Macromolecular Theory and Simulations – Focused and Balanced

Abstract

Soon after its launch more than 25 years ago, Macromolecular Theory and Simulations became an established platform for publishing carefully selected research authored by scientists working at the intersection of general materials modeling and polymer science. Today we want to take a look at the scope of what in recent times has been published in Macromolecular Theory and Simulations. For this purpose we have created the “keyword cloud” shown in Figure 1, representing the years 2015–2018. It's interesting to note that the dominating topics indeed show a nice balance between work primarily focusing on modeling/simulation methods and work emphasizing polymers/polymeric systems – fully in line with the journal's intention to be the only high-quality polymer science journal dedicated exclusively to theory and simulations. The launch of our new sister journal Advanced Theory and Simulations in early 2018 brought some “friendly competition”, with that journal offering a high-quality publication platform for research beyond the scope of Macromolecular Theory and Simulations, i.e., presenting work on the development and application of theoretical methods, modeling, and simulation approaches in all research areas. In the more focused field of polymer science covered by Macromolecular Theory and Simulations we have published in 2017/2018 a broad variety of research results as reflected in the list of most accessed articles, cf. Table 1. Topics of highest interest to our readers include the new concept of random graph modeling, multiscale simulations, dissipative particle dynamics for modeling carbon nanotubes, the modeling of RAFT copolymerization, or the computer simulation of DNA condensation – to only name a few. In addition to excellent content, journals also benefit from attractive cover designs. Of course it's a matter of taste which of the covers provided by our authors you like best, but I trust that the selection shown in Figure 2 presents a nice overview of the different successful approaches to visualize scientific achievements and, thereby, attracting additional attention to the presented research as well as to the journal. Last but not least, and on behalf of the entire editorial team, I would like to thank those most important for the success of Macromolecular Theory and Simulations – our authors, referees, and board members for submitting their research results and helping to select and publish the best content, and of course our readers for their continuous interest! Stefan Spiegel (Editor)