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Thousands of materials science experts around the globe work to ensure the high quality of the platform – read more.
One example deals with SpringerMaterials book content. Where books have multiple authors, the authors will review other chapters of the book in the first instance. After this initial screening process, where anomalies can be picked up, the editor will read both the reviews and the chapter. After this reading, a final report is created, synthesizing the views of everyone who has reviewed the work. The author will be asked to make revisions, and will get a chance to clarify any points that aren’t clear.
Having multiple reviewers for a chapter pushes up the quality of the information, not just in terms of the accuracy of the data, but in how it is presented and explained to the reader.
Database contributors, all of whom have a PhD level qualification in the fields of chemistry, physics, or materials science, carefully review all the individual pieces of data added to SpringerMaterials. Materials science is an area where experimental accuracy is of particular importance, especially when data is relied upon to create models from which new discoveries will arise. SpringerMaterials experts all come from a research background, and take their responsibility for accuracy extremely seriously.
Another example is the Adsorption Isotherm Database in SpringerMaterials. Here, data for industrially relevant solids and gases is compiled from current literature. This does not include data for new or emerging materials which are not well characterized and synthesized only in small quantities; all the materials included are well known with proven synthesis routes. Conflicting data in adsorption isotherms is very common, since small changes in handling, activa¬tion, and procedures can make a difference to the way they behave, so the data in SpringerMaterials is screened for best practice.
For accuracy, the team also focus on the availability of numerical data rather than less reliable graphical data. With graphs, Springer editors contact the authors and request tabulated data for evaluation.
