The winds of change

A new decade brings change to MedChemComm; we will now no longer be known by that name, but instead as RSC Medicinal Chemistry.

In the words of Shakespeare, ‘What's in a name?’ We are incredibly proud of all that MedChemComm has achieved over the past 10 years and its growth into a key platform for the dissemination of important advances in research across the medicinal chemistry and related drug discovery fields.

However, of course it is important that as a journal we evolve. It has been evident from conversations with community members for a number of years that for those unfamiliar with the journal, the name MedChemComm causes confusion rooted in an assumption that we only publish Communication-style articles. As many of you will know, our Research articles encompass both full Paper and Communication styles, and so this perception presented an obstacle to the journal's development and reach. We have therefore made the decision to change our name to RSC Medicinal Chemistry to ensure our title reflects the content that we publish, and our purpose is clear.

Our name may be changing but we retain our scope and high standards, and our commitment to the wide visibility of published articles and our rigorous and fair peer review process for authors is stronger than ever. We have always strived to serve the medicinal chemistry community in the best way we can and will continue to focus on publishing the most innovative and significant advances in the field. We see this as a great opportunity to build on MedChemComm's successes, and further shape the journal with the aim of becoming the first choice for authors to publish their best work in the field.

This year there has also been a change to the Executive Editor leading the Editorial Office team. Richard Kelly has moved to a new role within the Royal Society of Chemistry and Katie Lim has been appointed to this role. She will continue to work closely with the Editorial Board to develop the journal and looks forward to meeting many of you at upcoming conferences to discuss the journal and developments in our discipline.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy New Year, and thank you all for your continued support as we navigate this change. We are excited for all that the future holds – onwards and upwards!

Gerhard Ecker, RSC Medicinal Chemistry Editor-in-Chief & Katie Lim, RSC Medicinal Chemistry Executive Editor

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