RSC Journals Archive reaches new heights

Full access to the RSC Journals Archive has just got one step closer for all UK-based students and academics, thanks to a groundbreaking agreement with the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) to purchase the package.

The licence purchase, which represents the first chemical resource transaction for the organisation, enables JISC to offer all UK education institutions access to the archive's content from this month.

Complete with the Athens authentication facility, the package allows individuals from universities within the scheme to access the content remotely.

The RSC Journals Archive contains 1.2 million pages of chemical science from all journals published by the RSC, and its forerunner societies, from 1841 to 1996.

Since its launch in January this year, the archive has rapidly become an essential resource; libraries throughout the world, at leading research institutes have been quick to realise its value and provide access to their customers.

'It is very exciting to be able to search the full-text of approximately 195,000 papers (from 1841-1996)' praises Dana Roth, librarian at Caltech, USA 'The RSC is to be commended for providing both electronic access and full-text searching of this significant historical literature.'

Pay-per-view downloads for individuals at institutes that do not yet have full access, are also proving to be extremely popular, with downloads from the archive equalling those from all current RSC Journals in the six months since its launch.

Dalton meets MEDLINE

Dalton Transactions has been selected by the National Library of Medicine to be indexed and included in Index Medicus/MEDLINE - the world's most comprehensive source of life sciences and biomedical bibliographic information.

Coverage will begin from 2004 and represents a significant milestone for the journal, recognising the increasing quantity and quality of bioinorganic research published within it.

A number of RSC Journals are now indexed in MEDLINE and all chemical biology content is showcased free of charge in the Chemistry Biology Virtual Journal.

Making a major impact

The latest impact factors, released by ISI, show encouraging growth for a number of RSC journals. Calculated annually, ISI impact factors provide an indication of the quality of a journal, and take into account the number of citations in a given year for all the citeable documents published within a journal in the preceding two years.

Highlights from the RSC this year include CrystEngComm (the RSC's electronic-only journal) which received an impressive first impact factor of 2.73. This compares favourably with its competitors and places the journal in a strong position from which to grow. Similarly, Lab on a Chip's second impact factor of 4.27 confirms its leading position as the premier journal dedicated to miniaturisation and related research at the micro- and nanoscale.

Review material always proves to be popular and high impact, and two RSC review journals have seen their impact factors reflect this trend. Natural Product Reports and Chemical Society Reviews can now report figures of 7.529 and 9.569 respectively - proof that year on year, RSC Journals continue to make an impact.