Looking back, inviting ahead

Environmental Science & Technology was first pub- lished in 1967. For eight years thereafter James Mor- gan of the California Institute of Technology served as editor, guiding the journal in its formative years. He was succeeded by Russell Christman of the University of North Carolina. Russ retires this year after 13 years of sterling service to the journal, the American Chemi- cal Society, and his profession. No doubt he will con- tinue to serve throughout his professional career, but already he has made an indelible mark on the field. During his tenure as editor of ES&T environmental science, particularly environmental chemistry, has grown immensely in stature, sophistication, and breadth. Although ES&T has not been responsible for this growth, I believe it has played a major role in guiding it. Through the efforts of Jim Morgan and Russ Christman, a high standard of quality has been set for our profession through the journal. One can see this process evolving in the issues of ES&T through the years, and it is still proceeding. We owe a great deal to both of the former editors, their associate editors, re- viewers, and staff. They leave an awesome legacy and responsibility to those of us who follow.

Fortunately, the team that will guide the course of the journal will continue to include Philip Singer and John Seinfeld as associate editors, Stanton Miller and Julian Josephson, who serve as managing editor and associate editor, and a manuscript review staff in Washington, D.C., led by Monica Creamer. These are professionals who are dedicated to a high-quality publication with a variety of features that serve the environmental science and technology community. There also are copy editor Victoria Contie and program assistant Kanika Brookins in Washington, D.C. Together with our editorial advi- sory board, I am sure this team will maintain the high

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standards set by our predecessors and will explore ways to make the journal even better.

We do not plan any major changes in the journal format. ES&T will continue to be both a magazine and a scientific journal. We will, however, continue to re- view the content of the magazine section in order to ensure that it is appropriate for a journal of the Ameri- can Chemical Society. As a former member of the Edi- torial Advisory Board, I know that the editorial staff is dedicated to a magazine section which is of the highest quality. New columns such as the “Bulletin Board” will be added and, in my view, the magazine section is now as strong and relevant as it has ever been.

The associate editors and I will be most concerned, of course, with the quality of the scientific papers that are published in ES&T. We will continue to press for more rapid turnaround of manuscripts in the editorial office and from reviewers, so that our time of publica- tion will be competitive with all of the journals in our field. We will also be receptive to papers from any field of environmental science and technology if a compo- nent of the work is of a chemical nature and the quality of the paper is high.

It is, of course, you who are the authors and readers of the journal who must act as the final judge of the usefulness and quality of the product. I encourage each of you to express your views in the various sections of the journal available for that purpose, and also to me personally.

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