News from Journal House

New! Automatic Renewal Service

The Journal of Chemical Education now has a new service for individual subscribers: automatic renewal. Our Automatic Renewal Program is new for 2008 subscriptions. It enables those of you paying by credit card to check a box that will “confirm that the credit card entered below will be charged on an annual basis for the subscription type indicated”.

This option is available however you subscribe or renew: on the paper renewal form or online at the JCE Online Store. Of course, checking the box is voluntary, but we expect that subscribers will find it very convenient.

Plan Ahead: Earth Day 2008

The Journal will again celebrate Earth Day, and will do so by featuring articles related to the Earth Day theme in its February 2008 issue. The topic is Water and the theme will be Streaming Chemistry. We plan to have articles, lab experiments, a Classroom Activity, a Resource Paper, and more… So mark your calendar to look for the February 2008 issue in mid-January—in plenty of time to prepare to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, 2008.

Congratulations to Us!

Congratulations are in order!

The Journal of Chemical Education has been rated second in cost effectiveness in the Education–Scientific Disciplines category in a study of 6,000 journals by Eigenfactor.org, a journal ranking system that evaluates the influence of scientific journals using the same sort of network-based mathematics that Google uses to rank Web pages. Using their measures of citation influence and the list prices for scholarly journals, more than 6,000 academic journals were ranked. The most cost-effective journals are the likely “must buy” periodicals for even small libraries wishing to cover the subject area.

The Journal of Chemical Education ranked number 2 in terms of cost-effectiveness in the field of Education–Scientific Disciplines. See this Web site (accessed Aug 2007).

Awards Announced

2007 James Flack Norris Award

Diane M. Bunce, a professor of chemistry at The Catholic University of America has been selected as the recipient of the 2007 James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry. The award will be presented at the monthly meeting of the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society (NESACS) on Thursday, November 8, 2007 at Harvard University. The award is presented annually by NESACS to recognize an individual whose dedication and excellence in the teaching of chemistry have had wide-ranging effects on the profession.

Bunce received her B.S. degree in Chemistry from Le Moyne College in 1972, her MAT from Cornell University in 1973, and her Ph.D. in Chemical Education from the University of Maryland in 1984. She joined the faculty of Catholic University as Lecturer in 1985 and has remained there for her entire academic career, being promoted to professor in 2006.

Bunce is being recognized for her studies of how students learn chemistry, for her work on assessment and evaluation, and for her research in chemical education.

Nominations for the 2008 James Flack Norris Award will be due by April 15, 2008. Please see the NESACS Web site (accessed Aug 2007) for details.

Award Deadlines

ACS Award for Affordable Green Chemistry

The American Chemical Society has established a new Award for Affordable Green Chemistry, supported by an endowment from the Rohm and Haas Co. The award will recognize outstanding scientific discoveries that lay the foundation for environmentally friendly products or manufacturing processes at a cost comparable to or less than current technologies. The award will also recognize discovery of new eco-friendly chemistries with potential to yield products or manufacturing processes that are less expensive than existing alternatives.

The first recipient of the award will be recognized at the ACS Spring 2009 national meeting in Salt Lake City. The award consists of $5,000, a certificate, and a plaque. Nominations may be made until November 1, 2007. For additional details and nomination criteria, and to apply for the award, visit ACS Award for Affordable Green Chemistry (accessed Aug 2007).

Courses, Seminars, Meetings, Opportunities

QuestBridge National College Match Program

The QuestBridge National College Match helps outstanding low-income high school seniors gain admission and full four-year scholarships to some of the nation’s most selective colleges. More information and applications to the program (available without charge) are at the Web site (accessed Aug 2007).