4.1.1. Overview

In 2000, a number of developments for the IUCr journals should be highlighted.

A new electronic journal, Acta Cryst. Section E, has been prepared, for launch in January 2001. The Section Editors, Professor W. Clegg and Dr D. G. Watson, and their Co-editors have been appointed. A new mechanism for subscribers involving a member's (i.e. author's) subscription is being piloted. The chemical crystallography IUCr journal outlets of Acta Cryst. Section B (Structural Science), Acta Cryst. Section C (Crystal Structure Communications) and Acta Cryst. Section E (Structure Reports Online) provide an outstanding service to the chemical structure community.

The biological community expands apace and Acta Cryst. Section D (Biological Crystallography) completed its second year of being published monthly. This has been very well received and supported by the community. Crystallization papers are also very popular and account for as much as 50% of the printed pages in any one issue. Since these are such a buoyant category of papers, and a resulting high work load on the Editorial Board, three new Acta Cryst. Section D Co-editors in the field of protein crystallization have been appointed to the Board (Dr N. Chayen, Dr A. Zagari and Dr M. Pusey). These papers are likely to be further fuelled by the new field of structural genomics.

The Journal of Applied Crystallography has been delivering bumper sized issues through the year 2000. It attracts papers from all subject areas, namely, biology, chemistry, materials and physics, and where the general interest in developments in one subject area are of keen interest to other subject specialists.

The Journal of Synchrotron Radiation saw the appointment of a new Main Editor, Dr D. M. Mills from the APS. The journal published the Proceedings of the Synchrotron Radiation Satellite Meeting of the Glasgow Congress. Work was also carried out on the Proceedings of the XAFS XI Conference, which are to be published in March 2001.

The IUCr web coverage of the journals, including the services to authors and Co-editors for manuscript tracking, is extensive. This now includes the provision of electronic proofs as a service to authors. Web access to the full text of the journals themselves was made `subscribers only' during the year. An e-mail alerting service of the contents of each issue is available, however, free of charge as are the non-article contents of the journals.

Highlighting of IUCr journal articles via mini-reviews within the IUCr Newsletter has been undertaken regularly in close cooperation with the IUCr Newsletter Editor (Professor W. L. Duax). These have been well received. The Newsletter opens a channel to 15,000 readers.

Digitization of all the IUCr journals back to 1948 is under way and is expected to be completed by the end of 2001. Sample issues in pdf format are accessible via Crystallography Journals Online. Possible candidates for themed CD-ROMs are being considered within the IUCr Promotion Committee (Chair Professor A. M. Glazer).

The Commission on Journals (JComm) met in Nancy, France, on the occasion of the ECM. A smaller meeting of Co-editors took place at the ACA. JComm input at the Finance Committee was taken at meetings in Copenhagen, Denmark (March 2000) and Nancy (August 2000), and in Nancy also at the Executive Committee meeting. Substantive issues have been the financing of Conference Proceedings, the financial deficit of Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, and the general decline of subscriptions across all our titles (which has continued, year on year, for the last 15 years). In 2000, possible new subscription models have been extensively discussed, e.g. for the option of electronic access that is now possible via Crystallography Journals Online. There is now also a Journals Working Group which meets approximately every two months in Chester and five such meetings were held in 2000. Its principal deliverables are marketing leaflets. These include a leaflet covering the full suite of journals, distributed to 5000 people, and the Acta Cryst. Section E launch leaflet. Finally, I personally mention that as the Editor-in-Chief I have received or generated some 1500 e-mails on IUCr JComm business through the year. I warmly acknowledge the excellent working relations with the IUCr Chester office, especially Peter Strickland (Managing Editor), Mike Dacombe (IUCr Executive Secretary) and Andrea Sharpe (Promotions Officer). I wish to highlight as well the work of my Editorial colleagues, who give so generously of their time and expertise in the service of the community. I offer my appreciation also to members of the Executive, Finance and Promotion Committees and the IUCr Newsletter staff for their collaboration.

