The New Acta Crystallographica

Charlie Bugg, Editor-in-Chief of IUCr Journals.

Individual editors have been appointed to oversee the separate sections of Acta Crystallographica. A. Authier from the U. of Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris will be the Editor of Section A ("Foundations of Crystallography"); F. Allen from the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre in England will be the Editor of Section B ("Structural Science"); S. Hall from the U. of Western Australia will be the Editor of Section C ("Crystal Structure Communications"), and J. Glusker, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA is Editor of Acta D ("Biological Crystallography"). The activities of these Editors will be coordinated by the Editor-in-Chief of Acta Crystallographica, C. Bugg, Chairman of the IUCr Commission on Journals. The Editor of the Journal of Applied Crystallography, M. Glazer from the U. of Oxford, will continue to serve as Co-Chairman of the Commission on Journals.

Over the years, the different sections of Acta Cryst. have become more specialized as the journal has grown, and each of the individual sections will now have an Editor with expertise in the areas of crystallography covered by the respective sections of Acta Cryst. The Editors will interact more closely with the authors who publish in these sections, and better respond to changing needs of the crystallography community. The Editors will be part of a subcommittee of the Commission on Journals, along with the Editors of the Journal of Applied Crystallography and the Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, that will meet on a regular schedule to coordinate policies. This group of Editors has been working closely with the Technical Editor's staff in Chester. Among initiatives in progress are an expansion of Lead Articles to include more subjects of current interest to the crystallographic community; the introduction of brief review articles on timely topics; new procedures that will allow Short Communications to be published rapidly through desktop publishing procedures; a re-design of the Tables of Contents to highlight pertinent features of articles; and the introduction of new covers for each of the sections of Acta Crystatlographica. These initiatives should enhance the usefulness of Acta Cryst. to the community, attract a broader base of readers, and make the journal more appealing to librarians around the world.