The Anniversary Issue: Reflecting the Past, Celebrating the Present and Shaping the Future

Abstract

The European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry and the European Journal of Organic Chemistry are proud to celebrate their 20th anniversary. The first volume of both journals appeared in the same year, 1998, and during the last two decades these two “twin” journals have worked closely together. In this spirit, we bring you a joint editorial to introduce our very special Anniversary Issue. With the vision to create strong European journals focusing on the two core disciplines in chemistry, inorganic and organic chemistry, eight European chemical societies merged their national journals in this landmark year to form the European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry and the European Journal of Organic Chemistry. The amalgamation of more European national chemical society journals followed soon after and consolidated this initiative under the ownership of ChemPubSoc Europe (Figure 1). Today, as their journals, EurJIC and EurJOC contribute significantly to the income of 13 of these European chemical societies. Our 20th anniversary is not only a perfect opportunity to look back to the start of the journal and the journey that we've been through, but also to look into the future. So what better time to have a special issue that encompasses this very theme: Celebrating the Past, Present and Future of EurJIC and EurJOC! With this is mind, we invited pioneers of the journals who appeared in the first volume and our most prolific and most-cited authors whose efforts have been instrumental in the success of the journals. The rising stars were selected with the help of our Board Members, and as excellent young researchers in their respective fields, they will help to shape the journals. The invitations were met with great enthusiasm – our communities did not let us down, so much so that we are able to present a collection of about 40 high-quality papers each in bumper double issues. The issues include a good balance of Microreviews, Full Papers and Communications, covering the full spectrum of inorganic and organic chemistry. Although our journals are co-owned by the European societies, our authorship and readership have never been restricted to Europe: we are truly international as is reflected by our motto “Made in Europe for the World”. And this issue is no different as can be seen by the contributions from Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Australia! Of all the outstanding contributions, we are particularly pleased to have a Microreview from Luis Oro, the President of EurJIC and EurJOC for ChemPubSoc Europe, submitted together with Manuel Iglesias. Three of EurJIC's previous Chairmen of the Editorial Board, João Rocha, Rinaldo Poli and Bas de Bruin, have also contributed excellent papers in celebration of the anniversary. Jean Rodriguez, in a paper together with Damien Bonne, shows his support as current member of EurJOC's Editorial Board. We are proud to have a contribution by Sílvia Osuna who is the winner of the 2017 EuCheMS Young Investigator Award. One paper that truly embodies the past, present and future of EurJOC is one by Rolf Huisgen, Hans-Ulrich Reissig and Martin Breugst, which brings together three generations of organic chemists. Also taking the anniversary theme to heart and by tying the past into the present, Christoph Marschner directly links his contribution in this issue to his paper in the first issue of EurJIC. It is only right that we use this milestone to give credit to those that have contributed to the success of the journals over the past two decades. We are grateful to Heinrich Nöth, Ivano Bertini, Jan Reedijk, João Rocha, Rinaldo Poli and Bas de Bruin who served as past Chairmen of EurJIC and to EurJOC's past Chairmen Klaus Hafner, Henning Hopf, Max Malacria and Cesare Gennari for their hard work and service. To the current Chairmen for EurJIC and EurJOC, Lutz Gade and Burkhard König, respectively, we wish to express our sincere appreciation for their support and fresh ideas. We look forward to our future collaborations! Our heartfelt thanks also go out to our mentors Karen Hindson and Haymo Ross for their dedication to EurJIC and EurJOC, and who for the last 15 years have been directing, shaping and developing the journals. With their vision, EurJIC and EurJOC have achieved their status as leaders in their respective fields. We thank them for their encouragement and trust. We hope to continue to be innovative and to take the journals to further heights, whilst still bringing you the best of inorganic and organic chemistry. And finally, the success of the journals without doubt has to be attributed to the authors and referees, who are the key players. With their great contributions and hard work, they are the driving force that help maintain the high standards of both journals. Preeti and Anne