Greetings!

We are pleased to report that FSTEM has published nine (9) volumes, eleven (11) issues, a total of thirty-two (32) high-quality peer-reviewed papers in the STEM fields. There are 8 papers in 2017, 11 papers in 2018, 6 papers in 2019, 3 papers in 2020, 1 paper in 2021, 1 paper in 2022, 2 papers in 2024, and 2 papers accepted for publication in 2025. The authors are from six (6) institutions, including Georgia State University, the University of Alabama, Huntington College, Prairie View A&M University, the University of New Mexico, and Alabama State University. 

You are very welcome and highly encouraged to read research papers and review articles published in the newly established peer-reviewed journal, "Frontiers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (FSTEM)." 

FSTEM was founded at Alabama State University in 2017 and publishes outstanding and innovative research in all the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). There is no article processing charge (APC) for the accepted manuscripts. FSTEM provides free online to all full papers from the date of publication and to all archival content to its readers.

The manuscripts for publication consideration in FSTEM are invited by the Editorial Board. Uninvited manuscripts will be reviewed carefully by the Editorial Board before being submitted to external experts for in-depth peer review and handed on a case-by-case basis

In the 2017 Annual Research Syposium at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama, we are delighted to have received 76 abstracts (31 talks and 45 posters) presented by 38 research groups. The Theme of the Symposium is "Inspiring Students with Research in STEM Fields." The 153 authors of the presentations are from 21 institutions in nine states (Connecticut, Texas, Michigan, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, New York, and Alabama) and two other countries (the United Kingdom and Cameroon). 

The 250-word abstracts of the presentations provide relatively limited information. To promote communication and enhance collaborative opportunities among the participants of the Symposium, we hope to publish the innovative research results presented in the 2017 Annual Research Symposium in the form of research papers and review articles. The original plan is to publish these research manuscripts in a book or a Special Issue of a peer-reviewed journal. The goal is to publish these manuscripts by the end of 2017. 

However, the idea of publishing the manuscripts in a book is not feasible, because it typically takes about 2 years to publish the peer-reviewed manuscripts in a book by a publisher, and it requires a publication budget for such a book. 

The plan for publishing the manuscripts in a Special Issue of a peer-reviewed journal is also problematic. As the manuscripts of the participants are fairly diverse and broad in STEM fields, it is difficult and likely impossible to find a suitable existing journal. The potential outstanding journals are "International Journal of STEM Education" and "Springer Science Review." The former journal is limited to the educational aspects in STEM fields, and the latter is focused on the literature reviews from Ph.D. students. We notice that there is another candidate, "American Journal of Undergraduate Research." Unfortunately, this excellent journal is solely designed for undergraduate authors. 

As you may know, a similar dilemma was faced by the scientists at Rockefeller University in the 1950s when they tried to publish their innovative research focusing on the intracellular anatomy using the emerging technology of electron microscopy. They cannot find an appropriate journal to publish their research results, and finally decided to initiate a new journal, "The Journal of Cell Biology (JCB)," which is produced by the Rockefeller University. JCB has published many seminal discoveries, including the first descriptions of numerous cellular functions and structures, such as the secretory pathway, mitochondria, and chloroplasts. It has played a key role in promoting the generation of a new scientific division, "Cell Biology," and the founding of a new society, "The American Society for Cell Biology."

Inspired by the Rockefeller pioneers, we decided to initiate a new peer-reviewed journal, "Frontiers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (FSTEM)," to publish the manuscripts from the participants of the Symposium. Additional manuscripts, which are not presented in the Annual Research Symposium, are also welcome to be submitted to FSTEM for publication consideration.    

We are pleased to have formed the Editorial Board of FSTEM, which consists of 32 world leaders and active scientists in STEM disciplines from seven countries, including Canada, China, France, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 

The targeting readers of FSTEM include undergraduates, M.S. students, Ph.D. students, postdocs, scientists, professors, practitioners, and others who are interested in STEM research. The manuscript authors of FSTEM are anticipated to be undergraduates, graduates, scientists, and professors.

The purpose of FSTEM includes the following four aspects: 1)  publish the innovative research in STEM fields, including chemistry, computer and information technology science, engineering, geosciences, life sciences, mathematical sciences, physics and astronomy, social sciences (anthropology, economics, psychology and sociology), and STEM education and learning research; 2) inspire and encourage undergraduates and graduates to work and remain in STEM fields; 3) publicize the research results from the outstanding presentations of the Annual Research Symposia at Universities and Colleges in the United States and other countries; and 4) facilitate the communication and collaboration among the participants of these Symposia. 

FSTEM is published yearly at the beginning, and later might be changed to monthly when the submission of manuscripts increases. Since 2018, it is published twice per year, in March and in November, respectively.

Each year, one manuscript will be selected to be "the Best Paper of the Year" from the published manuscripts in FSTEM by the Editorial Board. 

The winning paper in 2017 is "Timothy E. Egbo, John O. Dickson, Carrie Miller, Alexander Johs, Carrie A. Sanders, and Boakai K. Robertson (2017) Characterization, Identification and Seasonal Evaluation of Microbes in Mercury Contaminated Soils, Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., 1, 15-26." The best paper in 2018 is "Hiroki Makita and Gary Hastings* (2018) Nanosecond time-resolved absorption difference spectroscopy for the study of carotenoid triplet states in photosystem I photosynthetic reaction centers, Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., 2, 138-147." In 2019, the Best Paper of the Year is "Gary Hastings*, Hiroki Makita, Learnmore T. Shenje, and Susanne Ullrich (2019) Femtosecond Time-resolved Spectroscopy for the Study of Photosystem I Reaction Centers at 77 K, Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., 3, 63-70." The best paper of the year 2020 is "Deshayla Chappell, Anthony Asonze, and Harvey J.M. Hou* (2020) Degradation of Norcocaine: A GCMS and FTIR Study, Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., 4, 65-74."

We are committed to ensuring that FSTEM may be a newly informative and valuable source to you - authors and readers - in the STEM community.

Thank you for reading!

Harvey Hou

Editor-in-Chief

Frontiers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Journal website: (a) https://sites.google.com/alasu.edu/journal-fstem/home (b) mirror site: https://alasu.sharepoint.com/sites/FSTEM

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