Journal Guide

• Signaling mechanisms - endocrine disruption by chemicals that mimic/antagonize all classes of hormones: reproductive and metabolic hormones, morphogens, detoxification systems, vitamins, and orphans--via all hormone binding proteins and metabolic pathways.
• Endocrine disruption-based disease - e.g. reproductive, developmental, immunologic, metabolic, behavioral, oncologic-including both preclinical and epidemiologic studies.
• High throughput, structure-based, and modeling methodologies - in silico compound docking, medium?high throughput screening methods, structure-activity studies, and database approaches. The study of mixtures, low-doses, non-monotonic dose behavior, and their environmental relevancy.
• Experimental models - the suitability of cell and animal models for assessing endocrine disruptor activities.
• Perinatal origins of adult disease - the fetal, postnatal and multigenerational basis of adult disease, and emerging examples of epigenetic control and endocrine disruptor-mediated imprinting of changes in gene expression.
• Natural endocrine disruptors - e.g. phyto-hormones, phyco-hormones- and their disease, drug interaction, or therapeutic targets.
• Cross-training for chemists and biologists- facilitating the interface of green chemistry design/remediation with endocrinology, aimed at eliminating future endocrine-disrupting chemicals from consumer products.
• Public policy - the crafting of public policy to prevent and remediate endocrine disruption.
• Education and Outreach - community outreach, public education, translation to stake-holders, and web sites devoted to exposing or solving the endocrine disruption problem.

Publication office: Taylor & Francis, Group, 530 Walnut Street, Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106.

‘A few scholarly ventures have defined the early history of peer-reviewed online research and publication in the humanities. 19 is one of them.’
Jerome McGann, founder of the Rossetti Archive and author of Radiant Textuality: Literary Studies after the World Wide Web (Palgrave/St. Martin's Press, 2001)

19 is an open access, scholarly, peer-reviewed online journal dedicated to advancing interdisciplinary study in the long nineteenth century. Based at Birkbeck, 19’s editorial team comprises Dr Carolyn Burdett (general editor); Dr Victoria Mills (editorial responsibility for the journal’s visual content); and Dr David Gillott (assistant editor with overview of publication processes). The journal was originally conceived as a means to extend the activities of Birkbeck’s Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies by making the high-quality, original scholarship presented at its Forum, conferences, symposia, and other events available to an international audience.

Launched in October 2005 as the first free online journal of its kind in nineteenth-century studies, 19 is a popular and valuable resource for nineteenth-century scholars across the globe. The journal has established a reputation for publishing field-defining work in both traditional and innovative ways, and it remains committed to this aim.

We publish two themed issues annually, curated by a guest editor, and consisting of a collection of peer-reviewed articles showcasing the broadest range of new research in nineteenth-century studies, as well as additional special forums advancing critical debate in the field. We seek to explore, utilize, and advance the digital possibilities of our publishing platform in presenting the nineteenth century to a wide readership.

In February 2009 19 aggregated with NINES, allowing readers to search, collect, tag, and share 19 content using the NINES collex interface. As academic publishing moves forward into the open-access future, 19 continues to innovate and pursue the highest standards in electronic scholarly publishing. In 2015, the year of the journal’s tenth anniversary, 19joined the Open Library of Humanities. Founded by Professor Martin Eve and Dr Caroline Edwards (both at Birkbeck), the OLH provides an ethically sound and sustainable open access model for humanities research.

Readers of 19 can choose to access articles in downloadable PDF form, or via a web browser as html pages. Our new site enhances 19’s supplementary features, allowing us to present a rich array of audio and visual material alongside more traditional format scholarly essays.

We invite you to:

• Explore: browse our archive.
• Debate: we invite readers to comment on and discuss article and image content, to join critical debates, and offer new perspectives on material.
• Research: draw on an extensive range of nineteenth-century online resources via our reading tools to enhance your research. Conveniently set up to enable you to search for terms or references alongside reading articles, 19 makes use of web 2.0 technologies to aid your research, encouraging you to discover new links and make fresh connections between material and ideas.
• Learn: our articles are freely available to view and print, making 19 a valuable educational resource for students and teachers of nineteenth-century studies alike. By enabling new pathways to other materials and resources, 19 is an exciting and inspiring point-of-call for inquisitive learners. 

