Editorial pubs.acs.org/IC
Cite This: Inorg. Chem. 2019, 58, 1−3
Keeping Those Resolutions
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is Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Director of the Scientific Center of Materials Science at Philipps University, Marburg, Germany. Her research interests revolve around the synthesis, formation mechanisms, and physical properties of compounds and materials with binary and ternary chalcogenidometalate anions, organotetrel chalcogenide compounds, binary Zintl anions, and ternary intermetalloid clusters. Roberta is Professor of Chemistry in the Laboratory of Molecular Magnetism at the University of Florence, Florence, Italy. With a background in coordination chemistry, she has been a pioneer in the field of magnetic bistability at the molecular level in singlemolecule magnets. Other fields of interest include magnetism of lanthanides and the organization of molecules in hybrid architectures. Together, Stefanie and Roberta bring additional expertise in areas where we are seeing increased interest, especially solid-state and inorganic materials chemistry. To replace members of the Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) who have completed their three-year term, 10 new members joined the group (Table 1). To the former, we express our
appy New Year! It is time for our annual reckoning: have we managed to keep last year’s resolutions? What will we resolve to do this year? Last year,1 we resolved to adjust to the ever-broadening interests of authors and readers, as the definition of inorganic chemistry continues to expand beyond the boundaries of “traditional” subfields. At the same time, we resolved to do so in a way that did not alienate those who work in such subfields. I am not sure if we succeeded, but I am convinced that a number of efforts during the past year reflect our commitment to best represent the expansive and vibrant field of inorganic chemistry. Finding a balance between traditional and more modern multidisciplinary views of chemistry2 was the theme at the Forum on Diversity in Inorganic/Organic Chemistry in Europe held at the University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany, in October 2018. Cosponsored by Inorganic Chemistry, Organometallics, The Journal of Organic Chemistry, and Organic Letters, the Forum featured 16 lectures on a range of topics and viewpoints that inspired participants to think about science more broadly. In addition to being inspired by the multifaceted science discussions, associated ACS On-Campus events, and 41 posters presented by student attendees, I learned a lot during the panel discussion on women in science, which highlighted challenges that we continue to face as we aim to diversify our field. The health of our journal depends on having editors and editorial advisory board members with multiple areas of expertise, high scientific standards, and diverse backgrounds and identities. We said goodbye to one Associate Editor last year, James Mayer of Yale University, whose service to the journal over more than 18 years has had enormous positive impact. I am grateful to Jim’s steady efforts, detailed insights, and caring attitude toward authors. His excellent work directly led to significant improvements in the quality of articles published in the journal. We also added two new Associate Editors, Stefanie Dehnen and Roberta Sessoli (Figure 1), who bring different perspectives to the team. As noted in an ACS Axial Post, Stefanie
Table 1. New Members of the EAB name Polly Arnold Ivana Evans Alison R. Fout Swadhin Mandal Nadia Mösch-Zanetti Radha Kishan Motkuri Shilie Pan Anna Proust Jenny Y. Yang Jihong Yu
Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Pierre and Marie Curie University University of California, Irvine Jilin University
gratitude for their help and advice, and to the latter, we say welcome! We look forward to working with all of the new and continuing EAB members, whose expertise and thoughtful insights are instrumental for the success of the journal. In addition to the wide range of scientific perspectives provided by the Associate Editors and EAB, it is also worth noting their geographic and gender diversity. The Associate Editors include 8 men and 6 women, with 7 from the U.S., 4 from Europe, and 3 from Asia, while the EAB features 14 men and 16 women, with 10 from the U.S., 8 from Europe, and 12 from Asia. Last year we resolved to publish more topical collections of new articles (Forums) and to highlight topical collections of already published articles (Virtual Issues). We published two Forums in 2018 (Figure 2): “Rings and Things: The Magic of Building Self-Assembled Cages and Macrocycles” edited by Richard J. Hooley,3 featuring 19 papers using metal-mediated self-assembly to create polygons and polyhedra of different shapes, sizes, and stoichiometries, and “Applications of Metal
Figure 1. New Associate Editors Stefani Dehnen (left) and Roberta Sessoli (right). © 2019 American Chemical Society
institution University of Edinburgh University of Durham University of Illinois, Urbana−Champaign Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata University of Graz Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Published: January 7, 2019 1
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.8b03444 Inorg. Chem. 2019, 58, 1−3
Inorganic Chemistry
Editorial
Figure 2. Covers for the issues featuring Forums published in 2018.
