Soft Matter's Commissioning Editor talks about her plans following the journal's first steps as an independent publication.

Katie grew up in Leeds, West Yorkshire. After graduating with a Masters in Chemistry in 2003 from the University of Durham, she spent time working with the Sure/Rexona antiperspirant brand for Unilever HPCE. She joined the RSC in January 2005 as an Assistant Editor, and has since been a Science Correspondent for Chemistry World and Editor of the RSC news supplement Chemical Science. She was promoted to Commissioning Editor for Soft Matter in February 2006. Here, she tells us about her plans and the challenges facing her and Soft Matter following its first steps as an independent publication.  

What inspired you to pursue a career in science?

I've always had a curiosity about how things work and why, so a career in science was the ideal choice for me. In fact, both my parents have a background in chemistry so I guess you could say I was born into it. I did toy with the idea of rebelling and turning to a career in music at one point, but the pull of science was too strong in the end!

Soft Matter was spun out as an independent publication from the host, Journal of Materials Chemistry, after only 18 months. What were the reasons behind this bold move?

The separation from its host journal in January 2007 to become an independent publication was a natural progression for Soft Matter. The journal was created as the answer to the needs of the community, the call for an interdisciplinary platform where physicists, biologists, materials scientists, engineers and chemists could communicate their research, so it's not surprising that it is incredibly popular with both authors and readers alike. And the phenomenal rate at which promotional copies of the journal usually disappear from our conference exhibition stand proves it! Soft Matter has been going from strength to strength since its launch in June 2005 and is already recognised as a major player in the soft matter field. This was reflected in our impressive first immediacy index* of 1.022 which places us clearly ahead of our competitors and signifies that Soft Matter really is publishing the cutting edge research in the field. Submissions have since been rapidly increasing and, by going solo, Soft Matter has more scope to grow and develop with the community.

What exciting developments can we expect from Soft Matter in the coming months?

Since launch, the Soft Matter editorial office has been constantly busy with exciting developments and plans, and we intend to keep it this way! This summer will see the release of our first impact factor,^# and I'm anticipating a strong value that will really demonstrate the high quality work we have been attracting. Our recent application for inclusion of Soft Matter into the PubMed/MEDLINE® database will forge and further strengthen our links with the biological community. And that's only the tip of the iceberg: with many other new developments currently in the pipeline, make sure you keep an eye out for our latest news!

And finally, where do you see Soft Matter in five years time?

We are already attracting some of the best researchers in the field and I think it's important to maintain and build on this to establish a strong relationship with the community. I'd really like to see Soft Matter grow in market share and continue to develop into an indispensable resource for physicists, biologists, chemists, materials scientists and chemical engineers working in the area of soft matter. There are some exciting times ahead and interdisciplinary platforms like Soft Matter will be integral in the shaping the future of scientific research.

 

*From 2005 Journal Citation Reports®, released June 2006. The journal Immediacy Index indicates how quickly articles in a journal are cited. For comparing journals specializing in cutting-edge research, the Immediacy Index can provide a useful perspective. 

#Impact factors provide an indication of the average number of citations per paper. Produced annually by ISI®, they are calculated by dividing the number of citations in a year, by the number of citeable articles published in the preceding two years. As Soft Matter was launched in mid 2005, the 2006 impact factor will be a partial value.