Editorial pubs.acs.org/IECR
I&EC Research: Looking Ahead My vision for I&EC Research is to see it not only remain the largest and most-cited but also become the undisputed, No. 1, general-interest chemical engineering/applied chemistry journal in the world. To make I&EC Research the obvious first choice for authors, we want to maintain its prominence in terms of size and total citations while also increasing the average impact of the articles we publish. I anticipate that the journal will become even more selective in the years ahead. We will also take steps to reduce the average time from manuscript submission to acceptance, to increase further the impact factor of the journal, and to produce virtual special issues that provide additional exposure for articles that focus on common themes. Details about these and other initiatives will be forthcoming. In closing, I want to again acknowledge Don Paul, along with Susan Chapman and Jody Castano, for their tireless work over the years to make I&EC Research the outstanding journal that it is today. They have set the bar very high. I also appreciate the investments made by our Associate Editors, the Editorial Advisory Board members, and the ACS Publications staff. Of course, the future of the journal is really in your hands as our readers, authors, and reviewers. I look forward to receiving, reading, and publishing your manuscripts as you continue tackling the pressing problems of our time.
I
am grateful to have the privilege and honor of succeeding Don Paul as Editor-in-Chief of I&EC Research. Under Don’s steady guidance, I&EC Research has become the largest and most cited chemical engineering research journal in the world. In 2013, the journal published nearly 2000 articles and received nearly 40 000 citations. The shale gas boom in the United States, growing global emphasis on providing clean energy, clean water, and protecting the environment, and continued development in China, India, and other countries indicate that chemical engineering research will continue to grow, as will I&EC Research. Don Paul’s editorial in the previous issue outlines the many changes to which the journal has had to adapt and respond during his 27 years at the helm. The strength of the journal today is a testament to the remarkable job that Don has done. The chemical engineering research community owes Don a debt of gratitude for the excellence he displayed daily in his role as Editor. As I assume this new role, I am fortunate to have an established and experienced team of eight Associate Editors who are recognized experts in their fields and dedicated to their profession and to the ongoing success of this journal. I will undoubtedly be leaning heavily on this team as I make the transition from Associate Editor to Editor-in-Chief. I have long considered I&EC Research and the three quarterlies that preceded it to be essential reading for chemical engineering and applied chemistry research. I still recall the hours spent in the library at the University of Delaware during my graduate student days leafing through the new issues of the quarterlies as they arrived. Invariably, there were articles that were related to my research and that gave me a broader understanding of the research frontiers in my field. My first publication as a Ph.D. student was in one of the I&EC quarterlies, and my first publication as a faculty member at Michigan was in I&EC Research. Given the high regard I hold for I&EC Research, and my long association with the journal as an Associate Editor, a reader, an author, and a frequent reviewer, I am delighted to now be assuming the role of Editorin-Chief. I&EC Research has a long history of recording seminal research advances in chemical engineering. Looking at the list of the hundred or so most highly cited articles from the I&EC quarterlies and from I&EC Research reveals foundational articles on equations of state (e.g., the Peng−Robinson equation), the fundamentals of diffusion in particles, mass transfer in packed and fluidized beds, criteria for assessing transport limitations in heterogeneous catalytic reactions, process control, catalytic hydroprocessing, catalytic oxidation, heat transfer, etc. The journal has also played a key role in publishing pioneering papers that helped to create or provide direction for new fields such as biofuels, biomass processing, ionic liquids, and supercritical fluids. We seek to continue the success of the journal by continuing to publish important articles from thought leaders in chemical engineering and applied chemistry around the world. © 2013 American Chemical Society
Phillip E. Savage, Editor
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Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2136, United States
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Notes
Views expressed in this Editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
Published: December 13, 2013 1
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie404131h | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 1−1
