A Message from the Editor-in-Chief
As we begin 2008, SPE’s five peer-reviewed journals are growing in both content and readership. The number of subscribers for each journal rose between two and five percent last year, reversing a long downward trend. During 2007, SPE published 223 papers, an increase of 7% from the prior year. We anticipate that even more papers will be published during 2008.
Our industry is busier than ever. Engineers need to stay up-to-date with technology developments, but it is difficult to find the time. SPE’s peer-reviewed journals deliver the best of recent ideas and developments on a bi-monthly or quarterly basis. They help the busy engineer stay in touch.
During 2007, SPE kicked off several initiatives to help us get technical papers through the peer review process faster:
- To reduce the number of inappropriate papers being submitted, we began requesting that authors submit a justification for why their paper merits peer review.
- SPE is working with a process optimization consultant to identify ways for the peer review process to be improved.
- We’re making changes to our online peer review system to improve performance and accountability of reviewers.
- We’ve eliminated most transfers of papers between journals – placing the responsibility with the author to submit his/her paper appropriately.
While our reviewers are volunteers, and have many competing demands for their time, we believe that by working with them, we can improve our performance.
We can always do better, and SPE is committed to a process of continual improvement in peer review. Our improved performance translates to getting information into the hands of those who can employ it sooner, which contributes to the accelerated acceptance of new technologies and concepts. That is a worthy goal, and one we embrace whole-heartedly.
We welcome your feedback on how our journals are doing and how we can make them even more useful to you. Send comments to techpubs@spe.org.
Sincerely,
Yannis Yortsos
Editor-in-Chief
