How to correctly evaluate greenness, whiteness and other “colours”? Introducing general rules of a good evaluation practice

Abstract

In analytical chemistry, the use of dedicated metrics for assessing greenness, whiteness and other “colours” of new methods is becoming very popular. However, does this entail an increase in the overall scientific value? In this article, I explain why the correct answer is “not always”. In fact, one can have an impression that the assessments made currently may deliver additional information that nicely complements analytical validation, but sometimes, it only creates unnecessary confusion. Is the vision of easy profit in the form of publishing a greenness-oriented article so tempting? Or maybe the reason is the lack of clear guidelines and appropriate education? Whatever the answer is, the situation should be changed. I am trying to remedy this situation by proposing the five general rules of a Good Evaluation Practice (GEP). Implementation of GEP may help reduce the existing mess, improve transparency, promote research quality, and facilitate the exchange of information between authors and readers. This will also benefit reviewers and editors, who will find it easier to verify the correctness of the evaluation process. Although the article has been written with analytical chemistry in mind, the proposed rules are general enough to be easily extrapolated to other chemical domains.