Having completed fifty years of continuous service to the platinum group metals (pgms) community, Platinum Metals Review celebrates another significant enhancement for its many readers and contributors around the world. The Journal Archive is now online at: www.platinummetalsreview.com/dynamic/volume/archive, giving full access, free of charge, to essential research articles dating back to 1957.

As the sole journal dedicated to the pgms, Platinum Metals Review has always been committed to the dissemination of knowledge within the pgm community, promoting and supporting work across all disciplines, in both academic and industrial circles worldwide. The Contents page of the first issue (1) provides a snapshot of the technologies of the day, from radio capacitors to thermocouples and the use of platinum in process catalysis.

Platinum Metals Review has always been at the forefront of developing technologies, and has tracked the progress of many important pgm applications. Notable highlights include the use of platinum in anti-cancer drugs (2) and the development of platinum-based autocatalysts (3). There is a growing body of work on fuel cells, including some key reviews (see, for example, (4)). Other highly-cited articles include reviews of work on the palladium-hydrogen system (for example, (5)). Industrial process catalysis continues to be an important area; for example, the iridium-catalysed Cativa^TM process for acetic acid manufacture (6).

From July 2004, Platinum Metals Review has been published online as a quarterly E-journal. The key benefits of electronic publication are now available for the entire back catalogue of issues, including rapid location of articles using the Advanced Search function. For articles in issues from Volume 1, Issue 1, to Volume 47, Issue 3, article details and PDF files (including entire issue PDF files) are presented. Articles in issues from Volume 47, Issue 4, onwards are available in both PDF and XHTML full text formats. Gaps in print archives can readily be filled.

The team at Platinum Metals Review has already received favourable comments from users of the Journal Archive. Keith White, Sara Coles and I hope that it will continue to provide an invaluable tool for pgm science and technology for many decades to come.