A History of the Origins of “Atomic Spectrometry Updates"
(cont.)

THE LAUNCHING OF ASU

Fortunately, at the same time (1984) as ARAAS’s problems arose, the AD of the RSC, on the initiative of J. M. Ottaway (a board member of ARAAS and chair of the Analytical Editorial Board) were considering launching a new international journal for the publication of original papers relating to the development and analytical application of atomic spectrometric techniques. The journal was to be called the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry (JAAS) and published bi-monthly. The possibility of incorporating the material published in ARAAS into JAAS was considered and found to be feasible. The approach followed was to divide the subject matter published in ARAAS into 6 approximately equal sections, one section to be published in each issue of JAAS and to contain review material for the 12 months ending 6 months prior to the publication date of JAAS. This solution to the problems of ARAAS was welcomed by its Board and steps were taken to implement it as soon as possible. The title given to the new operation was “Atomic Spectrometry Updates” (ASU). By incorporating 18-24 months of collected abstracts (~3200 papers) into the first year of JAAS there was no gap in the coverage during transition of the literature reviews from ARAAS Vol.14 (1984) and JAAS Vol.1 (1986).

Of the original members of the ARAAS Board, five were still serving when it was disbanded and they transferred to the ASU Board. During its existence some 83 individuals had served on the ARAAS Board. The new Board, under the chairmanship of B. L. Sharp, consisted of 43 members, the majority of whom (36) transferred from the ARAAS Board including 20 members from outside the UK. Clearly, ASU was built on the very solid foundations laid during the operation of ARAAS.

The Forerunner

The Operation of ASU