Journal Guide

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.

Materials Advances is an international, gold open access journal, publishing high-quality research across the breadth of materials science. The journal accepts experimental or theoretical studies that report new understanding, applications, properties and synthesis of materials, building on and complementing the materials content already published across the Royal Society of Chemistry journal portfolio. Submissions are handled by our high profile associate editors, all of whom also look after submissions to Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B & C. The Materials Advances publishing experience comes with the reputation, standards, commitment and expertise you would expect from an RSC journal, plus the visibility boost that comes from being open access and part of the Journal of Materials Chemistry family.

Materials Characterization features original articles and state-of-the-art reviews on theoretical and practical aspects of the structure and behaviour of materials.The Journal focuses on all characterization techniques, including all forms of microscopy (light, electron, acoustic, etc.,) and analysis (especially microanalysis and surface analytical techniques). Developments in both this wide range of techniques and their application to the quantification of the microstructure of materials are essential facets of the Journal.The Journal provides the Materials Scientist/Engineer with up-to-date information on many types of materials with an underlying theme of explaining the behavior of materials using novel approaches. Materials covered by the journal include:Metals & alloysCeramicsNanomaterialsBiomedical materialsOptical materialsCompositesNatural MaterialsPlease note that not all topics fall within the scope of Materials Characterization. Submissions focused on the topics listed below will not be considered for publication, potential alternative journals are indicated in brackets:thin film semiconductors (Thin Solid Films; Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing)polymers or polymer composites (Elsevier polymer titles; Composites structures)mechanical, electrical or other property measurements without any accompanying microstructural characterization (depending on the focus, please consider submitting to Corrosion Science; Wear; Materials Science & Engineering B; Materials & Design)computation, theory or analysis papers without an accompanying microstructural characterization component (Computational Materials Science; Materials Science & Engineering A; Materials Science & Engineering B; Materials Science & Engineering C)

Materials Letters is dedicated to publishing novel, cutting edge reports of broad interest to the materials community. The journal provides a forum for materials scientists and engineers, physicists, and chemists to rapidly communicate on the most important topics in the field of materials.Contributions include, but are not limited to, a variety of topics such as:• Materials - Metals and alloys, amorphous solids, ceramics, composites, polymers, semiconductors• Applications - Structural, opto-electronic, magnetic, medical, MEMS, sensors, smart• Characterization - Analytical, microscopy, scanning probes, nanoscopic, optical, electrical, magnetic, acoustic, spectroscopic, diffraction• Novel Materials - Micro and nanostructures (nanowires, nanotubes, nanoparticles), nanocomposites, thin films, superlattices, quantum dots.• Processing - Crystal growth, thin film processing, sol-gel processing, mechanical processing, assembly, nanocrystalline processing.• Properties - Mechanical, magnetic, optical, electrical, ferroelectric, thermal, interfacial, transport, thermodynamic• Synthesis - Quenching, solid state, solidification, solution synthesis, vapor deposition, high pressure, explosiveBenefits to authorsWe also provide many author benefits, such as free PDFs, a liberal copyright policy, special discounts on Elsevier publications and much more. Please click here for more information on our author services.Please see our Guide for Authors for information on article submission. If you require any further information or help, please visit our support pages: http://support.elsevier.com

To publish original contributions on experimental, theoretical and simulation research on the processing, structure and properties of materials.

Materials Research Bulletin is an international journal reporting high - impact research on processing-structure-property relationships in functional inorganic materials and nanomaterials with interesting electronic, magnetic, optical, mechanical or catalytic properties. Papers purely on thermodynamics or theoretical calculations (e.g., density functional theory) do not fall within the scope of the journal unless they also demonstrate a clear link to physical properties. Topics covered include functional materials (e.g., dielectrics, pyroelectrics, piezoelectrics, ferroelectrics, and relaxors); electrochemistry and solid-state ionics (photovoltaics, batteries, sensors, and fuel cells); nanomaterials, graphene, and nanocomposites; novel electronics, luminescence, and photocatalysis; crystal-structure and defect-structure analysis; and non-crystalline solids.Benefits to authorsWe also provide many author benefits, such as free PDFs, a liberal copyright policy, special discounts on Elsevier publications and much more. Please click here for more information on our author services.Please see our Guide for Authors for information on article submission. If you require any further information or help, please visit our support pages: http://support.elsevier.com

Materials Science reports on current research into such problems as cracking, fatigue and fracture, especially in active environments as well as corrosion and anticorrosion protection of structural metallic and polymer materials, and the development of new materials. Materials Science is a translation of the peer-reviewed Ukrainian journal Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhanika Materialiv. More information is available at the editors' website via the following link:http://www.ipm.lviv.ua/editions/pcmm/indexe.php?menu=2&language=en/

Materialwissenschaft und Werkstofftechnik provides fundamental and practical information for those concerned with materials development, manufacture, and testing. Both technical and economic aspects are taken into consideration in order to facilitate choice of the material that best suits the purpose at hand. Review articles summarize new developments and offer fresh insight into the various aspects of the discipline. Recent results regarding material selection, use and testing are described in original articles, which also deal with failure treatment and investigation. Abstracts of new publications from other journals as well as lectures presented at meetings and reports about forthcoming events round off the journal. Official Journal of.