you understand the need to keep the process flowing smoothly so that authors receive feedback quickly. At the same time, we appreciate that doing a careful job in providing constructive criticism and thorough reviews requires time and are grateful for reviewer efforts to help improve the manuscript quality. We also want to bring to your attention to a change in our Author Guidelines related to the length of communications. To make manuscript transfers easier for our authors, we are switching from a three-page limit to a word count limit instead. In this way, we are consistent with other ACS journals that publish communications and letters. Our new criteria are as follows: communications must convey the scientific findings concisely in 2200 words or less, including abstract, main text, and graphical elements, plus approximately four graphics (typically 2 in. long in a single column) and the TOC graphic. References and the TOC synopsis are not included in the word count. Authors no longer need to fit their manuscript into the three-page template, but communications will have to be under the word count limit before acceptance. This is also a good time to point out that when submitting a new paper, always download and use a new template from the Web site because the templates are periodically updated and a version you used in the past and saved may no longer be appropriate. It is important to review the Author Guidelines and ACS Ethical Guidelines to ensure you stay up to date with changes at Inorganic Chemistry (and indeed all of ACS Publications). Furthermore, there is a plethora of advice on writing and submitting your next paper available to help authors and reviewers in the ACS Publishing Center, and I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to take advantage of these resources. The ACS Reviewer Lab is particularly helpful. Designed by ACS Editors, leading scientific researchers, and ACS Publications staff, this free peer-review training course provides real-life guidance on how to navigate tricky ethical situations, identify core criteria for evaluating manuscripts, and write a first-rate review. This course is useful to both new reviewers and those who are more experienced. Another helpful
Complexes with Ligand-Centered Radicals” coedited by Tim Storr and Rabindranath Mukherjee,4 featuring 18 papers reporting on the incorporation of this intriguing design element into metal complexes for a variety of applications. The ACS Select Virtual Issue “Synthetic Chemistry Addressing Challenges in Energy & the Environment” featured 24 papers published since 2016 from Inorganic Chemistry and Journal of the American Chemical Society highlighting research on the human quest to develop new sustainable energy sources and to remediate and protect the environment (coeditors Louise Berben, Ana De Bettencourt Dias, and Amy Prieto). A special feature of this Virtual Issue was that the papers all originated from research groups led by women chemists. Many of these scientists participated in a Division of Inorganic Chemistry symposium at the ACS National Meeting in New Orleans, LA, March 2018, held in conjunction with the release of the Virtual Issue. More recently, Julia Chan and Susan Latturner edited the Virtual Issue “Emerging Investigators in Solid-State Inorganic Chemistry”. This Virtual Issue featured 25 papers published since 2016 from Inorganic Chemistry, Chemistry of Materials, and Journal of the American Chemical Society that demonstrate the creativity, range, and areas of interest of selected up-and-coming researchers in this field who have started their independent laboratories in the past 5−8 years. We believe these Forums and Virtual Issues have great educational value and impact and thus are planning several more in 2019. Upcoming topics include magnetism, metals in biology, lanthanide and actinide chemistry, boron chemistry, polymerization catalysts, and celebrating the International Year of the Periodic Table. In 2018 we saw hefty increases in submissions (>10%) and article downloads (>23% to about 3 million annually). While these statistics are terrific indicators of increasing interest in the field, the larger number of submissions places additional pressure on editors and reviewers to complete their work aimed at evaluating and enhancing the quality of manuscripts in a timely fashion. We apologize for all of the (often automated) reminder emails that we need to send to reviewers; we hope that 2
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.8b03444 Inorg. Chem. 2019, 58, 1−3
Inorganic Chemistry
Editorial
Figure 3. Speakers and sponsors at the symposium in honor of Lee Cronin, the 2018 Inorganic Chemistry Lectureship Awardee. From left to right: yours truly, May D. Nyman, Bernadette Donovan-Merkert (Chair, Division of Inorganic Chemistry), Tianbo Liu, Tatjana N. Parac-Vogt, Lee Cronin, Carsten Streb, Simon M. Humphrey, and Greta R. Patzke.
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resource is the Virtual Issue of Editor Tips for Authors Mastering the Art of Scientific Publication. As noted in the Editorial by Prashant V. Kamat, Jillian M. Buriak, George C. Schatz, and Paul S. Weiss,5 this issue draws together “editorials that summarize the key steps involved in writing an effective paper, journal submission, review processes, and postpublication efforts”. Finally, if things do not go your way and your paper is rejected, we provided some guidance in an Editorial.6 We continue to partner with the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry to sponsor the Inorganic Chemistry Lectureship Award that recognizes extraordinary creativity, impactful research, and a record of accomplishments in the field of inorganic chemistry. The recipient in 2018 was Leroy (Lee) Cronin from the University of Glasgow, who was honored at a symposium at the Fall ACS National Meeting in Boston, MA, that featured some excellent speakers (Figure 3). We still seek nominations for the 2019 award (deadline: January 15), especially for outstanding candidates from diverse geographic regions, genders, and backgrounds. In closing, through the hard work of our editors, EAB members, authors, and reviewers, we like to think that we have made good progress toward keeping last year’s resolutions. Going forward, we will continue to do our best to represent this ever-broadening field of inorganic chemistry, while at the same time making it as painless and seamless as possible for our authors to publish with us and for our reviewers to work with us. We resolve to do an even better job of serving the community through careful and thorough handling of manuscripts, furthering events and activities that highlight exciting science, and improving the way we communicate with authors and reviewers. Personally, I resolve to fit in as many long bike rides as possible in 2019, so as to keep in good journal-editing shape! Thanks for reading.
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REFERENCES
(1) Tolman, W. B. New Year’s Resolutions. Inorg. Chem. 2018, 57, 1− 3. (2) Tolman, W. B.; Miller, S. J.; Chirik, P. J.; Smith, A. B., III Straddling the Rooftop: Finding a Balance between Traditional and Modern Views of Chemistry. Inorg. Chem. 2018, 57, 11299−11305. (3) Hooley, R. J. ″Rings and Things: The Magic of Building SelfAssembled Cages and Macrocycles,″. Inorg. Chem. 2018, 57, 3497− 3499. (4) Storr, T.; Mukherjee, R. ″Preface for the Forum on Applications of Metal Complexes with Ligand-Centered Radicals,″. Inorg. Chem. 2018, 57, 9577−9579. (5) Kamat, P. V.; Buriak, J. M.; Schatz, G. C.; Weiss, P. S. ″Mastering the Art of Scientific Publication,″. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 3519− 3521. (6) Halasyamani, P. S.; Tolman, W. B. ″The Five Stages of Rejection,″. Inorg. Chem. 2018, 57, 4789−4790.
William B. Tolman, Editor-in-Chief AUTHOR INFORMATION
ORCID
William B. Tolman: 0000-0002-2243-6409 Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS. 3
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.8b03444 Inorg. Chem. 2019, 58, 1−3
