RSC to launch new journals

RSC to launch new journals

The imminent launch of two new journals from the RSC points to the society’s growing commitment to cross-disciplinary research. Both titles, for which submissions are already being sought, will be published in print and online in summer 2005.

The journal Molecular BioSystems will have a particular focus on the interface between chemistry, the -omic sciences and systems biology, while the journal Soft Matter will focus on the interface between chemistry and physics. Molecular BioSystems will be hosted initially in the RSC journal Chemical Communications, and Soft Matter will appear in the Journal of Materials Chemistry. Chem Comm and JMC are about to go weekly, with the new titles appearing monthly.

’The borders of physics, chemistry, and life and materials sciences are increasingly fading,’ says Ulli Steiner, professor of physics at the University of Cambridge, UK, and chair of the Soft Matter editorial board. ’The importance of Soft Matter is that it will provide an interdisciplinary platform for the exchange of information, thereby promoting interaction of the different soft matter communities.’

The double launch is strategically important to the RSC’s publishing business, and furthers the RSC’s aim of moving towards a ’broader footprint’. The publishing division is also keen to highlight the speed with which papers are turned round, from submission to publication: ’It is these superior publication times that help to set the RSC apart from its competitors,’ says product marketing manager, Melanie James.

Bea Perks