Editorial Cite This: ACS Sens. 2018, 3, 1218−1219
pubs.acs.org/acssensors
First Impact Factor for ACS Sensors − 5.711 n late June ACS Sensors finally got its first impact factor. This first impact factor is sometimes called a half-year impact factor or a partial impact factor. This is because the “full” impact factor is determined from the citations in one year to papers published in the previous two years. So, the 2017 impact factors just released are citations in 2017 to papers published in 2015 and 2016. In the case of ACS Sensors, the citations in 2017 are to papers in 2016 only. This is simply because ACS Sensors only started publishing in 2016. So, it is the 2018 impact factor which will be our first full impact factor. The first full impact factor is typically significantly higher than the partial impact factor. Saying that, we are delighted with such a high first impact factor of 5.711. It is prudent to ask what this number really means. Sometimes the impact factor is used as a surrogate for quality, but in reality, it is only one measure of the impact of a journal. It is a measure of rapid citations to that journal, which is distinct from other measures of impact such as the longevity of citations a paper receives, or the number of highly influential papers in a journal as determined by the total number of citations of those papers. The impact factor does provide a guide for comparison with other journals from the same field, although the logic of which fields a journal is placed into is not always apparent. ACS Sensors is placed in the categories of “Chemistry − Multidisciplinary” and “Nanoscience and Nanotechnology” but not “Chemistry − Analytical” where all our competitor journals have a presence. If we were placed in the category “Chemistry − Analytical”, ACS Sensors would be ranked sixth based on the newly released half impact factor. So, it seems citations have already ranked ACS Sensors as one of the premier sensing and analytical chemistry journals. The initial impact factor is much higher than any expectations we had when the journal was started. We took the decision when defining the scope of the journal that, as the only sensing specific society journal, the journal should cater for all sensors that detect chemical or biological species. We thought our broad scope might cause the impact factor to be lower than some of the more narrowly defined sensing journals. So, in the beginning, we were simply hoping the community would accept this new journal and send us good papers. What we have seen is that the community has really embraced the journal and submitted really outstanding work, which has resonated with the referees and readers. We feel the quality is rising and, as editors, have been overjoyed with the quality of the work submitted to the journal. If you are anything like us, you will be very protective of your papers and want them to go to the best venues possible. We feel it is a privilege to edit the papers you send to ACS Sensors, and we strive to make these the best papers they can be. So, we want to take the opportunity at this significant juncture to thank all the authors and readers for placing their faith in ACS Sensors.
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The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Antonella Mazur, Senior Managing Editor ACS Publications, Washington, DC, United States
Maarten Merkx, Associate Editor Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Shana Kelley, Associate Editor The University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Nongjian Tao, Associate Editor Arizona State University, Tempe, United States
Yi-Tao Long, Associate Editor East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
Eric Bakker, Associate Editor The University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Michael Sailor, Associate Editor
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University of California, San Diego, United States
AUTHOR INFORMATION
ORCID
Maarten Merkx: 0000-0001-9484-3882 Received: July 1, 2018 Published: July 27, 2018
J. Justin Gooding, Editor-in-Chief © 2018 American Chemical Society
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DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.8b00578 ACS Sens. 2018, 3, 1218−1219
ACS Sensors
Editorial
Shana Kelley: 0000-0003-3360-5359 Yi-Tao Long: 0000-0003-2571-7457 Eric Bakker: 0000-0001-8970-4343 Michael Sailor: 0000-0002-4809-9826 Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
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DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.8b00578 ACS Sens. 2018, 3, 1218−1219
