Editorial pubs.acs.org/ac
Reviews, Perspectives, Features: What’s the Difference? nalytical Chemistry publishes a broad range of original research, and this is the reason most of you search the journal for content. However, we also publish an Annual Reviews Issue and Feature and Perspective articles throughout the year. What are the goals of these special articles and why should you read them? The “why” depends on what you want to learn from the article but perhaps knowing more about the categories may encourage you to discover what each has to offer. It is certainly fitting to point out this year’s comprehensive Annual Reviews collection organized by Catherine Fenselau that appeared in the January 17, 2012 issue with topics ranging from advances in microTAS to the status of point-of-care diagnostics (among many others). As Catherine states in her Editorial, the collection provides “critical reviews from pioneers in carefully selected cutting edge topics and by experts in traditional areas of analytical chemistry.” Our Features have a different goal and are written for the generalist. They are intended to appeal to a broad cross section of our readership. They are not definitive or comprehensive in nature, but rather focus on a contemporary topic in analytical chemistry. Features are well suited for the education of advanced undergraduates and graduate students and are a fun category of article to browse. To help get you started, we have collected the last two years of our Features into a virtual issue, available on our Web site. If Reviews are authoritative and Features are educational, then what are Perspectives? This may be the most misunderstood manuscript type, or at least, they were the category that I least understood when I started serving as an Associate Editor several years ago. Perspectives describe the authors’ vision of a specific topic and perhaps point to a new direction for this topic. They oftentimes include an analysis of current research that provides a foundation for the new direction or highlight new opportunities for growth in the field. Perspectives also provide an opportunity for an author to predict the future of their field and of course, justify their vision. Unlike Features, Perspectives are aimed at specialists in the field, and their writing reflects this orientation. I would be remiss if I did not point out a last “manuscript type” that is new to the electronic agethe podcast. Yes, Analytical Chemistry has had a monthly podcast on selected Features for six years. Let me ask, how many have you listened to? They complement the original article and by including the author’s thoughts on their work, add unique insights. Hopefully I have tempted you to explore some of these other article types and learn something new about the breadth of analytical chemistry (the Feature and podcast), your specific field of study (the Review), or the direction a field is moving toward (the Perspective). I have been told that most readers find articles to read based on keyword searches and browsing the journal is not common anymore since most of us access the journal online. I hope you take the opportunity to browse our special issues online and consider listening to some of our podcasts.
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© 2012 American Chemical Society
Let me close with an invitation: if you have ideas for topics and authors for these articles, do not hesitate to let me know. Enjoy all Analytical Chemistry has to offer in 2012!
Jonathan V. Sweedler
Published: February 7, 2012 1195
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ac300107q | Anal. Chem. 2012, 84, 1195−1195
