Friends,
We have been working towards making the Journal of the AAVSO (JAAVSO) a better means of publication of Variable Star research for our wider community (for professional and non-professional astroresearchers, educators, observers and anyone who is interested in the field). A lot of the relevant work happens behind the scenes, and it is necessary for the smooth operation of the Journal and its effective distribution to the appropriate audience.
This morning, an article appeared at the SSP's Scholarly Kitchen, listing what publishers need to do for a scientific journal to run propperly. It is quite a comprehensive list of items, ranging from "Copy editing, proofreading, and styling of material" to "Platform upgrades and migrations" and "Basic management functions". The article can be found here:
http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2016/02/01/guest-post-kent-anderson-…
As means of communication and publication of work have been changing over the last decade, the article showcases challenges that publishers face in order to keep the quality of their journals high. For the JAAVSO, all aspects of production, management, editing and editorial happens in-house; this is about 70% of the tasks listed in the article. Furthermore we have an international team of Editors led by John Percy (our Editor-in-Chief) who are working hard on identifying the most appropriate reviewers for the submitted manusctrpts, ensuring that the journal serves our community the best possible way. Therefore, when you support the JAAVSO, you are helping us produce an excellent medium of publication of novel results on variable star Astronomy. We are proud to provide a journal for our community, giving opportunities to everyone to present results of their hard work. I would like to encourage you to consider JAAVSO for publication of your next manuscript. And we would really appreciate your feedback; it will help us improve this AAVSO service and make sure it is the best it can be for our community.
Best wishes - clear skies,
Stella.
Stella,
When I was working I was on the editorial board for a small chemical Journal and I had also reviewed a a number of papers (peer review) for various other journal. There is a lot going on behind the scene and all the individuals working behind the scene of the JAAVSO should be applauded for their efforts. I especially enjoy the editorials of John Percy and I appreciate his efforts is publishing the Journal.
Cheers
Bob Dudley
Hello All Journal Contributors:
I just wanted to give a shout out to all those at HQ and the army of volunteers who worked so hard to create the new Journal. It snuck up on me, as the hard copy was not quite avaiable when Vol 43 no 1 came out. Then time passed and Volume 2 came out. Since I was busy, I did not have a chance to look in detail. I ordered the hard copies from Create Space, and in about 4 days, there was a strange package in my mailbox, and wow, it was the new Journals. Its full sized. The figures look amazing. It looks very professional. I always like the old one, I many times just popped in in my backpack when going on trips. But I really like the new Journal. I heard the discussions about making it full size, and thought that was nice. But when I got it in my hands, it was a whole different look and feel (I am not big on look and feel) but this was different. Its a big step forward for AAVSO. If you have not ordered you copy, its $12 plus $4 shipping.
WGR
Gary Walker