ChemRXiv: A Chemistry Preprint Server
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current research, possibly preventing needless duplication. As noted above, preprint servers provide a means to publish negative results without straining the already overwhelmed peer review system that we have. We see every day that peer review provides valuable wisdom to authors and to journals and thus also to readers. In cases of work important to healthcare, as patients and their families and friends increasingly research their own cases, it will be important both to reach out to clarify the meaning of posted preprints as well as to make the final, peer-reviewed versions accessible to interested parties. ACS Chemical Biology and Nano Letters policies consider manuscripts that have been submitted previously to a preprint server on an equal basis with those that have not. However, both journals request that all authors alert them to any preprinted server submissions, and authors are reminded that if ACS Chemical Biology and Nano Letters elect to publish the work following the peer review process, and possibly edit it along the way, then ACS will hold the copyright to the final version of the manuscript, which is of course then the final version appropriate for citation.
he theory of evolution is inextricably linked to Darwinnot to Darwin and Wallace. Wallace devised a similar theory, and he and Darwin jointly published their ideas. Presumably, this publication was read by a small number of researchers, and the lack of recognition of Wallace’s contributions suggested this first disclosure had little impact. In contrast, Darwin’s engaging publication “On the Origin of the Species”1 led others to adopt and build on evolutionary theory. As scientists, we publish our results to move our fields forward, and the importance of communicating scientific results clearly and to wide audiences is therefore vital. Formal publication is not the only means of communicating our results. One means to circulate results widely and to obtain feedback is through preprint servers. Preprint servers function as repositories for scientific preprints that have not yet been subjected to peer review. In this way, these repositories complement traditional journals, as servers provide a platform for immediate dissemination of negative as well as positive results and solicitation of feedback from a broad community. The utility of preprint servers as communication tools is well-established in the physics and mathematics communities and is now also being adopted by the biology community. Their experiences, and ours, running interdisciplinary journals, provide the impetus for offering the chemistry community a similar venue.
Nanoscience and nanotechnology of molecular machines were honored this month with the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Prof. Jean-Pierre Sauvage of the University of Strasbourg, Prof. Fraser Stoddart of Northwestern University, and Prof. Ben Feringa of the University of Groningen.
We publish our results to move our fields forward, and the importance of communicating scientific results clearly and to wide audiences is therefore vital. A physics- and mathematics-focused preprint server, arXiv, has been in existence for 25 years, and almost 10,000 papers were submitted last month, in September 2016.2 In 2013, bioRxiv was launched for the biological sciences.3 Submissions to this preprint server have also grown rapidly.3 A major driving force appears to be the slow pace of the peer review process, which Ron Vale has suggested has a deleterious impact on the length of time to Ph.D. as well as the length of postdoctoral studies.4 While we work hard to ensure rapid consideration of the manuscripts that our journals handle, in this context, a means to transmit important scientific findings rapidly prior to publication can accelerate career advancement for younger scientists. Preprints can also be used to transmit valuable information for reviewers of grant applications.
At ACS Nano, our policy has always been that we consider manuscripts that have previously been posted on preprint servers. It is the authors’ responsibility to tell us that this action has already been taken. In that case, we consider the required threshold for novelty to be somewhat higher, as some of the novelty has been lost through the posting, but otherwise handle the paper identically to all others submitted. Each journal at each publisher has their own rules, and it is important to check the guidelines for authors when considering posting preprints and submitted to a specific journal. We too evolve, so look for changes in these publication policies with time. Announcements. We are happy that nanoscience and nanotechnology of molecular machines were honored this month with the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Prof. JeanPierre Sauvage of the University of Strasbourg, Prof. Fraser Stoddart of Northwestern University, and Prof. Ben Feringa of the University of Groningen.5 This growing area has been well covered here and continues to expand.6−12
We see every day that peer review provides valuable wisdom to authors and to journals and thus also to readers. Preprints and preprint servers can be used to provide and to receive feedback on work, prior to submission, much like giving a talk on new work to a broad audience. The publication of preprints sets a priority date and also alerts other laboratories to © 2016 American Chemical Society
Published: October 25, 2016 9053
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.6b07008 ACS Nano 2016, 10, 9053−9054
Editorial
www.acsnano.org
ACS Nano
Editorial
The first National Nanotechnology Day was celebrated on October 9 (selected to represent 10−9).13 At ACS Nano, we were asked to discuss where we saw the field going and we wrote a Nano Focus article looking at the opportunities and challenges ahead in the next decade for nanoscience and nanotechnology around the world.14 We hope you enjoy the article and look forward to making these advances a reality with you and to reporting them here.
Laura L. Kiessling, Editor-in-Chief, ACS Chemical Biology Laura E. Fernandez, Managing Editor, ACS Nano and Nano Letters A. Paul Alivisatos, Co-Editor, Nano Letters
Paul S. Weiss, Editor-in-Chief, ACS Nano
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
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REFERENCES
(1) Darwin, C. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life; John Murray: London, 1859. (2) https://arxiv.org/help/stats. (3) http://asapbio.org/biorxiv. (4) Vale, R. D. Accelerating Scientific Publication in Biology. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2015, 112, 13439−13446. (5) http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/ 2016/press.html. (6) Juluri, B. K.; Kumar, A. S.; Liu, Y.; Ye, T.; Yang, Y. W.; Flood, A. H.; Fang, L.; Stoddart, J. F.; Weiss, P. S.; Huang, T. J. A Mechanical Actuator Driven Electrochemically by Artificial Molecular Muscles. ACS Nano 2009, 3, 291−300. (7) Michl, J.; Sykes, E. C. H. Molecular Rotors and Motors: Recent Advances and Future Challenges. ACS Nano 2009, 3, 1042−1048. (8) Ye, T.; Kumar, A. S.; Saha, S.; Takami, T.; Huang, T. J.; Stoddart, J. F.; Weiss, P. S. Changing Stations in Single Bistable Rotaxane Molecules under Electrochemical Control. ACS Nano 2010, 4, 3697− 3701. (9) Carroll, G. T.; London, G.; Landaluce, T. F.; Rudolf, P.; Feringa, B. L. Adhesion of Photon-Driven Molecular Motors to Surfaces via 1,3-Dipolar Cycloadditions: Effect of Interfacial Interactions on Molecular Motion. ACS Nano 2011, 5, 622−630. (10) Weiss, P. S. Nano Races, Prizes, and Awards. ACS Nano 2014, 8, 1. (11) Abendroth, J. M.; Bushuyev, O. S.; Weiss, P. S.; Barrett, C. J. Controlling Motion at the Nanoscale: Rise of the Molecular Machines. ACS Nano 2015, 9, 7746−7768. (12) Cheng, C.; McGonigal, P. R.; Stoddart, J. F.; Astumian, R. D. Design and Synthesis of Nonequilibrium Systems. ACS Nano 2015, 9, 8672−8688. (13) http://www.nano.gov/node/1670. (14) Kagan, C. R.; Fernandez, L. E.; Gogotsi, Y.; Hammond, P. T.; Hersam, M. C.; Nel, A. E.; Penner, R. M.; Willson, C. G.; Weiss, P. S. Nano Day: Celebrating the Next Decade of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. ACS Nano 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.6b06655.
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DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.6b07008 ACS Nano 2016, 10, 9053−9054
