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The Journal of Organic Chemistry Celebrates 75 Years of Publication This issue begins the 75th volume of The Journal of Organic Chemistry (JOC), the premier journal for publication of original research in all areas of organic chemistry. The lead article in the first issue described a mechanistic study of carbohydrate oxidation (Busch, K. G. A.; Clark, J. W.; Genung, L. B.; Schroeder, E. F.; Evans, W. L. The Mechanism of Carbohydrate Oxidation. XVIII. The Oxidation of Certain Sugars with Silver Oxide in the Presence of Potassium Hydroxide. J. Org. Chem. 1936, 1, 1-16). This contribution from Evan’s laboratory at Ohio State University was followed by six articles that reported studies in structure, synthesis, natural products, and stereochemistry. The remarkable breadth of the work published in that first issue of JOC continues today with the inclusion of new areas of organic chemistry such as bioorganic chemistry and organic materials. All of the corresponding authors in the first issue were from the U.S. One only needs browse through the first issue of volume 75 to realize that JOC has since become an international journal, which currently serves authors from over 59 different countries. In 2008, Carsten Bolm from RWTH Aachen University was appointed as the first overseas Associate Editor for JOC, followed last November by the appointment of Dawei Ma from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry. The first volume of JOC published 503 pages in five issues. Except for two short book reviews, all of the contributions were articles. By 2009, the number of pages had increased to 9580 published in 24 issues and contained Articles, Featured Articles, Notes, Perspectives, and bibliographies of review articles in organic chemistry. As the journal grew, the editors strove to provide authors with a venue of the highest quality for publication of their research. The JOC “impact factor” has increased from 3.217 in 2002 to 3.952 in 2008. JOC is the most widely cited journal in organic chemistry with 86,564 citations in 2008 and over 1.7 million downloads in the first five months of 2009. As Editor-in-Chief, I am deeply indebted to my predecessors (see below), the Associate Editors, contributing authors, reviewers, and especially the JOC staff and the staff at ACS Publications for their dedication and commitment to excellence during a time of unprecedented growth, change, and challenge. Editors-in-Chief of the Journal of Organic Chemistry Otto Reinmuth Lyndon F. Small George H. Coleman Frederick D. Greene Clayton H. Heathcock Peter J. Stang C. Dale Poulter
1936-1938 1939-1951 1952-1962 1963-1988 1989-1999 1999-2001 2001-present
For the first 59 years of its existence, JOC was published in print. The first Web edition appeared in 1995 and since then has rapidly become the preferred way to view the journal by the vast majority of readers. Online publication provides readers with rapid access from anywhere in the world where an Internet connection is available, and new features give links for literature searching, enhanced graphical displays, and many other useful tools. The benefits of electronic publishing, including saving costs for printing and mailing, may well be so overwhelming that print versions of journals will disappear in the near future. These benefits come at the cost of having a format that is portable and accessible when Internet connections are not available, although one surmises that spouses might welcome not having JOC available at the beach. In addition, it is my observation that readers of online journals are much more focused with regard to the materials they read and less likely to discover new interesting topics by “browsing”. JOC is working with ACS Publications to address these issues. The experience of the past 75 years gives me confidence that JOC will continue to evolve and prosper. Finally, it is a distinct privilege and honor and, at most times, a real pleasure to serve as Editor-in-Chief of the journal. At the fall ACS National Meeting in Boston, the journal will host a symposium “JOC: Defining the Frontiers of Organic Chemistry for 75 years”, and I hope to see you then.
C. Dale Poulter Editor-in-Chief DOI: 10.1021/jo902645b r 2009 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 12/28/2009
J. Org. Chem. 2010, 75, 1–1
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