New Leadership, New Layout

Times are changing: After 14 years of working for the Macromolecular (and the Advanced) journals, the last seven of which I have served as the Editor-in-Chief for the Macromolecular family, I am extremely happy and proud to hand over my official role of Editor-in-Chief to my esteemed colleagues. While I am extremely proud of the success that the Macromolecular family has had under my leadership, these successes would not have been possible without the capable hands of my colleagues over the last several years. It comes as no surprise that Dr. Stefan Spiegel is now officially the Editor-in-Chief of Macromolecular Theory and Simulations and Macromolecular Reaction Engineering, the latter of which Stefan launched when I just joined the editorial team. Dr. Mara Staffilani has been integral to the continued advancement and direction of Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics for the last several years and she will continue her mission now with the official title of Editor-in-Chief. For Macromolecular Bioscience, there could be no better person to lead this journal than Dr. Anne Pfisterer, who obtained her Ph.D. from the Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz under the supervision of Tanja Weil and Klaus Müllen. Anne has already been one of the deputy editors of the Macromolecular journals (just like Mara and David) and a deputy editor of Advanced Science since 2018. Dr. David Huesmann, who joined the team in 2015, will continue on his successful journey to lead the ever-growing journal Macromolecular Materials and Engineering. That leaves Macromolecular Rapid Communications—the journal that I have always felt closest to, and that I had already enjoyed reading when I started my Ph.D. at the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry in Freiburg in 2001. Although it is very hard for me to give up my position, I am extremely happy to pass it on to my colleague Dr. Bo Weng (located in our Beijing office). Before joining Wiley in 2016, Bo worked at the Southwest University, Chongqing, China, as an associate professor, and already has contributed tremendously to the development of the Macromolecular journals. While it is extremely exciting to announce new Editor-in-Chiefs for each of the Macromolecular journals, it is important to note that we will be not working alone, nor solely on a single journal. The success of the journal family has and will always rely on our team spirit. And there is more to the team than just the Editors-in-Chief! We also enjoy the support of our peer-review colleagues Dr. Joseph Krumpfer and more recently Dr. Brenton Hammer, both located in our Weinheim office, as well as Dr. Liying (Lynn) Wang in our Beijing office. All post-acceptance aspects in our journals will continue to be dealt with by our experienced colleagues Bernadette Gmeiner and Dr. Kieran O'Brien, while the administration of the journals will continue to be done by Inge Dittmer. Production responsibilities continue to be in the hands of Katja Kornmacher. Although I am stepping down from my position as Editor-in-Chief of these journals, this is not to say that I will no longer continue to serve and promote them. I will remain the Publisher of the Macromolecular journals, and I am always open to everyone for ideas and suggestions on how to improve and support this family. Please join me in congratulating all of my colleagues on their well-deserved promotion! Kirsten Severing – Publisher of Macromolecular Theory and Simulations It is now over 100 years since macromolecular sciences entered the stage of research, and the Macromolecular journal family has been supporting this crucial area of science for most of its history. In the 1920s, the fundamental understanding of macromolecular chemistry revolutionized materials science and its impact on wider society through the rest of the 20th century. In the 2020s, the unintended consequences of large-scale manufacturing of polymers—historical reliance on petrochemicals as raw materials, pollution, microplastics—has turned researchers’ attention to more sustainable methods and solutions in macromolecular chemistry, which must lead to equally revolutionary changes for the better in the 21st century. As our journal family looks to the future, we thought it was therefore also time for a make-over. Since its acquisition in 1998 by Wiley-VCH, the Macromolecular journals have gone through a number of changes over the years, a timeline of which is shown in Figure 1. After 14 years of usage, the design of 2007 is being retired for a new generation of Macromolecular brand aesthetics. Starting in June 2021, the Macromolecular journals now feature a new, A4 cover picture layout with a consistent Macromolecular logo and title across the entire family (Figure 2). The design process behind this rebranding approached the journal from two angles; to make the Macromolecular journals stand out as modern, state-of-the-art platforms to publish the cutting edge in macromolecular sciences; and to maintain a level of familiarity for readers and contributors who have helped shape and grow the Macromolecular journals over the years. On this latter point, the individual color schemes which have become associated with each journal over the last two decades will remain intact, as these were introduced in 2000 after the journals’ acquisition by Wiley-VCH. The 2021 redesign therefore pays a little homage to this familiar design aspect. With these points in mind, the first angle of the design process—to give Macromolecular journals a more modern look—we believe has been achieved. Design is also a form of communication which speaks to us on a different level; as we publish more new and exciting research in the ever-expanding field of polymer science, the way this platform—the journal—looks needs to change alongside and reflect the historical progress this research is making. We hope therefore that you enjoy this new look, which will last until who-knows-when; perhaps another 14 years until 2035, or another two decades until 2041. We will have to see where polymer science (and design tastes!) takes us in the next few years. As a final note, we would also like to congratulate Javier Diaz and his colleagues (article number 2100007) for being the first authors to submit a cover design and having it chosen with this new design layout for Macromolecular Theory and Simulations. Kieran O'Brien – Technical Editor Having served as the “responsible editor” for Macromolecular Theory and Simulations (MTS) for many years, it is with great pleasure that I now assume the new position of Editor-in-Chief. Irrespective of this change, collaboration and interaction between the different titles in the Macromolecular journals family and their personnel of course remains as strong as it has been. And MTS maintains being a rather specialized but essential part of the portfolio that will keep providing an established and high-quality publication platform for disseminating research results in this field. Furthermore, Macromolecular Theory and Simulations in 2021 is celebrating its 30th anniversary and a dedicated special issue already is in preparation. Look out for the concluding issue of this year, to be published in November! Stefan Spiegel – Editor-in-Chief of Macromolecular Theory and Simulations