Editorial pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
An Anniversary and a Longer Look Back Norbert J. Pienta* Department of Chemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2556, United States ABSTRACT: The end of the 90th publishing cycle of the Journal is celebrated with a retrospective view of the origins of the Journal and the Division of Chemical Education (our partner and source of guidance), and a reaffirmation of goals, together with a glimpse just over the horizon. KEYWORDS: General Public, History/Philosophy, Public Understanding/Outreach financial concerns, the apparent precipitous and significant erosion of advertising revenues. Speaking to the former, Lippincott said,2 The central idea here is that this should be not only a “living textbook of chemistry” as one of the early editors put it, but a perpetual and dependable learning source for chemists who teach. Furthermore, Lippincott reaffirmed two long-standing policies:2 [R]eader interest and need would claim priority over that of authors, though authors’ rights and interests would be scrupulously respected; and ...the JOURNAL would not accept manuscripts reporting original research in chemistry or in other natural sciences; it would, of course, accept suitable manuscripts reporting research in chemical education. The editorial goes on to discuss the need for quality manuscripts across all constituencies, the need for balance in the content, and the importance of the review process. It seems that the major issues and topics just do not change even though the current details may be somewhat different. The end of the 90th volume gives us the opportunity to look back at our “roots” and to reaffirm the Journal’s mission and philosophy: to provide high-quality content for our readers, and a publishing venue for chemical educators. We celebrate the legacy of the first 90 years and the review of our origins as written by J. J. Lagowski. Among its purposes was to highlight “secondary school chemistry”.3 Look to the January 2014 issue for a set of commentaries about the new secondary school teacher organization being promoted by recent actions of the ACS. Our “precollege” audience continues to be important to the Journal; associate editors Greg Rushton and Deanna Cullen recently announced a special issue of the Journal on the subject of AP chemistry; the call for papers has a submission deadline of January 6, 2014.4 Thanks are also in order, starting with Journal editorial staff, including those at the University of WisconsinMadison and the University of Georgia; the associate editors, who selflessly volunteer their time and expertise; and the reviewers, whose efforts and diligence keep a focus on quality. Reviewer forms were modified recently with addition of a ranking system on a manuscript’s scholarship, pedagogy, utility, presentation, and originality, along with additional questions concerning the
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his issue marks the end of the 90th volume of the Journal and provides the opportunity to highlight the efforts (and words) of some of my distinguished predecessors. A special historical article by former editor Joseph J. Lagowski1 documents the efforts of JCE’s first editor, Neil E. Gordon, in establishing the ACS’s Division of Chemical Education and this Journal. Thus, Lagowski traces the importance of chemical education (at both the high school and university levels) from the earliest years of the American Chemical Society at the end of the 19th century. Curricula, pedagogy, and professional development of educators were often the subjects at early national meetings of the ACS, and some of those discussions were characterized as heated. Indeed, the publication of chemistry education research and scholarship in the ACS’s flagship journal, the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and other disciplinary ones, such as the Journal of Physical Chemistry, had been debated starting a century ago and led to the establishment of JCE. Apparently, chemical education was an important topic from the earliest days, but how it was situated within the ACS and how educators communicated about it were not always clearly defined or appreciated. One could argue that it took too long, yet what began as a common interest between the ACS and JCE has taken on a formal relationship more recently. This Journal entered a copublication agreement with the ACS Journals Division in 2009 and earlier this year joined the other 40+ publications in availability, becoming marketed as a peer. Neil Gordon was convinced of the urgency of his missions, DivCHED and JCE, the so-called “twins” as Lagowski has referred to them.1 The interest in chemical education and the range of papers presented on that topic at the early national meetings suggested that publishable material would be forthcoming. The questions of who would subscribe and how it would be supported are all part of our history, and are among the contents of the 90 volumes. In particular, the vision of Francis Patrick Garvan and the Chemical Foundation in directing financial resources to the Journal and its first editor were critical.1 Perhaps the stewardship of the intervening editors, publication coordinators, and administrative staff, Boards of Publication, and editorial staff is taken for granted, although they are not any less integral to the success of the Journal. In 1973, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Journal, then-editor W. T. Lippincott reaffirmed Journal policies and goals, but also spoke of challenges.2 The latter were © 2013 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
Published: December 10, 2013 1569
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed4007925 | J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90, 1569−1570
Journal of Chemical Education
Editorial
quality of the submission. The goal is to provide the best advice to the associate editors and ultimately back to the authors. We acknowledge the contributions from the authors of this volume; chemical education continues to progress and flourish. We urge potential authors to keep sending us descriptions of your best ideas and best work.5
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
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REFERENCES
(1) Lagowski, J. J. From the Beginning: The Journal of Chemical Education and Secondary School Chemistry. J. Chem. Educ. 2013; DOI: 10.1021/ed300820v (available online ASAP; see also the January 2014 print edition of the Journal of Chemical Education). (2) Lippincott, W. T. About the Journal. J. Chem. Educ. 1973, 50, 657 DOI: 10.1021/ed050p657. (3) See the symposium titled Celebrating Secondary School Chemistry in the Journal of Chemical Education, held at the 22nd BCCE at Penn State University, 29 July−2 August 2012. http://www. bcceprogram.haydenmcneil.com/conference-info/s69b-celebratingsecondary-school-chemistry-journal-chemical-education (accessed Nov 2013). (4) For information about the JCE Special Issue: Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry, Call for Papers, see the ACS Web site at http://pubs.acs.org/page/jceda8/call-for-papers.html (accessed Nov 2013). This call for papers was also made at ChemEd X; see http://www.chemedx.org/article/jce-special-issue-call-papers (accessed Nov 2013). (5) Before submitting your manuscript, consult the Information for Authors Web page for the Journal of Chemical Education, which includes the author guidelines, specific content requirements for chemical education research manuscripts, and document templates: http://pubs.acs.org/page/jceda8/submission/authors.html (accessed Nov 2013).
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