Environmental Chemistry: the Year in Review and Future Plans

In the past year Environmental Chemistry has built a substantial readership and gained a firm footing as the place to publish rigorously reviewed chemistry in an environmental context.

Submissions to Environmental Chemistry are growing. The referees consistently comment on the high quality of science being submitted to the journal. We have published Reviews, Opinion pieces, and Research Papers from prominent and diverse scientists such as Graeme Batley, Paul Worsfold, Don Stedman, and Renyi Zhang. Every paper published so far has been frequently downloaded; the top three from each issue are listed below. Three issues were published in 2004. We will publish four in 2005 and plan to grow this to six in 2006.

We received sponsorship from BHP Billiton and DuPont, which allowed us to distribute the 2004 issues free of charge and to announce the journal at four international conferences last year:

• Interact 2004 (4–8 July, Gold Coast, Australia)

• American Chemical Society Fall Meeting (22–26 August, Philadelphia, USA)

• Federation of European Chemical Societies ‘Chemistry of the Environment‘ meeting (29 August–1 September, Bordeaux, France)

• International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) meeting (4–9 September, Christchurch, New Zealand)

DuPont has increased their support for 2005, and the 2004 issues will remain freely accessible online during 2005.

We have had several questions from readers, authors, and scientists at conferences, and there are two frequent questions that we would like to address here:

1. Does the scope include (planetary/astro/earth/geo/polar) chemistry?
YES! Everywhere is an environment. Any chemical processes that are unique to or dependent on the environment in which they are occurring are included in Environmental Chemistry. One of the main motivations behind the journal was to bring all aspects of environmental chemistry together in one place in order to promote the exchange of ideas between chemical scientists working in different aspects of the environment, and to find common chemical processes in disparate environments. ‘Nature does not respect boundaries. We do the discipline of environmental chemistry a disservice if we envisage that its scope is limited to chemical processes occurring within our biosphere,’ according to Simon Petrie at the Australian National University, ‘a complete study of the environment should encompass the processes by which that environment originated.’

2. How does Environmental Chemistry differ from existing publications?
Environmental Chemistry differs from other journals in two major ways: Firstly in our definition of the environment, as discussed above and secondly in our specific focus on chemical processes of the environment. Chemical scientists working on environmental problems have often resorted to publishing in biological, ecological, or technologically focussed journals, where the chemistry may be less rigorously assessed. On the other hand, some publish in pure chemistry journals, where the chemistry receives good critical evaluation, but where the environmental context may not be appreciated. Environmental Chemistry fills this need. Every manuscript we publish has been rigorously reviewed by several chemical scientists with specialist expertise. Each manuscript is also professionally copyedited and presented to the broader environmental community with the environmental significance clearly emphasized.

We are planning in future issues of the journal to publish ‘Research Fronts’. These encompass a cluster of papers in a rapidly developing or topical area, and the first will appear in Issue 2. Such a collection of papers might include (for example) a short Review, two or three Rapid Communications, and an Opinion piece. Thus, Research Fronts will enable readers to get an appreciation for the topic and its pressing issues. Suggestions for future Research Front topics are very welcome.

We hope that you have enjoyed Environmental Chemistry so far—if so, make sure your library is subscribing. Please send questions or comments on any aspect of the journal to either of us at publishing.env@csiro.au. Better still, attach a manuscript.

All the best for 2005,

Alison Green and Richard Hecker

• opinion: ‘Rediscovering Atmospheric Surfactants’, Peter Brimblecombe and Mohd Talib Latif, Environ. Chem. 2004, 1, 11. doi:10.1071/EN04044

• opinion: ‘Chemistry—More than a One-Line Item’, Graeme E. Batley, Environ. Chem. 2004, 1, 8. doi:10.1071/EN04047

• rapid communication: ‘Chemical Characterization of Water-Soluble Organic Aerosols at Jeju Island Collected During ACE-Asia’, Hong Yang, Jinhui Xu, Wai-Shing Wu, Chun Hong Wan, and Jian Zhen Yu, Environ. Chem. 2004, 1, 13. doi:10.1071/EN04006

• review: ‘Marine Biogeochemistry of Iron’, Simon J. Ussher, Eric P. Achterberg, and Paul J. Worsfold, Environ. Chem. 2004, 1, 67. doi:10.1071/EN04053

• review: ‘Brominated Flame Retardants in the Environment—The Price for our Convenience?’, Jacob de Boer, Environ. Chem. 2004, 1, 81. doi:10.1071/EN04038

• opinion: ‘Photochemical Ozone Formation, Simplified’, Donald H. Stedman, Environ. Chem. 2004, 1, 65. doi:10.1071/EN04032

• review: ‘Organic Trace Gases in the Atmosphere: An Overview’, Jonathan Williams, Environ. Chem. 2004, 1, 125. doi:10.1071/EN04057

• research paper: ‘Atmospheric Oxidation Mechanism of Isoprene’, Jiwen Fan and Renyi Zhang, Environ. Chem. 2004, 1, 140. doi:10.1071/EN04045

• research paper: ‘Cadmium Adsorption by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and its Interaction with the Cell Wall Proteins’, Heliana Kola, Luis M. Laglera, Nalini Parthasarathy, and Kevin J. Wilkinson, Environ. Chem. 2004, 1, 172. doi:10.1071/EN04061