The aim of the Journal of School Choice (JSC) is to energize multi-disciplinary scientific analysis and policy discussion with key insights into the nature of every major version of school choice: 1.) public school choice through residence relocation; 2.) district public school choice without relocation; 3.) chartered, non-district public schools; 4.) targeted tuition vouchers; 5.) non-refundable, personal use tuition tax credits; 6.) non-refundable, low income voucher donation tax credit; 7.) refundable tuition tax credits; 8.) 8216;pure' universal tuition vouchers; 9.) option-demand universal tuition vouchers; 10.) formal separation of school and state; 11.) informal, compromised school-state separation; and 12.) de-regulation; allow greater differences in schools. JSC will provide those insights in one of six forms: 1.) News and Views (600 to 1500 words); 2.) Commentary (5000* words); 3.) Surveys (8000* words); 4.) Methodological (8000 words); 5.) Analysis (8000* words); 6.) Book Reviews (1200 words). * recommended limit, but flexible at the editor's discretion.Organizations start new Journals to help meet an under-served scholarly arena; to provide an outlet for academic research that deserves additional attention. Certainly, school choice is seeing growing attention as a key ingredient of reform strategies, and also as an arena in which to compare political accountability to market accountability. Annotated List of School Choice Research Issues Editor Vision StatementJohn Merrifield, Editor, Professor of EconomicsJanuary, 2009I envision the Journal of School Choice as the clearinghouse of scholarly discussion and analysis of the school choice aspects of public policies. The Journal of School Choice will be interdisciplinary and international. Along with empirical analysis of school choice aspects of public policies, the Journal of School Choice will publish peer-reviewed scholarly objective commentary, advocacy, and policy critique. For this journal, that is especially important to my 'Moving Forward' motto. For many of the twelve types of school choice policies, including many that seem likely to have the largest impacts, there is no direct evidence to analyze. Where direct evidence is scarce, scholarly commentary utilizing accepted theory, core principles, and indirect evidence, is the only way to develop insights and increase understanding of likely policy outcomes. The peer reviewed objective commentary, advocacy, and critique pieces I envision are not opinion pieces per se. I view them as heavily referenced exercises in transparent deduction. Of course, scholars will differ in where theory, core principles, alleged evidence, and values lead. The Journal of School Choice will improve understanding of those differences. Scholars have opinions, and learning the basis of them is very insightful.Part of my vision is an active, diverse editorial board. They are part of the review process. So far, authors have received comments from two reviewers, me, plus from 3-7 members of the editorial board within three months of their submission.Publication office: Taylor & Francis, Inc., 325 Chestnut Street, Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106.

The Law Teacher is a fully-refereed journal concerned with legal education at all academic levels. Whilst it is the journal of the UK-based Association of Law Teachers, both the Association and the journal are international in outlook and contributions from any jurisdiction are welcome in any section of the journal. The journal is produced in three issues annually. One of these issues is normally organised around a special theme. Subject-matterThe Law Teacher will reflect the interest in legal education at all levels and in any jurisdiction held by members of the Association of Law Teachers and its other subscribers. The normal structure of each issue provides for four discrete sections: Articles Policy and Education Developments Recent Legal Developments Book Reviews. 1. Articles should generally address issues of legal education rather than substantive law as such. What falls within the concept of 8216;legal education' will be broadly interpreted, and could include any issues which will be of interest to law teachers. The journal is particularly interested in reporting pedagogical developments, properly grounded in theory and effectively researched and analysed and the results of empirical research into matters of concern to law teachers. Articles will typically be of a length of some 5,000 words, although considerable flexibility will be permitted.2. Policy and Education Developments will include shorter pieces focused on policy and education issues likely to be of interest to the readership of the journal. In general, authors should provide an informed overview of their topic, providing the reader with an understanding of the relevance of the issue to legal education. Authors are encouraged to draw upon their own practice and experience where relevant and to explore the implications for legal education suggested by their analysis of the topic.3. Recent Legal Developments will address changes in substantive and adjectival law, with a particular focus on areas likely to be of interest to a wide range of law teachers. Thus, a concentration on 8216;core' areas may be expected, but this will not be the exclusive focus. Articles for this section will typically be 2-3,000 words in length, although some flexibility will be permitted.4. Book Reviews will focus on books and other materials of interest to those teaching the law and address their practical value in working with students on different types of course. Reviewers are encouraged to introduce a comparative element to their reviews where competing texts are considered.Peer ReviewThe Law Teacher operates a policy of peer review in respect of pieces submitted for the 8216;Articles' and 8216;Recent Legal Developments' sections of the journal. The normal process involves articles initially being read by the General Editor and, if potentially appropriate for the journal, anonymised and sent out to experts in the field who are asked to review them for publishability. Two reviewers are normally sought and will remain anonymous. Where potentially publishable, reviewers are asked to make recommendations for amendment or improvement of the draft work. The Editor will take a final decision as to publication on the basis of reviewers' recommendations. Where significant change or development of an article is proposed, the revised version may be submitted to reviewers again before a final decision on publication is taken.An exception to the practice of peer review may arise where a specific article has been commissioned or where it is the published version of a formal lecture organised by the Association of Law Teachers, such as the Annual Lord Upjohn Lecture.

