An important condition that determined the rapid introduction of synthetic diamonds into industry in the 1960s was undoubtedly the extensive work to familiarize a wide range of specialists and workers with the enormous advantages of diamond tools. It is no exaggeration to say that in those years tens of thousands of scientists, engineers, technicians and workers grew up in the USSR, searching for and finding methods and means of successfully using synthetic diamonds in relation to their production conditions, parts and tools.
In order to provide this large army of diamond processing specialists with information about the results of the latest scientific research and to provide a platform for the exchange of advanced experience, the State Planning Committee of the USSR, at the request of the Ukrainian Scientific and Technological Institute of Synthetic Superhard Materials and Tools, issued an order dated 09/20/68 No. 153 “On the publication of the thematic scientific and production collection “Synthetic Diamonds”.
The editorial board of the journal was approved as a 29-person board. The first editorial board was headed by V.M. Bakul, PhD in Engineering. The board included A.K. Baykalov, PhD in Engineering, L.F. Vereshchagin, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, S.V. Gusovsky, B.P. Demyashkevich, PhD in Engineering, A.V. Ivashchenko, Ya.G. Izrailovich, V.S. Kartalov, G.G. Karyuk, PhD in Engineering, I.P. Kolomiets, B.I. Kostetsky, PhD in Engineering, E.T. Lavrynenko (Deputy Editor-in-Chief), M.M. Levchenko, Ya.B. Mindlin, A.I. Panasyuk, M.A. Potyukaev, A.I. Prikhno, PhD in Engineering, P.R. Rodin, PhD in Engineering, A.M. Rosenberg, PhD in Tech. Sciences, N.A. Rozno, Candidate of Tech. Sciences, A.A. Sagarda, Candidate of Tech. Sciences, G.V. Samsonov, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, M.F. Semko, Doctor of Tech. Sciences, P.N. Faktorovich (Deputy Editor-in-Chief), V.M. Tsmelov, L.D. Chernenko, Candidate of Tech. Sciences, I.I. Shevchenko, P.F. Shpak, L.A. Shulman, Candidate of Phys. and Math. Sciences.
The first issue of the journal was submitted for publication on December 18, 1968 and was published on February 25, 1969 with a circulation of 8 thousand copies. The magazine’s greetings on the back of the first page included the following wishes:
“Your collection should play a major role in promoting the use of diamonds in the national economy. We have no doubt about its success. Make the collection so that every reader – a worker, engineer or scientist – can find the answer to the questions that interest him.” – A. A. Shterniv, Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Ukrainian SSR, Chairman of the Ukrainian Council of Scientific and Technical Societies.
“Soviet abrasive tools made of synthetic diamonds, as well as pastes and powders, are now purchased by dozens of countries from the foreign trade association “Stankoimport.” The USSR Ministry of Foreign Trade hopes that the new collection will attract even greater recognition of synthetic diamonds abroad and the attention of many merchants.” – N. N. Smelyakov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade of the USSR.
“Synthetic diamonds helped our enterprise to increase labor productivity in some specific operations by 2-16 times, and the processing of complex parts from a new structural material – sitall – became possible only with the help of synthetic diamonds. I wish the new collection to serve the cause of further development of technical progress, the rise of domestic industry.” – S.V. Gusovsky, director of the Arsenal plant named after V.I. Lenin.
“We wish the collection “Synthetic Diamonds” to become a good assistant to scientists and practitioners working in the field of diamond processing.” – M.F. Semko, rector of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor.
All these sincere wishes were justified. The scientific and production collection embodied a strong alloy of science and production. The readers and authors of the collection were scientists, technologists, designers, whose articles and reports contributed to the rapid and effective implementation of scientific, design and technological developments by manufacturers in practice.
Articles, reports and notes of the manufacturers themselves were published about the best experience in using diamonds, about how the proposed tools, technological processes and methods showed themselves in practice. This not only helped to improve the first prototypes, but also suggested to the researchers that they were on the right track and in what direction further work should be carried out. The main task of the editorial office was to systematically cover a very wide range of problems related to synthetic diamonds. This includes the synthesis of diamonds, the production of powders and their classification, the production of pastes, numerous types and types of diamond tools, and the virtually limitless possibilities of using diamonds in a variety of sectors of the national economy. This is the design of equipment and devices for the most effective use of diamond tools.
