OPEN COMMISSION MEETINGS C126 Editor, Jenny Glusker, to whom great thanks are due, and the appointment of Ted Baker and Zbyszek Dauter as new joint Editors. The journal has grown steadily, from 2243 pages in 2002 to 2406 in 2004. Average publication times have decreased from 5.2 to 4.3 months, but the impact factor has remained at around 2. Reflecting the current surge in methods development, Acta D has published many important methodological papers in the past 3 years, both in regular issues and in the special issues dedicated to the standout CCP4 study weekend series. The number of structural papers has remained steady at about 10 per issue, but the number of crystallization papers has increased to the point where they constitute 60% of papers in the journal. From 2005, however, these will be published in the all- electronic sister journal Acta F. Acta D will then focus on crystallographic methods and new protein structures, aiming to attract more high profile structural papers, and will seek to increase the number of topical reviews and commentaries. Keywords: IUCr journals, Acta Cryst. D, biological crystallography OCM01.24.6 Acta Cryst. (2005). A61, C126 Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports Online: Rapid Growth 2001–2004 William Clegg a , David G. Watson b , a School of Natural Sciences (Chemistry), University of Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK. b Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, Cambridge CB2 1EZ, UK. E-mail: w.clegg@ncl.ac.uk and watson@ccdc.cam.ac.uk Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports Online was launched in 2001 as the first purely electronic journal of the IUCr. Its purpose is the rapid publication of individual results of crystal structure determination, with an emphasis on brevity, high technical quality, and high speed. Between its launch and the end of 2004, the journal has grown steadily and massively. In terms of both papers and pages, the 2004 journal is more than double the size of that in 2001. Over the same period, the average publication time has been slightly reduced from 1 month to 0.8 months. Each year a substantial number of new Co-editors have been appointed, reaching over 30 by the end of 2004. Procedures for submission and handling of papers have been refined and substantial further improvements are currently underway. Authors are provided with a number of tools to aid them in the preparation and checking of manuscripts; they have the opportunity of incorporating a wide range of full-colour graphics and supplementary material; communication with editorial staff, proof-reading, and the provision of free reprints are all carried out electronically, through web interfaces and e-mail. The journal has proved very popular and is an excellent medium for the publication of individual crystal structures for which detailed discussion is not required, complementing Section C with its requirement for significant discussion of results and its acceptance of multiple-structure papers. Keywords: journal publishing, IUCr journals, crystallography journals online OCM01.24.7 Acta Cryst. (2005). A61, C126 Acta Crystallographica Section F: Launch Year Report Howard M. Einspahr a , J. Mitchell Guss b , a Lawrenceville, New Jersey, USA. b University of Sydney, Australia. E-mail: hmeinspahr@yahoo.com The new all-electronic Section F of Acta Crystallographica was launched in January 2005. This new journal aims to provide a home for short communications on the crystallization and structure of biological macromolecules. Structures determined through structural genomics initiatives or from iterative studies such as those used in the pharmaceutical industry are particularly welcome. A panel of distinguished Co-editors will ensure that the high scientific and production standards of Acta Crystallographica are maintained. An entirely new feature of Section F will be the close coordination of data submission to the Protein Data Bank and preparation of mandatory items for inclusion in short structural papers. The preferred mode of data transfer from the database to the journal will be in the form of an mmCIF file. This will enable the generation of tables for publication and validation data for referees. One of the section editors has been working closely with staff of the PDB and the IUCr offices in Chester to define the new mmCIF terms required for a complete description of a structure determination. Parallel efforts are being made to improve the communication between Co-editors, referees and authors. Keywords: Acta Cryst. F, crystallization, structural genomics OCM01.24.8 Acta Cryst. (2005). A61, C126 Journal of Applied Crystallography Gernot Kostorz , ETH Zürich, Applied Physics, 8093 Zürich, Switzer- land. E-mail: kostorz@iap.phys.ethz.ch In its thirty-seventh year, the Journal of Applied Crystallography continues to serve a broad readership by providing an international forum for the coverage of all topics related to the development and application of crystallographic methods all across the basic and applied natural sciences. The main subject areas and major developments during the last three years will be reviewed, and the strength and potential for future improvements of the journal will be assessed. There will be ample time for the discussion of points raised at the session. Keywords: journals commission, Journal of Applied Crystallography, IUCr publications OCM01.24.9 Acta Cryst. (2005). A61, C126 Journal of Synchrotron Radiation: Current Status and Issues Dennis M. Mills a , Åke Kvick b , Toshiaki Ohta c , a Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA. b European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble CEDEX, France. c University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. E-mail: dmm@aps.anl.gov The Journal of Synchrotron Radiation (JSR) continues to provide the synchrotron radiation research community a venue for publication of important research and instrumentation/technique development. For the calendar years 2002, 2003, and 2004 the overall number of articles published was 320, comprising 1400 pages. Based on discussions from the last editors meeting (due in part to the adverse effect of conference proceedings in the calculation of the journal impact factor), major conference proceedings are no longer sought after by the journal. Rather, the main editors believe that special issues focused on a particular topic (often the highlights of a larger conference) provide the synchrotron radiation community with high quality summaries of important developments in the field. In the last three years five Special Issues of the journal were published. We see this as a growth area as we already have commitments for 5 Special Issues in 2005. In 2004 Facility Information pages, one page per issue is devoted to each of the three third-generation hard X-ray sources (APS, ESRF, and Spring-8), were initiated. These pages provide an opportunity for these facilities to communicate important news and updates to the international community of synchrotron radiation users. The content of these pages, along with expansion of information pages to other facilities will be discussed. Keywords: IUCr journals, Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, current status OCM02 COMMISSION ON JOURNALS (II) Coordinator: John R. Helliwell OCM02.25.1 Acta Cryst. (2005). A61, C126-C127 Getting the best out of IUCr Journals (Practical Advice and Demonstrations) Peter Strickland , Gillian Holmes, Louise Jones, Brian McMahon, IUCr Journals, 5 Abbey Square, Chester CH1 2HU, UK. E-mail: ps@iucr.org This second Commission on Journals session concentrates on providing all those who use IUCr Journals, including authors,