Abstract
If you have published in the Journal, you are familiar with the effort made by the reviewers and editors to ensure that your work is accessible to a broad audience, regardless of how complex or specialized your research might be. Though the array of topics presented in the Journal has seemed staggering at times, it is truly a pleasure to work with passionate authors and reviewers from so many countries. Astrobiology has published articles from seasoned experts, early career scientists, and authors at various career points in between. I personally thank each and every author, reviewer, and reader of Astrobiology, and I look forward to your support as the Journal continues to surge ahead: this past year the Journal's impact factor increased 9%, to 3.257.
Since its inception, Astrobiology has featured articles that champion an interdisciplinary theme and cover a broad range of disciplines. Regardless of the topical area in which you work, there is the possibility that you will read about topics peripheral to your research. The potential for cross-fertilization of ideas, strategies, and methodologies in the field of astrobiology—a natural consequence of its breadth—is a key strength of many of the articles in Astrobiology. We continue to encourage publication of articles in a wide range of topical areas and request correspondingly stringent reviews to strengthen the best work.
In addition to our standard Research Articles, provocative Hypothesis Articles edited by Norman Sleep and Charles Cockell, and Education Articles handled by Emily CoBabe-Ammann, we have added Forum Articles, Essays, and News and Views entries. Forum Articles, overseen by Chris McKay, focus on policy issues related to astrobiology science and missions. Essays, organized by David Deamer, provide individual perspectives on timely thought-provoking topics. News and Views entries consist of commentaries and replies to published work, summaries of meeting highlights, key questions generated at meetings of interest to astrobiologists, and white papers of interest to our community. Two other types of Journal articles, Book Reviews and Review Articles, organized by Russell Shapiro and Lewis Dartnell, respectively, will increase in number this year as well.
As the flagship journal for The Astrobiology Society, Astrobiology is pleased to introduce two new article types that will be overseen by members of the Society: the Astrobiology Roundtable and Pioneers in Astrobiology. The Astrobiology Roundtable, organized by Malcolm Walter, features discussion and debate centered on themes of interest among leaders in the field. Pioneers in Astrobiology, led by Rosalind Grymes, provides readers with a glimpse of a more personal side of astrobiologists of note. We are pleased and honored to represent this international society, which has just selected its first Honorary Life Member: Rosalind Grymes.
Astrobiology will continue to seek out the best articles that authors in the field have to offer. To that end, we have shortened the turnaround time from submission to publication and now publish timely findings on our website (
Current and future missions in space exploration continue to pump the lifeblood of this exciting field of science. We encourage new readers to join us, thank all for being a part of the process, and remind everyone of the ongoing call from all of us at Astrobiology for your first-tier research articles and expert commentary.