editorial
Some Words about Categories of Manuscripts
T
his editorial is a discourse on the different kinds of research manuscripts that are submitted to Analytical Chemistry, and with a little friendly guidance to authors. The manuscripts have in common an intention to measure a chemical, either qualitatively or quantitatively, within a wide range of concentrations, dimensions, and timescales. For the purpose of this discussion, all manuscripts clearly present technically sound, careful, correct measurements with interpretations fully justified by the experimental evidence and without needless speculation, and with control experiments that explored alternative explanations. In other words, these manuscripts describe high-quality analytical chemistry. We value our reviewers who help the Editors discover the manuscripts’ qualities or their flaws—hopefully correctable but sometimes fatal. The above manuscripts deal with a variety of aims and topics within analytical chemistry. Some focus on new or improved analytical methodology, instrumentation, transducers, protocols, and theory of measurement responses—all of which are central to analytical measurement science. This journal welcomes the opportunity to evaluate and publish such manuscripts. Other categories of manuscripts aim at measuring particular analytes (acetone vapor in human breath) or analytes in particular matrices (perchlorate in soil) or the timescale with which particular analytes come and go (neurotransmitters in the brain). Provided that the presence of the analyte in a matrix is important analytical news, is a newly discovered constituent of the matrix, is accessed at a previously unattained level of sensitivity, or has intrinsic chemical significance in the context of its measurement, these manuscripts are also valued by the journal and its readers. Yet other desirable manuscript topic categories deal with the composition and properties of significant new chemical substances that offer special analytical challenges—to clarify, I emphasize the word challenges (i.e., as opposed to routine use of known methodology).
© 2008 American Chemical Societ y
Still other manuscript topical categories—especially those involving analytes in food, pharmaceuticals, or the environment—aim at evaluating the provenance (origin) of a substance, the possibility that it is adulterated with a known contaminant, and whether certain interesting substances are present. Many such manuscripts are strongly recommended by our reviewers, owing to the papers’ innate originality. Others, unfortunately, do not fare so well. I have in mind here specific examples. One is the discovery of particular chemical substances in plant materials, particularly herbal products. These are probably more appropriate for journals that deal in the discovery of “natural products”, which is a well-established field of science and is important for potentially important pharmaceuticals. A second specific example is a form of vegetable oil, whose value can lead to its illegal labeling by dishonest marketers. This example is actually a forensic and/or economic story, which by itself does not promote favorable reviewer responses. These two specific examples are explicitly part of my friendly advice to submitting authors. Finally, a thinking Editor will admit that he or she never knows “what’s around the corner up ahead” and may encounter a manuscript that presents a new measurement, analyte, matrix, or timescale that is so far departed from past analytical measurements that it can change our views of what is important science. Those manuscripts are few and far between, but it is crucial that, even in the face of a growing volume of papers that need evaluation, our peer-review system be capable of recognizing them, and that the intellectual boundaries of our discipline be flexible enough to accommodate them.
J u ly 1 , 2 0 0 8 / A n a ly t i c a l C h e m i s t r y
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