Much attention was paid in the collection to patent and bibliographical information, designed to familiarize readers with everything that has already been done and published in the field of synthetic diamonds in the USSR and abroad. The scientific and production collection “Synthetic Diamonds” was published with a frequency of 6 issues annually until 1979 inclusive. Over the 10 years since its release, significant changes have occurred, requiring an expansion of the range of issues covered, a deeper and more fundamental solving scientific and technical problems. First of all, the volume of research in the field of synthetic superhard materials has significantly increased. Many dozens of scientific institutions, higher educational institutions, and factory laboratories began to deal with the issues of their creation and application. A lot of work was constantly being done to develop new superhard materials with different physical and mechanical properties. In addition to diamond and cubic boron nitride powders, a wide range of polycrystalline and composite materials based on them was created and found wide application.
Work was carried out to search for new effective bonds and coatings, and advanced tools and high-performance equipment were designed for its use in various technological processes for processing metallic and non-metallic materials, rocks, etc. A great achievement of the past decade was the expansion of the scale of effective application of superhard materials, which became possible thanks to the constant improvement of forms and methods of strengthening the connection between science and production. Much has been achieved. However, the growing needs of industry required scientists and specialists involved in the creation, research and application of superhard materials to solve qualitatively new and more responsible tasks.
This is the development of the theory of controlled synthesis in order to create new crystalline and composite superhard materials, study their physical and mechanical properties; create more effective tools; obtain stable coatings and structural elements from superhard materials; develop methods for optimizing technological processes for mechanical low-waste processing of various materials and control of the surface condition and accuracy of manufactured products; expand the use of superhard materials in electronics and instrument making; improve the technology for producing superhard materials and tools from them in the conditions of current production with the widespread use of mechanization and automation.
For the systematic coverage of these and other issues, the prompt provision of specialists with scientific and technical information, and the dissemination of advanced experience, it became necessary to publish a qualitatively new journal – “Superhard Materials” – instead of the scientific and production collection “Synthetic Diamonds”. At the same time, over the past decade, the range of issues covered in the collection has been determined, and its thematic focus has developed, well-known to scientific and engineering and technical workers both in the USSR and abroad. Therefore, it is quite natural that the journal “Superhard Materials” has maintained a well-known continuity with respect to the collection “Synthetic Diamonds”.
The scientific and theoretical journal “Superhard Materials” was founded in July 1979 at the Institute of Superhard Materials of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, established in 1973 on the basis of the Ukrainian Scientific and Technological Institute of Synthetic Superhard Materials and Instruments, under the auspices of the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Technology of Inorganic Materials of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Department of Physical and Technical Problems of Materials Science of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. The first issue of the journal was published in July 1979.
The first editorial board was headed by Corresponding Member Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR M.V. Novikov. The board included V.D. Andreev, B.I. Beresnev, G.B. Bokyi, A.S. Vishnevsky, I.F. Vovchanovsky, V.T. Golovchan, B.V. Deryagin, I.P. Zakharenko, P.S. Kislyi (deputy editor-in-chief, from 1990 to 1994 – editor-in-chief), A. V. Kurdyumov, Yu. V. Naydych, E. G. Ponyatovsky, A. I. PRIKHNO, P. R. Rodin, A. M. Rosenberg, V. F. Romanov, E.V. Ryzhov, A.A. Sagarda, M.F. Semko, D.A. Sirota (executive secretary), V.T. Tolok, V.I. Troitsky, E.I. Yakovlev. The journal “Superhard Materials” acquired the status of a scientific and theoretical publication. However, it is well known that the ultimate goal of any scientific development is practice. Therefore, the journal constantly combined articles on the results of fundamental research aimed at studying the nature of phenomena and processes with reports on practical experience in the effective application of superhard materials in various fields of technology.
One of the forms of establishing close ties between the journal and its readers and authors was visiting readers’ conferences.
Conference of readers of the journal “Superhard Materials” in Yerevan
On April 3, 1981, a conference of readers of the journal “Superhard Materials” was held in Yerevan, organized by the Republican House of Technology, the Yerevan Plant of Artificial Diamonds and Diamond Tools “Almaz” and the Institute of Superhard Materials of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. The conference was attended by more than 100 people representing about 30 industrial enterprises, institutions, universities, and research organizations of Yerevan, Kirovakan, Abovyan, and Arzni.
The conference was opened by the chief engineer of the Almaz plant, E.G. Grigoryan. Then the director of the Institute of Superhard Materials of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, the editor-in-chief of the journal “Superhard Materials” delivered a report “Current State and Prospects for the Application of Synthetic Superhard Materials” Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR M.V. Novikov. He spoke about the new superhard materials created by Soviet scientists in recent years, their properties and prospects for application in various industries, about the coverage of these issues on the pages of the magazine. It is known that in Armenia diamond tools have become widespread in the technology of processing concrete, reinforced concrete, granite, marble and other building materials.
