Microstructure, which is the nature, quantity and distribution of structural elements or phases that make up materials, determines the properties of materials. Understanding microstructure–properties relationships is critical for the design of materials. With the increase of demand and investment in new materials around the globe, there has been a great deal of interest in the exploration and manipulation of microstructure in materials science and engineering. The journal of Microstructures publishes peer-reviewed articles that present a full spectrum of research topics in microstructure-oriented research and development. Papers involve all aspects of microstructures, including the design, fabrication, modelling, characterization, testing, and evaluation of the end-user-oriented applications, from the microscale to the atomic scale. Contents are written at a general level aiming at a broad audience. The journal publishes articles covering new research and developments, perspectives, and reviews related to the microstructures of materials, including, but not limited to metals and alloys, ceramics, polymers, composites, crystals, glasses, biomaterials, interfaces and nanomaterials. Microstructures serves the interdisciplinary community of physicists, chemists, engineers, biologists, and engineers in related disciplines, delivering high-quality, original research focusing on design–fabrication–microstructure–property–application relationships in materials.