RSC Advances Blog

RSC Advances welcomes two new Associate Editors: Shannon Biros and Giulia Fiorani

01 Sep 2022

The RSC Advances team is excited to welcome Professor Shannon Biros, Grand Valley State University, Michigan, USA and Professor Giulia Fiorani, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy as our newest Associate Editors.

Shannon Biros, Professor of Chemistry, Grand Valley State University, USA

Research areas: x-ray crystallography, supramolecular chemistry, f-element coordination chemistry, actinide and lanthanide separation chemistry

Shannon M. Biros joined the faculty of GVSU as an Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry in the fall of 2008. She was a graduate of GVSU, receiving her BA in chemistry and BS in biomedical sciences in 2001. From there she moved to San Diego to pursue a PhD in chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute under the direction of Professor Julius Rebek, Jr. Following the completion of her thesis, Shannon spent a year at the University of California, Berkeley as a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratory of Professor Kenneth N. Raymond investigating the guest binding properties of a series of supramolecular metal-ligand clusters. She is currently in her thirteenth year as a faculty member at GVSU, and maintains an active research group of undergraduate students.

Browse a selection of Shannon’s RSC publications:

Synthesis of diphenyl-(2-thienyl)phosphine, its chalcogenide derivatives and a series of novel complexes of lanthanide nitrates and triflates, Troy Luster, Hannah J. Van de Roovaart, Kyle J. Korman, Georgia G. Sands, Kylie M. Dunn, Anthony Spyker, Richard J. Staples, Shannon M. Biros and John E. Bender, Dalton Trans., 2022,51, 9103-9115, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2DT01570F

A complex with nitrogen single, double, and triple bonds to the same chromium atom: synthesis, structure, and reactivity, Evan P. Beaumier, Brennan S. Billow, Amrendra K. Singh, Shannon M. Biros and Aaron L. Odom, Chem. Sci., 2016,7, 2532-2536, https://doi.org/10.1039/C5SC04608D

Supramolecular ligands for the extraction of lanthanide and actinide ions, Eric J. Werner and Shannon M. Biros, Org. Chem. Front., 2019,6, 2067-2094, https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QO00242A

Giulia Fiorani, Associate Professor, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy

Research areas: Green chemistry, Organic synthesis, Heterogeneous catalysis (green chemistry), Organic chemistry, Sustainable synthesis, biodegradable/biocompatible polymers, degradation of polymers

Giulia Fiorani received her BSc and MSc in Chemical Sciences from the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”. In 2010, she obtained her PhD in Chemical Sciences and Technologies from the same university, working on Ionic Liquids, under the supervision of Prof. Valeria Conte. From 2010 to 2012 Giulia was a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant at the University of Padua, working on hybrid polyoxometalates. She then moved to Ca’ Foscari University of Venice as a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant to work on linear organic carbonates. From March 2016 until October 2017, Giulia was a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in polymer chemistry and polymerization catalysis under the supervision of Prof. Charlotte K. Williams, initially at Imperial College London and then at the University of Oxford. Since November 2017, Giulia has been a fixed-term Assistant Professor, and later a tenure-track Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

In May 2015, she was shortlisted among the ten highly commended scientists for the ISGC Young Researcher Award. She was the recipient of the 2017 Junior Prize for Research on “Organic Chemistry for Environment, Energy and Nanoscience” awarded by the Organic Chemistry Division of the Italian Chemical Society and of the “Outstanding Young Researcher Award awardee” awarded by the International Scientific Committee of ICCDU XV, 5-7 July 2017, Shanghai (CN).

Giulia’s research interests focus on the development of novel synthetic and catalytic methodologies for the preparation of renewable-based molecules and materials. Bio-based synthons, including terpenes and lignocellulosic biomass derived platform chemicals, are employed as starting materials for the preparation of functional molecules and/or monomers for (co)-polymers synthesis. These transformations occur via sustainable catalytic processes, including direct CO₂ activation, tandem and/or one-pot processes, and use of continuous flow to improve the overall selectivity of synthetic organic chemistry processes.

Browse a selection of Giulia’s RSC publications:

Phosphonium salts and P-ylides, G. Fiorani, A. Perosa and M. Selva, From the book: Organophosphorus Chemistry: Volume 50, 2021, 50, 179-242, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/9781839163814-00179

Dimethyl carbonate: a versatile reagent for a sustainable valorization of renewables, G. Fiorani, A. Perosa and M. Selva, Green Chem., 2018,20, 288-322, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C7GC02118F

Submit your research or reviews to Professor Biros and Professor Fiorani, they will be delighted to receive them! See our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest HOT articles, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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Advancing with Advances- How to Publish and not Perish (Part 5): Publishing Tips from Academic Editors

30 Aug 2022

By Dr Zita Zachariah, Assistant Editor.

Why has your paper been desk-rejected by an editor ?

How can you improve your chances of publication?

This week we hear from three more Associate Editors of RSC Advances, who offer their advice on increasing the chances of your paper getting accepted. All of these editors handle catalysis-focused papers.

Meet the Editor:

Professor Franck Dumeignil is based at the University of Lille, France and has been working on RSC Advances since 2016. Professor Dumeignil handles papers in the areas of catalysis, carbon materials, spectroscopy, and biofuels.

Professor Franck Dumeignil, University of Lille, France

1. What is the most common reason for rejecting a manuscript without review?

a. A paper that is “too specific” such as papers dealing with a very local themes linked to local environment, etc., without any outputs that could be more globally used.
b. A paper that is not really dealing with Advances in Chemistry, but rather using conventional “Recipes” and “as-usual characterization techniques” in a very incremental way.
c. A paper lacking in characterizations to strengthen/support the conclusions.

2. What is the best piece of advice you could give a submitting author?

I learned that from my supervisor in Japan when I was a post-doctoral researcher: “When you submit a revised version of your paper, always do your best to satisfy the reviewers (of course it does not mean that any debate is definitely and unilaterally closed but imagine that you are actually the reviewer receiving answers and comments).”

Meet the Editor:

One of our newest Associate Editors, Professor Xi Chen joined us in March 2022. Xi is an Associate Professor based in Shanghai Jiao Tong University and mainly handles papers on catalysis.

Professor Xi Chen, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

1. What is the most common reason for rejecting a manuscript without review?

The most common reasons for rejecting a manuscript without review include the lack of novelty and poor manuscript quality. The novelty of a work is a crucial factor to determine whether a paper is worth publishing or not. The authors are suggested to highlight the unique creations or advances of the work clearly and properly in the Abstract as well as the Introduction with sufficient literature reviews. Apart from novelty, the quality of the manuscript is also important. A manuscript with poor writings, low figure quality, careless errors, unlogic flows, etc. will remarkably impair the readability and credibility of the work.

2. What is the best piece of advice you could give a submitting author?

Since the novelty of work is important, the authors are suggested to pinpoint the novelties and clarify them in a best way to the reviewers. Besides, the RSC templates are strongly suggested to be used for submission.

Meet the Editor:

Manojit Pal is a Professor of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry based at Dr Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences, India. He handles papers in the areas of chemical biology and catalysis.

Professor Manojit Pal, Dr Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences, India

1. What is the most common reason for rejecting a manuscript without review?

I think this somewhat tough to decide the fate of a manuscript without performing peer review which could be disappointing or even annoying to authors who are especially in the early stage of their career. Frankly speaking, I am not a great believer of rejecting manuscript without peer review because as an author I believe and understand that most of the authors do perform some checking or assessment regarding suitability or appropriateness of their manuscript before submitting to a particular journal. However, this is not the case always and that is where an editor needs to check the suitability of a manuscript submitted to the particular journal.

