Editorial 2000 and after Whether you belong to the school of thought that says the 21st century started in 2000 or not by now (February 2001) it has indubitably arrived. The traditional New Year update by the ScientiÆc Advisory Editor about the progress of our Journal has been postponed from the January issue because the latter contained papers contributed to the 3rd Materials Discussion meeting which merited its own Preface. The short headline on our present status is that the Journal of Materials Chemistry continues to go from strength to strength. Most gratifying is a 23% increase in our impact factor over last year it now stands at 2.32 which is among the highest among cognate journals. The increase conÆrms a trend that has been Ærmly established since the mid-1990's and in parallel with it has come a steadily increasing volume of submissions.Our Editorial OfÆce and referees have risen splendidly to the challenge so that times to publication have continued to fall consistently and now average 17 weeks from receipt for full papers and 10 weeks for communications. Articles are also published on the web very soon after proof corrections are received from authors. The Materials Editorial Board which sets and monitors the agenda for the Journal and I as ScientiÆc Advisory Editor are determined to use these opportunities by further enhancing the scientiÆc standards. One tool in this endeavour is the rejection rate which now stands above 40% for full papers and 65% for communications. Finally although many contributions already come from the USA and Japan we are also seeking to broaden and deepen our relations with materials chemists in these parts of the world.I am pleased that Professor Will Rees of Georgia Institute of Technology and Professor Yasuhiko Shirota of Osaka University have joined the Editorial Board as Regional Associate Editors for North America and Japan respectively. All these indications constitute elements in a virtuous circle. They will I hope lead to the Journal of Materials Chemistry being of even greater value to the community that it serves as the third Millennium gets under way. Peter Day ScientiÆc Advisory Editor Regional Associate Editor for North America Professor William S. Rees Jr. Regional Associate Editor for North America The Royal Society of Chemistry journals enjoy a broad readership in North America and numerous authors of papers published in these journals conduct their research in institutes which enjoy productive transoceanic collaborations.As such the time has arrived– coincident with the start of the next Millennium –to open an Editorial OfÆce in the U.S. for processing manuscripts for Journal of Materials Chemistry. It is with a sense of responsibility to timely reply to authors that I have agreed to become Regional Associate Editor for North America effective 1 January 2001. I look forward to working closely with the existing editorial team in the U.K. to push the quality of this publication to a higher level whilst retaining the rapid manuscript review and publication times which are the hallmark of the RSC.Among the beneÆts which will accrue to authors utilizing the U.S. ofÆce include avoiding the inconvenience of This journal is # The Royal Society of Chemistry 2001 international post for manuscript submission maximization of electronic correspondence with authors to keep them informed of their manuscript status and as a preview of an upcoming option available to RSC authors electronic submission and reviewing of manuscripts. I welcome your suggestions on ways to best serve the materials chemistry community and anticipate receipt of exciting research results in the manuscripts arriving at the Journal of Materials Chemistry Editorial OfÆce at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Professor William S. Rees Jr. Regional Associate Editor for North America Manuscripts from North America now may be submitted to Professor William S. Rees Jr. Regional Associate Editor for North America J. Mater. Chem. School of Chemistry and Biochemistry & School of Material Science and Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 770 State Street Boggs Building Room 3-44 Atlanta GA 30332-0400 U.S.A. Tel z1 404 894 4049 Fax z1 404 894 1144 E-submissions http://www.rsc.org/submissions