A survey of the contents of the IUCr journals is given in Table 1. Details of each journal can be found in the accompanying reports below. The overall publication times (including review and technical editing) fell for all journals. The current times are: Acta Section A 6.8 months, Acta Section B 8.5 months, Acta Section C 5.2 months, Acta Section D 5.7 months, Journal of Applied Crystallography 9.8 months and Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 6.3 months.

Table 1 Survey of the contents of IUCr journals Acta Crystallographica         Full Articles# Short Communications+ Vol. Year Number of pages Number of papers Number Average length Number Average length A52§ 1996 1010 6596 96 1702 85 320 10.4 9.1 11 98 1.8 2.5 B52 1078 130 126 8.3 4 1.9 C52 3262 1289 1284   2.5   5 0.5 D52 1246 187 109 } 9.1 } 78 2.8                                 A53 1997 863 4733 86 1201 76 273 10.7 9.1 10 59 1.8 2.7 B53 1045 113 111 9.0 2 4.5 C53 2004 872 869   2.3   3 1.0 D53 821 130 86 } 7.7 } 44 2.9                                 A54 1998 1049 5518 113 1332 103 419 9.7 9.1 10 59 1.7 2.6 B54 943 106 103 8.8 3 2.3 C54 2026 884 874   3.1   10 1.2 D54 1500 229 213 } 6.3 } 26 3.5                                 A55 1999 1073 6472 122 1571 99 567 9.7 7.0 23 80 4.3 3.2 B55 1128 126 113 9.6 13 1.6 C55 2192 929 924   2.4   5 4.4 D55 2079 394 394 } 5.4 } 39 3.1                                 A56 2000 649 5678 82 1501 68 4927 8.2 6.5 14 418 6.0 1.6 B56 1127 137 124 8.6 13 1.2 C56 2179 943 591   2.8   352 1.3 D56 1723 339 300 } 5.3 } 39 2.4 Journal of Applied Crystallography         Full Articles Short Communications## Short items++ Vol. Year Number of pages Number of papers Number Average length Number Average length Number Average length 29 1996 759 131 84 7.5 27 3.0 20 2.3 30 1997 1191 209 162 6.2 32 3.4 15 1.2 31 1998 988 162 104 7.7 33 3.4 25 2.2 32 1999 1208 192 126 7.9 28 4.5 38 1.9 33 2000 1468 259 190 6.1 43 4.1 26 1.3 Journal of Synchrotron Radiation         Full Articles Short Communications Short items++ Vol. Year Number of pages Number of papers Number Average length Number Average length Number Average length 3 1996 326 45 43 6.9 2 3.5 0 0 4 1997 405 51 49 7.6 2 2.5 0 0 5 1998 1431 371 86§§ 6.0 285§§ 3.0 0 0 6 1999 1209### 69 57 8.1 2 2.0 10 2.2 7 2000 419 65 58 6.6 4 2.8 3 1.3 #Numbered pages excluding contents pages. Indexes are also excluded for Section C. +Including Lead Articles and Topical Reviews for Sections A, B and D, and Crystallization Papers for Section D. §Including Fast Communications, Addenda & Errata, Letters to the Editor, IUCr Notices, Notes & News, Book Reviews, Books Received, Obituaries, Scientific Comments and Editorials. ##Volume A52 includes, in addition, 688 pages of abstracts communicated to the Seattle Congress. ++Including Addenda & Errata, Fast Communications, Computer Programs and CIF Applications §§Including Letters to the Editor, Laboratory Notes, Meeting Reports, Cryocrystallography Papers, Computer Program Abstracts, IUCr Notices, Notes & News, Book Reviews and Books Received. ###34 Full Articles and 280 Short Communications were published in Part 3 of Volume 5 as the Proceedings of SRI '97. +++Proceedings of XAFS X were published as Part 3 of Volume 6 (687 pages).

J. R. Helliwell, Chair

4.1.2. Acta Crystallographica Section A

Section A published 649 pages in 2000, comprising 68 full research papers and 2 Short Communications. These numbers represent a sharp decrease with respect to preceding years. The number of submitted manuscripts has fortunately recovered: 117 manuscripts were received by Co-editors in 2000 against 88 received in 1999. The number of manuscripts published in 2001 should approach the numbers published in previous years.

