Letter from the Editor

Abstract

Dear authors and reviewers of articles for Measurement Science and Technology,I would like to thank all those who have published papers with us in 2008, and special thanks go to those of you who have kindly reviewed articles for the journal this year. I would also like to take this opportunity to update you on some of the developments on the journal.This year we see the introduction of a new subject section 'Measurement techniques for bio-medical and life science applications' to facilitate browsing by readers from this community who may be less familiar with Measurement Science and Technology. We anticipate that articles falling within this section will broaden the strengths of the journal to the biological and medical arena by comprising imaging techniques for biology and medicine including tomography, microscopy, ultrasonic imaging and MRI; spectroscopic techniques in biological and medical physics; sensors for measuring biological, biochemical and medical processes and quantities; new instrumentation for measurement in biology and medicine.To highlight this section in the journal we have commissioned a review article from Professor Gerald Urban of Albert Ludwigs Universität Freiburg, on micro- and nanobiosensors which appears as the first article in this issue. This topical review covers the state of the art of microsensors for physical and chemical parameters in medical science, as well as biosensors and microtransducers. I believe it is a valuable addition to the literature and a very useful starting point for researchers.As regular readers will know, Measurement Science and Technology has a long tradition of publishing topical review articles, and this year will be no exception. As well as the article from Professor Urban, in the same issue we have an article from Professor Roy Olsson III of Sandia National Laboratories on microfabricated phononic crystal devices and applications. In future issues readers can look forward to topical reviews from Dr Marella de Angelis and her colleagues on precision gravimetry using atomic sensors and from Dr Peter Becker on determination of the Avogadro constant via enriched silicon-28. I recommend setting up a free e-mail alert so that you can read them as soon as they are published!As many of you are already aware, our impact factor (a measure of the average number of times recent papers are referred to by others) has risen again to 1.297. This is often taken as an indication of the quality and relevance of recently published research, and although as readers we develop our own instinct for journals of high quality, it is gratifying as an Editor to see the data from an independent organization (Thomson ISI) agreeing with my own assessment.Of course the publication of high quality articles in the journal is dependent both on you the authors who trust us with the publication of your best work and on our referees and Editorial Board Members who we depend on to maintain the high standards you have grown to expect. I must also thank our referees for their rapid response when asked to review papers for Measurement Science and Technology. On average, authors receive a decision on their article in 45 days.Therefore I would like to end this message by saying thank you again to all those who have contributed to our success in the past year, and wish you all the best for a successful 2009!