The Journal of Materials Research just celebrated a third of a century of publication, presenting the best of materials research since 1986. Since the beginning of the journal, the materials field has seen major developments, including the discovery of graphene, high T c superconductors, nanoscience, high entropy alloys, and much more. Perusal of the most cited papers demonstrates that JMR authors have contributed to major materials revolutions, including nanoindentation, sol gel science, diamond synthesis, polymer particle nanocomposites, biomaterials, and advanced characterization tools.
The topical trajectory of JMR over the years has closely correlated with changes in the materials science discipline, the evolution of academic materials science and engineering departments, and especially national and international research funding initiatives. The Materials Research Society has embraced these changes, and MRS meetings have maintained their multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary roots – answering the vision of the society’s founders.
Today, materials research spans all science and engineering fields, becoming truly interdisciplinary and enabling the cross-disciplinary research approach needed to address new materials research needs in energy, electronics, manufacturing, and new materials discovery.
To center the publishing spectrum of JMR within today’s materials world and MRS meeting offerings, we have made new steps in that direction. First, the Aims and Scope for JMR now calls for reporting on new developments and discoveries arising from this multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary research approach. Published papers will communicate significant new developments in the science and engineering of advanced materials. Second, JMR presents a fresh new article design that facilitates knowledge transfer to the reader by placing the results up front and the how-to at the end for ready reference. The new design is also more engaging for today’s digital reading.
These changes both align JMR with the current excitement in materials development and establish the journal as a leading purveyor of the best in materials research. In the decades to come, we look forward to sharing the best of materials revolutions in additive manufacturing, quantum materials, energy storage, 2D materials, computationally-driven materials discovery, and much more. We look forward to your feedback!
Gary L. Messing
Editor-in-Chief
February 2019