Then the conference participants listened with great interest to the report of the head of the laboratory of building materials of the Institute of National Economy, candidate of technical sciences V.A. Aleksandrov on the effectiveness of the use of diamond tools in this field. The thematic focus and immediate plans of the editorial board of the journal “Superhard Materials” were told by its executive secretary D.A. Sirota.
The discussion of the editorial board’s report was attended by leading scientists and specialists of Yerevan – Academician of the Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences M.V. Kasyan, Doctor of Technical Sciences N.V. Manukyan, Doctor of Technical Sciences I.A. Ter-Azarov, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences M.A. Matoyan, Candidate of Technical Sciences K.A. Mndjoyan, engineers L.A. Khodjoyan and G.S. Arakelyan. All speakers noted that the articles and reports published in the journal are for them an important source of information about new developments in the field of creation, study of properties and effective use in practice of synthetic diamonds and other superhard materials. The thematic versatility of the journal, a fairly high scientific level of the published articles, and good printing design were noted.
It was also said that researchers, graduate students and students are more useful for information systematized in the section “Bibliographic information”. At the same time, readers made a number of suggestions on the topic of the journal. They wanted to see more publications on its pages about methods for assessing the quality of superhard materials, about modern problems of creating equipment for diamond processing processes, about increasing the grain utilization rate in the tool and reducing the energy intensity of abrasive processing processes. It was proposed to pay more attention to familiarizing Soviet specialists with the developments of foreign scientists. Other wishes were also expressed: to resume the publication of dissertation topics on superhard materials, to print color inserts for individual articles, to periodically provide materials on standardization and development of regulatory documents, etc.
Conference of journal readers in Voronezh
In October 1981, in Voronezh, in the Palace of Culture of the Comintern Plant, a scientific and technical seminar “Application of superhard materials in industry” and a conference of journal readers “Sverhtverdye materialy” were held, organized by the Voronezh Central Scientific and Technological Institute, the Voronezh Polytechnic Institute, and the Institute of Superhard Materials of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. The seminar and conference were attended by more than 60 people from 22 industrial enterprises, design and research organizations, universities and technical schools of the city, including from the PTO “Electronics”, the Kalinin State University, the Elektrosignal, Voronezhselmash, and the Comintern, named after Lenin, car repair, heavy mechanical presses, mining equipment, as well as the Polytechnic Institute, PTIkuzmash, ENIKmash, etc.
The report “Progressive technological processes and improving the quality of processing parts” was delivered by the Deputy Director of the Institute of Superhard Materials of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Prof. E.V. Ryzhov, and the report “Ways to increase labor productivity in diamond processing of semiconductor materials” was delivered by Associate Professor of the Institute of Superhard Materials, Candidate of Technical Sciences V.M. Pachovsky. Scientists of the Institute of Superhard Materials, Candidates of Technical Sciences A.A. Shepelev, V.I. Karban, Yu.A. Mukovoz and A.I. Trembovetsky spoke about the use of superhard materials in sharpening cutting tools and processing electronic equipment parts, about the use of tools made of polycrystalline NTM, about the technical and economic analysis of the effectiveness of using new tool materials. The executive secretary and member of the editorial board of the journal D.A. Sirota introduced the audience to the journal’s topics, the results of its work over the past years, and shared the editorial board’s immediate plans.
The following spoke in the discussion of the reports and the journal’s editorial report: Chief Metallurgist of the Electronic Engineering and Production Association A. P. Rovinsky, Deputy Head of the Tool Shop of the Voronezh Mechanical Plant M.I. Soroka, Engineer N.V. Podenko, Head of the Mashsnab Management Department V.P. Chernikov. All speakers emphasized that the articles and reports published in the journal are a significant source of information about new developments in the field of creating and effective use of tools from synthetic superhard materials. Noting the high scientific level of the articles and their good design, the readers simultaneously made a number of suggestions on the journal’s topics and expressed their wishes to make it even more useful and interesting.
Journal Readers’ Conference in Tallinn
The Estonian Republican Scientific and Technical Society of Machine-Building Industry, the Scientific and Research Institute of the Tallinn Electrotechnical Plant named after Kalinin (NIITEZ) and the Institute of Superhard Materials of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR organized a conference of readers of the journal “Superhard Materials” in Tallinn on July 7, 1982.