The efforts by the Editorial Board of Section A to reduce the handling time are paying off since it has been brought down on average from about 4.1 months in 1998 to 3.1 months in 2000. This reduction is due in part to the fact that more and more authors have already started submitting their manuscripts electronically and it is to be expected that there will be a further decrease when electronic submission is generalized. It is to be hoped that the reduction of the time between submission and publication, which results from the combined efforts of the Chester staff and the Co-editors, will encourage authors to send more manuscripts to Section A in the future.

A. Authier, Editor of Section A

4.1.3. Acta Crystallographica Section B

Section B published 1127 pages in 2000, its content being dominated by the 123 full research papers published during the year. This figure continues a steady upward trend from 101 in 1998 and 112 in 1999. In 2000, Section B also published one Topical Review, two Short Communications, and two contributions that were categorized as Scientific Comment and a Letter to the Editor.

The chemical systems covered by the research papers can be broadly classified as inorganics and metal-organics (51% of papers) and organics (49%), and these data continue the steady annual increase in the organic content of Section B from the 38% recorded in 1997. Across these chemical categories, Section B continues to serve the needs of those working on charge-density studies, neutron diffraction, structural systematics from the inorganic and small-molecule databases, modelling and prediction of crystal structures, powder diffraction methodologies, studies of phase transitions etc. The international nature of the journal is reflected in contributions from 373 individual authors from 32 countries.

During 2000, Co-editors of Section B have made a very significant effort to reduce publication times, particularly speeding up the review process, and by requiring that all revisions of manuscripts shall normally be completed within two months, with minor revisions being completed within one month. Continued improvements in the in-house typesetting of manuscripts and the routine provision of proofs via the Internet also speed the overall process.

During 2000 also, a variety of changes to the presentation of Section B was agreed for 2001, and are now being reflected in published papers. Chief among these is that atomic coordinates will no longer be printed, but can readily be downloaded from the IUCr CIF archive in an immediately useable form. It is a pleasure to record thanks to the IUCr Editorial staff in Chester for the high-quality work carried out, and for the continuing technical improvements being made to the journal.

F. H. Allen, Editor of Section B

4.1.4. Acta Crystallographica Section C

Section C published 2179 pages in 2000 comprising 591 Full Papers and 334 Electronic Papers. With the advent of the electronic journal, Acta Crystallographica Section E, in January 2001, all Electronic Papers accepted after 24 October 2000 were transferred for publication in Section E. Section C now only accepts Full Structural Papers for publication. As established in 1999, only submissions with a significant Comment section (as decided by Co-editors and referees) are accepted for publication in Section C. Authors of papers submitted to Section C and recommended for transfer to Section E still have the option of reworking their structural Comment section so that it can be judged to be acceptable to Section C.

With the January 2000 issue of Section C, a new format was adopted for all papers, with each starting on a new larger page. Authors are now asked to collect their proofs electronically via the Crystallography Journals Online web site; this is working well. Authors are also able to download reprints of their papers from the Crystallography Journals Online web site. As Editor, I am also able to download and review all Section C proof pages from the web site at the same time as the authors. This has allowed any of my comments on the proofs to be acted upon in a timely manner with no significant delays to the publication process.

The decision to appoint deputies for the Editor and Data-Validation Editor proved to be farsighted. Dr A. J. Linden (Data-Validation Editor) and I were both unavoidably absent for some time in 2000; Dr C. Glidewell took over from me as Editor with no interruption to services and Dr A. J. Blake was able to take over seemlessly from Dr Linden.

The high standard of Section C papers is due in no small part to the careful work of Co-editors, referees and the Chester staff; once again I very much appreciate the fine work done by these colleagues.