The second most common reason to me (and probably obvious to any other editor) is the lack of novelty or originality. While this is a relative term and generally varies from journal to journal, for RSC Advances a descent level of novelty is required for a manuscript to be considered further. If a literature search provides enough evidence in support of the fact that the submitted work is not new or the results can be anticipated easily then the chances of rejection without peer review become high.

The other issues that I find occasionally but not frequently include erratic study design, incorrect approaches, choice of wrong illustrations, wrong statistics, poor writing etc. However, I generally exclude manuscripts that are transferred in from other RSC journals because I respect the opinion of the editor of the corresponding journal where the manuscript was initially submitted.

2. What is the best piece of advice you could give a submitting author?

If you are aspiring for a rapid publication, wider readership as well as faster dissemination of your quality work via an internationally recognized and one of the professionally managed leading publishing houses then choose RSC Advances as home of your paper. It is known that apart from maintaining the high-quality RSC journals are broadly cited and globally appreciated. Also, make sure that the manuscript depicts your expertise in the particular field, quality writing, and excellence in study design and methodology etc. These are the essential components that are normally considered for assessing the integrity or trustworthiness as well as scientific impact and importance of the manuscript submitted.

We hope you find these insights from Franck, Manojit and Xi useful while preparing your next manuscript for submission at RSC Advances!

Tune in next week for yet more insights from our academic Associate Editors !

You are welcome to send in any questions you have about peer-review or publishing to advances-rsc@rsc.org or post them on Twitter @RSCAdvances #AdvancingWithAdvances.

Don’t miss out on our previous tips on how to publish and not perish below:

Advancing with Advances – Part 1

Advancing with Advances – Part 2

Advancing with Advances – Part 3

Advancing with Advances – Part 4

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RSC Advances Emerging Investigators series 2021 – Meet the Authors

22 Aug 2022

By Claire Mitchell, Assistant Editor.

Welcome to our Emerging Investigator Series 2021. This series showcases some of the very best work from chemists in the early stages of their independent careers. In keeping with the theme of RSC Advances as a cross-cutting chemistry journal, in this inaugural issue with the help of our Series Editor Professor James Batteas, we have 23 papers spanning the breadth of chemistry on topics ranging from the development and application of analytical tools and devices for chemical analysis, to the design and synthesis of bioactive materials for disease treatments, to catalysis and synthesis of new materials. You can read all about the contributions in this accompanying Editorial, prepared by the 2021 Series Editor James Batteas.

You can read below the biographies of some of the brilliant authors who have been published in the 2021 collection:

Thiago Regis Longo Cesar da Paixão

Enhanced performance of pencil-drawn paper-based electrodes by laser-scribing treatment

Thiago Regis Longo Cesar da Paixão received a B.Sc. from the Institute of Chemistry of the University of São Paulo in 2001 and became a graduate student at the same institution, where he received his M.Sc. (2004) and Ph.D. (2007). For a year (2008/2009), he was a postdoctoral fellow at the same University. Following his postdoctoral fellowship, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the University Federal of ABC, where he stayed for two years. In 2011, he was hired as an assistant professor at the University of São Paulo and promoted to Associate Professor in 2016. At the beginning of 2018, he was nominated as an affiliate member of the Brazilian Academy of Science as a promising young researcher. His fields of interest include chemical sensors, paper-based devices, and electronic tongues aiming at forensic and clinical applications.

Zbigniew Pianowski

Selective release of a potent anticancer agent from a supramolecular hydrogel using green light

Zbigniew Pianowski received his PhD in chemistry in 2008 under the supervision of Prof. Nicolas Winssinger at the ISIS ULP Strasbourg, France, investigating peptide nucleic acids (PNA) – functional oligonucleotide analogues – for templated reactions and catalytic RNA sensing. Then, he joined the group of Prof. Donald Hilvert at the ETH Zürich, Switzerland, as a Marie-Curie postdoctoral fellow. There, he worked in the area of protein engineering, like de novo enzyme design and engineering of protein capsids. Since 2014 he has been an independent group leader at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, and served as a deputy professor of organic chemistry at the University of Heidelberg (2017-2019). His current research interests are focused on applications of molecular photoswitches in smart materials and biological systems. Within this area, his group intensively explores photochromic supramolecular hydrogels reversibly disassembled with light, their use for light-controlled drug release, and other photopharmacology applications of photochromic cyclic dipeptides.

Darci Trader

Identification of a covalent binder to the oncoprotein gankyrin using a NIR-Based OBOC screening method

Prof. Trader obtained her Ph.D. under the mentorship of Erin E. Carlson while at Indiana University in 2013. She then went on to do a NIH-funded postdoc with Prof. Thomas Kodadek, where she was introduced to proteasome-related research. She began her independent career at Purdue University in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology in 2016. Her lab is focused on furthering the understanding of how small molecules can be used to perturb the activity of the proteasome. Her lab has developed activity probes for both the standard proteasome and immunoproteasome, and is actively applying these probes to discover proteasome inhibitors and stimulators.

Christine Beemelmanns

GNPS-guided discovery of xylacremolide C and D, evaluation of their putative biosynthetic origin and bioactivity studies of xylacremolide A and B

Dr. Beemelmanns studied Chemistry at the RWTH Aachen. She then went to Japan for a one year research stay in the group of Prof. Sodeoka at RIKEN. Back in Germany she worked at the FU Berlin with Prof. Reißig and received her PhD in Organic Chemistry. She then worked another six month in Japan at the University of Tokyo under the supervision of Prof K. Suzuki and joined shortly afterwards the group of Prof. Clardy at Harvard Medical School (Boston) in 2011. End of 2013, she received an offer from the Hans-Knöll Institute (HKI), where she established the Leibniz Junior Research Group in the field of Natural Products Chemistry and Chemical Biology. In 2021 she accepted a call from the Leipzig University for a Professorship Biochemistry of Microbial Physiology. Her research combines different aspects of chemical ecology and organic and natural product chemistry and aims to chemically and functionally characterize microbial signaling and defense molecules in different symbiotic model systems. By analyzing coevolved microbial interactions, unprecedented chemical core structures with potential pharmaceutical application are likely to appear.

Abisola Egbedina

Green synthesis of ZnO coated hybrid biochar for the synchronous removal of ciprofloxacin and tetracycline in wastewater

Abisola Egbedina is a PhD student in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria under the supervision of Professor Kayode Adebowale and Professor Bamidele Olu-Owolabi. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Industrial Chemistry from Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria (2009) and her master’s degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Ibadan (2012). She received the 2017 Commonwealth Science Conference follow-on grant from the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2018 to conduct research at the University of Toronto, Canada under the supervision of Professor Ya-Huei (Cathy) Chin.

Her research interests lie in the synthesis of low-cost and environmentally benign materials for applications in wastewater treatment. Specifically, she focuses on tuning the surface properties of these materials for optimum selectivity and efficiency. Her current research focuses on the synthesis of carbon materials from biomass for the removal of pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants from water. She has a number of peer-reviewed publications in international journals. She has also presented some of her research findings at various local and international conferences.

Abisola Egbedina was appointed as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan in November 2016, and is currently a Lecturer II. Besides teaching and carrying out research, Abisola loves reading novels, watching movies, swimming and dancing.

Kishor Sarkar

RAFT polymerization mediated core–shell supramolecular assembly of PEGMA-co-stearic acid block co-polymer for efficient anticancer drug delivery

Dr. Kishor Sarkar was awarded PhD in Polymer Science and Technology from University of Calcutta, India in August 2014. In 2016, he has joined as Assistant Professor in the Department of Polymer Science and Technology, University of Calcutta in June 2016. Before joining here, he worked as postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, USA (May 2015-April 2016). He was awarded Dr. D.S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship in India and carried out his postdoctoral work under Prof. Giridhar Madras, Department of Chemical Engineering and Dr. Kaushik Chatterjee, Dept. Of Materials Engineering, IISc, Bangalore, India from Nov. 2013 to March 2015. Dr. Sarkar has broad background in Polymer Chemistry with specific training and expertise on the development of polymeric non-viral vectors for gene therapy application. After joining as Assistant Professor, Dr. Sarkar received Early Career Research Award from SERB, Govt. of India in March 2017. Presently, the main research area of Dr. Sarkar focuses on the development of efficient polymeric vector for drug delivery or gene therapy application and synthesis of novel biopolymers from recycled plastic wastes for Tissue Engineering applications.

Michiel Dusselier

On the key role of aluminium and other heteroatoms during interzeolite conversion synthesis

Prof. Michiel Dusselier obtained his Ph.D. degree in Bioscience Engineering (Catalytic Technology, 2013) at KU Leuven, Belgium, with Bert Sels, inventing new catalytic routes for bioplastics synthesis. In 2014–15, he did postdoctoral work with Mark Davis at Caltech, studying the synthesis of zeolites and methanol-to-olefins. In 2017, he accepted a tenure track professorship at KU Leuven and co-founded the new Center for Sustainable Catalysis and Engineering (CSCE) in 2019. He is focusing on zeolite synthesis methods, reactor design, functional biodegradable plastics and heterogeneous catalysis (CO2 activation). In particular, he is enthusiastic about elaborate synthesis-structure-activity relations and bottom-up catalyst design. He has (co)authored over 60 peer-reviewed papers and 7 patents, of which one transferred to industry. He is the holder of an ERC starting Grant (2020) called Z-EURECA, studying unusual reactors for zeolite synhtesis. In 2021, he received the alumni award in applied sciences of the Belgian American Educational Foundation.

Erin Leitao

The photophysical properties of naphthalene bridged disilanes

Dr Erin Leitao obtained her BSc degree in Chemistry from the University of Victoria (BC, Canada) in 2006. Her final project, with Prof Scott McIndoe, involved the synthesis of electrospray active distannoxane catalysts. Erin’s PhD degree was awarded from the University of Calgary (Alberta, Canada) in 2011 and was supervised by Prof Warren Piers. Her research project investigated the decomposition and re-design of an olefin metathesis catalyst. Erin was then a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Prof Ian Manners at the University of Bristol (UK) where she transitioned into researching catalysis of main-group compounds as well as polymer self-assembly. Erin has been at the University of Auckland for six years and in 2016 she was the NZ recipient of the L-Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science fellowship. Members of the Leitao lab are working towards the synthesis of new main-group molecules and materials using catalysis.

Chandra Sekhar Tiwary

Development of a schwarzite-based moving bed 3D printed water treatment system for nanoplastic remediation

Chandra Sekhar Tiwary is a professor at Department of metallurgical and materials engineering, at Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur India. After receiving his Ph.D from Indian Institute of Science Bangalore India. He worked as postdoc at Rice University, Houston, USA. His group works on 3D printing, 2D materials, nanomaterials, development of new alloys and its applications in environment, energy, electronics and catalysis etc. Based on his contributions, all three Academies of India (Indian National Science Academy, National Science Academy, India and Indian National Academy of Engineers) awarded him the Young Scientist Awards. Apart from this, the Ministry of Steel, India, has awarded him the Young Metallurgist of the year 2020 for his contributions to metal research. Electron microscopy society of India has recognized his contribution to electron microscopy and awarded him the Excellent Microscopist of 2020. He has been also awarded the Alain Reza Yavari Young/Junior Scientist Award -International Society of ISMANAM and many more. For carrying out cutting-edge research in India, the Department of Science and Technology, India, has awarded Prof. Tiwary the Ramanujan Fellowship in 2018.

Jiangshui Luo

Phase-dependent dielectric properties and proton conduction of neopentyl glycol

Dr. Jiangshui Luo has been a Professor in College of Materials Science and Engineering, Sichuan University in China since 2020, where he is the Head of the team of Electrolytes and Phase Change Materials. He has been appointed by Sichuan province as a distinguished expert since 2021. He has also been appointed by KU Leuven in Belgium as a visiting professor.

He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Xiamen University and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, respectively. From 2008 and 2011, he worked as a project researcher on high temperature electrolytes in EWE Research Center for Energy Technology in Germany. He completed his PhD study on protic salt electrolytes for fuel cells in KU Leuven within 2 years in November 2012.

His research interest includes electrolytes, phase change materials, electrocatalysts, heat transfer fluids, solid-state refrigeration, isotope effects and scientometrics. So far, he has published 52 journal papers and holds 10 patents. He proposed and demonstrated protic organic ionic plastic crystals (POIPCs) as a novel type of proton conductors for fuel cells. He has been the PI of 7 national projects and received several governmental awards. He is an Editorial Board Member of Journal of Ionic Liquids.

Daniel A. Heredia

Photoactive antimicrobial coating based on a PEDOT-fullerene C60 polymeric dyad

Daniel A. Heredia is an Adjunct Researcher of CONICET at National University of Río Cuarto (UNRC). He graduated in 2009 with a BSc and he received his PhD degree in material science and electrochemistry in 2014 from UNRC. He obtained a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Institute of Chemistry of Rosario, where he did research into the total synthesis of structurally relevant natural products. He was visiting researcher at Complutense University of Madrid, at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH and at Arizona State University. His interests are wide, ranging from organic synthesis to the development of new materials and their photophysical characterization. His current research activities focus on the synthesis of organic materials to apply in photodynamic inactivation and optoelectronic devices.

Frank Hahn

Cross-linking of a polyketide synthase domain leads to a recyclable biocatalyst for chiral oxygen heterocycle synthesis

Frank studied Chemistry at the Universities of Karlsruhe, Paris VI and Bonn and finished his PhD on solid phase synthesis and biological evaluation of polyamines in 2008. He then moved to the University of Cambridge (UK) to study polyketide biosynthetic pathways with Prof. Peter F. Leadlay. In 2011, he returned to Germany to start his independent career at the Leibniz University Hannover, where he became leader of a DFG-funded Emmy Noether Research Group in 2013. In 2016, he moved to his current position as a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Bayreuth. His research interests are in the fields of natural product synthesis and biosynthesis as well as the biotechnological exploitation of the microbial secondary metabolism.

David J. Lewis

Preparation of solution processed photodetectors comprised of two-dimensional tin(ii) sulfide nanosheet thin films assembled via the Langmuir–Blodgett method

David J. Lewis (DJL, h = 31) is Deputy Head of Department, Head of Research & Reader in Materials Chemistry in the Department of Materials at The University of Manchester, UK. DJL leads a research group actively researching soft processing and applications of nanostructured and low-dimensional materials broadly related to energy generation. DJL’s research has led to over 100 publications and he has been the recipient of funding from EPSRC and The Royal Society as well as a number of industrially-sponsored grants. In 2021 he was elected by Members and Fellows to serve on the RSC Materials Chemistry Division council for 3 years.

Binju Wang

The molecular mechanism of P450-catalyzed amination of the pyrrolidine derivative of lidocaine: insights from multiscale simulations

Binju Wang obtained his PhD in 2012 from Xiamen University in China. After two periods of post-doctoral research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (with Prof. Sason Shaik) and Universitat de Barcelona, Spain (with Prof. Carme Rovira), he joined Xiamen University in 2018 as a full professor. His current research interest focuses on the use of multiscale modeling to decipher the catalytic mechanisms of metalloenzymes, including O2 and H2O2 activations, electronic state and spin-state reactivities, protein environment effects, as well as the rational design of metalloenzymes for biocatalysis. Professor Wang has published over 50 peer reviewed publications.

Scott Tsai

An ultrafast enzyme-free acoustic technique for detaching adhered cells in microchannels

Dr. Scott Tsai is the Director of the Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). His undergraduate training in Mechanical Engineering is from the University of Toronto, and his masters and PhD degrees in Engineering Sciences are from Harvard University. Dr. Tsai’s laboratory specializes in droplet and bubble microfluidics. His group also collaborates actively with hospital researchers to implement these technologies in medical applications related to kidney disease and prostate cancer. Dr. Tsai is a recipient of the United States’ Fulbright Visiting Research Chair Award, Government of Ontario’s Early Researcher Award, and Toronto Metropolitan University’s Deans’ Teaching Award.

Daniel Globisch

Investigation of the individual human sulfatome in plasma and urine samples reveals an age-dependency

Daniel Globisch is an Associate Professor in Analytical Chemistry at Uppsala University. He studied Chemistry at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (Germany) and the University of Southern Denmark, Odense (Denmark). He received his Ph.D. from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (Germany) with Professor Thomas Carell in March 2011 and joined the laboratory of Professor Kim D. Janda at The Scripps Research Institute (CA, USA) for his postdoctoral studies for 4.5 years. He started his independent career in September 2015 at Uppsala University (Sweden) after recruitment as a Science For Life Laboratory Fellow. He was appointed as Associate Professor in 2017 and joined the Department of Chemistry – BMC after securing a tenured position in December 2020. Daniel has been elected as a board member of the Nordic Metabolomics Society for two terms and as an Editorial Board Member for the metabolomics society journal Metabolites. The interdisciplinary nature of his research projects is focused on the elucidation of the metabolic interaction between the gut microbiota and their human host. Towards this goal, his laboratory develops new Chemical Biology tools to extend the scope of metabolomics research for the selective discovery of unknown biomarkers and bioactive metabolites.

Tangxin Xiao

Efficient artificial light-harvesting system constructed from supramolecular polymers with AIE property

Tangxin Xiao was born in China in 1987. He obtained his B.Sc. degree in chemistry from Hubei Normal University in 2009. Then he joined the laboratory of Prof. Leyong Wang at Nanjing University and got his Ph.D. in supramolecular chemistry in 2014. After postdoctoral research on fine chemicals at Zhejiang University-NHU Company United R&D Center, he joined Changzhou University in 2017, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020. Between March 2021 and June 2022, he worked as a visiting scholar in Prof. Oren Scherman group at University of Cambridge. His current research interests concern the supramolecular chemistry and luminescent materials. He has co-authored more than 50 publications with a total citation of more than 2700 times and his H-index is 23.

Xiao-Yu Hu

Influence of water-soluble pillararene hosts on Kemp elimination

Xiao-Yu Hu obtained her Ph.D. in pharmaceutical chemistry from the Chengdu Institute of Biology (CAS) in 2011. After postdoctoral research with Prof. Leyong Wang, she joined Nanjing University as an associate research professor in 2013. In 2016, she joined University of Duisburg-Essen as a senior AvH Fellow (“The Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researcher”) working with Prof. Carsten Schmuck. Since 2018, she has been appointed as the Full Professor of Organic Chemistry at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Her current research interests are focused on supramolecular self-assembly and functional supramolecular materials. She is currently the associate editor of Frontiers in Chemistry, and an editorial board member of Chinese Chemical Letters, Green Synthesis & Catalysis, and Molecules.

She has authored and coauthored over 100 research publications, including Nat. Commun., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Acc. Chem. Res., CCS Chem. and so on. Moreover, has received many grants and awards, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province for Outstanding Young Scholar, the Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researcher, the Science and Technology Award of Jiangsu Province, the National New Star Award in Supramolecular Chemistry of Aromatic Macrocycles, and the Teaching and Research Achievement Award of Jiangsu Province.

We would like to give a huge thank you to Series Editor James Batteas, Associate Editors and to all our reviewers at RSC Advances for their ongoing support and contribution, helping us to bring together such a fantastic collection of articles.

Looking forward: Emerging Investigator Series 2022!

We are pleased to announce the Series Editors of the next Emerging Investigator series of 2022: Fabienne Dumoulin and Shirley Nakagaki, and we can’t wait to see what the next early career investigators have been working on in Chemistry! Selection for the Emerging Investigators series comes in part from the recommendations of our Editorial Board as well as our Associate Editors. Authors can also self-nominate for participation and review by our Associate Editors for the journal, articles can be submitted to the series at any time and will be accepted and published throughout the year.

If you would like to be involved in our up coming series, please look at our webpage here for more information or submit now!

For any questions do not hesitate to contact us at advances-rsc@rsc.org

RSC Advances Royal Society of Chemistry Submit to RSC Advances today! Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

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Advancing with Advances- How to Publish and not Perish (Part 4)

19 Aug 2022

By Dr Zita Zachariah, Assistant Editor.

How are papers assessed by academic editors at RSC Advances?

Insights from editors handling computational chemistry papers

We are delighted to continue sharing with you publishing tips and tricks from our editors.

Meet the Editor:

Professor Megan O’Mara is a group leader at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. She handles papers in the areas of computational biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology, and drug discovery.

Professor Megan O’Mara

1. What is the most common reason for rejecting a manuscript without review?
I review a lot of computational and biomolecular papers. My most common reason for rejecting a manuscript without review is it doesn’t contain sufficient chemistry to make an impact in the field of chemistry. I often get papers that focus on the cell biology of a particular process. While this is interesting, it doesn’t contribute to the chemistry. Likewise, method development papers and docking studies are often written from a perspective that does not emphasise or provide new insights into the chemistry (including biochemistry) of the research.

2. What is the best piece of advice you could give a submitting author?
For computational papers, make sure you introduce the problem and experimental rationale behind your study. Emphasise the chemical basis of the results and give evidence for how your studies provides additional evidence into the chemical basis of a process.

Meet the Editor:

Dr Giacomo Saielli, is a senior researcher at the University of Padova, Italy and is an expert in computational materials chemistry, gels and soft matter.

Dr Giacomo Saielli

1. What is the most common reason for rejecting a manuscript without review?
There are two types of manuscript that I reject without peer review.
The first type is concerned with manuscripts that have nothing to do with chemistry. It does not happen very often, but sometimes I receive papers dealing with mechanical engineering, geology, mathematics. It might be the case that a vague relationship with chemistry can eventually be found in the paper (after all, the only truly chemical-free type of matter are probably neutron stars), but such relationship is so weak that I cannot take the work as a chemistry paper. Often in these cases I also note that none of the references cite a chemistry journal, which is also an indication that RSC Advances is not the right choice. Of course, interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary works with a significant chemistry component are welcome, since these highlight the role of chemistry within the other sciences.

The second type of manuscript is – and this is rather obvious – papers where the work is really poor from a scientific point of view. This might happen with computational and experimental works alike, but since my area of expertise is computational chemistry it occurs to me more often to find computational papers, rather than experimental papers, in this category. In the majority of such cases, the main point is not that the work is wrong, often the computational protocol is correctly applied. However, that alone is not enough to make good science. Due to the availability of many computational chemistry software, it can happen that the Authors correctly solve a problem that had been already solved, maybe with a slightly different method, in the literature, sometime several years ago. Therefore the novelty is very low.

2. What is the best piece of advice you could give a submitting author?
Based on my comments above, my first recommendation for Authors is to make sure that the manuscript is dealing with chemistry and it has a potential interest for the chemistry community. It should be clear for the Authors that the “C” in RSC Advances means Chemistry.
The second recommendation is to make clear what the scientific issues that the Authors wish to discuss are and how they have been addressed in the published literature: do we really need another quantum chemical calculation of the energy/structure of this particular molecule or another molecular dynamics simulation of this particular material? Maybe yes, but it should be stated clearly why and what new insights the calculations are revealing.

Meet the Editor:

Dr Pablo A. Denis is based at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Universidad de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay (UDELAR) and handles papers in the field of computational nanoscience.

Dr Pablo Denis

1. What is the most common reason for rejecting a manuscript without review?

The most common reason for my rejections without review is that the authors did not perform a complete investigation of the literature, and a large part of the results were published previously.

2. What is the best piece of advice you could give a submitting author?

My best piece of advice is related to point 1. I strongly recommend performing an extensive investigation of the literature and squaring the results in the context of the literature. By doing so, the authors can decide themselves if the work is worth publishing and where.
Publishing trick: Making an attractive graphical abstract!

We hope that you find these insights from Megan, Giacomo and Pablo useful while preparing your next manuscript!

Tune in next week for yet more insights from our academic Associate Editors !

You are welcome to send in any questions you have about peer-review or publishing to advances-rsc@rsc.org or post them on Twitter @RSCAdvances #AdvancingWithAdvances.

Don’t miss out on our previous tips on how to publish and not perish below:

Advancing with Advances – Part 1

Advancing with Advances – Part 2

Advancing with Advances – Part 3

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Advancing with Advances – How to Publish and not Perish (part 3)

11 Aug 2022

By Kate Jones, Assistant Editor.

Interviews with Associate Editors

Our Associate Editors offer some Advice

At RSC Advances we have a team of seventy hard working Associate Editors who handle your manuscript, from initial assessment to their final decision.

To gain more insight into the world of peer-review, we have asked our Associate Editors two questions:

What are your most common reasons for rejecting a manuscript without review?
What would be your best piece of advice to a submitting author?

Here are what some of our Associate Editors had to say:

Professor Brenno A.D. Neto, Universidade de Brasília, Brazil

1. What are your most common reasons for rejecting a manuscript without review?

I see two main reasons to deny an article for publication without peer-review. The first reason is because it actually lacks the expected advance/impact in the subject of the submitted work; and it is not rare to see these manuscripts. The second reason is even more common in those rejected manuscripts I handle as an Editor, that is, when the expected characterizations of the claimed structures are missing or are incomplete. Several mistakes could be avoided with proper characterizations.

2. What would be your best piece of advice to a submitting author?

Be clear and objective when you write the cover letter. Always check if you are presenting/submitting a well-composed manuscript. This is indeed very important! Also, remember that Science should speak by itself, thus the use of self-promoting words (or buzzwords) in general only backfires on authors.

Dr. Donna Arnold, University of Kent, UK

1. What are your most common reasons for rejecting a manuscript without review?

One of the most common reasons I reject manuscripts at prescreen (reject without peer review) is for lack of novelty and impact. This is often that there is no cover letter stating what the novelty and impact of the work is. The second reason is usually due to scope. It is important to consider if RSC Advances is the right place for the work. Again this is something which can be addressed in a good cover letter!

2. What is the best piece of advice you could give a submitting author?

A couple of pieces of advice beyond a good cover letter. Authors need to consider if RSC is the right place for the work they want to share. With any manuscript the most important thing for the research is for the manuscript to reach the right audience. Sometimes it is tempting to make these decisions based on metrics rather than where the work might reach the best audience. RSC Advances has a wide readership, a good question to ask yourself is, is the work of wide interest or would the work be better in a more focussed journal. Also remember, Associate Editors do look up the work/materials in Web of Science to see what has been done previously in the area. This give the context for the work and we are looking to see if the work extends the current state-of-the-art, has impact, or if it is incremental. Again, it is good to ask yourself this question before you submit. These are questions I ask about my own manuscripts and information, which I include in the cover letter to help convince the editors to consider my work.

Professor Nestor Mariano Correa, Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto, Argentina

1. What are your most common reasons for rejecting a manuscript without review?

When a manuscript arrives at my desk the first thing that I do is see how different from what is already known in this subject. I expect to read it in the cover letter but, this does not always happen. Thus, in my case, this is the main reason for rejecting without review: the lack of originality of the work.

2. What is the best piece of advice you could give a submitting author?

My advice to all the authors that want to send a manuscript to RSC Advances is to take the time to prepare a good cover letter, indicating the advances in the field that the work will do and, to clearly stress the novelties from works already published. A good (short) abstract, introduction that clearly highlights the goals of the work, and concise and convincing conclusions are always welcome.

We want to thank Brenno, Donna and Nestor for providing such informative answers, and we hope you find them useful in your next submission to RSC Advances!

Don’t miss out on our previous tips on how to publish and not perish below:

Advancing with Advances – Part 1

Advancing with Advances – Part 2

Tune in next week for more interviews with our Associate Editors where they discuss their most common reasons for rejecting manuscripts and reveal more publishing tips!

If there is something you would like covered in our next article, please send in any questions you have about peer-review or publishing to advances-rsc@rsc.org or post them on Twitter @RSCAdvances #AdvancingWithAdvances.

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Advancing with Advances- How to publish and not perish (Part 2)

04 Aug 2022

By Dr Zita Zachariah, Assistant Editor.

Why did in-house editors reject my paper?

From the perspective of two staff editors at RSC Advances

Research papers submitted to RSC Advances are subject to initial quality checks by in-house editors before they are passed on to our expert Associate Editors for assessment. This week we are going to take a peek behind the curtain of the editing team at RSC Advances and see how in-house editors reject papers that do not meet the journal’s criteria.

Editors first check whether a manuscript is within the scope of the journal as described on the journal website. Papers published in RSC Advances must present insights that advance the chemistry field or be of interest to chemists. Most of the manuscripts we reject for being out of scope may contain some chemistry (for example, a chemical compound used as a drug or for drug delivery) but with the primary scientific advance in a different field such as pharmacology, statistics, genetics, etc. Manuscripts that are out of the scope of the journal are rejected without peer-review no matter how sound the science is.

Once editors are satisfied that the paper fits within the scope of the journal, we go through your manuscript to ensure that all relevant and correct documents for submission are present. All our experimental data reporting requirements can be found online. The emails we most frequently send as editors are those requesting authors for supporting data as what was supplied did not meet our requirements. We cannot publish papers where the data provided does not meet our data standards. For example, all Western blot and other electrophoresis data should be supported by the underlying uncropped and unprocessed raw images, all new small molecule crystal data must be present in the CIF (Crystallographic Information File) format, etc.

Burlington House, London (Headquarters of the Royal Society of Chemistry)

In addition, do keep in mind good publishing practices and follow the ethical guidelines that we have listed on our Author hub. Key points to keep in mind are:

Make sure you address the scope of the paper in your cover letter or in your bibliography by citing previous work from the same journal and/or similar journals.
Use your own words to describe previous work and experiments, and make that sure all your references are correct.
Avoid making unsupported claims about your findings and provide all data supporting your findings either in the main paper or in the Electronic Supplementary Information. The Royal Society of Chemistry also strongly encourages authors to deposit the data underpinning their research in appropriate repositories.
Only submit your manuscript to one journal at a time.

Thomas Graham House, Cambridge (where Royal Society of Chemistry Publishing is based)

If your paper has already been peer-reviewed at another Royal Society of Chemistry journal, please make sure to address the previous reviewer comments and revise the paper before submitting it to RSC Advances (and preferably include the point-by-point response to the previous referee comments as well). We feel that it is very important that the time and efforts of our reviewers are duly acknowledged in this manner, and this process should also help to improve the quality of work published in our journals. Be firm yet diplomatic in your responses to referee comments (even if the referees are confrontational). There is nothing to be gained in responding aggressively, even if you are sure you are right. Even if the referee reports are very negative, your paper may still be accepted if the Editor is convinced by your rebuttal letter.

In-house editors support external expert Associate Editors in their handling of papers, but we also support authors too. If you have any queries about data or scope pre- or post- submission of your paper, please do get in touch with the journal and we will be happy to help.

We hope that we have provided some clarity about why in-house editors at RSC Advances reject papers and what can be done to avoid this in any future submissions!

Tune in next week for interviews with three of our Associate Editors where they discuss their most common reasons for rejecting manuscripts and reveal their best publishing tips!

You are welcome to send in any questions you have about peer-review or publishing to advances-rsc@rsc.org or post them on Twitter @RSCAdvances #AdvancingWithAdvances.

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Call for papers: Photoluminescence of lanthanide-doped phosphor materials

04 Aug 2022

By Sarah Rainford, Deputy Editor.

RSC Advances is delighted to announce a new themed collection titled ‘Photoluminescence of lanthanide-doped phosphor materials’. This collection is Guest Edited by Dr Ram Sagar Yadav (Banaras Hindu University), Prof. Bryce S. Richards (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Professor Joanna Pisarska (University of Silesia) and Professor Xinyu Ye (JiangXi University of Science and Technology).

Scope:

The aim of this collection is to focus on the synthesis, as well as the structural and optical properties, of different types of lanthanide-doped phosphor materials, such as phosphors, nano-phosphors and phosphor composites. This collection welcomes primary research articles as well as review articles, related to the synthesis, characterization and applications of different types of the lanthanide-doped phosphor materials.

The lanthanide ions can produce multicolor photoluminescence, and contain various distinct energy levels in which some are meta-stable. Each energy level can be excited with a certain excitation wavelength, with the emitted light of lanthanide ions covering emissions in the ultraviolet, visible and near infrared regions. Due to the various properties of lanthanide ions, lanthanide-doped phosphor materials can be utilised for different technological applications in various fields, such as display devices, red-green-blue (RGB) emitting materials, light emitting diodes (LEDs), phosphor-converted LEDs (pc-LEDs), white LEDs, solar cell, optical heating, temperature sensing and bio-imaging.

Lanthanide ions also enable upconversion (UC) and downconversion (DC) of photons. The UC process is helpful for measuring the temperature sensing sensitivity of different phosphor materials, as it depends on the fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) of the two thermally coupled (TC)/non-thermally coupled (NTC) emitting levels. In these cases, the emission intensity of one level is found to increase while that of the other decreases when the external temperature of the sample is increased, and vice-versa. This generates lattice vibration in the host lattice, which initiates a shift in the population of the excited ions from one level to the other. The plot between FIR-based sensitivity and external temperature gives temperature sensing, which can be examined in the other lanthanide-doped phosphor materials.

Topics include but are not limited to the following:

Advanced materials for wastewater treatment and desalination
Synthesis of green nanomaterials
Advanced nanocomposites from waste resources
Nanocomposite modification and functionalization
Computational studies of nanocomposite materials
Life-cycle analysis of nanocomposite materials

How to submit:
Both Papers and Review articles will be considered for this issue. All submissions will be subject to an initial assessment by Associate Editors and, if suitable for the journal, they will be subject to rigorous peer review to meet the usual high standards of RSC Advances.

Our APC is among the lowest in the industry and there are no submission charges. Discounts and waivers are offered to authors from developing countries.

If you would like to submit to this issue the manuscript should be prepared according to our article guidelines and submitted via our online system anytime before the submission deadline of 30 January 2023. During submission, authors will be asked if they are submitting for a themed collection and should include the name of the themed collection. If you would like to submit but require additional time to prepare your article, please do let us know by contacting the journal.

Keep up to date with our latest Popular Advances, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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Welcome to our new Editorial Board members: Surajit Ghosh, Fabienne Dumoulin and Bob Baker

01 Aug 2022

By Sarah Rainford, Deputy Editor.

We are delighted to welcome Professor Surajit Ghosh, Dr Fabienne Dumoulin and Dr Bob Baker the RSC Advances team!

Surajit Ghosh was born in West Bengal, India. He studied Organic Chemistry at the University of Calcutta, India, and gained his Master of Science in Organic Chemistry in 2000. Then, he moved to Syngene International Pvt. Ltd (Biocon INDIA Group) and worked as a Scientist till July 2004 on a drug discovery project. Subsequently, he moved to the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in August 2004 for his doctoral studies in the group of Prof. Sandeep Verma in the area of Peptide Self-assembly.

After completing his Ph.D. in July 2008, he received a postdoctoral fellowship at the Cell Biology and Biophysics Division of European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany with Dr Thomas Surrey (August 2008), where he worked on the organization of microtubule and molecular motor proteins till December 2010. He joined CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology Kolkata, India in 2011, and worked as a Principal Scientist till July 2019. Subsequently, he joined as a Professor in the Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur in July 2019. He is a recipient of the BIOCON Tribute award, EMBL Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, Ramanujan Fellowship, Indian Peptide Society Young Scientist Award, Asima Chatterjee Young Scientist Award, Syamasri Gupta Young Scientist Award, CSIR-CDRI Award for Excellence in Drug Research (2020) and SERB-STAR Award (2020). He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2016), and the West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology (2018). At IIT Jodhpur he is leading his group with current research focus on the areas of Chemical Neuroscience, Chemical Biology and the Development of Biophysical Platform/Biosensor.

Browse a selection of Surajit’s RSC publications:

Designed hybrid anticancer nuclear-localized peptide inhibits aggressive cancer cell proliferation
Prasenjit Mondal, Saswat Mohapatra, Debmalya Bhunia, Prabir Kumar Gharai, Nabanita Mukherjee, Varsha Gupta, Satyajit Ghosh and Surajit Ghosh
RSC Med. Chem., 2022, 13, 196-201

An overview of key potential therapeutic strategies for combat in the COVID-19 battle
Gaurav Das, Surojit Ghosh, Shubham Garg, Satyajit Ghosh, Aniket Jana, Ramkamal Samat, Nabanita Mukherjee, Rajsekhar Roy and Surajit Ghosh
RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 28243-28266

A bis-indole/carbazole based C5-curcuminoid fluorescent probe with large Stokes shift for selective detection of biothiols and application to live cell imaging
Pinaki Bhattacharjee, Sourav Chatterjee, Anushree Achari, Abhijit Saha, Debkumar Nandi, Chiranjit Acharya, Kasturi Chatterjee, Surajit Ghosh, Snehasikta Swarnakar and Parasuraman Jaisankar
Analyst, 2020, 145, 1184-1189

Fabienne Dumoulin is a faculty at the Department of Biomedical Engineering of Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar University. She studied first biology, graduated in biochemistry then completed her PhD with a European Label in Organic Chemistry at the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France (2002). After a post-doc in Pisa, Italy, she settled in Turkey in 2005. She has been awarded several Young Scientist Awards: TUBA-GEBİP from the Turkish Academy of Sciences (2015), BAGEP from the Bilim Akademisi (2015) and the Mustafa N Parlar Foundation of METU (2016). She guest-edited a themed issue ‘Nano- and Molecular Engineering of Photosensitisers’ for Photobiol. Photochem. Sci. (Nov 2018), has co-edited the book series “Porphyrin Science by Women” published in January 2021, and recently contributed to the book series Fundamentals of Porphyrin Chemistry: A 21st Century Approach. She has co-authored 85+ publications (research articles, reviews and book chapters), and has supervised a dozen of Master and PhD students so far. She is an associate editor of RSC Advances since 2015.