It was attended by specialists from industrial penterprises, design and research organizations, teachers of higher educational institutions of Tallinn, Tartu, Kuusalu, including the Tallinn factories “Volta”, “Dvigun”, the excavator, machine-building plant named after Lauristin, the experimental equipment plant “Pioneer”, the SKTB “Effect” of the Ministry of Local Industry of the ESSR, NIITEZ named after Kalinin, the Tallinn Polytechnic Institute, the Kuusalu Repair Plant. Tartu Plastic Products Plant, the Kirov Reference and Demonstration Plant (Harju District) and others.
The conference was opened with an introductory speech by the Deputy Chairman of the Estonian Republican Scientific and Technical Society of the Machine-Building Industry Z.A. Korchemkina, who noted that holding a reader’s conference with the participation of scientists from the Institute of Superhard Materials will allow the scientific and technical community of the republic to better familiarize themselves with the latest achievements in the field of creation and effective application of various tools from hard materials, will give a new impetus to the expansion of creative contacts with specialists from Ukraine and Estonia. Deputy Director of the Institute of Superhard Materials of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Candidate of Technical Sciences V.P. Artyukhov, Head of the Department, Doctor of Technical Sciences I.Kh. Chepovetsky, and Senior Researcher, Candidate of Technical Sciences Yu. A. Mukovoz spoke about the improvement of existing and the development of new superhard materials, about their application in the processing of hard alloys and bimetals, about finishing methods for machining machine parts, about cutting tools equipped with polycrystalline superhard materials. Executive Secretary and member of the editorial board of the journal “Superhard Materials” D.A. Sirota introduced the audience to the journal’s subject matter, the results of its work over the past years, and shared the editorial board’s immediate plans.
The head of the laboratory of the Kalinin NIITEZ A.I. Talkop, the chief engineer of the Kuusala repair plant I. A. Viilop, the deputy chief technologist of the Pioneer plant V.X. Gorbatyuk, and the associate professor of the Tallinn Polytechnic Institute A.G. Jaanson spoke in the discussion of the reports and the editorial board’s report. Noting the high scientific level of the articles and the good design of the journal, the speakers simultaneously made a number of suggestions regarding its subject matter. INM employees, headed by the director of the institute, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR M.V. Novikov, visited a number of enterprises and organizations in Tallinn, where they got acquainted with the use of various tools made of superhard materials, discussed and outlined plans for joint work.
Journal Readers’ Conference in Bryansk
In June 1984, a conference of readers of the journal “Superhard Materials” was held in Bryansk at the GPIstroymash Institute. It was organized by the journal’s editorial office together with the Bryansk Center for Scientific and Technical Information and the Bryansk Institute of Transport Engineering. The conference was attended by over 60 people from 22 industrial enterprises, design and research organizations, universities of Bryansk, Klintsiv, Karachev, Novozybkov, including from the Bryansk Machine-Building Plant, Bryansk Automobile Plant, Bryanskselmash, Bezhitsky Steel Plant, Klintsiv Telephone Equipment Plant, Novozybkov Plant Inductor, Bryansk Road Machinery and Electromechanical Plants, Bryansk Glass Association, Institutes of Transport Engineering and Technological VKPTIstroydormash, and others.
A member of the editorial board of the journal, Deputy Director of the Institute of Superhard Materials, Doctor of Technical Sciences E.V. Ryzhov, delivered a report at the seminar entitled “Application of Superhard Materials in Mechanical and Instrument Making”. The executive secretary and member of the editorial board of the journal, D.A. Sirota, introduced the attendees to the journal’s topics and the results of the work. editorial board in recent years and the nearest plans. During the discussion of the report and the report of the editorial board of the journal, the associate professors of the Institute of Transport Engineering V.A. Totai and L.A. Melnikov, the head of the laboratory of the Bryansk Automobile Plant A.I. Gdalevich, and the engineer V.V. Naduvaev spoke. All the speakers emphasized that the articles and reports published in the journal are an important source of information about new developments in the field of creating effective use of synthetic superhard materials and tools from them. Noting the rather high scientific level of the articles and their good design, the readers simultaneously made a number of suggestions on the topics of the journal and expressed wishes aimed at making it even more useful and interesting.