G. Ferguson, Editor of Section C

4.1.5. Acta Crystallographica Section D

Section D continued as a monthly journal and printed 324 scientific articles throughout the year 2000. Two were Topical Reviews, one on porphobilinogen synthase (5-aminolaevulinate dehydratase) crystal structures, with emphasis on metal-ion utilization. The other was a full description, with experimental results, of the nucleosome core particle with marvellous illustrations and analyses of structure. There was also a debate on the density of proteins within crystals (the subject of two back-to-back Scientific Comment articles). Again we were delighted to be able to publish the reports of a CCP4 Study Weekend; the subject this year was Low-Resolution Phasing. J. Wilson, H. Saibil and J. Grimes were the editors for this issue of 17 articles. The journal also contains Book Reviews and Meeting Reports.

Rules on the deposition and release of macromolecular structural data (atomic coordinates and structure factors, required to be deposited before publication is approved) can be found in the Notes for Authors.

A selection of macromolecular crystal structures reported in 2000 is given in Table 2; these represent proteins and nucleic acids with a wide range of molecular weight. The resolution of structures presented in Section D continues to improve. Of 84 structures reported in research papers, 38 had a resolution of better than 2.0 Å, and 12 of these had resolutions higher than 1.5 Å. Higher resolution was shown to allow for more precise pictures of hydrogen-bonding interactions, distinction between amide and carboxylate groups and suggestions on enzyme mechanisms. Experimental methods of data collection articles include those on neutron Laue diffraction studies, the first protein structure from powder diffraction data (on mechanically ground material), camera modification so that very low resolution data can be obtained, single-wavelength anomalous dispersion, flash-cooling recycling experiments, and the suppression of ice formation on crystals. In the area of phase determination, many articles on direct methods were published together with papers on a new vector-search rotation function, an alternative molecular replacement program, cryo-soaking with halides for phasing, and different density constraints in low-resolution phasing. With respect to later stages such as model refinement, there are articles on phase refinement, R free, solvent flattening, bulk-solvent corrections, selenium atom arrangements in Se-Met-substituted proteins, the enhancement of Se-Met anomalous signals by oxidation, solving data from twinned crystals, electron-density map quality, mass spectroscopy as an aid in identification and in screening heavy-atom derivatives, and the validation of protein crystal structures. Many analyses of structure (beta-sheet propensity, side-chain conformations, metal-binding modes) and of crystal perfection (defects, mosaicity, temperature effects, radiation damage, effects of humidity changes) were also reported. There were also several articles on combinations of experimental techniques such as X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy or EXAFS.

