Call for papers for special issue: Crystal Growth and Related Characterization

Acta Crystallographica Section B invites papers for a special issue on crystal growth and related characterization. The papers will be published as regular research papers and then be collated into a virtual issue in April 2026.

This topical collection will include papers on crystal growth and related characterization, dealing with the growth of crystals of non-biological small molecules or those of extended organic, inorganic or hybrid materials. There are no restrictions on the classes of crystals nor on their growth processes. It will address studies of the crystal growth mechanisms, as well as the melting, sublimation and dissolution behaviour of crystal forms. Moreover, control of crystal growth in aspects of both morphology (shape and size) and crystal polymorphism, based on the interplay of thermodynamics and kinetics, fundamental to understanding the factors that determine crystal structure at the atomic, molecular, and macroscopic levels, and their impact on physical and chemical properties is important. This special issue will also focus on the comprehensive understanding of intermolecular interactions and how they can be utilized to assemble extended crystal structures. The products of the crystal growth procedures, which may be single crystals, microcrystals, powders, nanocrystals, defect structures, incommensurate structures, etc. must be characterized by direct structural analysis based on diffraction or atomic scale imaging techniques. All articles which describe a technique for growing crystals of a material include a distinct crystallographic component or a complete and convincing structural characterization.

The deadline for paper submission is 15th December 2025. This volume will be edited by Guest Editors Matias Velazquez (SIMaP, France), Geetha Balakrishnan (University of Warwick, UK) and Tatyana Bekker (Novosibirsk State University, Russia).

For enquiries on the special issue, especially from potential authors regarding proposed paper content, please feel free to contact Matias Velazquez ([email protected]), Geetha Balakrishnan ([email protected]) or Tatyana Bekker ([email protected]). Completed articles should be submitted only via the special issue submission page at https://submission.iucr.org/submit/b?Qconf=crystal_growth.