Editorial pubs.acs.org/Langmuir
Our Vision for a Bright Future Langmuir moves beyond its 30th anniversary milestone with a new logo that expresses the leading position of Langmuir as The ACS journal of fundamental interface science. In contrast to other journals in the ACS family that focus on material properties or applications, Langmuir publishes original advances in the fundamental understanding of systems and materials in which the interface dominates structure and function. This emphasis on fundamental interface science is important as it implies that, in addition to advances in chemistry, Langmuir embraces advances in physics, the biological sciences, and engineering as long as the focus is on interfacial properties and the emphasis is on fundamental science. In view of the increase in the number of journals that have been become available to authors in recent years and the fastmoving pace of modern science the team of Langmuir senior editors and the members of the Langmuir Editorial Advisory Board undertook an extensive study to define the journal’s scope. Keeping in mind the general themes of interfaces and fundamental science, this exercise resulted in the following specific examples of what Langmuir is: • Surfaces and interfaces (synthetic and natural): adsorption, surfactants, emulsions, ultrathin films, forces and dynamics • Surface chemistry of interface-rich systems and nanoparticles/colloids • Interface-driven stability; response, organization, and self-organization of (nano)particle suspensions and structures • Charge transfer at interfaces: electrochemistry, processes related to energy use and production • Biointerfaces: synthetic surfaces in vivo and in vitro • Measurements on interfaces and colloids • Understanding of fundamental interfacial properties aided by theory and computation You will find this list in the updated Author Guidelines for Langmuir authors that you should consult prior to submitting your manuscript to Langmuir. In addition to defining Langmuir’s scope, the Author Guidelines provides information about how to prepare your article, what types of articles Langmuir publishes (Articles, Invited Feature Articles, Invited Historical Articles, and Invited Instructional Articles), and other useful information about the submission, review, and publication process. Major changes in the Author Guidelines were made in response to authors’ suggestions. For example, we no longer place restrictions on the length of articles, the number of figures, or the number of references. We do, however, ask that authors convey their research in a concise manner because the impact of long, wordy articles is reduced. For this reason, we encourage authors to place highly specialized information, which is likely to be of interest only to the reviewers and other experts, in the supporting information. This ensures that the main message of the article is clear to the general reader. Remember also that the title of the manuscript is the first contact the scientific community has with your article! © 2015 American Chemical Society
In addition to providing more freedom to authors in terms of the construction of their articles, we have made some other changes. For example, Langmuir no longer supports the letters format. An analysis showed that this was an under-utilized vehicle for publication in Langmuir and that it would be better to encourage the submission of short-but-complete articles instead. There are several other innovations coming to Langmuir in 2016 and beyond. First, we will highlight recent must-read articles for the Langmuir community of authors and readers. These “new and notable” articles will be selected by the editorial advisory board members or the Langmuir senior editors. Information about the articles and the authors will be provided on Langmuir’s new Facebook page, which will be accessible from Langmuir’s homepage. Second, we will publish one or two Tribute Issues each year to celebrate the career of the most influential scientists in the field of fundamental interface science. The very popular special issues, which focused on specific topics of current interest, will continue to appear throughout the year. It is a pleasure for me to thank all of the senior editors for their outstanding contributions to the life of Langmuir now and in the future. Three editors joined the team in 2015 and have made their marks already! Senior Editors Maria Santore and Joe Schlenoff oversaw the redefinition of Langmuir’s scope. Senior Editor Robert Corn helped assemble the virtual issue Creating and Controlling Biointerfaces, which was organized with Vince Rotello, Editor-in-Chief of Bioconjugate Chemistry, to illustrate the complementarity of the two journals. Senior Editor Walter Richtering is presently editing our first tribute special issue, set to appear in 2016. We are delighted to announce that Dr. Atsushi Takahara of Kyushu University in Fukuoka will join the editorial team in 2016. Finally, I would like to thank Langmuir’s authors and reviewers who dedicate so much of their valuable time and outstanding science to the journal! On behalf of the entire team at Langmuir, I wish all of our authors, reviewers, and readers a happy new year.
■
Françoise M. Winnik, Editor-in-Chief Richard M. Crooks, Executive Editor AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
Published: December 30, 2015 1
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b04453 Langmuir 2016, 32, 1−1