Table 2 Some of the macromolecular crystal structures reported in 2000 in Acta Cryst. Section D Structure Resolution 0.9-1.0 Å   Charge-density studies on a toxin 0.96 Å Toxin bucandin 0.97 Å     1.0-1.5 Å   Porcine pancreatic elastase 1.1 Å Lantibiotic mersacidin twinned crystal 1.06 Å Serratia endonuclease 1.1 Å Bacillus chorismate mutase catalytic homotrimer 1.30 Å m-Carboxyphenyl--D-galactopyranoside plus enterotoxin 1.3 Å Retinoic acid nuclear receptor plus detergent 1.3 Å Lysin monomer and dimer 1.35 and 2.07 Å Feline immunodeficiency virus dUTP pyro-phosphatase plus substrates 1.40, 2.3 and 2.5 Å     1.5-2.0 Å   -Mannanase 1.5 Å Streptomyces aminopeptidase plus product analogue 1.53 Å Pseudoazurin 1.55 Å Alga cyctochrome c6 1.57 Å Spinach acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase plus reaction product 1.6 Å Human -thrombin plus inhibitor plus hirugen 1.7 Å Alcaligenes azurin II 1.75 Å Neurotoxin 1.76 Å Jack bean chitinase 1.8 Å -1,4-Xylanase 1.8 Å Human deoxyhaemoglobin and mutant 1.8 Å Haemoglobin genetically cross-linked 1.8 Å Streptomyces xylose isomerase 1.85 Å Human MRP8 plus calcium 1.9 Å Human pepsin and transition-state analogue 1.96 Å     2.0-2.5 Å   FKBP12.6 with rapamycin 2.0 Å Bovine interferon- 2.0 Å Lysin monomer and dimer 1.35 and 2.07 Å Jack bean canavalin 2.1 and 2.0 Å Antigen-binding fragment plus single-strand DNA 2.1 Å Iron superoxide dismutase 2.1 Å Monoclonal anitbody Fab hGR-2 F6 against human glucagon receptor 2.1 Å -Chymotrypsin plus inhibitor 2.14 Å Inhibitor of trypsin and -amylase 2.2 Å Family IIIa cellulose-binding domain of scaffoldin 2.2 Å Water channel AQP1 2.2 Å Moloney murine leukaemia virus reverse transcriptase plus DNAmers 2.3 Å Thrombin plus various inhibitors 2.3, 2.7, 2.3, 2.0 and 2.1 Å Plasmodium Rab6 in GDP-bound form 2.3 Å Feline immunodeficiency virus dUTP pyro-phosphatase plus substrates 1.40, 2.3 and 2.5 Å Ferredoxin-NADP + reductase and ferrodoxin 2.4 Å     2.5-3.0 Å   Dienelactone hydrolase plus inhibitor 2.5 Å Nucleosome core particle 2.5 Å Mutant human thrombin plus fibrinopeptide 2.5 Å Wild-type and mutant HIV proteases plus inhibitors 2.5 Å 5-Aminolaevulinate dehydratase and metal sites 2.5 Å Naphthalene 1,2-dioxygenase 2.6 Å Porcine-trypsin and inhibitor 2.7 Å Trichosanthes lectin 1, type 2 ribosome-inactivating protein 2.7 Å Human acetylcholinesterase native and mutant plus toxin 2.7 and 2.8 Å Human erythrocyte catalase 2.75 Å Bovine heart cytochrome c oxidase 2.9 Å Human aldose reductase plus inhibitor 1.7 and 2.9 Å     3.0  Å and lower resolution   Hepatitis B surface antigen Fab fragment from F124 3.0 Å Pf1 protein capsid 3.0 Å Buffalo lactoferrin 3.3 Å E. coli cytochrome bo3 ubiquinol oxidase (membrane protein) 3.5 Å Influenza virus hemagglutinin trimer with neutralizing antibody 3.5 Å Bacteriophage PP7 3.7 Å Porphobilinogen synthase metalloenzymes   Hexameric insulin plus resorcinol   Human cytomegalovirus protease and its inhibitor

Three crystallization Co-editors (N. Chayen, M. Pusey and A. Zagari) have been appointed. They will oversee the publication of crystallization papers (of which there were 180 in 2000), and we envisage the possible eventual publication of an electronic version of this part of the journal. Studies on the optimal crystallization procedures, effects of microgravity on crystal quality, critical nuclear size in protein crystallization, and crystal growth in magnetic fields have been described this year.

Illustrations are wonderful and the journal producers are to be complimented on the fact that colour pictures are free to the authors. The result is evident in each issue of the journal and also on the covers which each month portray an interesting structure or item of information from the contents. The assistance of reviewers is again acknowledged and they, together with the staff at Chester, ensure that this is a high-quality journal. My thanks to all of you.

J. P. Glusker, Editor of Section D

4.1.6. Acta Crystallographica Section E

In early 2000, it was decided to establish a new electronic-only journal, Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports Online. This represents the IUCr's first production of a purely electronic journal, and may pave the way for further moves in this direction. It is a joint venture of the IUCr and the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC); the involvement of other database organizers is being sought. Throughout the year, planning meetings took place at Chester and in Cambridge. These were largely concerned with the drafting of Notes for Authors and the role of the CCDC in providing check facilities aimed at detecting duplicate publications, together with a software editor for the preparation of papers in CIF format; this should be available during 2001 and will help to attract new authors. A team of ten Co-editors was established, covering inorganic, metal-organic and organic structures. The decision was taken to terminate the publication of Electronic Papers in Section C, with effect from January 2001. This meant that papers, originally destined for Section C, were diverted to Section E starting in October/November 2000. A small number of the editorial team, with extensive experience of editing papers for Section C, processed these papers so that the launch of Section E took place, as planned, in the first week of 2001. The first issue reported the structures of 68 compounds. The new journal has been promoted through the newsletters of various crystallographic associations and at several scientific meetings, as well as directly by the IUCr through its own journals, the IUCr Newsletter, web site, and leaflets. Promotion includes attractive subscription packages.

