5.5.3
Launching New Archival Journals - JSAC Incubator -
approved 5/03
-
As the communications field grows and new technologies are developed,
it sometimes becomes appropriate to consider the "launch"
of a new archival journal. Given that new archival journals
will be devoted to a specific technical topic (The IEEE Transactions
on Communications is the "general topics" archival
journal for ComSoc) we propose using J-SAC as an incubator for
new archival journals, instead of progressing in an ad hoc fashion.
As discussed elsewhere in this proposal, J-SAC met this need
very well with the successful introduction of the IEEE Transactions
on Wireless Communications, and is currently serving as the
vehicle for possible introduction of a new transactions dealing
with optical communications and networking.
A four-stage
process is recommended as follows:
·Development of a formal proposal and business case for the
new publication;
·Approval by J-SAC Editorial Board, Director of Journals and
the ComSoc Publications Board,
ComSoc OpCom and the ComSoc Board of Governors.
·Testing the concept of the new journal by introducing it as
a J-SAC Series (normally three issues per year); and then
·Actual launch of a new, archival journal. (Typically new journals
are introduced as quarterly publications.)
Successful completion of each step leads to the next. There
are two conditions that must be met. Before a new journal
can be approved it usually must be shown that:
·
A sufficient flow of quality papers will exist to insure the
viability of the proposed journal; and
· The new journal can be introduced without jeopardizing
the viability of existing journals (The IEEE Transactions
on Communications usually experiences the most impact with
the launch of an archival journal.)
Strategically,
the first step (preparing the proposal and the business case)
might be the most important. Advocates for the new archival
journal are asked to prepare a business case justifying the
concept. Aspects of this business case should include a determination
of how many papers are annually published by the IEEE Communications
Society in the specific area, including its archival journals,
magazines and conference papers. The former are significant,
since they not only weigh interest in the topic, but also
help identify the potential for cannibalizing existing journals.
The latter (conference submissions) are significant since
submissions to conference proceedings are often the seeds
from which full papers grow. In addition to looking inward,
the proposal should also assess the level of activity in non-ComSoc-sponsored
publications since they, too, help gauge the level of professional
interest and potential for competition. The business case
should estimate the page-count for the publication and provide
insight into the editorial board and operational structure
(e.g., an Editor-in-Chief, Area Editors - Senior Editors,
Technical Editors, etc.) Finally, the proposal should identify
possible topics that would be the basis for two or three successful
issues in a year.
After
showing success in developing two or three issues within a
calendar year, the proposal would be further considered by
the J-SAC EIC and the J-SAC Senior Editors. With their concurrence,
the updated proposal (showing progress to date) would be presented
to the OpCom or BoG for further action.
|
