25 years of Macromolecular Theory and Simulations!

Abstract

It's hard to believe that already an entire quarter century has passed since Macromolecular Theory and Simulations (MTS) was launched in 1992. As can be also seen from its initial title “Makromolekulare Chemie, Theory and Simulations”, the journal was the first topical spin-off from the established mother journal Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics - at that time still published multilingual and under the German name “Makromolekulare Chemie”. While the topical focus of MTS always has been rather specialized in comparison with more general research areas (e.g., materials science), the fields of macromolecular theory, mathematical methods, computer simulations, and modeling proved to be a small but essential part of polymer science. As written by the founding editors H. Höcker and B. Jung back in 1992: “The investigation of complex macromolecular systems […] more and more call for the development and application of theories and for the use of computer simulation.” and “… [we] hope that the new journal “Theory and Simulations” will be well accepted by the scientific community.” 25 years later it seems fair to state that these expectations have been more than met: Macromolecular Theory and Simulations has long reached an established position as the only high-quality polymer science journal dedicated exclusively to theory and simulations. Its present ISI impact factor is 1.67 (2015 Journal Citation Reports), and the numbers of submissions and article accesses remain stable in a challenging market situation. To celebrate the anniversary of Macromolecular Theory and Simulations a special issue is in preparation for publication later in 2016; more details will be communicated in due course. The 25 year anniversary is also a good occasion to look at what the most influential papers published in MTS have been. As can be seen from Table 1, and using the total number of citations as the criterion for “influence”, the clear lead is Michael Wulkow's seminal paper on a new concept for the modeling and dynamic simulation of macromolecular processes and a related software package (PREDICI). Without being able to cover all the scientific details in the limited space for this editorial, it can be easily seen that many of the most-cited papers listed here cover topics that are still in the focus of present research interest. Furthermore, some of the authors of these papers are still very active and even more prestigious today than they were when publishing their earlier work. More recent trends in the field of theory and simulation of polymers and polymeric materials are visible from Table 2, summarizing those articles published in 2014/2015 that received the highest number of downloads. The list displays the diversity of scientific areas and authors, who are all leading experts in their respective disciplines. The topics covered range from improving different modeling and simulation techniques to applying such approaches to practical aspects including colloidal systems, creep or thermosets - but also fundamental questions like the mechanisms of surface-initiated ATRP. The most downloaded paper in the timeframe documented here is work on the modeling of polyelectrolyte systems by Yaroslava G. Yingling et al., incidentally also featured on the cover of issue 2015/1. Some of you may already be aware of the present editorial team - but in light of recent changes, I would like to cite from the according statement of Kirsten Severing, Editor-in-Chief of the Macromolecular Journals family: “… the journals are run by a dedicated team of full time editors. Mara Staffilani is doing a great job as the main responsible editor for Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, as is Anne Pfisterer for Macromolecular Bioscience and Macromolecular Materials and Engineering. Although Stefan Spiegel became the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Polymer Science in 2014, he is still in full charge of his babies Macromolecular Theory and Simulations and Macromolecular Reaction Engineering. That leaves enough time for me to work on my two main journals, Macromolecular Rapid Communications and Advanced Science. The whole team benefits tremendously from the support of our new colleague David Huesmann, who joined the team in August last year. We are also grateful to our Beijing-based colleague Emily Hu for her editorial contribution to Macromolecular Materials and Engineering.” Last but most definitely not least it is my obligation and pleasure to thank those people indispensable for Macromolecular Theory and Simulations: our authors for their fascinating research and interest in the journal, our reviewers for helping us to identify the best articles, and the members of the advisory boards for their encouraging support. It is an ongoing pleasure collaborating with all of you, and we look forward to an even brighter future! Stefan Spiegel Editor