W. Clegg and D. G. Watson, Editors of Section E

4.1.7. Journal of Applied Crystallography

JAC published 1468 pages in 2000, up from 1208 in 1999. This included 190 full research papers and 69 shorter papers. A special issue containing the proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Small-Angle Scattering, held at Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA, in May 1999, was published in June 2000. Although the manuscripts were submitted at the conference, a long delay resulted owing to the review handling process. Publication in JAC of the proceedings of future small-angle scattering meetings is desirable, as this gives high visibility to the authors and highlights one of the major subject areas of the journal. For the front cover, the Editor provided a selection of keywords based on the articles and other material in each issue. This procedure has, to the Editor's knowledge, not provoked any comments so far. Although several keywords appear regularly, the procedure seems to make sense and may alert some readers to look at a specific item.

G. Kostorz, Editor of JAC

4.1.8. Journal of Synchrotron Radiation

We would like to acknowledge the outstanding contribution to the journal of Professor J. R. Helliwell who retired as a Main Editor in September 2000; he has been replaced by Dr D. M. Mills of the APS, Argonne, USA. JSR published proceedings from the Daresbury Laboratory Satellite Conference of the IUCr Glasgow Congress entitled From Source to Science. The Guest Editor was Professor R. J. Cernik. The Commission on Synchrotron Radiation are thanked most warmly for their input coordinated by Professor Y. Amemiya (Chair). The XAFS XI Conference took place at SPring-8 in August 2000 and subsequently a very large number of papers have been handled by the Co-editors through the latter half of 2000 for publication in March 2001. Again these are being handled as camera-ready copy and the articles are fully refereed. The special Guest Editors are Professors T. Ohta and M. Nomura.

S. S. Hasnain, H. Kamitsubo and D. M. Mills, Editors of JSR

4.2.1. Volume A. Space-Group Symmetry; Editor Th. Hahn

All text sections for the Fifth Edition of Volume A were printed as galley proofs and proof-reading by the authors continues. The L^AT_EX files of the space-group tables, prepared by M. Aroyo, P. Konstantinov and their colleagues in Sofia, Bulgaria, are complete and proof copies with the scanned space-group diagrams inserted are awaited. Publication of the Fifth Edition of Volume A is envisaged for the latter part of 2001.

The Fifth Edition of Volume A will also be the basis for the Fifth Edition of the Brief Teaching Edition of Volume A.

4.2.2. Volume B. Reciprocal Space; Editor U. Shmueli

The year 2000 was marked by a most significant progress in the preparation of the Second Edition of Volume B. The distribution of the galley proofs among the authors was completed, and their corrections were received. There followed an extensive correspondence between the Editor, the Technical Editor and the authors regarding the galley proofs which contributed greatly to a successful preparation of the page proofs. The effort invested in this careful examination of the galley proofs and an expert implementation of the corrections turned out to lead to a very small number of corrections in the page proofs. At the time of writing this report, the corrections for all the page proofs are with the Technical Editor, who has already implemented all or most of them. It was announced in the IT home page that the Second Edition of Volume B would be published in early 2001, and the present status of the Second Edition certainly confirms this expectation.

4.2.3. Volume C. Mathematical, Physical and Chemical Tables; Editor E. Prince

The publication, in June 1999, of the Second Edition of Volume C essentially completed the volume as originally conceived in 1981. The activity in 2000 was therefore limited to collecting lists of misprints and ideas about things that would need to be added or updated in a future edition.

