New discoveries aren’t the only developments moving scientific research forward; new tools and methods help researchers make those new discoveries. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A recognized the importance of new tools and methods in advancing physical chemistry research nine months ago when it introduced an entire section devoted to articles discussing these developments.
New discoveries aren’t the only developments moving scientific research forward. New tools and methods help researchers make those new discoveries.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry A recognized the importance of new tools and methods in advancing physical chemistry research nine months ago when it introduced an entire section devoted to articles discussing these developments—”New Tools and Methods in Experiment and Theory.”
“This section recognizes that we receive a lot of manuscripts where methods development is the primary task, often leading to new methods that benefit large communities. In the past, these papers have had difficulty with satisfying our ‘New Physical Insights’ criterion for publication, so we decided to create this section where that criterion is relaxed.” wrote Editor-in-Chief George C. Schatz, and Deputy Editors Anne B. McCoy, Joan-Emma Shea, and Catherine J. Murphy in their Editorial “New Sections for JPC A/B/C.” Although the section appears in JPC A, it is home to articles on new tools and methods from all three parts of JPC.
Great Articles on New Tools and Methods
In the less than a year since the “New Tools and Methods in Experiment and Theory” section launched, it’s included more than 90 high-quality articles showing the community new ways to make new discoveries.
“We have been getting good feedback about this section,” says Professor McCoy. “The process of developing new tools and methods is critical in advancing science, and we realized that such important work was not easily fitting into the scope of the journal. This section was introduced to address this issue. As the following articles illustrate, the articles that have been submitted to this section are quite diverse, and include both experimental and theoretical work that spans the breadth of science that is covered by the journal.”
Here are 9 of the articles that Professor McCoy and the other JPC Editors have identified as being important work as well as being illustrative of work that fits the focus of this new section and have been published in the “New Tools and Methods in Experiment and Theory,” section since it launched in May 2018:
Optimized Continuous Application of Hyperpolarized Xenon to Liquids
J. Phys. Chem. A, 2018, 122 (48), pp 9359–9369
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.8b09479
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Application of the Systematic Molecular Fragmentation by Annihilation Method to ab InitioNMR Chemical Shift Calculations
Open Access through ACS Editors’ Choice
J. Phys. Chem. A, 2018, 122 (46), pp 9135–9141
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.8b09565
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Experimental Characterization of Droplet Adhesion: The Ejection Test Method (ETM) Applied to Surfaces with Various Hydrophobicity
J. Phys. Chem. A, 2018, 122 (43), pp 8693–8700
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.8b08037
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Making the Coupled Cluster Correlation Energy Machine-Learnable
J. Phys. Chem. A, 2018, 122 (30), pp 6343–6348
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.8b04455
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A New Precision Spectroscopy Based Method for Boltzmann Constant Determination and Primary Thermometry
J. Phys. Chem. A, 2018, 122 (28), pp 6026–6030
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.8b05523
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AC Stark Effect Observed in a Microwave–Millimeter/Submillimeter Wave Double-Resonance Experiment
J. Phys. Chem. A, 2018, 122 (30), pp 6321–6327
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.8b02116
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Absolute Nonlinear Refractive Index Spectra Determination of Organic Molecules in Solutions
J. Phys. Chem. A, 2019, 123 (4), pp 951–957
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.8b10984
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Modeling on Fragmentation of Clusters inside a Mass Spectrometer
Open Access through ACS Editors’ Choice
J. Phys. Chem. A, 2019, 123 (2), pp 611–624
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.8b10744
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Benchmarking Semiempirical Methods To Compute Electrochemical Formal Potentials
Open Access through ACS Editors’ Choice
J. Phys. Chem. A, 2018, 122 (33), pp 6809–6818
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.8b05143
Virtual Issue: New Tools and Methods in Experiment and Theory
As an introduction to the “New Tools and Methods in Experiment and Theory” section, Professor McCoy and Senior Editor Martin T. Zanni compiled 32 articles published across all three sections of JPC that represented the type of work that would soon find a home in the new section and put them into a Virtual Issue.
“Scientific tools are required to obtain new physical insights. As new technologies become available, scientific tools advance, propelling experiments that generate new knowledge and understanding of physical chemistry,” wrote Professor McCoy and Professor Zanni in their Editorial “Virtual Issue Highlighting Articles That Describe New Methodologies Soon To Be Considered for Publication in JPC.”
Read the entire Virtual Issue “New Tools and Methods in Experiment and Theory.”
Are You Using New Tools and Methods in Your Research?
Have you read an article from the Virtual Issue “New Tools and Methods in Experiment and Theory” or the JPC A section by the same name and then used the tool or method described in your research?
If you have, you can enter a drawing for an Apple Watch.
Just tweet to the journal’s Editorial Teamat @JPhysChem using the hashtag #JPCdrawing and share:
- The article’s title or DOI
- A few words about how you’re using the new tool or method described in the article
You can use the written word or post a short video.
We’ll draw a random winner from everyone who sends a tweet at the ACS Spring National Meeting March 31 to April 4 in Orlando, Florida.
Share Your New Tool or Method with the Community
The JPC A Editorial Team would love to see your manuscript describing the new tool or method you’ve developed and invite you to submit it for consideration.
Manuscripts submitted to this section should provide a description of what is new and novel about the experimental approach as well as what types of studies will be now possible with the reported work. Studies that use previously developed computational approaches to new systems aren’t considered appropriate for this part of JPC. Manuscripts should set the stage for experiments or computations by describing the methodology and proving its capabilities.
