A time to give thanks…
Posted on December 18, 2014 by Leighton Chipperfield
As 2014 draws to a close, I have been reflecting on a productive year for the Society for General Microbiology’s publications.
Scientific publishing continues to evolve, and all journals must fight hard to retain current authors and attract new ones. Our Publishing committee and staff have made real strides this year to improve our authors’ experience.
In July, we substantially updated our Open Access policies, allowing authors more freedom than ever to comply with funding body mandates. Our new journal JMM Case Reports published its first articles in January and has received over 250 submissions to date in 2014.
In September we transitioned each journal to a new submission system, Editorial Manager. We are delighted with authors’ feedback to date. Do let the Editorial team have your comments.
Whilst we try not to be obsessed by impact factors, the Society’s journals faired generally well in the most recent data release. Journal of General Virology and the International Journal for Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology posted significant rises, for which great credit goes to the Editors-in-Chief, Editors and Editorial Boards of those journals.
I am proud to say that this year is likely to see a record number of submissions to the Society’s journals, and a significant increase on 2012 and 2013. For this, we are indebted to the huge efforts of our Publishing committee, journal Editors-in-Chief and editors, the many hundreds of reviewers, and our other Society colleagues. It remains a pleasure to serve a community so passionate about their subject, and so willing to support their peers.
This spirit is exemplified in our Chair of Publishing committee Professor Colin Harwood, who will be succeeded by Professor Charles Dorman in January 2015. Prof Harwood has provided expert leadership during his tenure, and we look forward to working with Prof Dorman in his new position.
On behalf of the Society’s Publishing staff, may I wish you a happy and restful holiday season.
We will have more exciting news to share with you in 2015!