ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | NOVEMBER 2026 32 are classic reference content, such as thermophysical property data, binary phase diagrams, and perspectives on quenching and tempering. These topics rarely top citation lists, yet they draw sizable readership. The Handbook data show the same practitioner demand. IMPACT BEYOND TOPIC SELECTION The roadmap is already influencing work beyond editorial planning. Product categories in ASM’s new member system are now organized around high- impact subject areas. A project to add alternative text (alt text) to images improves access for users with vision disabilities while enabling image analysis for future database products. ASM is also building the content structure needed for programmatic access and AI applications. A NOTE ON AI-ASSISTED ANALYSIS The roadmap team used AI tools to manage the scale of the data, including Claude Sonnet 4.6, a large language model developed by Anthropic, and Mat-E, ASM’s own AI tool. AI assisted also compared with a peer publication (Table 1). Each journal has a distinct identity. JMEP is strongly application- focused, and additive manufacturing is the dominant topic in its top-cited articles. Met Trans A’s strength is physical metallurgy and the link between micro- structure and properties. It leads its peer benchmark in nickel-base superalloys, refractory alloys, advanced highstrength steels, and heat treatment. Article format matters. In Met Trans A, commissioned overview and “current challenges” articles are the most effective citation format by a wide margin. JMEP, meanwhile, publishes a smaller share of review articles than its selected peer journal title. Growth areas. Peer benchmarking highlights several areas where ASM’s journals have room to grow: high-entropy alloys; machine learning for alloy design and microstructure characterization; fatigue and fracture science (especially fatigue in additively manufactured parts); and alloys specifically designed for additive manufacturing. Usage versus citations. Some of the most-downloaded journal articles including Volume 5, Surface Engineering, Volume 6, Welding, Brazing, and Soldering, and Volume 16, Machining, continue to be widely used. This finding argues for allocating some effort to strategic updates of proven content. Failure analysis is a major draw. Failure analysis and prevention is the largest single Handbook topic by share of views, and the 2021 update of ASM Handbook, Volume 11, continues to draw strong use. These findings were reviewed by the ASM Handbook and Technical Books Committees in mid-2026 and are being used as inputs to help set content priorities: which topics to maintain, which to upgrade or refresh, and where to develop new volumes. The results confirm the value of pro- jects already underway to add new and updated content on sustainability and hydrogen embrittlement. WHAT THE JOURNAL DATA SHOW The journal analysis covered the top-cited and top-downloaded articles published in JMEP and Met Trans A from 2016 to 2025. Each journal was Fig. 1 — Per-chapter engagement for selected ASM Handbook topics, normalized for time on the platform and shown as an index.
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