Journal Guide

Materials Advances is an international, gold open access journal, publishing high-quality research across the breadth of materials science. The journal accepts experimental or theoretical studies that report new understanding, applications, properties and synthesis of materials, building on and complementing the materials content already published across the Royal Society of Chemistry journal portfolio. Submissions are handled by our high profile associate editors, all of whom also look after submissions to Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B & C. The Materials Advances publishing experience comes with the reputation, standards, commitment and expertise you would expect from an RSC journal, plus the visibility boost that comes from being open access and part of the Journal of Materials Chemistry family.

Materials and Structures, the flagship publication of the International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM), provides a unique international and interdisciplinary forum for new research findings on the performance of construction materials. A leader in cutting-edge research, the journal is dedicated to the publication of high quality papers examining the fundamental properties of building materials, their characterization and processing techniques, modeling, standardization of test methods, and the application of research results in building and civil engineering. Materials and Structures also publishes comprehensive reports prepared by the RILEM’s technical committees.

Ongoing developments in mechanical, aeronautical and civil engineering and major changes brought about by advances in instrumentation and associated computing power necessitate the application and integration of techniques involving systems theory, signal processing, control theory and statistics. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing (MSSP) provides a forum for the discussion of research covering these disciplines with an emphasis not only on fundamental theoretical advances but also balancing theoretical and experimental demonstration of new methodologies and techniques.MSSP publishes refereed papers of the highest quality reflecting the activities and interests of workers in academic and industrial research and development establishments. Especially sought are papers that include both theoretical and experimental aspects, or that include theoretical material of high relevance to practical applications. Papers showing mainly applications of established approaches will rarely be considered.It is a leader in its field, and the research areas covered include:• Diagnostics of mechanical systems/machines/components• Diagnostics/prognostics/machine learning• Structural dynamics, modal analysis (theoretical and experimental)• Structural health• Sensing/measurements/data acquisition• Signal processing: advances relevant to mechanical systems• System modeling and identification• Uncertainty and robust reliability of mechanical systems• Vibration monitoring and control• Rotor dynamics, rotating machinery• Noise source location and noise cancellation• Dynamic loading and force identification• Inverse problems• Machine and material dynamics, meta materials• Vibro-acoustic modeling, simulation, testing and validation• Automotive research.

Other technical areas of interest include high-speed computing, numerical methods, structural optimization, variational methods, stability, fatigue and fracture mechanics, plasticity, and related basic applied mechanics and mechanics-based design. Publication office: Taylor & Francis, Inc., 325 Chestnut Street, Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106.

Mechanics Research Communications publishes as rapidly as possible manuscripts of high standards but restricted length. It aims at providing a fast means of communication and of exchange of ideas among workers in Mechanics, at offering an effective method of bringing new results quickly to the public and at establishing an informal vehicle for the discussion of ideas that may still be in the formative stages.Mechanics Research Communications will publish both scientific and applied contributions. In either category, papers may be one of three types:1. Complete: Self-contained, normally no more than about twelve manuscript pages long. The essence and motivation of the communication must be made clear in a first section, called Introduction, of length appropriate to that of the entire article and written so as to be understandable to the majority of workers in Mechanics. No further abstract is required. The remainder of the contribution may, of course, be addressed to specialists.2. Work in Progress and Preliminary Results: Accounts of current research and of tentative results even if of a conjectural but well documented nature, about three or four manuscript pages in length.3. Letters: Not over two manuscript pages long usually dealing with previously printed contributions or with matters of general interest to the Mechanics community, to be written in non-aggressive language. After acceptance of letters referring to previous communications, the authors of the original articles will be informed and allowed four weeks time to submit a written reply. The letter and the reply will be printed simultaneously.In addition, special features may be added from time to time.The field of Mechanics will be understood in a broad sense, no attempt being made to limit it or to provide it with a precise definition. It will encompass the behavior of fluids, solids, particles, continua, rigid bodies, mechanisms, systems and so forth. It will include theoretical as well as applied and experimental researches, whether aimed at fundamental scientific advances or at practical engineering results.