Her research interests focus on the design and synthesis of tetrapyrrolic derivatives, mainly phthalocyanines for photodynamic therapy to treat cancer and combat AMR, either molecular or with nanotechnology. She is also interested in the energy and catalytic applications of phthalocyanines.

Browse a selection of Fabienne’s RSC publications:

The unique features and promises of phthalocyanines as advanced photosensitisers for photodynamic therapy of cancer
Pui-Chi Lo, M. Salomé Rodríguez-Morgade, Ravindra K. Pandey, Dennis K. P. Ng, Tomás Torres and Fabienne Dumoulin
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2020, 49, 1041-1056

Phthalocyanine-based mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles: NIR photodynamic efficiency and siRNA photochemical internalization
Gülçin Ekineker, Christophe Nguyen, Sümeyra Bayır, Sofia Dominguez Gil, Ümit İşci, Morgane Daurat, Anastasia Godefroy, Laurence Raehm, Clarence Charnay, Erwan Oliviero, Vefa Ahsen, Magali Gary-Bobo, Jean-Olivier Durand and Fabienne Dumoulin
Chem. Commun., 2019, 55, 11619-11622

Photophysical properties of palladium/platinum tetrasulfonyl phthalocyanines and their application in triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion
Yuanyuan Che, Wenbo Yang, Geliang Tang, Fabienne Dumoulin, Jianzhang Zhao, Lang Liu and Ümit İşci
J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018, 6, 5785-5793

Dr Bob Baker was born in Blaenavon, South Wales. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Warwick and his PhD studies under the supervision of Prof. P. G. Edwards at Cardiff University (1997-2001) on early transition metal triphosphamacrocycles. He then worked as a postdoctoral research fellow with Prof. Cameron Jones (2001-2005), working on low oxidation state group 13 compounds, followed by an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship held at the Technische Universität Braunschweig, working with Prof. Dr. Matthias Tamm on substituted cyclohepatrienyl early transition metal complexes. From 2006-2008 he was a Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry at Nottingham Trent University, before moving to Trinity College in January 2009. His research interests are in fundamental and applied actinide chemistry and the development of new transition metal complexes for catalysis.

Browse a selection of Bob’s RSC publications:

A multi-technique study of altered granitic rock from the Krunkelbach Valley uranium deposit, Southern Germany
Ivan Pidchenko, Stephen Bauters, Irina Sinenko, Simone Hempel, Lucia Amidani, Dirk Detollenaere, Laszlo Vinze, Dipanjan Banerjee, Roelof van Silfhout, Stepan N. Kalmykov, Jörg Göttlicher, Robert J. Baker and Kristina O. Kvashnina
RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 25529-25539

A computational investigation of orbital overlap: Versus energy degeneracy covalency in [UE2]²⁺ (E = O, S, Se, Te) complexes
James A. Platts and Robert J. Baker
Dalton Trans., 2020, 49, 1077-1088

Perfluorinated phosphine and hybrid P–O ligands for Pd catalysed C–C bond forming reactions in solution and on Teflon supports
Farzana Begum, Muhammad Ikram, Brendan Twamley and Robert J. Baker
RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 28936-28945

RSC Advances Royal Society of Chemistry

Submit to RSC Advances today! Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest Popular Advances, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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Advancing with Advances- How to publish and not perish (Part 1)

27 Jul 2022

By Dr Zita Zachariah, Assistant Editor.

Why did the editor reject my manuscript?

Guest post by Professor Robert Baker, Trinity College Dublin

Most of the readers of this blog are driven by curiosity. The question “why?” is something we have at the forefront of our scientific endeavours. Why did this reaction give black insoluble gunk? Why is the reaction yield 5% (rounded up)? Some of the more interesting results have come from questioning the “why?” of failed reactions – Vaska’s complex was discovered by accident, Kubas discovered the first dihydrogen complexes because of a poor yield, and there are many more examples from all branches of chemistry. Then we spend ages analysing the data; “why?” did the NMR spectrum have too many peaks. After that we put all the answers to our “why?” on paper and send it to a journal for peer review. But how many times do we receive the following email from an editor rejecting our carefully crafted manuscript?

“ Dear author,

Thank you for your recent submission to RSC Advances, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. All manuscripts are initially assessed by the editors to ensure they meet the criteria for publication in the journal.

After careful evaluation of your manuscript, I regret to inform you that I do not find your manuscript suitable for publication in RSC Advances because it does not meet the novelty and impact requirements of the journal. Therefore your article has been rejected from RSC Advances.

Yours sincerely,

The Editor”

Professor Robert James Baker is an Assistant Professor at the School of Chemistry, Trinity College Dublin and an Associate Editor as well as Editorial Board member of RSC Advances

In this series we will explore some of the pitfalls of submission from an editor’s point of view and move your science forward. From experience, some of the common problems revolve around cover letters, how the manuscript is presented and how to respond to referees’ comments – “why” did they not get it? “why” didn’t I think of that?

Later on in this blog series, I will be sharing some of the cover letters and reviewer responses that accompanied rejected as well as successful manuscripts that I authored (and the stories behind them) in order to highlight that not only manuscripts require to be revised. As an Associate Editor in the areas of spectroscopy, homogenous catalysis and inorganic chemistry at RSC Advances, I come across several manuscripts with cover letters in the following format:

“Dear Editor:

Here we submit the paper entitled “XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX”. We would be grateful if the manuscript could be reviewed and considered for publication in RSC Advances. Thank you for your kind consideration.

Signed- The authors”

Such redundant cover letters do not help the cause of the manuscript. At the very minimum, the cover letter should clearly state the advance made to literature in a manner that helps editors and reviewers evaluate the manuscript.

Here are my:

Most common reasons for rejecting a manuscript without review?

Does the introduction set the scene – what is the problem the authors are looking at and why is it different to the literature. Context is key. So very short introductions with few references to the state-of-the-art are not good.
Remember it is a results AND discussion section on a discussion of YOUR results. Again context – are your results good, bad or indifferent?
Does the introduction and conclusion match the results? It is surprising how many manuscripts give a very ‘templated’ introduction on results from the last paper and not this current one.

Best piece of advice to a submitting author?

You are telling a story of WHY your results are important. Lead the reviewer and reader by the hand, explain everything that is important, but do it succinctly. The reader of your article wants to learn something new, so tell them what is new.

Having a manuscript rejected by an editor or peer reviewers is sometimes tough to take, especially in the early stages of your career. It’s frustrating and annoying but it happens to everyone; the comments are on your work, not you as a person or scientist. The best (though not necessarily easiest) way to look at it is as a learning experience. For example, I submitted a manuscript early in my career with the elemental analysis mixed up between two compounds; a referee picked up on this and the whole report was:

“The bulk purity of the compounds has not been proven, therefore none of the conclusions are remotely valid. Reject.”

I have not made the same mistake again!

You are welcome to send in any questions you have about peer-review or publishing to advances-rsc@rsc.org or post them on Twitter @RSCAdvances #AdvancingWithAdvances.

