ED I T 0R I A L
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
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Editor: DAVID E. GUSHEE Editorial Headquarters 1155 Sixteenth St., N.W. Washington, D. C. 20036 Phone 202-737-3337
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Are Readers People?
Assistant Editors: William L. Jenkins, D. H. Michael Bowen Manager Research Results Service: Stella Anderson Layout and Production: Joseph Jacobs, Director of Design Bacil Guiley, Production Manager Leroy Corcoran, Assistant Art Director Geraldine Lucas (Layout) Production-Easton, Pa. Associate Editor: Charlotte C. Sayre Editorial Assistant: Jane M. Andrews
urveying their readers is among all editors’ favorite pastimes.
S Not only is it the only organized insight into their audience’s
International Editorial Bureaus Frankfurt/Main, West Germany Grosse Bockenheimerstrasse 32 Donald J. Soisson London, W.C.2, England 27 John Adam St. Tokyo, Japan 1 2 Iikura Kata-machi, Azabu Minato-ku Michael K. McAbee ADVISORY BOARD : S. George Bankoff, William C. Bauman, Floyd L. Culler, Merrell R . Fenske, Leo Friend, Howard L. Gerhart, Robert L. Hershey, Charles A. Kumins, Robert N. Maddox, Charles N. Satterfield, Warren C . Schreiner, Eric G. Schwartz, Thomas K. Sherwood, Joseph Stewart, Shen Wu Wan
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS 1155 Sixteenth St., N.W. Washington, D. C. 20036 Director of Publications: Richard L. Kenyon Director of Business Operations: Joseph H. Kuney Publication Manager, Journals: David E. Gushee Executive Assistant to the Director of Publications: Rodney N. Hader Circulation Development Manager: Herbert C. Spencer Assistant to the Director of Publications: William Q. Hull Advertising lfanagemenr R E I S H O L D PLBLISHISG CORPOR.4TIOK (For list of offices,see page 112 )
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minds available to editors, but those innocuous-looking tabulations of answers to various questions are alarmingly provocative. Therefore, interpreting survey results is a demanding assignment. I n our experience, the most frequently drawn conclusion is that there are a thousand more exciting questions to be asked, the answers to which would help the editors in their jobs of getting the right information and presenting it in the manner best able to be received by most readers. Naturally, these thoughts stem from a survey activity of our own. As those of you who have recently received questionnaires from us know, we have begun a new cycle of surveys designed to check the validity of those attitudes that dictate selection of our content and method of presentation. We have not completed this survey cycle, but some of the information we have developed may be of interest to you. One matter of basic concern is the effectiveness of our covers in communicating what we and our authors have in mind. As a case in point, we ran a lovely color photograph of a liquid boule last October to go along with the article in that issue by Kenneth Hickman. I n the survey related to that issue, we asked what message the cover conveyed to the reader, to compare against what we had in mind in selecting it. The majority of you commented to the effect that: “Here was a striking picture of a n intriguinq phenomenon and I wonder whether it has any relevance to me, so I’ll look inside at the article to find out.” That is comfortingly close to what we had in mind. Good. But one reader said the cover reminded him of a bloodshot eye, while several received the literal message only: “Here is an article on liquid boules.” No matter how literal or lyrical the received message, though, the cover design did cause the vast majority of those who replied to the survey to at least notice the article-and that, too, was one of our objectives. Another matter of importance to editors is the intellectual framework within which their readers work and therefore receive their publications. One question relating to that asks what else the subscriber reads, from which the editors seek to develop in their own minds an understanding of how much to assume the average reader already knows, and thus how much needs to be explained. If most of an audience read Batman, for example, one would edit differently than if most read Daedalus. The significant aspect of the response to this question is the extreme range of behavior patterns displayed. Some read dozens of publications; others read very selectively. Some read only technical material ; others read mostly nontechnical things. And, for what it is worth, the Bible is mentioned as frequently as Angewandte Chemie. From a related question, we learn further that readership of I&EC by I&EC subscribers varies widely, too. Some subscribers say they read at least part of every article in every issue, while others (blush, blush) say they have read no part of any article for many months. I n sum, we are learning from you those subjects you feel are worthwhile to you and those to which you do not respond. We thank you for your cooperation and hope any changes we might make in the future will strike you as reasonable.
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VOL. 6 0
NO. 4
APRIL 1968
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