?

The internationalization voyage of

Scientific journals usually mirror the development of a country or area in a specific period of time. With the transnational scientific communication model of today’s world, the internationalization of scientific journals not only provides an avenue for researchers to attain their rights to receive and impart information and ideas openly and freely across a global platform, but the increased reach of such publications allows for a broader and stronger voice in regards to academic and scientific debates.

Therefore, countries in which English is a second language are making great strides in both hosting and inaugurating English-language journals and establishing cooperation with international publishing groups. Taking China as an example, before 1949, there were only three English-language journals, whereas of the current 4900+ scientific journals, more than 250 are in English and over 180 are published/co-published by international publishing groups. Especially in recent years, the numbers of the highly qualified journals are in a considerable increase to commensurate with the large role China plays as a global producer of research.

To stand out from the intense competition of emerging scientific journals and increasing access to readily available information, each journal must explore many paths and encounter much uncertainty and ambiguity as it finds its own way. Quite a few have made impressive and remarkable progress in the keen competition, such as,, and, among others.

Adaptation and evolution are journeys that never end and are filled with countless obstacles. For example, other than the language barrier itself, unprofessional conduct and partiality such as citation bias, i.e., publications of Chinese scientists are most likely to be cited by other Chinese authors rather than by authors from other countries, citation preference of articles from journals with high impact factors, fake peer-review procedures, and improper cross-citation among some journals have all hindered the promotion and internationalization of scientific publications.

() has a 35-year history enriched with highs and lows, and is currently on its own voyage of rebranding from a local, regional leading Chinese journal to a prominent international one. During this transition,has encountered many inevitable predicaments such as a reduction in qualified submissions, submission withdrawal after rounds of revisions, and evaluation bias as the Science Citation Index (SCI) is still regarded as the golden criterion. However, through deep appreciation of the devoted generations of scientists over the past few decades and sincere respect for its traditions,is facing these difficult challenges with great enthusiasm and optimism. The exciting steptook in 2014 to switch from a Chinese to English-only publication is obviously an initial startup of this exciting venture.

With a group of international top-tier scientists as our editorial members, we will continue to protect the quality of our published research, promote the spirit of fairness and free-speech to spur innovations and solicit contributions, and maintain a strictly professional and respected publishing platform. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your constant support, and more importantly encourage you all to join us in this voyage of new possibilities for the promising future of.

Sincerely yours,

Su-QingLIU, Editorial Director

650223