Final (data) analysis

Checking your experimental data for publication has just been made easier, thanks to a collaboration between the Unilever Centre for Molecular Science Informatics (at the University of Cambridge) and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Experimental data on new molecules in organic and inorganic chemistry is usually presented in a standard form, varying little from journal to journal. Ensuring that it is consistent and free from transcription errors, often seen as a laborious and time-consuming task, can now be done at the press of a button using a specially developed Java toolkit. Described on the website of the chemistry department at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada as 'a remarkable program that checks to see whether your experimental section makes sense', it enables scientists to simply cut and paste their experimental data (or full paper) into an online applet or downloadable program, and run the checks themselves. Information such as melting points, Rf values, infra-red and NMR data, and mass spectral information are all examined and any errors or inconsistencies highlighted. Additional functions, such as the ability to generate approximations to the spectra, and the option of extracting information from manuscripts for storage and analysis, make the experimental data checker an invaluable tool for journal authors, referees and readers alike. The online applet and downloadable Java program are also freely available on the RSC website along with a toolkit that can be used to develop other applications.

Experimental data checker

Editors' Symposium

The second RSC Editors' Symposium was held in Glasgow, UK, from 13-15 March. Over 60 RSC staff and 120 editorial board members from all over the world gathered for a thought-provoking weekend of lively discussion and debate over the future development of RSC publishing. Feedback from the US associate editor for Dalton Transactions, Professor John Arnold, epitomised comments received from the attendees and branded the event a success, "I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting ....it's a great idea to get everyone together in such a forum. It was helpful to hear about the latest developments in publishing, and the opportunity to meet RSC staff was a real pleasure."

Editors' Symposium

Crystal growth

Current developments in crystal engineering, and their future potential, are the topic of the forthcoming CrystEngComm Discussion meeting, being held at the University of Nottingham (8-10th September 2004). Reflecting the strong interdisciplinary nature of the subject, the meeting will focus on a number of topics which include: 'Intermolecular Interactions: Evaluation and Application to Crystal Design' and 'Polymorphism, Crystal Transformation and Reactivity'. Delegates will represent a broad range of disciplines and will include supramolecular chemists, materials scientists, physical chemists, physicists and theoreticians. RSC Discussion meetings are unique in that all papers presented at the meeting are refereed and distributed to delegates in advance. Consequently, each author is given only a few minutes to summarise the key points of their paper leaving the majority of time for discussion. The papers will be published in a special issue of CrystEngComm.  To find out more about the electronic journal CrystEngComm visit: