Scientific community articles within Nature Chemistry

Featured

  • Thesis |

    Michelle Francl suggests that self-plagiarism is a misleading term and that repeating yourself in publications isn't always a bad thing.

    • Michelle Francl

  • Editorial |

    As Nature Chemistry celebrates its fifth birthday, we take a look at some of the facts and figures that underpin the story of the journal so far.

  • In Your Element |

    Claude Piguet reflects on the history of erbium, which is very much intertwined with its rare earth cousins yttrium, ytterbium and terbium.

    • Claude Piguet

  • Article |

    Copolymers of ethylene and polar monomers are produced industrially using free radical polymerization that leads to broad molecular weight distributions of products with ill-defined structures. Now, an organo–cobalt complex is shown to control the radical copolymerization of ethylene with polar monomers under mild experimental conditions, and allows access to block-like copolymers with targeted compositions and monomer distributions.

    • Anthony Kermagoret
    • , Antoine Debuigne
    •  & Christophe Detrembleur

  • Thesis |

    Michelle Francl takes a serious look at whether we should indulge in scientific humour.

    • Michelle Francl

  • Thesis |

    A century ago this month, Frederick Soddy described and named isotopes in the pages of Nature. Brett F. Thornton and Shawn C. Burdette discuss how chemists have viewed and used isotopes since then — either as chemically identical or chemically distinct species as the need required and technology allowed.

    • Brett F. Thornton
    •  & Shawn C. Burdette

  • In Your Element |

    Brett F. Thornton and Shawn C. Burdette look back at the discovery — and the many different names — of element 86.

    • Brett F. Thornton
    •  & Shawn C. Burdette

  • Thesis |

    Back-of-the-envelope calculations are an important part of chemistry argues Michelle Francl.

    • Michelle Francl

  • Thesis |

    Michelle Francl ponders ways in which we can talk about chemistry without triggering chemophobia.

    • Michelle Francl

  • News & Views |

    No longer held in Bürgenstock or the preserve of stereochemists, the Bürgenstock conference on stereochemistry is much more than its name suggests. The diverse range of subjects discussed at the meeting highlights the fundamental importance of chemistry in other scientific disciplines ranging from molecular biology to materials science.

    • Stuart J. Conway

  • Thesis |

    Bringing knowledge management to bear on the process of scientific research may have benefits for everyone, explains Bruce Gibb.

    • Bruce C. Gibb

  • Thesis |

    Michelle Francl wonders if home labs make (better) chemists.

    • Michelle Francl

  • Interview |

    Thomas Hager, author of popular science books that revisit some of the most significant developments in chemistry over the past century, talks to Nature Chemistry about the challenges of writing for a general audience, and how his dislike of chemistry was turned around by a fellow Oregonian of considerable repute.

    • Stuart Cantrill

  • Thesis |

    As scientists, are the decisions we make all about weighing up cold hard facts or does the last time we ate come into play? Bruce Gibb offers us some food for thought.

    • Bruce C. Gibb

  • Editorial |

    To join in with the International Year of Chemistry celebrations, we launched a competition earlier this year inviting aspiring science communicators to write an essay about one of seven elements.

  • Thesis |

    Two constitutional isomers with exceptionally similar structures have had very different impacts in chemistry and beyond. With this example, Bruce Gibb highlights just how difficult it is to predict how much a particular compound or piece of chemical research will contribute to society, especially in the short term.

    • Bruce C. Gibb

  • Commentary |

    Changes in the chemical industry over the past decade — ranging from globalization to an increased focus on speciality chemicals — threaten to leave the aspiring industrial chemist unprepared. This Commentary discusses those changes and outlines strategies to enter the job market as well equipped as possible.

    • Keith J. Watson

  • News & Views |

    Stereochemistry represents a common thread uniting chemists from a range of sub-disciplines at the Bürgenstock conference, an annual scientific meeting rich in tradition and characterized by intensive, interdisciplinary discussion.

    • Mark S. Taylor

  • Commentary |

    As well as teaching students what we know, it is becoming increasingly important to teach them how we think. We must take a scientific approach to science education and experiment with teaching methods, including context-led work and media-rich resources, to foster active and independent student engagement.

    • David K. Smith

  • Thesis |

    Could short, non-traditional sabbaticals help scientists better organize their research groups and make improvements to their laboratory's IT infrastructure? Bruce Gibb ponders this question.

    • Bruce C. Gibb

  • Editorial |

    When it comes to research misconduct, burying one's head in the sand and pretending it doesn't exist is the worst possible plan.

  • Editorial |

    Who is the greatest chemist of all time?

  • Commentary |

    Scientists worldwide are urged to communicate their research to the public, but what is the best way to judge the effectiveness of their efforts? Using our YouTube chemistry channel as an example, we highlight the unexpected difficulty of measuring the 'impact' of such outreach activities.

    • Brady Haran
    •  & Martyn Poliakoff

  • In Your Element |

    Pierangelo Metrangolo and Giuseppe Resnati celebrate the bicentenary of the discovery of iodine — a good time to also bring to its conclusion an international project that aims to define and categorize halogen bonding.

    • Pierangelo Metrangolo
    •  & Giuseppe Resnati

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