workers, who have been inspired by Professor Sauvage’s many contributions to the field of chemical topology. It also included a profile of Professor Sauvage written by Professor Fraser Stoddart. The issue was presented to Professor Sauvage (Fig. 4) at the IV Joint International Symposium on Macrocyclic & Supramolecular Chemistry in Maastricht, the Netherlands, in June, where a further five distinguished scientists, all celebrating their 65th birthdays, were also recognised by RSC Publishing.
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| Fig. 4 Jean-Pierre Sauvage (centre) receiving the themed issue dedicated to him from Robert Eagling (left) and Philip Gale (right). | ||
Issue 10 was a themed issue on the topic of green fluorescent protein (GFP) dedicated to the 2008 Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry, Professors Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien. Guest edited by Professor Jeremy Sanders and Dr Sophie Jackson (University of Cambridge, UK), it covered a spectrum of GFP science—from molecular biophysics through to engineered proteins to the numerous biological applications in which fluorescent proteins are used—and highlighted the tremendous impact the prize winners have made in many fields.
The final themed issue of the year, guest edited by Professors Huw Davies (Emory University, US) and Erik Sorensen (Princeton University, US), illustrated the current state-of-the-art in the rapid formation of molecular complexity in organic synthesis. Highlighting the excitement and challenges associated with modern natural product total synthesis, the issue contained 20 reviews by eminent scientists in the field.
Top work from across the chemical sciences
We think Chem Soc Rev published great work from across the chemistry spectrum in 2009 and statistics show our readers agree. The most cited reviews from 2009 (see Table 1) cover a range of cutting-edge topics from enzyme mimics to anion chemistry to metal–organic frameworks. It is clear that whatever your specialisation within the broad scope of chemistry, Chem Soc Rev is the place to find timely reviews of the best research.| Review title | Authors | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Anion receptor chemistry: highlights from 2007 | Claudia Caltagirone and Philip A. Gale | Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 520; DOI: 10.1039/b806422a |
| Selective gas adsorption and separation in metal–organic frameworks | Jian-Rong Li, Ryan J. Kuppler and Hong-Cai Zhou | Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 1477; DOI: 10.1039/b802426j |
| Heterogeneous photocatalyst materials for water splitting | Akihiko Kudo and Yugo Miseki | Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 253; DOI: 10.1039/b800489g |
| Hydrogen storage in metal–organic frameworks | Leslie J. Murray, Mircea Dincă and Jeffrey R. Long | Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 1294; DOI: 10.1039/b802256a |
| Small molecule mimics of hydrogenases: hydrides and redox | Frédéric Gloaguen and Thomas B. Rauchfuss | Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 100; DOI: 10.1039/b801796b |
| B–N compounds for chemical hydrogen storage | Charles W. Hamilton, R. Tom Baker, Anne Staubitz and Ian Manners | Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 279; DOI: 10.1039/b800312m |
| Postsynthetic modification of metal–organic frameworks | Zhenqiang Wang and Seth M. Cohen | Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 1315; DOI: 10.1039/b802258p |
| Azido-mediated systems showing different magnetic behaviors | Yong-Fei Zeng, Xin Hu, Fu-Chen Liu and Xian-He Bu | Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 469; DOI: 10.1039/b718581m |
| Single nanowire photovoltaics | Bozhi Tian, Thomas J. Kempa and Charles M. Lieber | Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38,16; DOI: 10.1039/b718703n |
| The roles of the first and second coordination spheres in the design of molecular catalysts for H2 production and oxidation | M. Rakowski DuBois and Daniel L. DuBois | Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 62; DOI: 10.1039/b801197b |
Reviews from themed issues feature strongly in the most cited list, emphasising that they cover the most exciting topics in the chemical sciences. The themed issue on renewable energy solutions has been particularly highly cited, with reviews from distinguished authors, including Professors Charles Lieber (Harvard University) and Thomas Rauchfuss (University of Illinois), appearing in the top 10.
Board changes
The end of 2009 saw the retirement of two Editorial Board members, without whom the journal could not have grown so impressively. Thank you to Professors Fabio Biscarini and Jeffrey Long for their substantial contributions to the development and success of Chem Soc Rev. Professor Long now moves to the position of Associate Editor for Chemical Science and we wish him every success.We extend our warmest welcome to Professors Zijian Guo (Nanjing University, China) and Helma Wennemers (University of Basel, Switzerland), who have joined the Chem Soc Rev Editorial Board in 2009. They bring a wealth of valuable experience in the areas of medicinal inorganic chemistry and peptide chemistry respectively, and we eagerly anticipate working closely with them to improve and promote the success of the journal.
A truly international journal
In 2009 Chem Soc Rev published reviews from all corners of the globe. Over the past three years, the journal has seen a 40% increase in published reviews from the USA, including contributions from such leading authors as Professors Omar Yaghi (UCLA), Daniel Nocera (MIT) and Phil Baran (Scripps). In addition, we have seen significant growth in published articles from China—a 67% increase over the past three years. Professor Zijian Guo, the Regional Commissioning Editor for Asia, is delighted with this increase and will be working hard to secure the best content from the region.Chem Soc Rev is committed to developing links with the growing Asian scientific community so we are pleased that our Editorial Board members have been invited to present lectures at the 2010 Chinese Chemical Society congress at Xiamen University, China, in June. We will hold the Chem Soc Rev Autumn Editorial Board meeting at the congress and hope to form long-lasting international collaborations.
