Reaction Kinetics, Mechanisms and Catalysis - 50 Years of Publishing - Reaction Kinetics, Mechanisms and Catalysis
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Reaction Kinetics, Mechanisms and Catalysis journal, co-published with Akadémiai Kiadó.
On this occasion, we have invited the Editor-in-Chief Gábor Lente from University of Pécs to share his experiences on his role and the development of the journal.
- What is the focus of your research work? Since when are you serving as the EiC of the journal?
My own research focuses on mathematical reaction kinetics. This field of theoretical chemistry is a very specialized one and does not attract a lot of attention nowadays. My training was in experimental chemical kinetics with focus on inorganic reaction mechanisms. This research experience was why I became interested in the journal primarily, but its Hungarian origin was also a major factor. I became an Associate Editor for the journal in 2009, the title was Reaction Kinetics and Catalysis Letters at that time, unchanged since its foundation in 1974. I took over the responsibilities of Editor-in-Chief from Prof. István Fábián in 2016.
- How do you reflect on your role and the contributions the journal received over the years?
The journal experienced fundamental changes in the very first year of my service as an editor. Prof. László Simándy was the dominant editor from the very beginning, his retirement marked the end of an era from several points of view. First, the title of the journal was changed. The word ‘letter’ was not appropriate any more as the intention was to publish full articles rather than short preliminary communications. The word ‘mechanisms’ was included to reflect an intent on widening the scope of the content somewhat. Also, it was in 2009 when the journal began using a professional, web-based manuscript handling platform and the production process underwent major improvement, too. The Hungarian Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó extended its cooperation with Springer significantly at about that time, and I feel that this cooperation has been very beneficial for both parties ever since.
- How would you describe the societal impact the field of the journal has (i.e. how the field contributes to the development of scientific knowledge)?
Most of the papers published in Reaction Kinetics, Mechanisms and Catalysis are in the field of heterogeneous and homogenous catalysis. This is very important for the chemical industry, such catalysts are used in most petrochemical, pharmaceutical and inorganic processes, but also in water purification. Everything that we use in our life and does not come directly from nature, needs several heterogeneous catalysts somewhere in its production process. In addition to its practical importance, the field is also a major contributor to the progress of pure science as well. This is nicely illustrated by the fact that the chemistry Nobel prizes awarded in 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2021 recognized contributions in the field of the journal.
- How do you describe the development of the journal over the 50 years? What were the challenges and advantages?
The journal was originally founded as a joint venture of the Hungarian and Soviet Academies of Sciences. In the early 1970s, the major driving force was to open communication channels for eastern bloc scientists with the rest of the world. With the political changes of the late 1980s and early 1990s, this goal became irrelevant, but the Russian-Hungarian co-operation continued for about two decades even on a formal level as the journal had a co-editor in Novosibirsk. Although such formal connection does not exist today, the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, named after the Soviet founding editor of the journal, is still a very important partner for the journal.
The first half of the 2010s saw a rapid growth, the number of articles published doubled in half a decade. The authors of the articles became more diverse in a geographical sense at the same time. In this period, the journal experienced a notable surge in competition as Nature, the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry all founded new journals with ‘catalysis’ in their title, which became a sort of a buzzword. My worst regret today is that Hungarian author participation has steadily decreased for the last ten years and 2023 became the first year in the history of the journal without a single article from Hungarian researchers. At least I understand the reasons, which are rooted in the specific way scientific funding decisions are made in Hungary, but I do not know how to make Reaction Kinetics, Mechanisms and Catalysis attractive again to fellow scientist in my own country.
- Are there any challenges in publishing in the field, how do you see its evolution in the next years?
The general trend I see in chemistry is an unfortunate move away from quantitative measurements. As a consequence, expertise in statistically reliable evaluation techniques has been declining steadily. As an editor, my largest challenge today is to convince authors that this trend leads to less reliable, less useful science. I am trying to enforce some minimum standards in the numerical evaluation of measured data, but this practice is obviously not followed by the editors of most chemical journals.