ANALYST, JANUARY 1991, VOL. 116 1 Editorial This has been a challenging year in the Analytical Journals office with various staff, procedural (for North American authors) and editorial changes being made, in order to keep The Analyst abreast of current developments in both the style and terminology used in analytical chemistry. Some of these changes may become evident as you read through this first issue of 1991; however, most are minor, hence there is no over-all change in format. These changes are detailed in the revised ‘Instructions to Authors’ given on page 105. One of the most obvious points of note is that The Analyst will no longer publish ‘short papers’, mainly because the criteria for these were exactly the same as those for full papers and the larger page size of recent years has meant that the distinction on the basis of length has become blurred.The main reason for the editorial and style changes is to achieve consistency between all primary journals of the RSC. A major step forward in 1990 was the establishment of a North American connection for The Analyst, with Professor J. F. Tyson being appointed US Associate Editor (see photo- graph). Hopefully his appointment will give The Analyst the foothold necessary to make further progress and keep a high profile in the North American market in order to encourage authors and to recruit referees. Thus, North American authors may now send their papers directly to Professor Tyson. Papers will usually be refereed within North America, thereby saving valuable time in the publication process.Professor Julian F. Tyson, US Associate Editor f o r The Analyst Professor Tyson and Professor J. D. R. Thomas (outgoing Chairman of the Analytical Editorial Board) both contributed Editorials for the July issue of The Analyst about the history and future of The Analyst, respectively. Professor Thomas is now the President of the Analytical Division and has been succeeded as Chairman by Dr. A. G. Fogg (Loughborough University), The Editorial staff would like to take this opportunity to express their appreciation for all the hard work Professor Thomas has put in over the last seven years and for the assistance and advice he has given throughout his term of office. We are certain he will continue to take an active interest in all the Analytical Journals and we wish him success in his new role.L to R: Harpal Minhas, Paul Delaney, Monique Warner, Claire Harris, Judith Egan (front), Brenda Holliday, Sheryl Whitewood, Paula O’Riordan and Roger Young There have also been several staff changes within the office (see photograph). Judith Egan remains Editorial Manager, Analytical, and Editor of the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry (JAAS) and Roger Young remains the Editor of Analytical Proceedings. However, Harpal Minhas (formerly Senior Assistant Editor) was appointed Editor of The Analyst in May. The former Editor, Janet Dean, has been promoted to the post of Editorial Manager, Dalton Transactions. Paul Delaney is now Senior Assistant Editor, along with Assistant Editors Paula O’Riordan, Sheryl Whitewood and Brenda Holliday. Claire Harris the Editorial Secretary for The Analyst and Analytical Proceedings and Monique Warner the Editorial Secretary for JAAS complete the Editorial team.All these changes inevitably disrupted production. However, everybody, including many of our referees, worked extremely hard and managed to keep The Analyst on schedule for most of the year. Our high standards were maintained with a rejection rate of 48% and average times to publication falling to their lowest since we relocated to Cambridge (in 1988/9) by September. Readers, authors and referees should note that there have also been several changes to the Advisory Board and Regional Advisory Editors, hence, you should consult the inside front cover of The Analyst to ensure that you are aware of your local Advisory Board membededitor. Of course, if you would like further information or to discuss any aspects of the publication procedures, please do not hesitate to contact either myself or Professor Tyson . Finally, The Royal Society of Chemistry celebrates its 150th Anniversary in 1991. To commemorate this event the Analy- tical Divison has organised two symposia (one jointly with the Faraday Division) to coincide with RSC celebrations during the Annual Chemical Congress, at Imperial College from 8th to 12th April, and we hope to see you there. Harpal Minhas, Editor