In July 1990, the journal “Superhard Materials” entered the second decade of its existence. All these years, it has widely covered the results of fundamental research aimed at studying the nature of phenomena and processes related to the synthesis of NTM, their properties; the results of applied research; their application in a variety of fields of science and technology. The journal constantly reported on international and all-Union conferences, seminars, exhibitions, and provided a variety of bibliographical information. The deposit of scientific articles was initiated and continued. All this allowed it to gain authority among scientific and engineering and technical workers, who make up the majority of its pe-subscribers. However, changes in the life of society have rapidly captured all spheres, including scientific publishing. In order to further democratize the process of forming the editorial boards of academic journals, the Presidiums of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences decided to accelerate their renewal. It was stipulated that the editors-in-chief and members of the editorial board could be elected for no more than two terms of five years.
Due to the fact that the editorial board of the journal “Superhard Materials” after its foundation worked in a practically unchanged composition for more than ten years, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, expressing gratitude to Academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences M.V. Novikov for his many years of fruitful work, approved Corresponding Member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences P.S. Kisly as the new editor-in-chief of the journal. After public discussion, the changed composition of the editorial board included well-known scientists and specialists representing such major centers of the country as the Institutes of High Pressure Physics, Chemical Physics, Physical Chemistry, Experimental Mineralogy of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Superhard Materials, Problems of Materials Science of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, the leading manufacturers of VTM in the country (VNIIalmaz and VNIIASH), a number of large higher educational institutions (BSU and KhPI): P.S. Kislyi (editor-in-chief), V.B. Antonov, V.D. Blank, O.N. Breusov, V.P. Bondarenko, A.A. Vechir, A.I. Grabchenko, G.G. Karyuk, Y.I. Lytvyn, A.F. Lisovsky, V.S. Lisanov, M.V. Novikov (deputy editor-in-chief), A.V. Nozhkina, G.S. Oliynyk, V.M. Perevertaylo, O.A. Rozenberg, E.V. Ryzhov (deputy editor-in-chief), D.A. Sirota (executive secretary), B.A. Uryukov, D.V. Fedoseyev, I.Kh. Chepovetsky, A.A. Shepelev, A.E. Shylo.
The new editorial board, while maintaining continuity in terms of the subject matter and appearance of the journal, advocated greater attention to research in the megabar pressure range, the development of high-pressure technology, and the production of diamond and diamond-like films. The problems of creating and producing polycrystalline superhard materials, high-strength synthetic diamond powders, CBN, refractory compounds, and the use of NTM as structural materials began to be covered more widely. A more significant place was given to publications on the structure and properties of NTM, their application in electronics and physical engineering, especially with regard to the semiconductor properties of diamonds, silicon carbide, and boron. More attention was paid to the use of tools made of superhard materials, the exchange of production experience, and new machining technologies using VTM.
The editorial board and the editorial staff provided special support with materials on theoretical research devoted to fundamental problems of the crystallization mechanism at high pressure, the regularities of the growth of large and perfect diamond and CBN crystals. For the first time, the journal introduced a section of letters and reports containing the latest research results. One of the most important tasks facing the editorial board and the editorial staff was the need to raise the role of the section “Application of NTM in industry”.
To this end, articles and reports on practical experience in the effective application of superhard materials in various fields of technology were regularly published – mechanical engineering, electronics, aircraft and automotive engineering, construction, stone processing, drilling of oil and gas wells, geological exploration, medicine, etc. An important factor in the editorial policy was the presentation of different points of view on the pages of the journal: discussion and analytical articles were published. The achievements of science and technology of different countries in the field of NTM began to be covered more, foreign scientists began to be involved in the journal. The publication of information and bibliographic materials, as well as advertising and information messages of a commercial nature in the field of production and application of NTM was continued.
In 1995, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine M.V. Novikov was re-elected as the editor-in-chief of the journal “Superhard Materials”. A new era in the development of the journal began. Due to the financial crisis in the country in the early 1990s, the problem of preparing and publishing the journal on the institute’s own material and printing base arose, since financing the centralized publication of academic journals by the scientific publishing house of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine “Scientific Thought”, which had been carried out for many years, would not be enough. It was necessary to form a new editorial group from among the scientific and engineering employees of the institute, to switch to new computer technologies for preparing and publishing the journal. The updated editorial staff, headed by the executive secretary A.V. Shcherbakov, successfully coped with the task that arose. Computer equipment was purchased, software for the publishing system was introduced, and a new journal template was developed.
