EDITORIAL PREFACE
Fifty years of publishing scientific papers is an im-
pressive record – one that we at the journal Materials and
Technology are not unreasonably proud. I like to think
that our success is down to an ability to adapt, to move
with the times, but not always to follow convention.
Since I took over the job of the Editor in Chief last year
we have introduced some important changes, most not-
able an end to publishing purely technical papers. Such
papers, while both interesting and useful to a small num-
ber of specialists, tend not to appeal to a wider audience
of materials and technology researchers and so reduce
the impact of the journal on its target audience.
In keeping with the ethos of my predecessor Matja`
Torkar, who was Editor in Chief from 2012 to 2016, I
will be trying to publish exciting papers from scientists
who are making a mark with new research techniques,
new applications and new materials. A good example in
this latest issue is the paper entitled Molecular dynamics
simulations of plastic deformation of metallic surfaces
by Nu{a Puk{i~ and her colleagues, who are reporting on
the behavior of surfaces at the atomic level. Of course,
the journal will continue to publish more conventional,
high-quality research on metallic materials, polymers,
biomaterials and relevant technologies. However, we will
not be acting a repository for stale research that lacks
relevance and fails to attract the interest of researchers.
It is very likely that as we raise standards the number
of rejected manuscripts will increase, and I understand it
is not a pleasant experience to have your paper rejected
by a journal. But authors have to understand that the
journal cannot publish every article that it receives, and
the fairest way to select the articles for publication is
through a review process that considers factors like
relevance, excellence, innovation, and wider impact. We
also consider how well previous publications by the
authors have been cited, and use this as a guideline for
the relevance of their research.
Starting next year, the first issue of Materials and
Technology will publish the best papers presented at the
annual (this year it is the 25th Anniversary) ICM&T
Conference, which in 2017 will be held in Portoro` from
the 16th to the 19th of October. In previous years we
spread these papers throughout all 6 issues, but in order
to highlight the work presented at this important
materials-related event we have decided to showcase the
best of the conference in a single issue.
Dr. Paul McGuiness
PREDGOVOR UREDNIKA
Petdeset let izdajanja znanstvenih ~lankov je zelo
lepo obdobje, na kar smo pri reviji Materiali in tehno-
logije lahko upravi~eno ponosni. Sam sem mnenja, da je
uspeh revije ta, da je sposobna prilagajanja, da gre v
korak s ~asom na podro~ju, ki ga pokriva. Odkar sem
lansko leto prevzel urednikovanje revije, smo predstavili
nekatere pomembne spremembe, med drugim tudi
ukinitev objavljanja strokovnih ~lankov. Tovrstni ~lanki
so sicer zanimivi in koristni manj{emu {tevilu strokov-
njakov, ne dose`ejo pa {ir{e skupine raziskovalcev na
podro~ju materialov in tehnologij ter tako vplivajo na
zmanj{evanje faktorja vpliva pri ciljni skupini.
Pri ohranjanju etike mojega predhodnika na tem
mestu, dr. Matja`a Torkarja, ki je bil urednik revije med
2012 in 2016, si bom prizadeval, da bodo v reviji
objavljeni zanimivi ~lanki raziskovalcev, ki s svojim
delom predstavljajo nove raziskovalne tehnike, nove
aplikacije in nove materiale. Dober primer tak{nega je
~lanek Nu{e Puk{i~ in njenih sodelavcev v tej {tevilki
revije z naslovom Molecular dynamics simulations of
plastic deformation of metallic surfaces, ki poro~ajo o
obna{anju povr{in na atomskem nivoju. Seveda bo revija
tudi v prihodnje stremela k objavljanju bolj konvencio-
nalnih, visokokvalitetnih raziskav na podro~ju kovinskih
materialov, polimerov, biomaterialov in sorodnih tehno-
logij. Skratka, revija ne bo zbirala ~lankov z zastarelimi
raziskavami, ki niso primerni in ne dosegajo zanimanja
raziskovalcev dana{njega ~asa.
Zelo verjetno je, da ko bomo dvignili standard, se bo
{tevilo zavrnjenih rokopisov {e pove~alo. Razumemo
tudi, da ni prijetno, ko je ~lanek pri kak{ni reviji za-
vrnjen. Avtorji morajo razumeti, da revija ne bo objav-
ljala vseh prejetih ~lankov. Najbolj{i in najbolj korekten
na~in izbire ~lankov za objavo je recenziranje ~lankov,
kjer se upo{teva ustreznost, odli~nost in {ir{i vpliv, ki ga
ima ~lanek na {ir{o publiko. Upo{tevamo pa tudi, kako
pogosto so bila predhodna objavljanja avtorjev citirana
in to uporabimo kot smernico za pomembnost njihovih
raziskav.
S pri~etkom v naslednjem letu bodo v prvi {tevilki
revije Materiali in tehnologije objavljeni najbolj{i ~lanki,
predstavljeni na letni konferenci o Materialih in tehno-
logijah, ki bo v letu 2017 od 16. do 17. oktobra potekala
v Portoro`u. V prej{njih letih smo ~lanke objavljali od
{tevilke do {tevilke, ker pa `elimo poudariti dela pred-
stavljena na tem pomembnem dogodku, ki bo letos `e
25. po vrsti, smo se odlo~ili predstaviti najbolj{e iz
konference v eni {tevilki.
Dr. Paul McGuiness
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 51 (2017) 1, 3 3
MATERIALI IN TEHNOLOGIJE/MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY (1967-2017) – 50 LET/50 YEARS