Welcome to Liquids: An Open Access Journal

We are thrilled to launch “Liquids” as a peer-reviewed open access journal [1]. The journal aim is to become a point of reference for the vast and multidisciplinary research community whose activities deal directly or indirectly with liquids. We shall accept submissions in the form of novel research articles, reviews, and communications in the fields of liquid physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, etc. The common denominator must be scientific excellence, which will be ensured by a rigorous peer-review process, and we encourage authors to publish work with a broad scientific appeal as well as more specialized research.

It is impossible to overlook the importance of the studies of liquids in modern science. Beginning with landmark papers at the beginning of the 20th century [2,3,4], liquids have been the subject of intensive investigations in the most diverse fields of science. From the fundamental development of a theory of the liquid state in physics, to an overwhelming fraction of chemistry, to almost the entirety of biology, passing through fluid dynamics in engineering and meteorology, liquids represent an intriguing and societally beneficial field of research.

A pessimistic view of the study of liquids was common in the first half of the last century. Lev Landau, the renowned physicist, wrote that “unlike solids and gases, liquids do not allow a general calculation of their thermodynamic quantities” [5]. This view was due the inherent complexity of the liquid state due to its disordered nature, and to the prominent role of intermolecular interactions which were, at those times, deemed impossible to study or calculate in a sufficiently accurate way. From the second half of the 20th century, however, several significant advances in experimental techniques and modelling were paving the way for undertaking the studies of liquids at an unprecedented level of details and reliability. The induction of new spectroscopy methods such as neutron scattering, light scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance, and the impressive growth in computer power that rendered molecular simulations at large scales possible, has gradually enabled the academic community to undertake further study of the liquid state and has opened the way to modern research which, we hope, will be represented in this new journal.

We are looking forward to receiving manuscripts on all aspects of liquid research, or on strongly related subjects. Given the subject of the journal, we expect contributions from a wide range of different fields that include, but are not limited to:

• Water and aqueous solutions;
• Liquid crystals;
• Supercritical liquids;
• Glasses;
• Molten salts, ionic liquids and their applications;
• Deep eutectic solvents and eutectic mixtures;
• Solutions in general, solvation processes and coordination chemistry in solution;
• Structural determinations of liquid and glasses (scattering, X-rays, neutrons, simulations, etc.);
• Colligative properties;
• Surfactant and colloidal solutions;
• Liquid models and theory;
• Liquid chromatography;
• Liquids on surfaces (wetting, etc.).

The articles that we expect to publish should be clearly written and contain high-quality science, told through a convincing narrative that flows from the start to the conclusions. Although there is no stringent limit on length, we appreciate concise papers, and suggest the use of supplementary electronic materials accompanying the main text.

We have assembled an outstanding team of academic editors who will take every care in making sure that each manuscript receives a fair peer review and the consideration it deserves.

We look forward to hearing from you.