RSC launches Biomaterials Science journal in collaboration with Kyoto University (iCeMS)

Academic and industrial researchers in the field of biomaterials have a new option for the publication of their research in 2012, with the launch of the latest Royal Society of Chemistry journal Biomaterials Science. 

The journal is a collaborative venture between RSC Publishing and Kyoto University's WPI Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) in Japan. The new journal bridges material science, biology, chemistry and physics and will ensure through free access the authors' work has maximum visibility.

Announcing the launch, James Milne, acting Managing Director of Publishing at the RSC, said: "We are delighted to support the biomaterials research community with this new journal, and are looking forward to collaborating closely with the iCeMS. Together we are confident we can establish a new world class journal for the biomaterials sciences, providing authors in this rapidly growing field with a journal characterised by the quality, speed of publication and innovative technology for which RSC Publishing is renowned. 

"By providing authors with exceptional service through the submission and publication process, and with the excellent editorial team we have involved, we anticipate Biomaterials Science will quickly become a preeminent journal in the field."

Biomaterials Science will be a multidisciplinary journal covering the fundamental science of biomaterials and their biomedical applications. The journal will open for submissions from March 2012, advance articles will be available from August 2012 and the first issue will be published in 2013. 

Authors submitting to Biomaterials Science will benefit from rapid peer review and publication with no page charges. Authors have the option of publishing their research as an Accepted Manuscript; Open Access publication is also available as an option through RSC Open Science. 

Published research will have very high visibility: from launch until December 2014, all content will be freely available online for readers via the website.

Norio Nakatsuji, Professor and Director at Kyoto University's WPI-iCeMS, has been appointed Co-editor-in-chief of the new journal. He said: "It is my great honour and pleasure to work with the Royal Society of Chemistry on the launch of this new cross-disciplinary journal integrating materials science with the cellular and biomedical sciences. Our iCeMS aims to fuse these fields, focusing on stem cells and mesoscopic investigations of living systems and functional materials. The launch of this new journal is therefore an important event for our institute, as with it we seek to present a global platform for fundamental research as well as varied applications of this rapidly expanding field created at the crossing point of biology, chemistry, and physics"

Professor Phillip Messersmith from Northwestern University, USA, also co-Editor-in-Chief, said: "It is an exhilarating time for the biomaterials research community, as it is enjoying rapid growth, making exciting fundamental discoveries, and driving the development of novel life-saving and life-enhancing therapeutic materials and devices. I look forward to helping shape Biomaterials Science into one of leading journals in the field."