IUCr 1996 Report - Journal of Synchrotron Radiation

The first major review of Journal of Synchrotron Radiation (JSR) was published in Nature [Nature (London) (1996), 383, 42]. It is worth repeating some of the points made in this independent review. It says that `developments in the application of synchrotron radiation research have benefited enormously from fertilization between otherwise distinct research areas, and there is no doubt that this new journal will play an important part in furthering such interdisciplinary interactions'. The review goes on to say that the `speed, together with the quality of the contributions so far and the high standard of production, makes the journal attractive to authors and required reading for workers in what worldwide is still a rapidly expanding field'. We note that the reviewer points out that even though the quality of articles in JSR has been high, the issues have remained fairly slim.

Last year, we reiterated our main objectives of JSR becoming the focus of the whole of the synchrotron radiation community and to accept papers only of a high standard covering sources, instrumentation, methods and applications. We have strived to publish them rapidly and to a high technical standard so that the rapidly expanding community is informed of the latest developments quickly and effectively. The review cited above confirms that these objectives have been met.

Our main focus now is to increase the size of the issues without compromising the quality of the papers. Even though we are receiving a larger number of quality contributions, a number of very suitable papers are being published elsewhere. Our aim is to attract more of these.

The six issues in 1996 have covered the whole range of subjects spanning the production of synchrotron radiation and its utilization throughout the spectral region. In each of the issues, the interdisciplinary and potential for cross-fertilization has been obvious. Several `first results' from third-generation sources have been reported.

The growth of synchrotron radiation has continued worldwide with the news that the first beam was established in the Brazilian synchrotron radiation source. This year, SPring-8, the world's highest energy synchrotron radiation source, is due to have its first beam and first results are expected to be reported at SRI-97, the refereed proceedings of which will be published in JSR.

The excitement of continued growth and opportunities can also be felt in new concepts emerging for the fourth-generation synchrotron radiation sources, whether these are large centralized sources such as X-ray free electron lasers or distributed `single-user' customized synchrotron radiation sources. JSR will continue to play its part in providing the necessary platform for rapid communication and scientific and technical exchanges necessary for the evolution of these ideas to facilitate the development of synchrotron radiation sources, and their applications, in the next millennium.

J. R. Helliwell, S. S. Hasnain, H. Kamitsubo, Editors

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