Editorial

Happy New Year!

This is the first issue of EPJ B in 2001. It is therefore the appropriate timing for introducing some modifications in the journal which have been proposed at the general meeting of Editors last October. Although no revolution is needed since EPJ B is healthy and an increasing number of authors are submitting manuscripts, it is our concern to adapt the journal to the demand of authors and to the evolution of techniques.

Communications with the Manuscript Management System (MMS) and the Inquiry System (IS) have been made faster by connecting to the scientific internet network (RENATER), and the use of another more efficient provider is planned for 2001.

The list of topics covered by EPJ B has slightly evolved. Statistical and General Physics becomes Statistical and Nonlinear Physics, and quantum chaos has been restricted to condensed matter. Mesoscopic Physics includes nanotubes as well as quantum chaos in mesophysics.

The Editors have considered the publication of topical issues whenever it is justified by an emerging field. However all articles published in topical issues must follow the usual evaluation procedure of the journal. In 2001, the topical issue will be on Econophysics.

Another evolution concerns the Rapid Notes. They correspond to a regular demand of our community (fast publication of papers with four pages maximum describing important advances which can be followed by extended articles in the future). Our plan is to publish a Rapid Note three months at most after its reception by the Editorial Office. For this purpose the Editors, the Editorial Office and the Publisher will give the highest priority to these Rapid Notes. Moreover, a different lay-out will be set up shortly to separate and distinguish them from the other papers of the same issue.

The Editors have decided to start a new section of commentaries i.e. very short papers (≤ 1 page) written by one of the Editors (or one of the volunteering referees or an invited third person). In no case should these commentaries lead to a delay in the publication of the initial paper. They will be published in the same issue.

Furthermore, if you wish to communicate with an editor it will be no longer necessary to look for his e-mail address. To achieve better connections between authors and editors, every editor can now be reached through the electronic address "first name.last name@epjb.org". The mail will be directly forwarded towards his personal address.

The Production Department has also started sending of PDF-formated proofs to authors by e-mail, in order to accelerate significantly the production stage.

Finally, we expect that 2001 will be the real beginning of a new type of publication that combines the possibilities of the printed journal and of the on-line edition. First, as soon as a paper is accepted and proofread, it will appear on the on-line version by using the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) system, and can therefore be quoted. There are also additional advantages. For example, it is now possible to have a short paper published in the printed journal and an extended version on-line, with supplementary material (tables, figures, complements) and possibly various multimedia documents. Obviously, if there is additional material in the on-line version, this will be mentioned on the printed version. Technical information is available hereafter.

We hope that all these small advances will make the journal even more attractive. It is also our sincere wish to install personal and constructive relations between editors and authors of the journal. However, what makes a journal alive are really the authors. Therefore, we wish you many results, many discoveries and we hope that you will provide us with lots of excellent papers. Happy New Year!

The publisher informs the authors of the possibility to publish "electronic only" material.

Electronic-only material is designed to provide supplementary information which is either too voluminous to be printed or is designed specifically for the Web, such as illustration in colour. Electronic-only material may include but is not restricted to:

– (Large) tables;

– Appendices;

– Programs;

– Images, videos;

For more information on the submission of this material (file requirements, etc.), please contact the Production Office at: articles@edpsciences.org.