Estudios Gerenciales es la revista Iberoamericana de administración y economía enfocada principalmente en las áreas temáticas de organizaciones, gestión organizacional, emprendimiento, innovación, mercadeo, contabilidad, finanzas, administración pública, econometría, desarrollo económico, organización industrial, comercio internacional, política económica y economía regional.
Su principal objetivo es la difusión de trabajos de investigación relacionados con las anteriores áreas temáticas que generen herramientas de estudio de la comunidad Iberoamericana y su actual contexto económico y administrativo. La revista Estudios Gerenciales, a través de la publicación de artículos inéditos, relevantes, de alta calidad y arbitrados anónimamente (double-blind review), está dirigida a investigadores, estudiantes, académicos, profesionales interesados en conocer las más recientes investigaciones análisis en administración y economía en la región Iberoamericana.
Se admiten artículos en español, inglés y portugués y, como política editorial, la revista busca un equilibrio de artículos de autores de diversos países iberoamericanos o de otras regiones; por lo tanto, un número de la revista podrá incluir como máximo un 20% de artículos de autoría de Investigadores-Docentes asociados a la Universidad Icesi. Sin embargo, para todos los casos, los artículos serán sometidos al mismo proceso de evaluación.

Estudios Gerenciales is the Ibero-American journal of management and economics focused primarily on the thematic areas of organizations, organizational management, entrepreneurship, innovation, marketing, accountancy, finance, public administration, econometrics, economic development, industrial organization, international trade, economic policy and regional economy.
Its main objective is the dissemination of research related to the above topic areas that generate tools for the study of Ibero-American community and its current economic and administrative context. Estudios Gerenciales, through the publication of relevant highquality previously unpublished articles subject to a doubleblind peer review process, is generally aimed at researchers, students, academics, professionals interested in the most recent research and analyses in economics and management in Ibero-America.
Articles can be submitted in Spanish, English or Portuguese and, as editorial policy, the journal seeks a balance of articles by authors from different Ibero-American countries or other regions; therefore, an issue of the journal may include a maximum of 20% of articles authored by researchers-professors associated with Icesi University. However, in all cases, the articles will be subjected to the same evaluation process.

Estudios Gerenciales é a revista Ibero-americana de economía e gestão focada principalmente nas áreas temáticas de organizações, gestão organizacional, empreendedorismo, inovação, comércio, marketing, contabilidade, finanças, administração pública, econometria, desenvolvimento económico, organização industrial, comércio internacional, política económica e economia regional.
O seu principal objectivo é a difusão de trabalhos de investigação relacionados com as anteriores áreas temáticas que criem ferramentas de estudo da comunidade Ibero-americana e do seu actual contexto económico e administrativo. Estudios Gerenciales, através da publicação de artigos originais, de alta qualidade, relevantes e arbitrados anonimamente (doubleblind review), tem como público-alvo investigadores, estudantes, académicos, profi ssionais interessados em conhecer as mais recentes investigações e análises em economia e gestão na região Ibero-americana.
Serão recebidos artigos em Inglês, Espanhol e Português e, como política editorial, a revista procura um equilíbrio de artigos de autores de diversos países ibero-americanos ou de outras regiões; como tal, um número da revista poderá incluir no máximo 20% de artigos da autoria de Investigadores-Docentes associados à Universidade Icesi. Porém, para todos os casos, os artigos serão submetidos ao mesmo processo de avaliação.

