In December 2007, the International Journal of Solids
and Structures joined the top 50% of journals in the
field of Engineering in Essential Science
Indicators from
Thomson
Scientific. The journal's current record in this field
includes 3,900 papers cited a total of 23,678 times from
January 1, 1997 to October 31, 2007.
Founded in 1965, the International Journal of Solids
and Structures is published by Elsevier. Its current
Editors-in-Chief are Professor Stelios Kyriakides and
Professor David Hills.
In the interview below, Professor Kyriakides
shares his views on the success of the journal with
ScienceWatch.com.
Did you expect the International Journal of
Solids and Structures to become highly cited, or is this
surprising to you?
Over the years, a great deal of hard work has gone into building the
reputation of IJSS, including targeting the most citable papers.
From that point of view, high citation of IJSS is not unexpected.
How would you account for the high
citation rate of IJSS?
IJSS is a premier journal in the field of mechanics of solids,
structures, and materials. It has been so historically and remains so
today. Due to its size and breadth it is considered one of the most
desirable places to publish.
"IJSS has seen many key
findings in its field over the years, starting with the
space program and shell theory in the early years,
fracture mechanics later, localization and other
instabilities, material modeling, and constitutive
modeling."
Coupled with this, the journal reaches over 20 million scientists and
researchers around the globe via Elsevier's ScienceDirect platform. All
articles published in IJSS since October 2005 will be freely
available on ScienceDirect 24 months after publication.
This combination of high-quality articles and excellent exposure attracts
citations to IJSS.
Would you give us a brief history of the
journal?
IJSS was founded by George Herrmann in 1965. During the next 20
years he guided it to becoming a major archive of original work in the
field of the mechanics of solids and structures. Charles R. Steele
succeeded Herrmann as Editor-in-Chief in 1985 and served in that capacity
until June 2005. During his 20-year tenure the journal grew both in size
and in reputation, becoming one of the premier journals in the field.
From October 2005 the editorship of IJSS has been shared by
Professor Stelios Kyriakides of the University of Texas at Austin and
Professor David Hills of Oxford University, both being cognizant of the
immense contributions, leadership, and high standards exercised by their
two predecessors on the way to making IJSS the forum it is today.
What historical factors have contributed to the success
of IJSS?
The scope of the journal has remained clear and essentially the same: to
provide an international forum for communicating original work on all
aspects of the mechanics of solids and structures and their interaction
with other media.
Success is a team effort: we have good editors, good authors, good
reviewers, a good publisher, and most importantly, excellent cooperation
between them.
Have there been specific developments in the fields
served by IJSS that may have contributed?
IJSS has seen many key findings in its field over the years,
starting with the space program and shell theory in the early years,
fracture mechanics later, localization and other instabilities, material
modeling, and constitutive modeling. These findings will have been reported
in IJSS and will have contributed to its success.
What, in your view, is this journal's main significance
or contribution in the field of Engineering?
We are a forum for cutting-edge research in many fields of engineering with
mechanics of solids, structures, and materials content. This includes
aerospace, mechanical, civil and other branches of engineering.
How do you see your field(s) evolving in the next few
years?
The journal is becoming increasingly more selective and more competitive to
publish in as the field of engineering grows. We are encouraging authors to
send us only their best work and publish papers of only the highest
standards. Our international editorial board should help us keep the
standards of the journal at the highest level. We also look to our
readership, who are, after all, also the setters of standards of the
journal as critical readers and potential reviewers, to help us achieve
these ambitions.
What role do you see for your journal?
We hope that it will become the top journal in the field of mechanics of
solids, structures, and materials. With continued efforts to further
improve the quality of the published articles, together with other measures
such as further reducing our publication times, we should meet this
expectation.
International Journal of Solids and
Structures Stelios Kyriakides and David A. Hills,
Editors-in-Chief
Dan Lovegrove, Publishing Editor
Elsevier, publishers
International Journal of Solids &
Structures's most-cited paper with 135 cites to
date:
Praveen GN and Reddy JN, “Nonlinear transient
thermoelastic analysis of functionally graded ceramic-metal
plates,” Int. J. Solids Struct. 35(33):
4457-76, November 1998. Source:
Essential Science Indicators from
Thomson
Scientific.