Integrating research articles and supporting data in crystallography

The development by a scientific learned society of data description and exchange standards has revolutionized the publication of journal articles in crystallography. Data validation has become an essential element in peer review. Submission, review, and handling of articles are carried out faster, more efficiently, and more consistently. The full data to support a scientific model are made available to the reader, allowing molecular structures to be visualized and analysed. The journals provide a much more complete account of the scientific record, in a model that should appeal to other data‐rich scientific disciplines.