A few words from the new Editor-in-Chief
Authors: Margaritondo Giorgio 
Published: April 2011

As I begin my mandate as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, I can look back with great pleasure at many years of service, as a member of the Editorial Board, to this outstanding instrument of scientific dissemination. Having witnessed the exceptional quantitative and qualitative growth of the journal, I must consider this appointment both an honour and a real challenge.

The success of the journal is primarily based on three assets: the authors' talent of course, but also the illuminated leadership of my predecessors at the journal helm and the highly competent, dedicated and responsive staff. I would like to praise, in particular, the leadership of my immediate predecessor and good friend, Pallab Battacharya, the pilot of the years of major qualitative growth. Being Pallab's successor makes my new responsibility even more challenging!

The IOP personnel is a key asset for the journal: in my rather broad experience in scientific publishing, I have never seen such a combination of professional experience, commitment and willingness to innovate—a traditional strength of JPD. Regrettably, I cannot acknowledge here all the women and men who contributed to the success of the journal; however, I would like to explicitly acknowledge the outstanding work of Sarah Quin over the past decade. In my new duty, I can fortunately count on her successor, Olivia Roche, whose excellent professional and managerial qualities we can already appreciate.

How should we view the future of the journal? In my view, with reasonable optimism. Notwithstanding the tough competition, our journal has a solid reputation and increasing visibility. It has consistently belonged to the small elite group of top journals preferred by applied physics authors worldwide.

My program as Editor-in-Chief is both simple and very testing: to continue to enhance this elite status. The challenge comes from a variety of factors: first, 'applied physics' is a continuously evolving notion, even more so than physics itself. The journal is successfully positioned at the crucial interface between fundamental research and technological R&D. Continuing in this position—that changes all the time—will require special attention to the evolving trends and to the novelties that continuously appear in our domain. At the same time, we should not dilute the 'physics' character that is the trademark of JPD.

The second challenge is the impact of bibliometrics and ranking. This is again a rapidly evolving factor; it practically did not exist when I first joined the Editorial Board. The journal must reach equilibrium between scientific leadership and careful management of bibliometrics. On one hand, we must continue to improve its good position in the rankings. However, this objective must be reconciled with the duty to respond to new developments that, by their very nature, have limited bibliometric impact. In meeting this challenge, we can count on two very effective instruments that make our journal quite unique: topical reviews and special issues. Maintaining and expanding these programs is for me a top priority.

I would like to thank in advance all the authors that will select our journal for the dissemination of their results. I am committed to providing for them an effective and open medium. Most likely, 'applied physics' will not be at the end of my mandate what it is now. However, the journal must continue to mirror not the past but the present and, hopefully, the future. Authors in new domains of applied physics, who may wonder if their research fits the journal scope, are particularly welcome; we will always respond to the evolution of our attractive, dynamic, wonderful discipline.