Chemical Education Today
Editorial
Change: Help To Shape It This is my penultimate editorial. After 13 years as editor we would lose by Web-only publication would roughly equal of this Journal, I will be handing the blue pencil (or green pen, the cost of printing and mailing the issues. Therefore we do not in my case) to Norb Pienta on the first of September. Norb has charge less for Web-only access. been handling all new submissions since April 1 so that when This Journal is also unique because its readers and its authors he takes over he will have made editorial decisions on papers encompass a much broader range of educational level and interpublished on his watch. My responsibility ends with the Octoests than most academic journals. Most of our authors have not ber issue—this year’s National Chemistry Week extravaganza. been supported by federal grants and are not so lucky as to have a We will finish work on it in mid-August library that could pay to support publication of and you should receive it in the mail There is nothing permanent their work. In some cases authors have reported and/or be able to view it online in early that administrators have objected to their writSeptember. You won’t want to miss this except change. ing for this Journal as a waste of time the author issue because the theme is chemical should have spent on teaching. It would be periodicity and there is a wealth of Heraclitus unconscionable to expect such authors to pay information about the properties of to publish their work. Many contributors, even the elements, their relationships with other elements, and how experienced ones, tell us that the thorough review and editing to intrigue the general public with demonstrations of those their submissions receive from our excellent staff have greatly properties. improved what the reader sees in our pages. For these reasons The change in editors comes at a time when a lot else is we believe that charging a reasonable subscription fee is the best changing for journals in general and this Journal in particular. I way to serve our readers and authors. recently received an email and a letter informing me that print Because change is inevitable, it is wise to do one’s best to editions of most ACS journals will henceforth have a new influence what changes will be made. You can do just that. New “rotated and condensed” format where two facing pages are editor Norb Pienta, with advice from the Journal staff and Board of Publication, has developed a survey to collect and analyze inprinted landscape fashion on a single page. Beginning in 2010, put from JCE readers and others. The survey is online at http:// all individual ACS journal subscriptions will be online only. www.jce.divched.org/survey2009. Even if you are not an online The reasons given are the fact that fewer than 3% of eligible person, I strongly encourage you to fill out the survey and prosubscribers choose print subscriptions and the economics of vide Norb with feedback about where the JCE ought to go next. journal publication—the Web-only editions cost less to deliver. Such decisions are vitally important in a time of great change. The ACS communication takes pains to point out that the JCE, For 13 years I have spent an average of 40 hours per week on which is published by the ACS Division of Chemical Education, JCE business. My department and university have been very coInc., will continue to be printed in traditional format. operative in providing facilities and support for this enterprise, Last November in an editorial titled, “Does Information but they have not provided released time for JCE work. For the Want To Be Free”, I asked whether readers wanted this Journal first 10 of those 13 years I received no compensation from the to provide them with the highest possible quality and pointed JCE whatsoever. It seemed more important for the budget to out that “high quality information needs to cost something” break even than for me to obtain summer salary, and every year (1). Responses that were sent directly to me appear in this issue the budget was very close to being in the red. I am happy to be beginning on p 1028. Several others appear in the ChemEd able to pass along a Journal that is well respected and in good Digital Library blog at http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/chemeddl/. I financial shape. Please do your part by providing your opinions encourage you to read all of them. They pointed out to me some via our survey and continuing to support this Journal in every aspects of the discussion that I had either not mentioned for lack possible way. The Journal’s long history of excellence and innovaof space or not thought to mention at all. Many of these involve tion in chemical education deserves no less. the fact that this Journal is unique: in its readers, in its authors, in its reviewers, and in its editorial staff. Most respondents want high quality but wonder whether such quality could not be delivered at lower cost or free. From its inception this Journal’s philosophy has been to provide the best possible information to the broadest possible audience, Literature Cited and it has been remarkably successful. The JCE is a non-profit 1. Moore, John W. J. Chem. Educ. 2008, 85, 1467. operation; it does not generate a surplus for its publisher, and subscription costs (institutional and individual) have been kept Supporting JCE Online Material far lower than for any other similar journal. The cost of deliverhttp://www.jce.divched.org/Journal/Issues/2009/Sep/abs1003.html ing printed journals to readers of the JCE is largely offset by the revenue obtained from advertising printed in each issue, which Full text (HTML and PDF) with links to cited URLs and JCE articles constitutes about a fifth of our budget. Our advertisers have Blogged at http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/chemeddl/ not been very interested in online advertising, so the revenue
© Division of Chemical Education • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • Vol. 86 No. 9 September 2009 • Journal of Chemical Education
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