Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) have signed a 5-year collaborative agreement to co-publish the open access journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials (STAM).
Founded in 2000, the STAM journal provides an international forum for refereed original contributions and reviews covering all aspects of materials science, including advances in research on solids, liquids and colloids, and issues at the forefront of the field, such as nano-, bio- and ecomaterials. Accepted articles are made available online within an open-access platform by the Institute of Physics Publishing, UK.
STAM’s ‘impact factor’ has risen continuously since NIMS took over the management of its peer review and financial systems in 2008. In January 2014, Empa joined NIMS in the editorial management of STAM. Professor Gian Luca Bona, CEO of Empa will be a STAM Regional Editor, while Professor Harald Krug, a member of Empa’s Board of Directors, will become the new Co-Editor-in-Chief.
According to Professor Gian Luca Bona, their focus is to attract high-impact contributions from Europe and the US, making the journal one of the world’s leading publications in materials science. They also plan to extend the scope of the journal to cover new technology areas such as the use of novel materials for medical applications to enhance the visibility and the overall appeal of STAM.
Professor Ushioda, President of NIMS adds that Empa will provide new opportunities for STAM to attract high-impact contributions from Europe and the US. STAM is expected to cover traditional materials science fields with an accent on energy and environmental issues, but is also expanding in new areas such as medical and bioengineering applications, where Empa has significant expertise.
The NIMS-Empa agreement will provide additional momentum and opportunities for the journal’s further development, including increasing the visibility of STAM in Europe and attracting new authors and reviewers. Empa will also set up a STAM editorial office in Switzerland, which will act as the journal’s hub in Europe.