Please be advised that the Aims and Scope for the journal has recently been updated. The journal will no longer consider or publish papers on concrete and cement-based systems nor on polymeric and polymer-based materials.Materials Science and Engineering A provides an international medium for the publication of theoretical and experimental studies related to the load-bearing capacity of materials as influenced by their basic properties, processing history, microstructure and operating environment. Appropriate submissions to Materials Science and Engineering A should include scientific and/or engineering factors which affect the microstructure - strength relationships of materials and report the changes to mechanical behavior. The journal does not seek or publish papers on concrete and cement-based systems nor on polymeric and polymer-based materials.Benefits to authorsWe also provide many author benefits, such as free PDFs, a liberal copyright policy, special discounts on Elsevier publications and much more. Please click here for more information on our author services.Please see our Guide for Authors for information on article submission. If you require any further information or help, please visit our support pages: http://support.elsevier.com

The journal provides an international medium for the publication of theoretical and experimental studies and reviews related to the electronic, electrochemical, ionic, magnetic, optical, and biosensingproperties of solid state materials in bulk, thin film and particulate forms. Papers dealing with synthesis, processing, characterization, structure, physical properties and computational aspects of nano-crystalline, crystalline, amorphous and glassy forms of ceramics, semiconductors, layered insertion compounds, low-dimensional compounds and systems, fast-ion conductors, polymers and dielectrics are viewed as suitable for publication. Articles focused on nano-structured aspects of these advanced solid-state materials will also be considered suitable.Benefits to authorsWe also provide many author benefits, such as free PDFs, a liberal copyright policy, special discounts on Elsevier publications and much more. Please click here for more information on our author services.Please see our Guide for Authors for information on article submission. If you require any further information or help, please visit our support pages: http://support.elsevier.com

Materials Science and Engineering C: Materials for Biological Applications includes topics at the interface of the biomedical sciences and materials engineering. These topics include:• Bioinspired and biomimetic materials for medical applications• Materials of biological origin for medical applications• Materials for "active" medical applications• Self-assembling and self-healing materials for medical applications• "Smart" (i.e., stimulus-response) materials for medical applications• Ceramic, metallic, polymeric, and composite materials for medical applications• Materials for in vivo sensing• Materials for in vivo imaging• Materials for delivery of pharmacologic agents and vaccines• Novel approaches for characterizing and modeling materials for medical applicationsBenefits to authorsWe also provide many author benefits, such as free PDFs, a liberal copyright policy, special discounts on Elsevier publications and much more. Please click here for more information on our author services.Please see our Guide for Authors for information on article submission. If you require any further information or help, please visit our support pages: http://support.elsevier.com

Materials Science & Engineering R: Reports publishes invited review papers covering the full spectrum of materials science and engineering. The reviews, both experimental and theoretical, provide general background information as well as a critical assessment on topics in a state of flux. The editorial policy of Materials Science & Engineering R: Reports is to serve its readership in two ways. Firstly, it provides a critical overview of the current issues in a well-defined area of immediate interest to materials scientists. Secondly, each review contains an extensive list of references thus providing an invaluable pointer to the primary research literature available on the topic. This policy is implemented by the Editorial Board which consists of outstanding scientists in their respective disciplines. The Board identifies the topics of interest and subsequently invites qualified authors. In order to ensure speedy publication, each review is published separately.Benefits to authorsWe also provide many author benefits, such as free PDFs, a liberal copyright policy, special discounts on Elsevier publications and much more. Please click here for more information on our author services.Please see our Guide for Authors for information on article submission. If you require any further information or help, please visit our support pages: http://support.elsevier.com

MORE (Maney Online Research E-journal) Collections represent real value for money.The licensing options have been designed to suit the differing needs of academic institutions worldwide. They aim to reduce the unit cost of information whilst at the same time expand access to a wider range of electronic content.Licensing the Full Collection of electronic journals represents the best value of money for multidisciplinary universities wishing to provide the greatest breadth of content to their users. We also deliver subject-specific and tailor-made packages. See the right-hand links for more information.

Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing provides a unique forum for the discussion of novel processing, applications and theoretical studies of functional materials and devices for (opto)electronics, sensors, detectors, biotechnology and green energy.Each issue will aim to provide a snapshot of current insights, new achievements, breakthroughs and future trends in such diverse fields as microelectronics, energy conversion and storage, communications, biotechnology, (photo)catalysis, nano- and thin-film technology, hybrid and composite materials, chemical processing, vapor-phase deposition, device fabrication, and modelling, which are the backbone of advanced semiconductor processing and applications.Coverage will include: advanced lithography for submicron devices; etching and related topics; ion implantation; damage evolution and related issues; plasma and thermal CVD; rapid thermal processing; advanced metallization and interconnect schemes; thin dielectric layers, oxidation; sol-gel processing; chemical bath and (electro)chemical deposition; compound semiconductor processing; new non-oxide materials and their applications; (macro)molecular and hybrid materials; molecular dynamics, ab-initio methods, Monte Carlo, etc.; new materials and processes for discrete and integrated circuits; magnetic materials and spintronics; heterostructures and quantum devices; engineering of the electrical and optical properties of semiconductors; crystal growth mechanisms; reliability, defect density, intrinsic impurities and defects.