JACS Au Enters Year 2

In January of 2021, amidst the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, JACS Au published its first issue, containing 12 papers. After the first year, that issue has garnered >50,000 article views, a testament to the wide accessibility of JACS Au, as an open access journal. Over the course of our next 11 issues, JACS Au completed its first volume of papers having published 23 Letters, 169 Articles, and 26 Perspectives.

JACS Au is a highly selective journal, offering a gold open access publishing platform covering all areas of research represented by the ACS Publications portfolio. As an ACS journal, we build upon three core elements common to all ACS Publications journals: speed of publishing and rigor of peer review, leading to substantial impact on the field. As a representative sampling of the topical diversity of our publications, Table 1 lists the topics covered by our 26 JACS Au Perspectives published in 2021, as communicated by the article keywords.

Table 1. Topical Overview of Perspective Papers Published in Volume 1, as Denoted by Article Keywords.

Issue 1
Biomembrane, Antibacterial, Antifungal, Antiviral. Antibiotic, Monomer, Drug Design, Therapeutics	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.0c00037
Issue 5
Electrolysis, Electrocatalyst, Electrodes, Electrolyzers, Hydrogen, Carbon Dioxide	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00092
Issue 6
Actinindes, Uranium, Small Molecule Activation, Catalysis, Molecular Complexes	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00082
Cellular Uptake, Membrane Proteins, Dynamic Covalent Chemistry, Disulfide Exchange, Adaptive Networks, Molecular Walkers	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00128
Issue 7
Arynes, Cyclic Allenes, Benzyne, Silyl Triflates, Medicinal Chemistry, Catalysis	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00214
Issue 8
Transition Metal Complexes, Photochemistry, Excited-State Dynamics, Wave Packet Dynamics, Surface Hopping, Electronic Structure Theory, Environment Effects, Laser Spectroscopy	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00252
Single Atom, Electrocatalysis, Energy Conversion, Durability, Synthesis	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00121
Redox-Active Ligands and Substrates, Radical-Type Reactivity, Catalysis, Electronic Structure, Spin State	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00224
Issue 9
Bioinspired Electrodes, Electron Transfer and Proton Transfer, Catalysis, Monooxygenase and Dioxygenase, Oxidases, Peroxidase and Peroxygenase	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00100
Cytochromes P450, Unspecific Peroxygenase, Biocatalysis, Oxygenation, Biotransformation	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00251
Markov State Models, Biomolecular Function, Conformational Change, Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Machine Learning, Non-Markovian Dynamics	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00254
Issue 10
Lanthipeptides: Aminovinyl Cysteine, Antimicrobials, Cyclic Peptides, Biosynthesis, Chemical Synthesis	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00308
G-Quadruplexes, Nucleic Acids, DNA regulation, Photoresponsive Ligands, Supramolecular Chemistry, Photopharmacology, Photoswitching	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00283
Heme quantification, Heme trafficking, Heme homeostasis, Heme sensors	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00288
Sequence-defined polymer, Copolymer, Polypeptoid, Self-assembly, Dispersity, Patterning, Morphology	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00297
Automated Synthesis, Chemical Informatics, Digital Chemistry, Data Standards, Reaction Optimization	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00303
Issue 11
Clusteroluminescence, Through-Space Interactions, Aggregation-Induced Emission, Aggregate Science, Network Cluster	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00311
Nanoparticles, Colloidal Synthesis, Characterization, Nucleation, Formation Mechanism	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00339
Microfluidic Biosensors, Surface-Based Immunoassays, Biomolecule Immobilization, Rapid Biomarker Detection, Analytical Sensitivity, Analytical Specificity, Label-Free Detection, Label-Based Detection	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00318
Photoluminescence, First-Row Transition Metal Complexes, Coordination Chemistry, Metal-To-Ligand Charge Transfer, Ligand-To-Metal Charge Transfer, Earth-Abundant Metals	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00353
Heterogeneous Catalysis, Water, Promotion Effect, Aqueous-Phase Reaction, Hydrogen Production, CH4 Oxidation, Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00319
Issue 12
Glycopolymers, Multivalency, Nanoparticles, Carbohydrates, Chemical Glycobiology	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00352
Heterogeneous Catalysis, Global Optimization, Operando Modeling, Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics, Machine Learning	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00355
Sulfur Anions, Single-Electron Transfer, Hydrogen Atom Transfer, Electron Donor–Acceptor, Interaction, Photocatalysis	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00363
Single Atom Catalysis, Theoretical Simulations, Active Sites, Catalytic Mechanisms, Catalysts Design	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00384
G-Quadruplex, Neurology, Virology, Small Molecules, RNA Binding Protein, Therapeutics	DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00451

JACS Au is a truly international journal, with our 218 publications including authors hailing from 30 countries and territories. Given that funding agency mandates for open access publishing are most prevalent in Europe, it is not surprising that corresponding authors based in Europe have contributed a large fraction of our publications (36%) although North America and Asia are also well-represented, contributing 25% and 38% of our published output, respectively.

In a year strongly impacted by the global health pandemic, the editorial team sought alternate ways to interact and connect with authors, reviewers, and readers. Two of our Associate Editors helped organize and cohost “Grand Challenges” webinars in collaboration with some of our ACS Au community journal partners. Rodney Priestley and colleagues from ACS Polymers Au cohosted the Grand Challenges in Polymer Science & Soft Matter webinar in April 2021, while Sabine Flitsch was part of the Grand Challenges in Bio & Medicinal Chemistry: Frontiers in Carbohydrate and Protein Chemistry webinar, together with colleagues from ACS Bio & Med Chem Au. We also introduced the community to our editorial team with a series of video interviews, where pairs of editors interviewed each other.¹⁻⁴ In issue 6, we introduced our early career advisory board (ECAB), composed of scientists and engineers who are generally 3–10 years post-PhD, serving to guide the journal from an early career researcher’s perspective (DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00235). ECAB members represent 14 different countries and a variety of research areas.⁶

Anticipating more significant travel and traditional scientific conferences in 2022, the editorial team is planning for substantial opportunities to meet and interact with authors, readers, and reviewers in the coming calendar year. If you see any of the editorial team at conferences or other events, please reach out and ask about the journal, as we are always available for questions and inquiries.

Wishing all our readers, authors, and reviewers a fruitful 2022!

Views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS.