Article types

Materials Horizons publishes:

  • Communications
  • Reviews
  • Opinion articles
  • Focus articles
  • Comments

Communications

All original research published in the journal is in the form of Communication articles. These are exceptionally high-quality and innovative reports that are of significant broad appeal to the materials science community at large. The research presented should provide new insight into the topic and demonstrate a new concept or a new way of thinking (a conceptual advance), rather than primarily reporting technological improvements. However, outstanding articles featuring truly breakthrough developments such as record performance of materials alone may also be published in the journal.  

Materials Horizons Communications must include a separate "new concepts" statement. This statement should be a paragraph of no more than 200 words and should address the following questions:

  • What new concept has been demonstrated?
  • What differentiates this concept from existing research?
  • What additional insight does your work and the underlying concept bring to materials science?

This statement will be seen by editors and reviewers and will help ascertain the significance of the research. The statement should not be a summary of the work reported, as in the article abstract. If the paper is accepted, this statement will also be published. Please note that papers cannot be peer-reviewed without this statement.

Reviews, Opinion and Focus articles

These are normally invited by the Editorial Board and editorial office, although suggestions from readers for topics and authors of reviews are welcome.

Reviews, Opinion articles and Focus articles must be high-quality, authoritative, state-of-the-art accounts of the selected research field. They should be timely and add to the existing literature, rather than duplicate existing articles, and should be of general interest to the journal's wide readership.

All Reviews, Opinion articles and Focus articles undergo rigorous peer review, in the same way as regular research papers.

Reviews

Reviews should report a balanced current account of key developments within a particular facet of materials science research, with critical insight into the topic area covered. Simple literature surveys are not suitable for publication. Authors are encouraged to identify areas in which further developments are imminent or of urgent need, and any areas that may be of significance to the community in general. Reviews are typically six to eight printed journal pages in length. Reviews should not contain unpublished original research.

Materials Horizons Reviews must include a separate ‘wider impact’ statement. This statement will be published with accepted articles and should be a paragraph of no more than 200 words that addresses the following questions:

  • What key developments in the area of study have been discussed?
  • What makes the area of study of significant wider interest?
  • What will the future of this field hold, and how will the insight in your review help shape materials science?

Opinion articles

Opinion articles are short (typically 2-4 pages), readable accounts of a current area of interest in materials science which provides a platform for authors to give their personal or speculative viewpoint on a given subject and its future development. Opinion articles should bring significant and valuable insights to the field and stimulate discussion and counter-opinion. By their nature they will not be reviews of a field of materials science, instead, the focus should be on the perspective of the author.

Focus articles

Focus articles are educational articles that can take the form of either an editorial or a review article. They are designed to address topic areas that are often misunderstood or require greater explanation.

Comments

Comments and Replies are a medium for the discussion and exchange of scientific opinions between authors and readers concerning material published in Materials Horizons.

For publication, a Comment should present an alternative analysis of and/or a new insight into the previously published material. Any Reply should further the discussion presented in the original article and the Comment. Comments and Replies that contain any form of personal attack are not suitable for publication. 

Comments that are acceptable for publication will be forwarded to the authors of the work being discussed, and these authors will be given the opportunity to submit a Reply. The Comment and Reply will both be subject to rigorous peer review in consultation with the journal’s Editorial Board where appropriate. The Comment and Reply will be published together.

Materials Horizons

Pre-submission queries please contact Michaela Muehlberg, Executive Editor
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Post-submission queries please contact Jon Watson, Editorial Production Manager
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