Prof. Dr. Eugenia (Éva) Valsami-Jones Appointed Editor-in-Chief of Nanomaterials

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Eugenia (Éva) Valsami-Jones has been appointed as the Editor-in-Chief of Nanomaterials (ISSN: 2079-4991).

Prof. Dr. Valsami-Jones is a Professor of environmental nanoscience at the University of Birmingham, UK. She holds a B.Sc. from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece) and a Ph.D. from Newcastle University, UK. Her research focuses on nanoscale processes in the environment and within biota. She has pioneered the development of traceable stable isotope-labelled nanomaterials and has studied the development of analytical solutions for improvements in the speed and quality of identification of nanoscale objects in complex matrices. She is currently working on understanding the effects of ageing on nanoplastics, developing nanoscale fertilisers, and applying safe and sustainable design approaches to the development of novel advanced materials. She was the Mineralogical Society’s Distinguished Lecturer for 2015 and the Distinguished Guest Lecturer and Medallist of the Royal Society of Chemistry for 2015. She is currently a Royal Society Wolfson Fellow. She is a member of the coordination team of the European Commission’s Nanosafety Cluster and has participated in many EU-funded projects and coordinated the projects ACEnano, NanoMILE, ModNanoTox, and NanoReTox.

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Eugenia (Éva) Valsami-Jones, who shared her vision for the journal with us, as well as her views on the research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to become its Editor-in-Chief?

I first crossed paths with Nanomaterials as an author—a number of times—and this was always a positive experience. More recently, I took on a guest editorial role, which is ongoing and gave me a glimpse of the running of the journal, and those involved with it on a daily basis—this also felt very positive and a good omen for working closer with the in-house team.

The role of Editor-in-Chief is a great responsibility but also an opportunity to contribute and influence my field of science in ways that are not possible through simply publishing papers or in short-term guest editorial activities. I feel ready to take on such a major role, one that offers an opportunity to support and shape a much broader area of research than my own. I look forward to making this happen!

2. What is your vision for Nanomaterials?

Nanomaterials is already a well-respected and influential journal in nanoscience and nanotechnology, so what can I do to make it even better?

On a day-to-day basis, I will ensure responsiveness from my side and fast turnaround of editorial decisions. As an author, I know how important this is to all of us. But this is something pretty much already happening with Nanomaterials, and my task here is to maintain, if not slightly improve, an already very high standard.

On a visionary note, I hope to make Nanomaterials special and the “go-to” journal for all major discoveries in nanomaterials research. Here are some ideas I have:

• Nanomaterials already publishes Special Issues, but these are selected on an ad-hoc basis and are not strategically chosen. A way to target Special Issues is to link them to important global activities, such as international conferences. Also, to partner up with workshops and support opportunities for authors to produce their abstracts (or even full papers) whilst at the workshop;
• We already publicise Editor’s Choice Articles, but I would like to strengthen this in two ways–publish an editorial when major developments in the field of nanomaterials take place and fast-track manuscripts on such ground-breaking developments, with the aim to publish within a week of receipt and showcase them in the ECA Section;
• The journal’s awards are important, to us and you. They deserve more attention, and I shall aim to work on this to ensure that our winners are celebrated more visibly and broadly.

I also want to hear from anyone reading this! Do you like these ideas? What else would you like to see our journal doing that would make it more precious and a top target for your best papers?

A final note here is that if I succeed in making the journal more attractive to our readership, with popularity also, inevitably, will come an increased rate of rejection. Here, I will aim to make this as pain-free and transparent as possible and offer our authors alternatives (companion journals) for their rejected papers, so they can stay with the journal family and hopefully make it into Nanomaterials with their next submission. I will always aspire to give as much feedback as possible, especially when rejections happen before papers go to peer review so that we work with our authors to improve our standards. Ultimately, this is a win-win for everyone since, by raising the journal’s standards and impact, we raise the visibility of all our papers.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?

There is a slight bias here as I am a nanomaterials scientist, but I see nanoscience and nanotechnology as a field of endeavour that will continue to go from strength to strength. Some of the greatest scientific discoveries, from graphene to vaccines, have nanoscience and nanotechnology at their core. The source of unique size-related properties found at the nanoscale will not dry up soon. Take, for example, the recent discovery of goldene (https://www.nature.com/articles/s44160-024-00518-4) or the newly described non-metal organic frameworks (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07353-9). Trust me on this, there is plenty more where these came from!

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?

Open access creates a level playing field for all, regardless of location, status, or affiliation. It can only be a good thing. It removes limitations and bias from the intellectual development of parts of the academic world and allows everyone to keep up to date with scientific progress, regardless of their ability to pay for learning. It can be a tricky balance from the publishers’ point of view, but to me, it is the right direction of travel.

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Eugenia (Éva) Valsami-Jones as our Editor-in-Chief and look forward to her valuable input for the continued success of Nanomaterials.