In 1998, the editorial board was renewed, headed by the editor-in-chief, academician of the NAS of Ukraine Novikov M.V. It included Bogatyreva G.P., Bondarenko V.P., Velikanova T.Ya., Gontar A.G., Devin L.N., Kostornykh A.G., Krasnyk V.G., Kurdyumov A.V., Maistrenko A.L., Pashchenko E.A., Perevertaylo V.M., Rozenberg O.O., Solozhenko V.L. (deputy editor-in-chief), Turkevich V.Z. (1st deputy editor-in-chief), Filatov Yu. D., Shilo A.E., Shulzhenko O.O., Shcherbakov O.V. (executive secretary). At the same time, the International Editorial Board was founded for the first time, which included the world’s leading experts in the field of creation, study of properties and application of superhard materials: Dr. A. Badzian – Pennsylvania State University, USA; Dr. V. I. Levitas – Texas Tech University, USA; Dr. V. D. Blank – Research Center for Superhard Materials, Russia; Prof. S. Mitura – Technical University of Lodz, Poland; Prof. C. A. Brookes – The University of Hull, UK, Prof. A. V. Nozhkina – VNIIALMAZ, Russia; Prof. G. Demazeau – University Bordeaux I, France; Prof. A. Onodera – Osaka University, Japan; Prof. W. B. Holzapfel – University of Paderborn, Germany; Prof. H. Vollst? Dt – VDiamant GmbH, Germany; Prof. J. A. N. da Jornada – Instituto de Fisica – UFRGS, Brasil.
Under the editorship of members of the International Editorial Board, Professors A. Onodera and S. Mitura, a series of articles by foreign authors was published under the headings “Modern Problems of High-Pressure Materials Science” and “CVD Method for Synthesis of Superhard Materials”, respectively, which found a positive response among the scientific community. In 2000, the editorial team of the journal became part of the new Department of Information Technologies and Communications. A year later, the responsible secretary of the editorial office was appointed Ph.D. V.N. Kolodnytsky, under whose leadership over the past ten years the editorial team – editors Ph.D. G.K. Kozyna, senior engineer A.P. Zakharchuk and layout and design specialist senior engineer L.A. Frolova, has been working stably and harmoniously, multiplying the successes of their predecessors.
Over the following years, the journal “Superhard Materials” received a qualitatively new look. The journal publishes articles that highlight the results of theoretical and experimental work in the field of synthesis of single and polycrystals of diamond, cubic boron nitride, composites based on them, other compounds of increased hardness and strength, devoted to the study of their properties and structure, the development of new technological processes for the production of superhard materials, the creation of tools, wear-resistant coatings and structural elements from them. Articles and reports by specialists from research organizations, universities and industrial enterprises on the effective use of superhard materials in various sectors of the national economy are also published: in mechanical and instrument-making, electronics, in the processing of glass, ceramics, plastics, wood, in the construction industry, in drilling oil and gas wells, in geological exploration, etc. The journal also reports on international and all-Union symposia, conferences, exhibitions; it publishes reviews, various bibliographical material.
A new form of work of the journal “Superhard Materials” has become publication on its pages of proceedings of international seminars and conferences on topical issues of the development of superhard materials.
For the period 1996-2007. Nine special issues with proceedings of international conferences were published. The following were published: Proceedings of the International Seminar “Physical Chemistry of Boron Nitride”, Ukraine, Kyiv, October 28-30, 1996, No. 6, 1996; Proceedings of the Scientific Seminar of the V.M. Bakul Institute of Superhard Materials of the NAS of Ukraine on Nanometric Diamonds, 1998, No. 4, 1998; Proceedings of the Scientific Seminar of the CIS Countries “Physicochemical and Mechanical Properties of Diamonds” Ukraine, Kyiv, June 21-25, 1999, No. 1, 2000; Proceedings of the Scientific Seminar “Diamond-like Materials: Production, Structure, Properties” No. 4, 2000; Proceedings of the Scientific Conference of the V.M. Bakul Institute of Superhard Materials of the NAS of Ukraine on Contact Interaction of Ukraine, Kyiv, May 19-20 1998, No. 2, 1999; Proceedings of the CIS seminar “Fullerenes-97”, No. 3, 1997; Proceedings of the International Scientific and Technical Conference “Superhard Instrumental Materials at the Turn of the Millennium: Production, Properties, Applications” (STIM-2001), No. 5, 2001; Proceedings of the Scientific Seminar on Nanometric Diamonds (INM named after V.M. Bakul, NAS of Ukraine, Kyiv, April 8-9, 2002), No. 6, 2002; International conference “4th Nanodiamond & Related Materials jointlywith 6th Diamond & Related Films” June 28-July 1, 2005, Zakopane, Poland, No. 3, 2007. The publication of proceedings of international seminars and conferences attracted the attention of foreign scientists and specialists to the journal.
