IUCr 1993 Triennial Report - Commission on Journals

Acta Crystallographica and the Journal of Applied Crystallography have been published on or close to schedule throughout the triennium. The total number of papers in Acta Cryst. during this period decreased slightly to 3274, while the papers in J. Appl. Cryst. increased slightly to 408. Papers were received from 50 countries. Median publication times for Full Articles were up slightly for Sections A and B, to 5.2 months and 5.6 months, respectively, and were up approximately 50% for Section C, from 4.9 months during the last triennium to 7.5 months. This increase is due to the backlog of Section C papers that occurred in 1990 but which has since been cleared with the installation of new computer facilities, centralized checking procedures, and an expanded editorial staff in the Technical Editor's office.

Commitments have been made by selected authors for publication of 19 future Lead Articles in Acta Cryst. and seven in J. Appl. Cryst. In addition to these invited Lead Articles, the Commission approved the submission of unsolicited review articles covering topics of general interest to the crystallographic community.

Subscription rates for Acta Cryst. and J. Appl. Cryst. rose each year during the triennium after having remained constant for several years. While the number of subscribers taking all three sections of Acta Cryst. decreased by 7%, the number of subscriptions to the individual sections increased slightly. J. Appl. Cryst. subscriptions declined by 2.5% during the triennium.

Revised Notes for Authors for Acta Cryst. were published in late 1991. The new Notes for Section C instituted new publication requirements and submission procedures in January 1992, including procedures designed to facilitate the direct transfer of text and numerical data from authors' computers to the typesetting programs in the Technical Editor's office.

The Executive Committee accepted the recommendation that the new Acta Cryst. Section D, Biological Crystallography, be launched, with a publication date of January 1993. This new section of the Acta Cryst. series will be devoted primarily to macromolecular crystallography, especially the structural aspects of these crystallographic studies. J. P. Glusker was appointed Editor of this section, and she has named an Advisory Board to assist her in developing general policies and targeting appropriate audiences. All current subscribers to Acta Cryst. (except those taking only Section C) will receive the new Section D.

The Executive Committee also approved the appointment of individual editors for Sections A, B and C of Acta Cryst. The Chairman of the Commission on Journals will be Editor-in-Chief of the Acta Cryst. series, and will present nominations for the individual editors to the Executive Committee at the Beijing Congress.

A. M. Glazer succeeded M. Schlenker as Editor of J. Appl. Cryst. following the Bordeaux Congress in 1990. New J. Appl. Cryst. Co-editors appointed during the triennium were C. J. Howard, J. I. Langford, J. Vicat, T. C. Huang and H. Hashizume. New Acta Cryst. Co-editors appointed were I. D. Brown, P. W. Codding, S. R. Hall, A. Kálmán, M. Ohmasa, M. Nardelli, D. Schwarzenbach, E. T. Adman, T. A. Jones, M. J. Adams and M. Vijayan. Co-editors who retired during the triennium were A. Gavezzotti and H. Burzlaff for Acta Cryst. and H. Iwasaki and B. Morosin for J. Appl. Cryst. R. F. Bryan was appointed the new Book Review Editor to replace R. Gould. The Commission greatly appreciates the time spent by the Co-editors and the Book Review Editor in performing their editorial and administrative duties, and looks forward to their help with the journals during the next triennium.

The editorial staff in the Technical Editor's office in Chester was significantly expanded during the triennium. The additional staffing has been necessary due to the increased use of in-house computing facilities for the checking and archiving of structural data, and to handle the increasing numbers of electronically submitted manuscripts. The Commission commends all members of the Technical Editor's staff for their excellent and loyal work, and for their flexibility and enthusiasm throughout the major transitions that occurred in our publishing operations.

13 March 1993                             C. E. BUGG, Chairman
                                     A. M. GLAZER, Co-Chairman 

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