The central aim of Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures is to promote the dissemination of significant developments and publish state-of-the-art reviews and technical discussions of previously published papers dealing with mechanics aspects of advanced materials and structures. Refereed contributions describing analytical, numerical and experimental methods and hybrid approaches that combine theoretical and experimental techniques in the study of advanced materials and structures will be published along with critical surveys of the literature and discussions of papers in the field. Contributions will range from new theories and formulations to analyses and novel applications. Emphasis will be placed on mechanics aspects and aspects at the interface of materials and mechanics issues. The journal will publish manuscripts dealing with the mechanics aspects (for example, the mechanical characterization, mathematical modeling, novel applications, and numerical simulation) of advanced materials and structures. Contributions may range from new methods to novel applications of existing methods to gain understanding of the material and/or structural behavior of new and advanced. Typical topic areas are: * Materials: Adhesives, ceramics, metal-matrix composites, and polymer-based composites; processing and manufacturing of composite; actuator/sensor (smart) materials and electromagnetic materials; and damage and failure mechanisms in material. * Structures: Basic structural elements such as beams, plates, and shells; structures with actuators/sensors (smart structures); active and passive control of structures; aerospace, automotive, and underwater structures; and adhesively bonded structures. * Methodologies: Mathematical formulation of the kinematic, constitutive, and structural behavior of materials and structures; experimental methods directed toward mechanical characterization, damage evolution, and failures in materials and structures; computational methods for the solution of micro-, meso-, macro-mechanics mathematical models; methods dealing with the determination of local effects; and novel computational approaches for material and structural modeling of new and advanced materials. Publication office: Taylor & Francis, Inc., 325 Chestnut Street, Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106.

Municipal Engineer is the only journal which examines new approaches to municipal engineering worldwide.Included in the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports 2008®The journal combines research papers best practice reports, policy updates and opinion pieces. Reader comment is always invited. Most issues are based on a call for papers which sets a comprehensive agenda for a chosen subject.The journal has a global scope and covers the whole life cycle of providing municipal services to communities. It addresses technical issues, political interface and community participation, the sustainability agenda, cultural context, and the key dimensions of procurement, management and finance.

This journal promotes the application of optimization methods in the engineering sciences. This includes facilitating the development of advanced optimization methods for direct or indirect use in engineering. The journal provides a forum in which engineers obtain information about recent advances of optimization sciences, and researchers in mathematical optimization learn about the needs of engineering sciences and successful applications of optimization methods. It closes the gap between optimization theory and the practice of engineering. Optimization and Engineering presents all optimization methods of relevance to applications in engineering sciences: deterministic and stochastic, continuous, mixed integer and discrete, when they are relevant to applications in engineering sciences. It also highlights successful applications of optimization in various areas and contains a special section for readers without a strong background in the field, which offers material aimed at educating potential users of opti

This journal provides a forum for scholarly work dealing primarily with probabilistic and statistical approaches to contemporary solid/structural and fluid mechanics problems encountered in diverse technical disciplines such as aerospace, civil, marine, mechanical, and nuclear engineering. The journal aims to maintain a healthy balance between general solution techniques and problem-specific results, encouraging a fruitful exchange of ideas among disparate engineering specialities.From time to time, review papers will be published to provide research and development oriented readers with state-of-the-art analyses of various areas of current interest. In addition, occasional papers of tutorial nature help enhance practice oriented readers' knowledge of the basic probabilistic and statistical techniques that are essential in present-day engineering practice design.In consultation with the editors, distinguished members of the probabilistic mechanics community may serve as guest editors for a special issue dedicated to a particular theme.Fields Covered:Aerospace engineering:• Damage-tolerant and durability design of aircraft• Load spectra characterisation• Random vibration of aerospace structuresCivil engineering:• Geotechnical applications• Natural hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and waves• Stochastic fluid mechanics/hydrology• Structural response/control under natural hazardsMarine engineering:• Offshore structures response to wind-induced waves• Ship motion in a random seaMechanical engineering:• Fatigue design• Mechanical systems response/control• Vehicle vibration• Vibration isolationNuclear engineering:• Probabilistic risk assessment• Structural and equipment response to accidental loadsCommon to all disciplines:• Composite materials• Damage mechanics• Monte Carlo simulation• Random fields• Stochastic finite elements• Stochastic optimization• System reliability.

Research in Engineering Design is an international journal that publishes research papers on design theory and methodology in all fields of engineering, focussing on mechanical, civil, architectural, and manufacturing engineering. The journal is designed for professionals in academia, industry and government interested in research issues relevant to design practice. Papers emphasize underlying principles of engineering design and discipline-oriented research where results are of interest or extendible to other engineering domains. General areas of interest include theories of design, foundations of design environments, representations and languages, models of design processes, and integration of design and manufacturing. Representative topics include functional representation, feature-based design, shape grammars, process design, redesign, product data base models, and empirical studies. The journal also publishes state-of-the-art review articles. Indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded.