Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry

• 1. Introduction

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  Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry began its life in 1974 under a very different name: Mineralogical Society of America Short Course Notes. That modest title said nothing about what it would become. Today it stands as the official review journal of two of the most prominent learned societies in the earth sciences: the Mineralogical Society of America and The Geochemical Society. How did a set of short course notes evolve into a journal indexed in the world's leading scientific databases? The answer runs through two name changes across more than two decades.

• 2. From Notes to Journal

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  The Mineralogical Society of America launched what would become this journal in 1974, framing it initially as Short Course Notes. That framing signaled its original purpose: a companion to professional short courses rather than a standalone scholarly venue. By 1980, the publication had grown enough in scope and standing that its stewards renamed it simply Reviews in Mineralogy. That shift stripped away the short-course framing and positioned it plainly as a review publication in its field. The new name held for two decades, a period during which the journal built its reputation within the mineralogy community.

• 3. Geochemistry Joins the Story

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  In 2000, the journal took on the name it carries today: Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry. That addition of geochemistry to the title reflected a formal partnership with The Geochemical Society, making the publication a joint venture of two societies rather than one. The renaming acknowledged that the boundaries between mineralogy and geochemistry had grown increasingly porous, and that a shared publication could serve both communities. The Geochemical Society's involvement gave the journal a second institutional home and broadened its readership across the earth sciences.

• 4. Scientific Reach and Indexing

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  A journal's reach in the scientific world is measured in part by where it is abstracted and indexed. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry appears in three major databases: GeoRef, Scopus, and Science Citation Index Expanded. GeoRef is the primary literature database for the geosciences, making it the natural home for a publication of this kind. Scopus covers a broad sweep of scientific literature across disciplines. Science Citation Index Expanded tracks citation patterns across thousands of journals, placing Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry within a network of influence that researchers and institutions use to evaluate scientific impact.