We certainly had very high hopes for Small from the outset. Our mission from day one was to publish a high-impact multidisciplinary journal with an emphasis on science and technology on the nano- and microscale. It was always our intention to publish articles of the best possible quality and to provide a wide range of articles for our readers, both in terms of the types of articles published and also the subject matter itself. Thus, the journal was intended to have relevance to all scientists, both academic and industrial, whose research is carried out at reduced length scales, be they chemists, materials scientists, biologists, engineers, physicists, etc. In addition, the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology are without doubt at the very forefront of scientific and technological advancement at this time, and so it is perhaps not so surprising that Small is being well cited by the community.

“My wish is that people will pick up a copy of Small and be stimulated to become involved in some of the rich variety of research opportunities that are represented throughout the issue.”

A number of reasons spring to mind to explain why the citation rate has increased so rapidly. First, the journal is supported by some of the real pioneers and leaders in science and technology at reduced length scales; their support is certainly seen as a sign of the journal's quality. The fact that excellent papers from top scientists have appeared from the very first issue onward has also helped to cement our reputation as an excellent forum for their work. Small has a broad appeal to scientists from many disciplines, so where a very specialized journal will perhaps have an immediate impact in a particular field, the work published in Small is now perhaps permeating through the various communities and becoming more accepted, disseminated, and, of course, cited. As the journal has become better known and respected, there appears to have been a positive impact with respect to citation, which, needless to say, we are delighted about.

These factors have led to results that were perhaps even better than we expected, not least the recent publication of our first Impact Factor in Journal Citation Reports®, which at 6.024 was the highest-ever initial value for a journal specializing in publishing research at reduced length scales.

I do not feel that there have been any real changes in policy as such. We felt four years ago that there was at that time no journal out there that looked to encompass all of the various sub-disciplines that touch upon science and technology at the nano- and microscale. Some journals had a strong focus on materials, others on physics and devices, but there really was (in our opinion at least) no single journal that looked not only at these aspects but also focused on the biosciences, medicine, theoretical studies, engineering, and so on. Our hope was that a journal that took such a wide view, and which had the necessary quality to be of interest to those people working in such fields, would be successful, and importantly would encourage further multidisciplinary collaboration between groups, which is a very important aspect that has led to the significant advance of nanoscience and -technology.

In addition, we have always looked to have the best possible quality in the journal. Rejection rates continue to increase as the number of submissions follows a sharp upward trend, and this will no doubt lead to a further enhancement of the quality of the research in the journal. To date, we are satisfied with the progress of the journal, and we believe that we are succeeding with many of our initial goals.

First, the journal could not have been what it is today without the assistance of a number of very skillful and hard-working colleagues. Without doubt, Small has benefited greatly from its links with other established journals such as Advanced Materials and Angewandte Chemie, both journals with a proven track record of great quality and with a mature and sizeable readership. The subscribers of Advanced Materials were provided with the first volume of Small as a complimentary feature, and so this introduced the journal to many people working in materials science.

In addition, my own personal background as an Associate Editor of Angewandte Chemie was most helpful in formulating the structure, style, and appearance of the journal. I truly believe that Small is already very much established as one of the leading journals in the Wiley-Blackwell group, and this is something that we are all very proud of.

Finally, I would again like to comment on the support and advice of our Editorial Advisory Board, which has been instrumental in bringing Small to a wider audience. There has been much effort from our Board Members to advertise and promote the journal at conferences and at their own establishments, and this has been a benefit that cannot be underestimated.

Nanoscience and nanotechnology continue to evolve and progress at an enormous pace, and there have been many developments that have advanced the field during the period that Small has been in existence. Nanotechnology impinges upon so many areas of everyday importance: electronics, drug delivery, fabric design, cancer treatment, sports equipment, and so on; the list is vast and increasing. Some of the recent research that will lead to progress in these and many other areas will have been published in Small over the past three years, and will hopefully also feature in future issues.

It should also not be forgotten that advances continue to be made at the microscale as well, and one other aspect of Small that perhaps diversifies ourselves from other like-minded journals is that we are not constrained to only publishing articles about studies carried out at the nanoscale; indeed, we look to scales above and below this benchmark when considering areas suitable for publication.

My colleagues will enjoy this question, because they know my opinions about Small being a materials science journal! In my opinion, Small is much more than just a materials science journal, in that its scope has a much broader perspective and, as I stated above, in that it is designed to appeal to scientists from a wide variety of disciplines. However, Small certainly does have an important role to play in the materials science environment, not least as a showcase for highlighting advances in areas such as nanomaterials synthesis, characterization, and application, carbon nanotube studies (i.e., in composite materials), porous materials (as templates), biomaterials design, etc. Small also works with its colleagues in Advanced (Functional) Materials to provide a broad and illuminating forum for the very best research in materials science.

I feel that our main contribution to materials science is (or will be, as we are still a work in progress) that we should be seen as a melting pot for the collaboration between materials scientists and scientists from other disciplines, so that new materials can be conceptualized, synthesized, characterized, and applied in as wide a variety of areas as is possible. If Small is able to present excellent research that stems from all of these pieces of the jigsaw, then we have succeeded in what we have set out to achieve.

Quite simply, I see nanoscience and nanotechnology (already) becoming dominant as an area for significant research and funding worldwide. It is clear from the number of new research centers and spin-off companies that are being set up or opening at this time that there is significant spending taking place in this area, and it will be exciting and challenging to be involved in this evolution. Specifically, I would envisage the greatest advances to be made in the (bio)medical disciplines, with nanotechnology being more readily utilized in such areas as cancer therapy (and other diseases), tissue engineering, cell labeling and imaging, and bone and dental treatment and replacement. I have no doubt that there will also be significant advances in nanoelectronics and the design and utilization of nanocomposite materials, to name but just a couple of areas. The opportunities are enormous, and it is clear that research in these fields (and others) will continue to accelerate.

As was hinted at above, I see Small as a meeting place where scientists from a variety of disciplines can come together to present and disseminate top-quality, multidisciplinary research among a broad and heterogeneous readership. The journal should be seen as a source of ideas and as a trading post that encourages scientists to form collaborations that lead to further advancement. My wish is that people will pick up a copy of Small and be stimulated to become involved in some of the rich variety of research opportunities that are represented throughout the issue.

We are only coming to the end of our third year of publication, and so it is likely that despite becoming well known to many in the community, there will still be people that are yet to discover the journal, or have only recently started to view it as an essential resource. Our aim is to bring Small to an even wider audience, and everybody associated with the journal is committed to our original pledge of making it the very best forum for interdisciplinary research on the nano- and microscale; it is my sincere hope that this is a role that Small will be able to play fully and successfully.

Small
Graeme Horley, Ph.D., Editor
Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KgaA, publishers