Scientists and specialists from leading scientific centers in Brazil, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Germany, Poland, the USA, France and Japan published the latest information in the field of diamond synthesis and other superhard materials, the creation of new types of tools based on them and the study of processing processes. Among the scientific institutions of distant foreign countries, whose research in the field of diamond synthesis and diamond-like materials was covered in the journal “Superhard Materials”, were the University of Halle (Great Britain), the Mineralogical Institute of the University of Bonn, the LOT-ORIELGmb company (Germany), Tel Aviv University, the Institute of Mechanical Technology (Poznan, Poland), the Poznan Polytechnic (Poland), the Technical University (Lodz, Poland), the Institute of Physics (Lodz , Poland), Thin Films Department of the Institute of Materials Science and Technology (Lodz, Poland), University of the Northern State of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), H-Division P & ST Directorate Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA), Plasma Research Institute of the University of Maryland (USA), University of Texas (USA), National Center for Scientific Research, Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry of Materials (Mendon, France), Laboratory of High-Pressure Materials Engineering, Galileo Institute of the University of Paris-du-Rhône (France), Itami Research Laboratory, Department of Superhard Materials of Sumiotomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (Japan), “Vision Development Co. Ltd.” (Japan).
During this period, the geography of academic institutes and educational institutions of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, whose scientists published scientific articles in the journal “Superhard Materials”, has significantly expanded. Scientists from the Institutes of Geochemistry and Physics of Minerals, General and Inorganic Chemistry, Colloidal Chemistry and Chemistry of Water, Metal Physics, Single Crystals, Superhard Materials, Problems of Materials Science, Theoretical Physics, Physics of Semiconductors, Physics, Institute of Low Temperature Physics and Technology of the NAS of Ukraine, Vinnytsia, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Kyiv, Odessa, Pryazovsky, Sumy, Kharkiv Polytechnic Institutes, Dnipropetrovsk Mining Institute, Zaporizhia Industrial Institute, Luhansk Machine-Building Institute, Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”, Odessa Agricultural Institute, Ternopil State Pedagogical Institute, Ukrainian State Institute of Mineral Resources, Ukrainian Academy of Book Printing, Kharkiv State University, Cherkasy Engineering and Technical Institute reported on new achievements in the field of superhard materials; Institutes of General Physics, High Pressure Physics, Solid State Physics, Physical Chemistry, Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, VNIIalmaz, VNIITF, Ginalmazzoloto (Moscow), Far Eastern Research Institute of Shipbuilding Technology (Khabarovsk), NPO VNIIASH (St. Petersburg), Research Institute of Exploration Methods and Techniques (St. Petersburg), Novosibirsk Electrotechnical Institute, Russian Scientific Center “Applied Chemistry”, Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the Far East Academy of Sciences, International Tomography Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Federal Nuclear Center VNIITF, Technological Institute of Superhard and New Carbon Materials (Troitsk), Federal Scientific and Production Center “Altai” (Biysk), Institute of Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Bryansk State Technical University, Voronezh Technological Academy, Don State Technical University (Rostov-on-Don), Lipetsk Polytechnic Institute, Kabardino-Balkarian State University (Nalchik), Moscow State University, Chuvash State University (Cheboksary), Yakutsk Research and Development Geological Exploration Enterprise ALROSA (Mirny), Diamond Center Joint Stock Company (St. Petersburg), Technologist Scientific and Technological Research Center of the St. Petersburg State Technological Institute; Institutes of Solid State Physics and Semiconductors, Genetics and Cytology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Research Institute of Physical and Chemical Problems (Minsk), Belarusian Polytechnic Academy, Belarusian State University, Brest State Technical University, etc.
Given the importance of the above problems and the great interest in the published materials, since 1983 the journal Superhard Materials began to be republished in the USA by Allerton Press, Inc. in English under the title Journal of Superhard Materials. The journal became well known abroad, but until 2007, the production and distribution of the Journal of Superhard Materials was carried out only in hard copy, which, with the intensive development of information technologies, prevented access to it by a wide range of readers who use electronic databases of scientific information.
On August 25, 2006, Allerton Press, Inc. and Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. announced that Pleiades Publishing had acquired Allerton Press. This transfer of the company from one owner to another created significantly better conditions for the publication of the Journal of Superhard Materials and opened up new opportunities for the intensive and effective exchange of scientific information. Since 2007, the new publisher, Pleiades Publishing, has provided the Journal of Superhard Materials with a high level of preparation and publication: publication in printed and electronic form using modern world standards; distribution of materials using one of the largest commercial databases containing scientific literature, Springerlink on the website www.springerlink.com.
