We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. John D. Clayton (DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory) as Section Editor-in-Chief of “Crystallography and Applications of Metallic Materials” in Metals (ISSN: 2075-4701). The main research focus of this Section is on the magnetic and optical properties, among others, of metallic materials. Interested scholars are encouraged to join us by sending their CV to the Metals Editorial Office ([email protected]).

Name: Dr. John D. Clayton
Affiliation: Impact Physics Branch, Terminal Effects Division, DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen, MD 21005 USA
Interests: continuum mechanics, crystallography, elasticity, plasticity, fracture, dislocations, shock physics, computational materials science, applied mathematics, differential geometry

Dr. John D. Clayton received his Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA, USA) in December 2002. He has been a staff scientist at DEVCOM ARL since 2023, where he presently serves as a Team Leader and Lab Fellow. Dr. Clayton’s record of peer-reviewed external publications (102 refereed journals, 41 sole-authored papers) spans topics in theoretical mechanics, mathematical physics, differential geometry, scientific computing, materials science, and the broader engineering sciences. Dr. Clayton has published three sole-authored books—Nonlinear Mechanics of Crystals (Springer, 2011), Differential Geometry and Kinematics of Continua (World Scientific, 2014), and Nonlinear Elastic and Inelastic Models for Shock Compression of Crystalline Solids (Springer, 2019). His research record also includes six book chapters, 98 government reports, and invited presentations at universities and conferences on four continents. He has served on the editorial boards of seven academic journals, currently including Metals (Section Editor), Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids, and Scientific Reports (Nature). Dr. Clayton was a member of the teaching faculty at the University of Maryland, College Park (2015–2019), where he held a graduate course on finite element analysis. Dr. Clayton was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 2017 for seminal contributions to solid mechanics. Other honors include the Excellence in Federal Career Award (Silver Medalist 2016), the Civilian Service Commendation Medal (2020), the ARL Award for Science (2022), the ARL Award for Seminal Work (2020), twice ARL Publication of the Year (2011, 2017), and five ARL Director’s Research Initiative Awards (2005, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2014). He was elected an ARL Fellow in 2016 and elected ARL Fellows Co-Chair for 2021–2022. He has twice lectured by invitation at Oberwolfach Mathematics Institute in Germany. Dr. Clayton served as a visiting research faculty member while on a long-term sabbatical in the spring of 2016 at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences in New York City, followed by a second sabbatical in the fall of 2016 as a visiting faculty at Columbia University, where he gave invited seminars on Finsler differential geometry in solid mechanics at both institutions.

The following is a short Q&A with Dr. John D. Clayton, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views on his research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Section Editor-in-Chief?
I believe that by assuming the role of Section Editor-in-Chief, I can enable a quality forum to advance the understanding of the behavior of crystalline metallic materials among the international academic and industrial research communities. I have nearly 25 years of experience in research and publishing on mechanics of materials, with many contributions in crystalline metals. I also accepted this role to honor and continue the legacy of the former Section Editor-in-Chief, Professor Ronald W. Armstrong of the University of Maryland. Professor Armstrong was an exceptional scholar and collaborator, with a prolific research career spanning over 60 years. As Section Editor-in-Chief, he established a friendly community of researchers to share and debate new ideas and to re-evaluate old ideas. Though retired from the University, Professor Armstrong remained very active with journal activities until just before his passing.

2. What is your vision for the journal?
My vision is for the Metals journal to become more entrenched as one of the most highly regarded journals among the scientific community for interdisciplinary research on topics of metallurgy, materials science, and solid mechanics. I hope to see the journal continue to make headway in scholarly content and impact. I hope to see the journal continue to offer rapid review and article processing schedules to keep pace with the latest research developments. However, it is also essential that high standards of technical quality and equitable peer review be maintained.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
I believe that more interdisciplinary studies will emerge in the field of metals and metallic materials, to include crystallography, in the future. These may combine authors from mixed backgrounds in traditional metallurgy, manufacturing science, mechanics, thermodynamics, composite materials, and broader materials sciences. With the advent of new materials processing methods such as additive manufacturing, metallic materials with exotic structures will continue to emerge. Studies of synthesis, characterization, and modeling of the physical properties of these advanced materials will accompany the novel processing developments. Open data sharing will facilitate advancements in analysis tools that require large data depositories, for example, computational algorithms and software using machine learning and artificial intelligence. These tools, in turn, should facilitate more materials design and discovery.

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?
I believe open access is a promising route for the future of scientific publishing. Open access articles can be viewed throughout the world, irrespective of the finances or geographic origin of the host organization of the reader. This enables the transfer of knowledge to and from a much larger scientific community than traditional subscription-based models. Researchers from less privileged societies, as well as independent researchers for whom paid journal subscriptions are not feasible, benefit from open access. Furthermore, progress of the entire community improves from the diverse ideas and contributions of a worldwide audience enabled by open access research. The drawback, as most are aware, is the publication cost, which ultimately must always be paid somehow to ensure a high-quality journal product, and it is usually borne by the authors. This model is prohibitive in some cases for the submission process.

We wish Dr. John D. Clayton every success in his new position, and we look forward to his contributions to the journal.