As the new Editor-in-Chief of Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies, let me start by briefly introducing myself. I am a physicist, and I have dedicated my entire scientific career to stable isotopes, especially to their analysis. Since 1992 I have been head of the Laboratory for Stable Isotope Analysis (LSI) at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Germany. Together with my team, I developed several methods for measuring stable isotopes of light elements (HCNOS+Cl). In cooperation with e.g. the IAEA, USGS and NIST, I am involved in the development of new reference materials for stable isotopes.
Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies has accompanied my scientific life for quite some time, giving me the opportunity to contribute as an author, reviewer, editorial board member, associate editor and co-editor, and I am excited to serve as the new EiC now. I plan to run the journal cooperatively with an editorial team. Len Wassenaar, Michael Böttcher and, until the end of 2024, Gerhard Strauch are acting as Co-Editors. Heike Reichelt, Editorial Assistant, will take care of the communication with Taylor&Francis, the editorial board, and the reviewers.
My commitment is to do my best to keep IEHS in its good position in the family of scientific journals, with the main focus on isotopes in nature. To achieve this ambitious goal, the editorial team is currently supported by 12 Associated Editors and 15 Editorial Board members, and I am aware that I can count on all of them.
There are a few things I would like to improve with the help of my co-editors, associate editors and editorial board members:
The time frame from the submission of the manuscript to the receipt of the reviews is sometimes too long. We aim to optimize this process in the near future for a rapid dissemination of the scientific results.
We would like to broaden the thematic scope of the editorial board members and to pass on part of the responsibility to younger hands. For this purpose, we will be writing to a number of established scientists in the near future asking them to join us.
We urgently need new committed, experienced younger international scientists as associate editors, especially in the fields of methods, health (we currently have none in this area!) and radioecology (from July 2024 on), but also in all other fields. This will allow us to spread the workload for the associate editors over more shoulders. At the moment, we are therefore collecting suggestions for new associate editors.
Taylor&Francis would like us to publish 6 issues per year with 7 articles each. Therefore, top-quality manuscripts related to the whole scope of IEHS are highly welcome.
Last but not least I would like to thank all readers, authors, reviewers, members and friends of the isotope community for their continuous support to our journal.
Special thanks are, of course, due to the outgoing Editor-in-Chief, Gerhard Strauch, who successfully run the journal for more than 13 years until March 2024. His dedication and efforts helped to develop Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies as a prestigious isotope journal.