Making an imPACt

Making an imPACt

As James Bull demonstrated in his recent feature article (March-April 2005 CI, p. 13), the Union Journal Pure and Applied Chemistry—of which he is scientific editor—is getting some attention these days. Not only are the contents of the journal garnering interest, but also its format and online availability. The year 2005 is seeing many changes in the journal production workflow, starting with the full implementation of the online submission and peer-review system (March-April 2005 CI, p. 24). Also, starting with the January issue, all metadata for the online edition are generated using a new procedure based on the extraction of information from the files produced for the printed edition. All HTML abstract pages have up-to-date format classification XHTML 1.0. The ability to harvest these data, coupled with further programming, now allow the journal to take part in CrossRef.

CrossRef is a collaborative, cross-publisher reference-linking service that turns citations into hyperlinks, allowing researchers to navigate online literature at the article level. CrossRef is a wholly independent association of scholarly and professional publishers—large and small, commercial and non-profit, traditional and non-traditional—that cooperate to provide reference links into and out of their electronic content. As such, CrossRef serves as the citation linking backbone for all scholarly literature online, facilitating and transforming the flow of information.

Each manuscript indexed with a unique DOI (Digital Object Identifier) can be retrieved more easily now. To try for yourself the basic DOI function, visit <www.crossref.org> and simply type the following example into DOI Resolver: 10.1351/pac200577010119. This shall take you directly to the following PAC abstract page: <www.iupac.org/publications/pac/

2005/7701/7701x0119.html>.

As a small publisher with only one journal, IUPAC made the decision to participate in CrossRef recognizing the benefit of increased accessibility and visibility. Given PAC’s limited resources, the practical implementation took some time, but the engagement and will of Bohumir Valter was instrumental to the entire transformation. His service to PAC, provided through Documents Data Services, supplements the existing work performed by the production editor Cheryl Wuzbacher and Cheryl Bush.

As Bohumir Valter mentioned, a lot of work is still required to get PAC fully integrated in CrossRef, but step-by-step the modification of the journal workflow and the site will take place.

While we are making progress with improving the current production of PAC, one should also note the steady progress we are making by posting older issues of PAC online. In mid-February, a milestone was reached with 25 000 pages of PAC scanned.

Document Data Services started this project in fall 2003, following the recommendation of the Committee on Printed and Electronic Publication at its meeting during the 2003 General Assembly. The restoration process includes black and white scanning at 600 dpi and 300 dpi for pages with color and halftone figures, TIFF conversion to searchable PDF, indexation of the scanned article, and also rebinding of the original paper copies. To keep quality assurance of the archive, all digitalized pages are reviewed and manually retouched if needed. The resulting files are archived on CD and made available on the PAC web site. The project will be completed in 2006.

www.iupac.org/publications/pac

Page last modified 21 April 2005.

Copyright © 2003-2005 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

Questions regarding the website, please contact edit.ci@iupac.org

Making an imPACt

Coplen Honored

Tyler B. Coplen has been granted the highest honor of the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Distinguished Service Award, for his outstanding contributions to the U.S. Geological Survey in the field of isotope geochemistry and hydrology. Dr. Coplen is an internationally recognized leader in the analysis of light stable isotopes. He is one of the worlds’ most experienced analysts and foremost authorities on the stable isotope geochemistry of natural materials associated with the hydrologic cycle. He has built, operated, and continues to improve automated systems for mass spectrometers that drive the technology for such analyses. Technical experts around the world seek his advice.

Dr. Coplen produced a large body of work using stable isotope data that led to an improved understanding of the movement of both ground water and surface water. His work on isotope techniques has been instrumental in elucidating many physical, biological, and chemical processes that mediate water qualities and contribute to the solution of complex problems requiring interdisciplinary collaboration.

At IUPAC, Coplen has been a member of the Inorganic Chemistry Division since 2000, and is also a member of the subcommittee on Isotopic Abundance Measurements. He has contributed as lead author to IUPAC technical reports on isotope-abundance variations of selected elements, and on atomic weights of the elements.

Page last modified 21 April 2005.

Copyright © 2003-2005 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

Questions regarding the website, please contact edit.ci@iupac.org