News

New journal launched

Published 21 June 2012

University of Brighton researchers have launched a new journal which will carry articles on research and potential scientific breakthroughs in the field of nanotechnology.

Researchers from the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Group at the University of Brighton are leading the new journal Nanomaterials and the Environment (NATE) in conjunction with publishers Versita.

It follows an open access model and submissions are free for the first two years. It is devoted to the publication of research results in the development of nanomaterials and their impact in the environment, from civil engineering to water, soil and air decontamination techniques to environmental monitoring devices.

Professor Andy Cundy, chair of Applied Geochemistry at the University of Brighton, said: "Nanomaterials and the environment is a rapidly-emerging and sometimes controversial area, and it is important to have a journal that brings together significant developments in this expanding scientific and engineering field, and which disseminates new ideas and technical advances to audiences across the globe."

The journal is online and open access. The journal's advisory board has gathered a number of key academics in the field of nanoscience and the effect of nanomaterials in the environment, including Professor Sir Harold Kroto, Professor at Florida State University and 1996 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry for discovery of buckminster fullerenes (nanoscale all-carbon spheres). Among other leading scientists, Professor Dionysios Dionysiou, chair for Environmental Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, said: "Nanomaterials are now an integral part of our life and the environment. NATE provides an exciting opportunity for a host journal that focuses specifically on environmental applications, implications, and other issues that link nanomaterials and the environment.

"This is a unique journal, with tremendous expected impact in the scientific literature and easy accessibility for scientists, stakeholders, and the public interested in the area of nanotechnology and nanomaterials."

The multidisciplinary nature of the journal will provide opportunities to publish studies that also involve collaboration of scientists and engineers of various disciplines. The journal's editor-in-chief, Dr Raymond Whitby, who heads the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Group at the University of Brighton, said: "The journal is an exciting development which helps strengthen the position of the University of Brighton in this rapidly-advancing field. Naturally, the publication route of open access has received mixed feelings in the academic community, but with a carefully developed strategy the journal aims to expand and continue to attract high-quality submissions over the longer term."

To help establish the journal, no fees will be charged to authors for the first two years. Once the journal is established, it is anticipated that authors will be charged an article processing fee to cover some of the ongoing costs of publication.

Professor Dionysiou said: "The launching of NATE provides new exciting opportunities in the field of environmental nanotechnology and we look forward for novel contributing papers from the scientific community dealing with research in the field of nanomaterials and the environment."