A new era for Gold Bulletin

Abstract

Gold Bulletin has been in existence since 1968 and has always focused on bringing high quality research manuscripts, reviews, patent and literature data and conference reports to publication. The prime aim of the journal has been to broaden the scientific understanding of gold, particularly with regard to the industrial applications of the metal. It has carried a number of groundbreaking publications over the years across a range of sectors including electronics, catalysis, nanotechnology and recycling. One thing has been constant throughout the last ∼47 years and that is change. The journal was originally published in house, printed and posted to readers all over the world. The late 1990s saw a blurred shift “online”, with a printed version still available but the World Gold Council (WGC) website carrying the latest papers. Eventually, the costs associatedwith formatting and printing became prohibitive, so the journal turned into an e-journal and then a short while later, the WGC decided to partner with Springer (now Springer Nature) to help broaden the journal’s reach and take advantage of the expertise of a professional publisher. Since 2011, Gold Bulletin has been an open access journal available through Springer’s platforms here: (http://www.springer.com/ materials/special+types/journal/13404). From January 2016, the journal will undergo its latest transformation. Gold Bulletin will cease to be an open access journal and will be published as a subscription journal. No publication fees will be applied and the copyrights on the manuscripts will remain with Springer, but authors will still have the option to publish open access in this journal through the Springer Open Choice Program if they wish. The World Gold Council has come to the conclusion that it can no longer directly support the publication of the journal given the changes in its own priorities, but wanted to make sure Gold Bulletin continues to thrive; and they are convinced Springer Nature is the organisation that will make this happen. The partnership built over the last 5 years has been a strong one, and Springer Nature’s dedication to the success of the journal is without question. From January 2016, Professor A. Stephen K. Hashmi from Heidelberg University will take over as Editor-in-Chief of Gold Bulletin. He will replace Dr Trevor Keel, who will continue to serve on the journal’s Editorial Board. The Editorial Board itself will undergo some changes, which will be announced in due course. The free use of colour as an important benefit for authors will remain, as Gold Bulletin will continue to appear as an e-journal. This will also allow the inclusion of a broad variation of electronic supplementary material. The scope of the journal will stay broad; everything in the context of gold can be covered, as long as the subject is of general significance or general interest for the very broad readership of Gold Bulletin. Finally, there are a number of people to thank for their dedication to the journal over the years. Firstly, Dr Chris Corti deserves much recognition for revitalising the journal in the mid-1990s when he took over as Editor-in-Chief. He bought Dr David Thompson and Dr Patricia Harris on board to strengthen the team, and was later joined by Dr Richard Holliday who eventually took over as Editor-inChief himself. The whole Springer Nature team also deserves recognition, particular Dr Mayra Castro, who has worked hard on the journal over the last 5 years; she will * Trevor Keel trevor.keel@gold.org