A positive start
Chem Soc Rev is bringing in the New Year with a terrific selection of articles. These include tutorial reviews on mechanically bonded macromolecules (Professor Fraser Stoddart, Northwestern University, US) and responsive magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents (Professor Chris Chang, University of California, Berkeley, US), and critical reviews on biocatalytic carboxylation (Professor Kurt Faber, University of Graz, Austria) and lanthanide luminescence for functional materials and biosciences (Professor Jean-Claude Bünzli, Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, Switzerland). We hope that you will enjoy all the reviews in issue 1, which is free to access online, and subsequent issues throughout the year.Onwards and upwards
We hope to build on the successes of 2009 and make 2010 even bigger and better for Chem Soc Rev. Preparations for the themed issues are now well underway and we are really excited to have a great selection of guest editors and authors involved for these cutting edge topics.In early 2010, Professors Albert van den Berg (University of Twente, the Netherlands), Harold Craighead (Cornell University, US) and Peidong Yang (University of California, Berkeley) will jointly guest edit an issue on microfluidic applications to nanofluidics phenomena, designed to highlight how micro- and nanofluidics will revolutionise chemical, biological and physical research. Following closely afterwards is an issue on the applications of click chemistry, guest edited by Professors M. G. Finn and Valery Fokin (Scripps, US).
Keep an eye on the Chem Soc Rev homepage (www.rsc.org/chemsocrev) for further announcements about forthcoming themed issues.
RSC Publishing news
Chemical Science
This new flagship journal will launch in mid-2010, and will publish findings of exceptional significance from across all the chemical sciences. Editor-in-Chief Professor David MacMillan of Princeton leads a dynamic international team of Associate Editors responsible for the scientific development of the journal. Free institutional online access to the entire 2010 and 2011 content of Chemical Science will be automatically provided to all existing customers with registered IP addresses.The Associate Editors will welcome submissions in their specialised subject areas when the journal opens for submissions in January 2010. To find out who they are, and for all the latest Chemical Science news, visit www.rsc.org/chemicalscience.
…on a related note
RSC is pleased to announce a significant new global symposia series supporting the launch of Chemical Science. The International Symposia on Advancing the Chemical Sciences (ISACS) meetings will be held on three continents, over three sequential weeks, focusing on distinct subject areas. More information can be found at www.rsc.org/isacs.ChemSpider
Last year RSC acquired ChemSpider, the richest single source of structure based chemistry information freely available online, with fast searching of over 21.5 million chemical structures. Alongside the powerful database, the ChemSpider development team brings well over 40 years of additional cheminformatics experience to the RSC, including a chemistry centric document markup system capable of finding chemical names and converting to chemical structures and linking to online resources. Integration of this technology with RSC’s existing award winning enhanced html mark-up technology, RSC Prospect, will lead to substantial enhancements in semantic enrichment for the chemical sciences. Find out more at www.chemspider.com.Continued e-alert success in 2010
2009 saw the launch of the new RSC journal e-alerts; in 2010 we are hoping to see a continued rise in their popularity. The e-alerts are packed with information and links enabling readers to easily view content as soon as it is published, helping them to stay abreast of journal content. The new e-alert registration system has been designed so readers can manage their own subscriptions, tailoring the information they receive and giving them the freedom to unsubscribe at any point. You can find out more information online: www.rsc.org/alerts.New for 2010: the RSC eBook Subject Collections
In response to readers needs and testament to the innovation of RSC Publishing, we are pleased to announce the launch of new RSC eBook Subject Collections.The 9 new RSC eBook Subject Collections, including a Tutorial Chemistry Texts and Paperbacks package, deliver the high quality content contained in our books into subject specialist packages. With new content being uploaded throughout the year, the new RSC eBook Subject Collections are set to become another key, premier resource. To find out more, please visit www.rsc.org/ebooks.
Polymer Chemistry: issue 1 available soon
The first articles for new journal Polymer Chemistry are now freely available online at www.rsc.org/polymers in advance of issue 1, due for publication early in 2010. Polymer Chemistry will encompass all aspects of synthetic and biological macromolecules and related emerging areas, providing a showcase for the ongoing efforts driving polymer chemistry, highlighting the creativity of the field and previously inaccessible applications.Free access available for all new RSC journals
Free institutional online access is available for all our newest journals. Access, which is managed by institution and IP address, is provided following a simple registration process. Make sure you and your colleagues don’t miss out on the free access by filling in the registration form: www.rsc.org/free_access_registration.And finally…
As you can see, 2010 will be an exciting year for Chem Soc Rev and RSC Publishing. If you have any feedback or questions about the journal, we would be happy to hear from you (e-mail: E-mail: ChemSocRev-RSC@rsc.org; ). We will also be out and about at conferences throughout the year (see www.rsc.org/chemsocrev for details) and would be delighted to meet as many of our authors, referees and readers as possible—please come and say hello!On behalf of the Editorial Board and the Chem Soc Rev team at the RSC, we wish you a very happy and successful 2010.
Robert Eagling, Editor
Joanne Thomson, Deputy Editor
Caroline Moore, Senior Publishing Editor
Wilhelm Huck, Chairman
| This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010 |