The times they are a-changin’ – news from Acta Crystallographica Section F

A decade ago Acta Crystallographica Section F was launched with the subtitle Structural Biology and Crystallization Communications under the excellent stewardship of Howard Einspahr and Mitchell Guss. The journal was conceived in response to developments in the field when it was recognized that our community needed a home for the rapid dissemination of structural results and a convenient way to publish crystallization reports. The founding Editors made a commitment to maintain scientific rigor and to best serve our community, the authors and readers. Since 2005 we have all strived to do just that.

For some time now, and driven by advances in our discipline, we have been thinking about what would be considered best for the journal with respect to crystallization papers. We at first decided to change the journal's subtitle to Structural Biology Communications to remove the artificial segregation of crystallization from structural biology and to pave the way for Acta Cryst. F to become a full-fledged structural biology journal. We also analyzed the papers that have focused on crystallization results and decided that in order to streamline their information content, a more formal structure should be put in place for these papers. This led to the development of publBio (http://publbio.iucr.org), which is now widely used to prepare and submit manuscripts for Acta Cryst. F.

We’re not stopping there, we aim to improve the journal still further. We have taken the decision to no longer publish articles on the routine preparation and characterization of macromolecules for which orthologues have already been published or deposited. Furthermore, for a new crystallized macromolecule we expect a degree of characterization not previously required. For example, it will become essential to demonstrate that the correct macromolecule has been crystallized. Further details are available in the new Notes for Authors, available from the Acta Cryst. F author services page.

We are also thinking about requiring the deposition of a diffraction data set together with the submission of a manuscript that reports a successful crystallization. After all, the diffraction data set is evidence for crystallization and is typically described in the paper. We will also ask for further proof of function for enzymes and certain other proteins. The decision to require more data and to publish more interesting macromolecules has been driven by two considerations. Many crystallization communications do not lead to a structural paper or to citations. This suggests that such papers are of little interest or relevance to our community. Increasingly, it is also the case that the structure of the crystallized macromolecule, the subject of the crystallization paper, can be solved and refined quickly. In such a case we would prefer to see the structure published in our journal, with details of the sample preparation and characterization as part of the publication. We believe the outcome of these changes will improve the standard of publications yet maintain support for our community in keeping up to date with the current state of structural biology.

This is an excerpt from the full editorial which can be found at http://journals.iucr.org/f/issues/2014/12/00/me0557/index.html