4.2.4. Volume D. Physical Properties of Crystals; Editor A. Authier

Parts 1 and 2 are complete and have been in the Chester office since November 1999. Typesetting has begun.

4.2.5. Volume E. Subperiodic Groups; Editors V. Kopsky and D. B. Litvin

The volume is being prepared for an anticipated 2001 publication.

4.2.6. Volume F. Crystallography of Biological Macromolecules; Editors M. G. Rossmann and E. A. Arnold

This volume was commissioned in recognition of the extraordinary contributions that knowledge of macromolecular structure has made, and will make, to the analysis of biological systems, from enzyme catalysis to the workings of a whole cell. The volume covers all stages of a crystallographic analysis from preparation of samples using the techniques of molecular biology and biochemistry, through crystallization, diffraction data collection, phase determination, structure validation, and structure analysis. Although the book is written for experienced scientists, it is recognized that the modern structural biologist is more likely to be a biologist interested in structure, rather than a classical crystallographer interested in biology. Thus there are chapters on the fundamentals, history, and current perspectives of macromolecular crystallography, as well as the availability of useful programs and databases including the Protein Data Bank. Each chapter has been written by an internationally recognized expert.

Macromolecular crystallography is undergoing a revolution. Just as crystallography became central to the study of chemistry, macromolecular crystallography has become a core science in biology. Macromolecular crystallography has shaped our view of biological molecular structure, and is providing a broader understanding of biological ultrastructure and the molecular interactions in living systems. As reflected by the exponential increase of entries in the Protein Data Bank over the past decade, there has been an explosion in the number of macromolecular structures determined, the majority by X-ray crystallography. Knowledge of the sequences of entire genomes, from bacteria through human, has sparked a structural genomics effort that aims to determine 10000 new macromolecular structures in the next decade. Crystallography is expected to yield the largest share of this new crop of structures. The field of macromolecular crystallography is still evolving rapidly, and capturing its essence in a single volume is a challenge. Therefore the volume emphasizes durable knowledge, but also contains articles on somewhat more volatile topics.

As of February 2001, the editing of galley proofs for all 85 articles in the volume is nearly complete. The overall quality of the articles received is very high, and we are very grateful for the high level of commitment that so many have given to this project. Volume F will be published in 2001.

4.2.7. Volume G. Crystallographic Information; Editors B. McMahon and S. R. Hall

With the submission of a draft of a major chapter on the macromolecular CIF dictionary, the important first phase of covering the topic areas originally envisaged is essentially complete. However, additional chapters have been commissioned to cover the recently approved image CIF (imgCIF) dictionary. This is a dictionary of data names required by the Crystallographic Binary File (CBF) image representation project. The imgCIF/CBF initiative extends the CIF approach to cover efficient storage of two-dimensional area detector data and other large data sets. The chapters on this topic are expected by summer of 2001. Other work to be done during 2001 will be the rigorous reviewing of the chapters already in hand and the collection of the remaining chapters on technical matters.

4.2.8. Volume A1. Maximal Subgroups of Space and Plane Groups; Editor H. Wondratschek

For the Contents of Volume A1, see Acta Cryst. (1996). A52, 962. During a meeting of the authors at the end of the year 2000, partly financed by the IUCr, the final editorial decisions were taken. The checking of the data has been completed. The Chapters Guide for Users and Mathematical Background of the Subgroup Tables are approaching completion. Volume A1 will be bound together in one book with the new Volume A2.

4.2.9. Volume A2. Relations between Space Groups; Editor U. Müller

The Wyckoff positions of a space group show up in well defined Wyckoff positions of its subgroups. These relations are important for the consideration of structural relationships between crystal structures and play an important role in phase transitions of crystals. The corresponding relations have been listed for all Wyckoff positions of all space groups and their maximal subgroups. This includes the infinity of all isomorphic subgroups. The tables have been complete for two years. However, some alterations were performed in order to obtain a presentation consistent with Volume A1.

[Note: Volumes A1 and A2 have subsequently been designated Volume A1, Symmetry Relations between Space Groups, edited by H. Wondratschek and U. Müller.]