Editorial: Meeting the challenge

Since its launch Lab on a Chip (LOC) has endeavoured to introduce a whole host of cutting-edge features to journal publishing in order to benefit and support the wider community that the journal serves. It is in this vein that in 2012—just as micro- and nanofluidic research continues to push new boundaries—that LOC will also continue to develop new features to further support the community in staying up to date with pioneering research as well as the latest industry news.

Commercialisation issues

There are a variety of instruments now on the market that include microfluidic components, but as the microfluidic aspect is only part of the solution, they are not advertised as microfluidic devices by manufacturers. In addition, several instruments were launched this year and many more are in the pipeline, thus we are seeing commercialisation come to fruition. The major instrument manufacturers are now clearly convinced of the value and benefits of lab on a chip devices and micro- and nanofluidic tools, as Perkin Elmer acquired Caliper Life Sciences and Sony acquired Micronics amongst a variety of other moves within the microfluidics sector. LOC has played its role in promoting the value and potential of this area of research and attempted to provide support for greater awareness of commercialisation issues over the last few years—Dr Holger Becker of Microfluidic ChipShop has contributed enormously in this regard with the Focus articles he has written for the journal.

We continue to promote the move to commercialisation of technologies with the help of a variety of people, including Professors Ingber and Whitesides. LOC has attempted to increase research focusing on the flow of applications from the lab to the clinic. One of the outcomes of this will be the publication of our final 10th Anniversary issue focusing on the USA which has the theme of translating research from the lab to the clinic with both Professors Whitesides and Ingber as Guest Editors. This issue will be published in 2012.

Growth & scope

The LOC 10th anniversary issues have shown how great the diversity of potential applications are for micro- and nanofluidics and the tremendous range of expertise in these areas being applied to solve important questions in biology, physics and chemistry. These solutions also involve the use of new materials, especially polymeric-based materials for greater or improved functionality. These themed issues also demonstrated the increasing sophistication and rise of Far-Eastern countries such as China and the quality and excellence of research in Korean Institutions.
Abe Lee

As the journal continues to grow and the scope develops we are also endeavouring to improve the quality and consistency of LOC content and to achieve this we are appointing Associate Editors to help process papers for the journal. LOC’s first Associate Editor is Professor Abe Lee from UC Irvine, USA and we are looking to appoint a second editor shortly.

Many of you will have seen the Editorial from Professor Whitesides and the LOC Editorial Board explaining that LOC no longer publishes Technical Notes; instead, we are publishing Technical Innovations that are the technological equivalent of communications (for further details see DOI: 10.1039/c1lc90085d). Again, this is an attempt to further increase the quality and value of LOC content for our readers.

Other new developments are the introduction of Educational Focus articles (see DOI: 10.1039/c1lc90069b) to assist with teaching and training of the next generation of scientists within the community, as well as the introduction of Grand Challenges articles to lead and assist the development of micro- and nanofluidics into new areas of endeavour not yet addressed by LOC technologies and research.

Electronic developments

LOC now has a blog page (see http://blogs.rsc.org/lc/) and one of the more valuable outcomes of this is that Chips & Tips is now available in a much more user friendly format, allowing improved interconnectivity between articles and the introduction of videos to enhance impact and understanding (see http://blogs.rsc.org/chipsandtips/). To make it even easier to get access to the tricks of the trade, LOC Chips & Tips now also have their own page on Facebook, see http://www.facebook.com/ChipsandTips.

LOC is also now on Twitter (@LabonaChip) so do follow us and get updates on the latest hot research and news from the journal direct to your computer or smart device.

LOC authors may now sign up to our just accepted service, whereby accepted papers are published (unedited) online within 2 days of acceptance—just tick the appropriate box on submission.

LOC welcomes other e-innovations and will try to work with you to provide the best service possible, thus we welcome: videos, animated gifs for contents entries, animated images/graphics, digital/animated comic strips and other e-innovations.

Conferences

LOC continues to work with meetings and conferences to increase awareness of and promote microfluidics and lab on a chip research, by sponsoring and supporting events, awards and prizes. This year's LOC/Corning Inc. Pioneers Prize Winner Professor Ali Khademhosseini, also recently won the prestigious US Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. This is the highest honour bestowed by the US government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Nominations are now open for the 2012 LOC/Corning Inc. Pioneers prize and submissions from all countries are welcome.

Finally, on behalf of the Editorial Board, I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all our reviewers, authors and readers for their continued loyalty and support. I look forward to seeing many of you during the coming year.

Harp Minhas

Editor, Lab on a Chip

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