Parenting: Science and Practice is a quarterly international and interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal that seeks to publish rigorous empirical, methodological, applied, review, theoretical, perspective, and policy pieces relevant to parenting; contributions from the humanities and biological sciences as well as the social sciences are invited. The journal also publishes notices of books and other publications or media representations relevant to a scientific approach to parenting. Departments Parenting: Science and Practice has five main departments: Inquiries about prospective submissions to any department should be addressed to the Editor (email: Marc_H_Bornstein@nih.gov). * Empirical Articles. The journal is principally committed to the publication of empirical articles. Creative, comprehensive, and clear reports that advance theory and the empirical base in the field of parenting studies are sought, and all modes of empirical research are invited: experimental, observational, ethnographic, textual, interpretive, and survey. * Reviews. Reviews of the literature may be empirically grounded or theoretical; they should be scholarly, integrative, and timely, synthesizing or evaluating an issue relevant to parenting. (Published reviews are sometimes accompanied by a small number of solicited commentaries from specialists in parenting as well as in allied fields.) * Statements. Statements provide a forum for the rapid dissemination of new hypotheses, fresh concepts, alternative methods, or emerging trends. Statements should be tightly reasoned and empirically grounded and must be cogent and succinct. Statements should not exceed 3,000 words in length. * Tutorials. Parenting publishes occasional tutorials that debut a new concept in parenting or explore the intersection of parenting with an academic specialty pertinent to parenting studies. These papers define the concept or the field, crystallize its major contributions, detail direct associations with parenting, and augur future directions of application. * Media Notices. Summaries and evaluations of books, periodicals, websites, and other media that concern themselves with parenting studies or practices will appear in the journal. Send relevant material to the Editor. Additional Features Thematic Issues Parenting: Science and Practice welcomes proposals for Thematic Issues. Thematic Issues need to have components that link together closely in some meaningful conceptual or theoretical way, and the proposer of a Thematic Issue becomes the Guest Editor. Thematic Issues may be invited or open competitions, but all submissions must be peer reviewed. Individuals interested in developing a Thematic Issue should send the Editor a brief proposal and justification. Some proposals may be more appropriate for the Monographs in Parenting series. Media Notices Parenting: Science and Practice will publish summaries and evaluations of books, periodicals, Web sites, and other media that concern themselves with parenting studies and childcare practices. Send relevant material to the Editor. Audience Parenting: Science and Practice will appeal to scholars and practitioners in psychology, human development, family science, clinical practice, social work, education, pediatrics, psychiatry, sociology, anthropology, demography, biology, and related disciplines. Articles published in Parenting: Science and Practice will be meaningful to parents and students as well as researchers. Monographs in Parenting To accompany the journal, Monographs in Parenting publishes authored or edited volumes whose central concern is parenting, caregiving, and childrearing broadly construed. Send inquiries about potential submissions to the Monographs in Parenting series to the Editor. Monographs in Parenting published to date: John G. Borkowski, Sharon Landesman Ramey, and Marie Bristol-Power. Parenting and the Child's World: Influences on Academic, Intellectual, and Social-Emotional Development (2002). Marc H. Bornstein and Robert H. Bradley. Socioeconomic Status, Parenting, and Child Development (2003). Ariel Kalil and Tome DeLeire. Family Investments in Children's Potential: Resources and Behaviors that Promote Children's Success (2004). Philip A. Cowan, Carolyn Pape Cowan, Jennifer Ablow, Vanessa Kahen Johnson, and Jeffrey R. Measelle. The Family Context of Parenting in Children's Adaptation to School (2005). Tom Luster and Lynn Okagaki. Parenting: An Ecological Perspective (2e) (2005). Marc H. Bornstein and Linda Cote. Acculturation and Parent-Child Relationships (2006). Femmie Juffer, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, and Marinus H. van Ijzendoorn. Promoting Positive Parenting: An Attachment-Based Intervention (2007). Marc H. Bornstein. Parenting: Essential Readings (in preparation). Peer Review Policy: All papers in this journal have undergone editorial screening and peer review. Publication office: Taylor & Francis, Inc., 325 Chestnut Street, Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106.

