Analytical Methods – double the issues in 2013!

Welcome to Issue 1 of Analytical Methods in 2013, and we wish you a very Happy New Year from RSC Publishing and the Analytical Methods team.

2012 has been a very successful year for the journal, with more authors than ever choosing to send their work to Analytical Methods, making us the fastest growing general analytical science journal!

The journal has grown both in size and quality this year, and so we are delighted to say that from the beginning of 2013, we will be doubling the frequency of publication. There will therefore be 24 issues of Analytical Methods in 2013, with a new issue published every two weeks. We hope that this will not only allow quicker publication of articles in an issue, meaning authors will receive their page numbers quicker, but this will also help to increase the prominence of each article as the issue sizes will be smaller and easier to browse.

Clear societal impact

The aim of Analytical Methods is to publish research which describes early applied demonstrations of new analytical methods with clear societal impact.

Therefore, also new to 2013, we will now be asking all our authors to include a statement of societal impact on the submission of their manuscript to the journal. This can be included in the covering letter to the Editor, or submitted separately, but should address the significance and societal impact of the analytical methods described. It is expected that this will be no more than two or three sentences and, for those authors familiar with Chem. Commun., will be similar to a justification for urgent publication for a communication. We see this new requirement as enhancing the relevance of each and every Analytical Methods article, and feel that it is important the societal impact of an article published in the journal is clearly visible to the reader (and the referee!).

New members of the team for 2013

We would also like to warmly welcome recently appointed Editorial Board members Craig Banks, Yi Chen and Milton Lee to the Analytical Methods team. Their expert advice and assistance will undoubtedly help maintain the upward trajectory of the journal in 2013 and beyond.

Craig E. Banks is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Manchester Metropolitan University. His current research is directed towards the pursuit of studying the fundamental understanding and applications of nano-electrochemical systems such as graphene, carbon nanotube and nanoparticle derived sensors and developing novel electrochemical sensors via screen printing and related techniques.

Yi Chen is based within the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), as Professor and Chair of CAS' Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems. His research focusses mainly on CE and SPR imaging.

Milton L. Lee is the H. Tracy Hall Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Brigham Young University. He is best known for his research in capillary separation techniques and mass spectrometry.

The Editorial team in Cambridge has also seen some changes, with Rebecca Brodie taking over as Deputy Editor for Analytical Methods, and Paola Quattroni joining the team as Development Editor.

We would also like to thank all our Editorial and Advisory Board members for their much appreciated input and support this past year, and we look forward to working with them again in 2013.

Members of the Editorial team will be out and about at a range of conferences throughout 2013, including Pittcon, Experimental Biology, Analytical Research Forum, SCIX 2013, JASIS 2013 and the Beijing Conference and Exhibition on Instrumental Analysis (BCEIA). Please do get in touch if you are also attending, as we would be very happy to meet up and discuss the journal, future developments and any aspect of publishing in Analytical Methods.

Would you like to be involved?

For our authors and readers, we will continue to highlight the Hot Articles and monthly most-read articles published in the journal. These can all be found on the Analytical Methods blog via the journal homepage.

Developing our presence online is extremely important to us, and so we would like to welcome our new blog writers who have joined us in 2012, PuiSai Lau from McMaster University, Canada, Laura Ruvuna at Northwestern University, US, Jennifer Dougan from Imperial College London, UK and Polly-Anna Ashford from the University of East Anglia, UK. We look forward to working with them in communicating some of our most exciting research, news and opinions from the community.

The Analytical Methods blog is also a great place for finding information about upcoming conferences, conference reports, themed issues and general news from the community. Developing our online community is extremely important to us, and so please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like to be involved.

Your comments and suggestions for the journal are also very welcome at any time, so please do contact us at methods-rsc@rsc.org.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the continued support from all our authors and referees, and to wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year!

Brett Paull

Editor-in-Chief, Analytical Methods.

May Copsey

Managing Editor, Analytical Methods.

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