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. 2025 Jan 1;32(Pt 1):1-9.
doi: 10.1107/S1600577524010798. Epub 2025 Jan 1.

30 years of Journal of Synchrotron Radiation and synchrotron science

S Samar Hasnain  1
Affiliations

30 years of Journal of Synchrotron Radiation and synchrotron science

S Samar Hasnain. J Synchrotron Radiat. .

Abstract

Journal of Synchrotron Radiation (JSR) came into being with the publication of its inaugural issue in October 1994 that contained 15 full articles comprising 100 pages. Thirty years of JSR has coincided with several Nobel Prizes that have arisen from the work undertaken on synchrotron radiation sources, with the first of these awarded to Sir John Walker in 1997, just three years after the launch of JSR, and celebrated on the front cover of the journal's July 1999 issue. This article provides an insight into the motivation as well as the journey of establishing this important journal for the IUCr and the synchrotron radiation community which has continued to grow. We also highlight some of the well cited papers for each of the five-year-periods during these 30 years and demonstrate how the journal has become the natural home for all aspects of synchrotron radiation science and technology.

Keywords: EXAFS; Journal of Synchrotron Radiation; Nobel prizes; imaging; spectroscopy; structural biology; synchrotron radiation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The case for creating the new journal presented to the IUCr’s Finance Committee on 20 August 1991.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Letter to Professor Kuroda, seeking help.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Detailed plan provided to the President of IUCr.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Professor Kohra (second from right) with Yoshiyuki Amemiya (far right) and Masami Ando (far left), who were both founding Co-editors. Professor Amemiya is currently the President of JASRI, responsible for the utilization of SPring-8, SACLA (both located on Harima campus) and NanoTerasu (located in Sendai). He was also a Main Editor of JSR from 2015 to 2024.
Figure 5
Figure 5
A group photograph of the IUCr General Assembly at Beijing with the Executive Committee members in the front row (from right Hordvick, Hart, Harada, Kalman, Authier, Coppens, Diamond and Chidambaram). Amemiya, Hasnain and Helliwell are in the last row where they are barely visible.
Figure 6
Figure 6
An image of the inside front cover of the inaugural issue of the journal showing the JSR founding Editorial Board.
Figure 7
Figure 7
The four-page flyer distributed by the IUCr announcing the launch of the journal to the wider community, with details of the scope, editorial board and forthcoming articles in the early issues.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Peter Strickland (bottom, middle) and Hiromichi Kamitsubo (bottom, right) at SRI’97.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Average number of pages per annum averaged over five-year periods. In 1994 only one issue was published, with 106 pages. In 2024, issues have averaged 280 pages.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Main countries contributing to articles in JSR during 1994–2023.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Number of JSR Co-editors over the last 30 years.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Some of the highly cited papers that have appeared in the journal in each of the five-years windows since the launch of the journal. Several of these are from conference proceedings and specialized workshops.
Figure 13
Figure 13
JSR has celebrated several Nobel Prizes that have been linked to synchrotron radiation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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