PSEP aims to be the principal international journal for publication of high quality, original papers in the branches of engineering concerned with the safety of industrial processes and the protection of the environment.Papers showing how research results can be used in process engineering design, and accounts of experimental or theoretical research work bringing new perspectives to established principles, highlighting unsolved problems or indicating directions for future research, are particularly welcome. Contributions that deal with new developments in safety or environmental aspects of plant or processes and that can be given quantitative expression are encouraged. The journal is especially interested in papers that extend the boundaries of traditional engineering.Core topic areas:Safety• Technical Safety and Loss Prevention• Hazardous Areas• Fire and Gas detection• Firewater systems• Safety critical systems• Safety Integrity Levels (SIL)• Reliability• Layer of Protection (LOPA) and Bowtie Analysis• Emergency response• HAZard IDentification (HAZID) (and Inherent Safety) workshop.• HAZard and OPerability (HAZOP) Study (and SIL) workshop.Modelling• Liquid release• Gaseous release• 2-phase release• heavy gas dispersion• Computational Fluid Dynamics• Accident investigation and modelling.Chemical Safety and Occupational Health• Chemical toxicity and exposure• Toxic release and consequence modelling• Process plant health issues.Pipelines, Storage and Security• Security and terrorism• Pipeline leak detection/measurement and corrosion assessment.Fire and Explosion• Fires and combustion• Explosions (including dust explosions)• Fire and blast protection and survivability• Fire fighting• Runaway reactions• Consequence modelling• Oil and gas production safety.Human Factors in Design and Management• Process safety /environmental performance measurement including leading and lagging indicators• Human and organizational factors in safety cases• Characterisation and quantification of human performance in hazard identification and risk analysis• Human performance optimisation by design• SIMOPS (simultaneous operations)• Situational Awareness• Communications and risk control systems• Management systems and processes• Resilience Engineering, normal accidents, high reliability organisations• Ageing assets• Technical Assurance• Integrity Management • Training.Inherent Safety and Inherently Safer Design• Design and development of new processes • Design and development of new equipment • Methodologies for ranking inherent safety • Retrofitting inherently safer solutions: upgrading existing plant for improved safety• Examples of IS Design.Nuclear Safety• Waste disposal • Design for decommissioning • Passively safe reactor designs • Nuclear reactor protective system reliability and risk monitoring.Reaction Hazards• Chemical thermal stability • Thermal reaction hazards • Influence of impurities on reaction hazards • Development of reactivity hazard index ranking tool • Runaway reactions (detection and mitigation) • Compatibility/reactivity of chemicals involved in a chemical process.Risk and Risk Management• Major Accident Hazards• Quantified risk assessment • Uncertainty in quantified risk assessment • Risk-based design, ALARP and cost-benefit analysis• Risk-based decision-making • Safety cases• Integrated risk management.Environment• Energy and Alternative Energy Sources• Renewable and non-renewable energy sources and storage• Chemical and biochemical conversion of fossil fuels, biomass and waste• Life-cycle assessment • Energy infrastructure • Capture and storage of carbon dioxide • Nuclear energy • Energy and sustainable development • Process integration and intensification of energy processes.Sustainable Economy• Policy development and the industrial response• Sustainability concepts and assessment: social, environmental and economic criteria; decision processes; stakeholder identification and engagement; metrics• Environmental taxes, permits and emission trading• Energy futures• Renewable resources• Low carbon technologies.Environmental and Resource Management Systems• Environmental, social and economic performance of processes and products• Life cycle assessment and management• Material flow accounting• Industrial ecology and symbiosis• Labelling: embodied carbon; virtual water; ecolabelling; etc.• Renewable energy and sustainable energy systems.Clean Technology• Process and product design• Novel reactions, catalysts, solvents, etc.• Process intensification• Minimisation and avoidance of process waste and emissions• Emission treatment: scrubbing, venting, flaring, etc.Resource Management• Recovery, recycling and closed-loop use of materials and products• Waste management: systems and processes for energy and material recovery and waste treatment; disposal• Landfill and waste repository design, operation and management• Land remediation and recovery.Water• Industrial, pure and ultrapure water production• Municipal and industrial effluent treatment• Potable water treatment• Sludge processing, energy recovery and disposal• Mitigation of water environment, pollution incidents.

Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics: Aims & ScopesTheoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics' aims & scopes have been re-designed to cover both the theoretical, applied, and numerical aspects associated with those cracking related phenomena taking place, at a micro-, meso-, and macroscopic level, in materials/components/structures of any kind.The journal aims to cover the cracking/mechanical behaviour of materials/components/structures in those situations involving both time-independent and time-dependent system of external forces/moments (such as, for instance, quasi-static, impulsive, impact, blasting, creep, contact, and fatigue loading). Since, under the above circumstances, the mechanical behaviour of cracked materials/components/structures is also affected by the environmental conditions, the journal would consider also those theoretical/experimental research works investigating the effect of external variables such as, for instance, the effect of corrosive environments as well as of high/low-temperature. The journal will also consider technical articles assessing the cracking behaviour of new materials used in modern and alternative applications, i.e., not only strictly related to engineering. Further, the most advanced technological findings in the surface engineering field are seen to strongly influence the cracking/mechanical behaviour of materials. Accordingly, technical articles investigating, both from a theoretical and an experimental point of view, the existing interactions between the above aspects and the material cracking behaviour will be considered for publication.The modelling of the phenomena of interest for the Journal can be based on the conventional linear-elastic/elasto-plastic Fracture Mechanics concepts as well as on novel (or emerging) theories. The journal is keen to publish new/alternative modelling/design approaches, provided that such innovative theories are soundly based on the state-of-the-art knowledge and, when possible, validated through appropriate experimental results.In more general terms, cracks act as stress/strain concentrators. Accordingly, the Journal is very keen to consider for publication also those studies investigating the effect on the mechanical behaviour of materials/components/structures of different kinds of stress/strain concentrators such as defects, microstructural in-homogeneities, and, above all, notches of any kind. In more detail, one of the new features of Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics is releasing regular issues addressing, in a systematic way, the notch mechanics problem. In this setting, as for those studies involving cracks, such special issues will consider not only conventional, but also innovative materials subjected to both time-independent and time-dependent loading.The increasing computational power of modern computers is strongly encouraging the scientific community to develop novel methodologies suitable for modelling the mechanical behaviour of materials/components/structures containing any kind of stress/strain concentrators (i.e., not only cracks and notches, but also defects and microstructural in-homogeneities). Accordingly, Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics aims to publish, through regular issues fully focussed on computational mechanics, also those technical articles addressing the theoretical/computational aspects leading to an efficient and accurate modelling of the behaviour, at a micro-, meso-, and macroscopic level, of materials and structures containing stress/strain raisers of any kind.In light of the new aims and scopes characterising Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics, the journal will be organised according to the following topical issues:Miscellany of technical articles fully meeting the aims and scopes of the journal;Technical articles investigating the notch mechanics field;Technical articles devoted to the computational mechanics aspects;Themed threads, guest-edited by experts, where the themes of interest could not necessarily be addressed in a single issue: this would create a string of issues showing, over years, the progresses made in a specific area of the Fracture/Notch/Computational Mechanics discipline.The themed threads will be guest-edited not only by the Members of the Editorial Board, but also, as mentioned above, by leading experts. In this setting, the Editorial Boards is interested in considering possible topics directly suggested by leading experts also willing to act as guest-editors. Finally, the Journal will consider the publication of special issues containing the extended version of high-level papers presented at prominent international conferences.However, authors submitting papers of an experimental nature should include raw data with their submissions in order to support the findings being presented. The purpose of this requirement is to (1) Guard against falsifying test data and (2) Mitigate the misrepresentation of test data.

Modern engineered materials play a central role in enabling technological designs that underpin, advance and revolutionise engineering practice. Materials & Design seeks to publish reports of materials research that present applicable advances in the insight into structure and function, and provide useable and reproducible recipes for the synthesis, preparation, characterisation, modelling and exploitation of new metallic alloys, ceramics, polymers, coatings, composites and bio-materials systems.

Today's products and their constituent components and structures have to meet increasingly stringent requirements during operation. The economic and human costs of failure during service impose a great deal of responsibility on organisations and individuals who select and integrate materials in a final engineering design. A critical feature of successful product development is the judicious selection of the best materials based on informed awareness of the capabilities and opportunities afforded by all candidates, coupled with a design that takes full advantage of their properties. A further aim of Materials & Design is to promote a greater knowledge and understanding of the attributes and capabilities of all types of modern engineering materials in the context of engineering design.

