Journal of Applied Crystallography: the first 50 years and beyond

The first issue of Journal of Applied Crystallography appeared in April 1968. So, with the April 2018 issue we celebrate its 50th birthday. Although the name suggests a focus on crystallography, Journal of Applied Crystallography has served a broad interdisciplinary readership ever since its conception, and the very first paper published was a paper on electron microscopy [Heidenreich, Hess & Ban (1968), J. Appl. Cryst. 1, 1-19]. Before long, Journal of Applied Crystallography had developed its reputation as a reliable forum for rigorously reviewed papers across the whole breadth of applied crystallography, with a strong presence of research combining crystallographic methods with other measurements.

Through the hard work of all our editors and editorial staff, Journal of Applied Crystallography continues to be recognized as a place to publish significant research featuring applied crystallography and crystallography applied in an interdisciplinary setting, as well as studies on noncrystalline materials. Our mix of published papers continues to include work associated with high-brilliance synchrotron and free-electron laser X-ray sources, despite many other avenues (both IUCr and non-IUCr) being available for reporting such research. We retain a strong presence in neutron scattering applications, and we continue to encourage industrial applications of crystallography. Finally, our founding Editor, André Guinier, would be very pleased to see that the prominence of small-angle scattering, the field he founded, has not diminished in these pages over the years.

We express our appreciation for all the readers, authors, reviewers, editors and technical staff who have made the journal what it has become over the past 50 years. And we look forward to working with the Journal of Applied Crystallography community to make the next 50 years even better.