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Dear Authors, Reviewers and Editors,
This year we have been greatly cheered by the near 10% rise in impact factor to 2.7, and the inclusion of Methods and Applications in Fluorescence (MAF) by MEDLINE which means that now all articles can be found on PubMed®.
After five years of publication, MAF is establishing itself as the home of the highest quality fluorescence research. Too often work has been dispersed in more general interest journals, whereas we believe fluorescence should be recognised as an important subject in its own right.
In recognition of the multi-disciplinary nature of the field, we have made a conscious decision to invite topical review articles from leading experts which serve as useful introductions to some exciting new areas. Recent reviews on thermally activated delayed fluorescence [1], fluorescence lifetime based bioassays [2] and molecular engineering of two-photon fluorescence probes for bioimaging [3] have been some of our most popular articles, and along with all other reviews in the journal are available as free downloads for all readers.
Being a community run journal, published by a learned society publisher, Methods and Applications in Fluorescence is keen to reward the work done by reviewers which often goes unrecognised. This year we have introduced a 'Reviewer Award' to recognise referees who we felt had supported the journal most that year. Based on the quality, quantity and timeliness of her reviews, this year Dr Cassia Marquezin was chosen as the 'Referee of the year' [4]. Dr Marquezin is from Brazil, a country where high quality research is being done but does not always receive the recognition it deserves, so readers may be interested to read some of the best work from Brazil and Argentina which we highlight in a special focus issue [5] in this volume.
If you have not yet published in Methods and Applications in Fluorescence, we encourage you to send your next research paper to us; most authors receive a decision on their article in six weeks and articles are available online as soon as they are accepted, giving fast visibility for your best work. As a new online journal we also offer you the chance to get your message across in a more informal way, through a video abstract, for example in this one from Weiying Lin [6] which was published as part of our special focus on research from China this year.
Special thanks go to Johan Hofkens and his team in Bruges for their excellent organisation of the MAF conference in September. As usual it was a very vibrant gathering of fluorescence researchers from around the world and a special issue of articles presented at the meeting will be published in the journal early next year. The next meeting in 2019 will be in the US for the first time, so we look forward to seeing some new faces there as well as many of our regular attendees. We were also pleased to welcome many of you to Glasgow for FluoroFest earlier this year, where Joe Lakowicz shared some of his thoughts on the future of fluorescence which led to some very thought-provoking discussions. At the same meeting our Publisher, Sharon D'Souza, presented a generic skills lecture for the benefit of early career researchers on The secret art of publishing in scientific research journals. Some of the interesting work presented at the meeting can also be found in the journal.
Finally all that remains is for us to express our thanks to all the authors, reviewers and editorial board who have supported the journal during the year by helping to maintain the high standards of research which the journal is committed to.
All good wishes for a happy and successful research New Year ahead.