Materials & Design publishes a range of high quality peer reviewed research articles including full papers, short communications and technical reports, and occasional special issues, that investigate the properties of materials that influence or control any practical design. All types of engineering materials are considered, and all scales of processing, analysis and design from nano- and micro-scale devices and systems to large structural components. The content is broad and widely relevant to materials researchers, engineers and designers in academia and in industry.

The emphasis is placed on developing both practice and theory relevant to the field of materials engineering and science, with appropriate links established to processing, characterisation and simulation. To reflect the multidisciplinary nature of design, submissions to Materials & Design should offer information useful to professionals working in fields related to the immediate subject of the article.

Materials & Design brings together the overriding interest in the inherent architecture of solid matter with the practical need to know and use its properties to perform certain roles in service, either structural or functional. In reflection of this title, the journal is focused on the studies of natural and engineered materials, with particular emphasis on the elucidation of their structure and properties at all scales, from nuclear and electronic to amorphous and crystalline levels of organisation, to nano-scale and micro-structuring aspects, and ultimately to the manner in which this manifests itself in the suitability and performance of materials in various natural and man-made systems and applications.

In order to help the authors, reviewers and editors identified those directions of research that match the existing and future thematic threads in Materials & Design, to compile a list of priority areas that are of particular interest to the readers of the journal. These are:

• Micro- and nano-scale multi-physics phenomena, and the analysis structure, morphology, and the role of interfaces in relation to design at all scales, e.g. electrochemical energy storage, phase transformation and associated processes
• In operando and in situ studies of processes and structural evolution
• Processing of alloys and compounds for microstructure and property control, e.g. friction stir and severe plastic deformation
• Lightweight materials, e.g. alloys containing magnesium and lithium, as well as composites of all types of matrix (polymer, metal and ceramic) and reinforcement, including continuous and discontinuous fibres, low aspect ratio inclusions and nano-structured reinforcements
• Multifunctional materials, e.g. alloys, polymers and ceramics displaying shape memory effects, as well as bio-composites, composites of green or sustainable origin, and biomimetic materials
• Intelligent materials design to optimise performance, including hierarchical microstructural optimisation, self-healing, energy absorption, for durability, against damage and environmental extremes

Authors submitting their work to the journal are encouraged to identify how their studies correspond to the priority areas above, by indicating this match in the Cover Letter and the text of their manuscript, referring to the Editorial Note on the aims and scope of the journal: dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2015.09.004

Assessment Criteria

In assessing the submissions to Materials & Design, the editors are guided by a few key principles. These are:

• The editors of Materials & Design favour submissions that bring together experimental observations with modelling in a logically connected way that reflects the journal title. The combination of modelling with experiment helps elucidate the ways in which theoretical (analytical or numerical) descriptions of material behaviour can be turned into predictive tools to help design and applications.
• This does not mean that submissions to Materials & Design that contain reports of purely theoretical or experimental nature will be automatically rejected: editors reserve the right to accept submissions of either kind that report particularly novel and original approaches and results likely to make outstanding contributions to the field.
• For reasons outlined above, submissions split into multiple parts, e.g. Part I and Part II, are unlikely to be successful. Editors believe that a well-connected coherent piece of research should in fact incorporate multiple approaches and findings, and can and should be reported as one compact piece, in the form of an article. Ample provision is made by the publisher to attach supplementary material that accompanies the main text of the paper.
• To have a good chance of success, submissions to Materials & Design must identify and display clearly and prominently the aspects of novelty of findings, originality of approach, unusual treatment or experimental setup, unexpected discovery, etc. This means that the application of methods and techniques previously reported in this journal or in other published periodical(s) to similar or somewhat different materials systems or situations does not qualify for consideration. The authors should note that in this sense the frequently advanced argument of the sort "we recently published a similar paper in your journal" is distinctly counter-productive in terms of improving the likelihood of seeing their work in print.

Papers must be written in clear scientific English that is well-structured and understandable to reviewers and editors without additional copy-editing. The presence of grammatical errors in the text may lead to submission being rejected at any stage in the consideration process, on the grounds of poor language impeding the understanding by the readers.