Earlier work involving the development of a technique known as resonance ionization spectroscopy (RIS) showed that this was possible. In these experiments, Oak Ridge scientists found that each atom in a selected quantum state could be converted to an ion pair via a two-photon absorption process, with one of the photons being resonant with an intermediate excited state of the absorbing species. Another problem in developing the single-atom detector involves overcoming background effects. To reduce photoelectric effects, the ORNL group used a gold-plated counter. In the future, they believe that they also can manipulate the diameter of the counter to control the photoelectron background signals. Electronic time-gating techniques minimize background arising from external radiations such as cosmic rays. During the experiments, cesium vapor emanates from a cup that contains the metal and is located inside the proportional counter. However, the cesium vapor is not at equilibrium in the gas phase. Its concentration^!! the gas phase is determined by the distance of the cup from the laser beam, as well as the temperature and pressure of the argon-methane counting gas. In addition to identifying chemical atmospheric pollutants and measuring their concentrations, the ability to detect single atoms will be valuable in other research areas, the ORNL scientists believe. For
example, they suggest it may aid in detecting rare events such as reactions involving neutrinos, and in searching for quarks—particles believed to be the subnuclear components of matter. Also, the method may be useful in detecting daughter atoms from radioactive decay, atoms slowly evaporating from surfaces, and the reaction rates of elements in various chemical environments. D
Europe gets two new chemical journals Two international primary chemical journals make their debut this month. One, Nouveau Journal de Chimie, is a French publication sponsored by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and published by Gauthier-Villars. The other, Journal of Chemical Research, is being published jointly by The Chemical Society (London) of the U.K., Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (West German Chemical Society), and Société Chimique de France. Nouveau Journal de Chimie's aim is to contribute to the development of chemistry as a whole, according to Dr. Lionel Salem, director of the theoretical chemistry laboratory at Université Paris-Sud in Orsay outside Paris, who played a key role in its creation. "We don't want to get into ultraspecialization," he notes. Sub-
mitted papers will get priority if their content extends across several areas of the subject. Also, contributions will be published in full. "We are not following the tendency to synopsize papers," he adds. This year, Nouveau Journal de Chimie will come out every other month. Next year, it likely will be published each month. Efforts will be made to get submitted papers into print with a minimum of delay. Those accepted for publication last month, for instance, will appear in the March issue. Each issue will consist of about 75 pages. There will be short communications, a page or two of news items, and letters to the editor on topics of special interest to the chemical public. Nouveau Journal de Chimie will be multilingual. Manuscripts will be published either in English, French, or German. Each will be preceded by a short abstract in English. Most research papers likely will appear in English. There are four editors. In addition to Salem, there are Dr. Olivier Kahn, professor of inorganic chemistry at Orsay, Dr. Jean-Marie Conia, professor of organic chemistry there, and Dr. Jean Cantacuzène, scientific director of Paris-based CNRS's chemistry program. The 70 or 80 editorial board members are leading chemists, including six Nobel Laureates, drawn from around the world. They will referee submitted articles. According to Salem, the main reason
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for launching Nouveau Journal de Chimie is that "good quality chemistry originating from French laboratories had most often to be exported to foreign journals. This," he says, "seemed to us to be unreasonable. England, West Germany, Japan, the U.S., and other countries have at least one chemistry journal of international stature. So we here in France were faced with a totally unsatisfactory situation." By the same token, Salem and his associates don't intend their new publication to be narrowly nationalistic in content. Indeed, they hope to see it emerge as a European journal of chemistry and become something of a European counterpart of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Somewhat ironically, Salem, along with several of Nouveau Journal de Chimie's editorial board members, was among 13 prominent international chemists who put their signatures to a letter published in Nature and elsewhere in 1974 warning against the proliferation of scientific publications. But he doesn't see any inconsistency between the new development and the view put forward a few years back. "We made the point at the time that we were very much in favor of journals supported by national institutions such as chemical societies. This journal is supported by CNRS. We also urged that efforts should be made to develop a European journal of chemistry."
The Journal of Chemical Research will have a number of novel features. According to managing editor Ivor Williams, "It is the world's first pure-chemistry journal to be published according to the synopsis-microform concept." Research papers will cover all aspects of chemistry. Speed of publication and maintenance of high scientific standards will be its chief aims. "The primary research journal," notes the information leaflet describing the new publication, "has changed very little in approach and format over its 300-year history. It attempts to fulfill both a current-awareness role and an archival role, and it is arguable that it does both jobs badly. It is with this in mind that The Chemical Society, Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, and Société Chimique de France have agreed to launch a new design of primary publications. [It is] the first step toward development of a more logical system of chemical primary publications in Europe." Each monthly issue of the new journal will consist of two parts. Part S will contain one- or two-page synopses in English of research papers. Reaction schemes, structural formulas, and other supporting illustrative material will be used in the synopses to convey the maximum amount of information with the minimum of reading effort. The conventionally printed and bound journal of synopses will cater to the current-awareness needs of most
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chemists. Each synopsis, in reality a minipaper rather than an abstract in the usual sense of the term, will have all the information that chemists would need to grasp the significance of the research. Specific details and data will appear in part M, available in microfiche or in miniprint form. These reproductions will contain the full text of authors' manuscripts, corresponding to the synopses in part S, in the original language—English, French, or German—in which they were submitted for publication. Part M will provide the archival role of the new journal. It will appear simultaneously with part S. A microfilm edition of the full text will be available at year's end. Authors may submit their manuscripts to any of the three founding sponsors. English language manuscripts will be handled by The Chemical Society in London. Likewise, those written in French will be processed by the Société Chimique de France, those in German by Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker. After they have been refereed and accepted for publication, manuscripts and corresponding synopses will go to Dr. Williams in London for editing and printing. Management board member Helmut Grunewald, director of publications at Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker and an ardent proponent of the synopsis/microform concept of publishing technical papers, cites several advantages to the system. One is that papers will find their way into print with a minimum of delay. A chief reason for the fairly long time lag between acceptance of a manuscript and its publication in conventional journals, he maintains, is the space requirements for lengthy articles. Also, since full manuscripts will be miniaturized, authors may write their papers to any length they feel appropriate. Moreover, the format will help counter continually rising publication and distribution costs. No less important from a communications standpoint, Dr. Grunewald says, is that the published information will reach a much wider audience than it would otherwise in the "classical" journals. Other than the fact that part S, the synopsis issue, "will be easy to digest," as he puts it, the three sponsoring societies are making it available to their members at a subscription rate of about $20 per year (somewhat higher outside Western Europe), well within the reach of individuals' budgets. For an additional $24 annually, members may obtain a book of 10 vouchers used for ordering microfiche or fullsize photocopies of original manuscripts. A number of chemical societies worldwide are being invited to associate themselves with the Journal of Chemical Research in a supportive role. Three already have decided to do so. They are Société Chemique Belgique, Vlaamse Chemische Vereniging, also of Belgium, and Verein Ôsterreichischer Chemiker in Austria. Their members will have the same subscription privileges as those of the founding societies. Dermot A. O'Sullivan, C&EN London