The high level of scientific articles, the rapid transition of the Journal of Superhard Materials to new progressive global publishing standards, and the presentation of its electronic version in Springer databases contributed to a sharp increase in subscriptions to the journal – in 7 times in the first two years. Soon, a letter was received from Thomson Reuters (The Institute of Scientific Information / ISI) to the editor-in-chief of the journal “Superhard Materials”, Academician M.V. Novikov, expressing interest in evaluating the journal “Superhard Materials” for possible inclusion in the Web of Science or one of the other web pages available on the Thomson Reuters website (http://scientific.thomson.com). The editorial board of the journal fulfilled all the conditions and requirements necessary for its inclusion in the ISI electronic databases, which served as a successful inclusion of the journal in the updated (starting in 2008) list of journals (Master Journal List) for determining the citation index, the only one among Ukrainian scientific publications in the scientific field of “materials science”. Thanks to the indexing of journal articles in electronic databases, the journal “Journal of Superhard Materials” began to be on a par with the best scientific journals and is available to libraries of leading universities and institutes around the world.
A congratulatory letter was sent to the editor-in-chief of the NAS of Ukraine, Academician M.V. Novikov, from the Pleiades Publishing, Ltd company:
“To the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Superhard Materials, Academician M.V. Novikov Velmyshanovny Mykola Vasilyevich!
We are pleased to inform you of the good news: your journal “Journal of Superhard Materials” is included in the Thomson Reuters information products – starting from volume 30 (1) 2008, the publication is indexed in the following databases:
Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch)
Journal Citation Reports / Science Edition
Material Science Citation Index
Sincerely, N. Avanesov (First Deputy General Director)”.
The inclusion of the journal “Journal of Superhard Materials” in the electronic databases of Thomson Reuters and the scientific information databases Academic OneFile, ChemWeb, Expanded Academic, Google Scholar, Inspec, OCLC, SCOPUS, Summon by Serial Solutions became a recognition by the world scientific community of its high scientific level, compliance with world publishing standards, terminology and high quality of presentation of the material. This fact confirmed the successful many years of activity of the team of the V.M. Bakul Institute of Superhard Materials of the NAS of Ukraine, the director and editor-in-chief Academician M.V. Novikov, members of the editorial board, editorial staff and editors-translators. Currently, the editorial board headed by Academician of the NAS of Ukraine M.V. Novikov, which, in addition to domestic scientists, includes leading scientists of the world, involves leading specialists with a world reputation in the field of diamond synthesis and the creation of superhard materials in cooperation.
In 2010, the International Editorial Board was joined by new members: E.A. Gregoryanz, Prof., University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; S. Veprek, Prof., Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany; Y. Le Godec, Dr. Sci., University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France; T. Taniguchi, Dr. Sci., National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan; B. Palozs, Prof., Institute for High Pressure Physics, Warsaw, Poland; A. R. Oganov, Prof., State University of New York, New York, USA; T. Lowther, Prof., University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; V. V. Brazhkin, Prof., Institute for High Pressure Physics, Troitsk, Russia. On the initiative of Professor A. Oganov and with the assistance of the editorial board leadership – Academician M.V. Novikov, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine V.Z. Turkevich and Doctor of Chemical Sciences V.L. Solozhenko, a special issue of the journal was prepared and published under the heading “Hardness Theory and Superhard Materials” (No. 3, 2010).
Published reviews of the latest developments in the field of theoretical models of hardness consider the current state of various theoretical approaches to predicting the hardness of materials. With their scientific materials on the pages of the special issue, scientists from Canada, China, the USA, France and Japan showed the way to the search for new hard materials, including superhard ones. This special issue of the journal received a huge response among the scientific community. The journal “Nature Materials” reported on its release, and the Springer company placed a separate page with information about it on its website and expressed the hope that the presented theoretical methods in the field of creating superhard materials and alloys will attract great attention of scientists and specialists to the published materials and the journal “Journal of Superhard Materials” as a whole.
At the end of June 2011 ISI Web of Knowledge has published new Journal Citation Reports for 2010, according to which the Journal of Superhard Materials received an impact factor of 0.547. The official information about the impact factor of the Journal of Superhard Materials is posted on its website http://www.springer.com/chemistry/physical+chemistry/journal/11961 The editorial board of the journal is grateful to all authors, reviewers and editors for their enormous work and personal contribution to the development of the journal and its great success. The editorial board and the editorial board of the journal are fullyno new grandiose plans and ideas, which, without a doubt, will be implemented, which will bring the journal “Superhard Materials” to the list of leading scientific publications in the world.