Tune in next week for our feature on how manuscripts are rejected by professional editors on scope and/or data concerns!

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An Interview with Shirley Nakagaki, President of the Brazilian Chemical Society

22 Jul 2022

By Kate Jones, Assistant Editor.

We are delighted to announce that Shirley Nakagaki, one of our Editorial Board members, has been elected as president of the Brazilian Chemical Society.

This makes Shirley the second ever female researcher to be president of this society in the forty-five years it has been active. To celebrate this achievement, we asked Shirley the following questions, and we hope you find her answers as motivating as we do!

Can you explain your area of research for a non-specialist in the area?

My main interest lies in the study (preparation, characterization and application) of molecules called metalloporphyrins. The key application of these molecules in my research group is in the preparation of compounds known as catalysts (a kind of chemical that accelerates chemical reactions) for oxidation, sequential and esterification reactions. For example, an important oxidation reaction is one that results in an acid species (adipic acid) which is one of the reactants that produces polymeric fibres like nylon. These fibres are used in a range of materials from pantyhose to very sophisticated devices that are part of the International Space Station. In some cases, the catalytic species I study and develop are inspired by biological systems that act as catalysts, in a chemical model known as biomimetic chemistry. In particular, this means that my compounds that act as catalysts can react in a similar way to enzymes, a chemical component found in very efficient biological systems that accelerate reactions necessary to keep organisms alive. In some cases, the catalytic species I study and develop are inspired by biological systems in a chemical model known as biomimetic chemistry. This means my compounds act as catalysts, in a very similar way to enzymes.

What work are you the proudest of?

Fortunately, I can say that I am proud of all my work developed in my 30-year career in the chemical sciences. I have been a supervisor to many chemistry students, supporting them through their undergraduate projects, master’s degree dissertations and PhD theses. These projects have resulted in different products such as patents and scientific papers. However, the education of new chemistry professionals, be it researchers or chemistry professors, is probably my most important job.

What do you find motivating?

My motivation comes from different parts. Firstly, through being a professor, my motivation comes from my students in the classroom or in the lab. When they ask me about chemistry in general or particularly inorganic chemistry, I find motivation in trying to explain to them in the best way that they can solve whatever doubts they have. Another source of motivation comes from realizing every day, and at the end of every paper I read, that there are many things we still do not know and cannot explain in the light of science, particularly in the chemical sciences. The chemical knowledge is vast and fascinating. Everything around us, in some way, involves a chemical process that can or will be explained, either now or in some distant future, based on the advance of the scientific knowledge.

How did your career path lead you to become elected as the president of the Brazilian Chemical Society?

When I was a chemistry undergraduate student in Sao Paulo University, Ribeirao Preto city campus (countryside part of the Sao Paulo State), I joined Professor Yassuko Iamamoto’s research group with a scholarship to work in the development of catalysts for oxidation reactions. Our first research results were presented in the annual meeting of the SBQ – (Brazilian Chemical Society) of which I became an associate in 1983. After that, every year I attended the annual meeting and presented the research results of my master’s degree or PhD studies. After I finished my graduate school, I joined Federal University of Paraná (a southern state in Brazil) and created my own research group. In the SBQ I joined as a director in the inorganic chemistry division, since I believed and continue to believe that I can contribute with my work to build a strong and big Brazilian chemical society that represents the strength of the chemical science in Brazilian universities as well as Brazilian research centres.

What will your role entail and what are you aiming to achieve?

Firstly, I believe that my role as president of the SBQ is to contribute daily to the growth of our society and to foster the good work of the previous 21 presidents. In addition, I have a big responsibility to show young chemists, graduate and undergraduate students, the importance of our society as a civil organization. They are a voice to be heard in issues in which the chemical community can contribute to the greater society. We also hope that our voice can be one that includes, fosters, and promotes quality scientific discussion, being plural, diverse and inclusive.

What are the biggest challenges facing the Brazilian Chemistry Community?

Regarding the chemical sciences, there are many challenges we face. For one, providing quality scientific education for young people in a country with continental figures and big social and income inequalities. We find a good, international level education in one part of the country and a complete lack of basic infrastructure in other parts. Regarding the scientific research, we face low and declining levels of investment, which affects the continuity of good research programs. We face many challenges to become the country we dream of.

What are the most exciting areas in the Brazilian Chemistry Community?

We have many strong research areas in Brazil. These include using natural products to explore our big biodiversity, the preparation and use of new materials, and we have excellent researchers making contributions to the new and alternative energies. In addition, given our great natural resource reserve, we have brilliant researchers working on the extraction of new substances from our biodiverse biomes and developing new pharmacological alternatives from these results. Some of these natural findings are already being prepared in our universities. Our scientific community is very versatile and creative. Despite receiving little financial support, we have produced excellent results. This can be seen in the quality of our Brazilian researchers’ publications around the world. For example, I can quote the Brazilian Science Panorama 2015-2020 report from the Science, Technology and Innovation Observatory (CGEE- OCTI), which shows the Brazilian production of scientific research papers grew 32% in 2020 in comparison to 2015, while the global production only grew 27%. During these five years more than 11 million papers were indexed in Web of Science (WoS), of which 372 thousand are papers with at least one author linked to our Brazilian institutions, giving us the 13^th position in global production, surpassing Russia (14^th), Iran (15^th), the Netherlands (16^th) and Turkey (17^th). In 2020, this participation reached 3.2% of global scientific research production. These figures are considering scientific papers as a whole, but according to WoS, chemistry is the second area of research in number of indexed papers, lagging only behind the engineering area. These are very relevant figures as it shows the strength of chemistry in Brazilian scientific research, which is concentrated mostly in public universities where our SBQ associates work.

How does it feel being the 2^nd woman to hold this position and how is this going to inspire a younger generation of female chemists?

I can see in our long line of SBQ female associates so many chemists that could be in my place. Women are about 50% of all SBQ associates. We have excellent scientists, chemical educators and researchers in our pool of associates. I am not the first female president; I am only the second one in this rough path opened by Prof. Vanderlan Bolzani. But, paraphrasing vice-president Kamala Harris, “I will make sure I will not be the last”. Hopefully, my work will serve as an example and inspiration so that women in SBQ can see that it is possible to be in my position and occupy this space, if we serve with dedication and love to the SBQ.

You have been a member of the RSC Advances Editorial Board since September 2020. What would you say are the biggest strengths of the journal?

Being a member of the RSC Advances Editorial Board has been an interesting and significant experience, considering the size and relevance of the RSC to the world and to the SBQ. Through the years both societies have not only kept good relations but developed key partnerships of research. From my remote participation on the meetings (due to the new coronavirus pandemic) I gathered that the main interest of this journal is to deliver papers of unquestionable scientific quality through an open access journal. On this aspect, the journal invests greatly in its editorial board, giving them adequate support for their job. Moreover, I found it very positive the journal’s actions towards making it more inclusive and transparent.

What do you hope to achieve in your career over the next 10 years?

What I hope to achieve in my career over the next 10 years is continuous progress both from scientific and educational standpoints. I hope to continue to investigate multifunctional catalytic solids aimed at sequential reactions as opposed to single process catalysts. I believe they are more adequate alternatives considering the reduction in cost, time and use of available resources during the preparation of reactions. Furthermore, shaping new generations of chemists has always been a career goal of mine, so I hope I can continue to give classes and participate in the education and formation of professionals in this area of science that is dear to my heart, Chemistry!

Please join me in extending our congratulations to Shirley for this achievement. We hope you continue to inspire the next generation of chemists!

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