Vignettes—a Different Editorial Approach September 1956, Volume 48, No. 9 PART I APPLIED JOURNALS, ACS Director
of Publications,
Editorial
C. B. Larrabee
Director, Walter J. Murphy
Executive Editor, James M . Crowe Production
Manager,
Joseph H. Kuney
INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY Editor,
Will H. Sheoron, Jr.
EDITORIAL HEADQUARTERS W A S H I N G T O N 6 , D. C. 1155 Sixteenth St., N.W. Phone Republic 7 - 5 3 0 0 Associate Editors: G. Gladys Gordon, Stella Anderson, Ruth Cornette, Katherine I. Biggs, David M. Kiefer, George B. Krantz Assistant Editors: Betty V . Kieffer, Sue Jones, Morton Salkind, M e l v y n A . Kohudic Editorial Assistants: Ruth M . Howorth, Ann W . Knox, Eugenia Keller, Hanns L. Sperr, Julia G. Lemon, Sue M . Solliday Staff Artist: Melvin D. Buckner BRANCH EDITORIAL OFFICES C H I C A G O 1 , ILL. 8 6 East Randolph St.
Phone State 2 - 7 6 8 6
Associate Editor: Albert S. Hester Assistant Editor: Chester Placek HOUSTON 2 , TEX. 1918 Melrose Bldg. Associate Editor: Assistant Editor:
Phone Fairfax 3 - 7 1 0 7 Harry W . Haines, Jr. Bruce F. Greek
NEW YORK 16, Ν . Υ. 2 Park A v e . Phone Oregon 9 - 1 6 4 6 Associate Editors: Harry Stenerson, Howard J. Sanders, D. G r a y Weaver Assistant Editor: Walter S. Fedor SAN FRANCISCO 4 , CALIF. 7 0 3 Mechanics' Institute Bldg. 5 7 Post St. Phone Exbrook 2-2895 Associate Editors: Kenneth M . Reese
Gordon
H.
Bixler,
EASTON, PA. 20th and Northampton Sts. Phone Easton 9 1 1 1 Associate Editor: Charlotte C. Sayre Editorial Assistants: Fern S. Jackson, Lois J. Bennett, Joyce A . Richards EUROPEAN OFFICE Bush House, A l d w y c h , London Phone Temple Bar 3 6 0 5 Cable JIECHEM Associate Editor: William Q. Hull Contributing Editors: Mars G. Fontana, W . B. Hart, Walter L. Hardy, S. M . MacCutcheon, David E. Pierce, William Priestley, Jr., W. J. Youden, Industrial Hygiene Foundation Advisory Board: John R. B o w m a n , Frank G. Breyer, Charles M . Cooper, Arno C. Fieldner, Leo Friend, Wayne E. Kuhn, Desiree S. Le Beau, Robert F. Marschner, Joseph R. M i n e ¬ vitch, William A . Pardee, M a x S. Peters, J. H. Rushton, Earl P. Stevenson, H. Leroy Thompson, Wayne E. White Advertising Management: REINHOLD PUBLISHING CORP. 4 3 0 Park A v e . , N e w York 2 2 , Ν . Υ. (For Branch Offices see p a g e 145 A)
148 A
•/AMONG all the other interesting things in I&EC's August issue, we hope that many readers stopped to look at the ten pages beginning on 1320, headed "Cellulose Lacquers." We hope many more will go back and look if they missed the section—not for subject matter but for the presentation, because it is a sign of something new in I&EC. To go back a bit—readers of the series of articles on pulsatory and vibrational phenomena in the June 1955 I & E C noticed that a number of very short articles appeared at the end of the series. If they made a comparison of the content of these short articles with the longer ones in the series the difference should have been quite ap parent—the short ones were in subject areas which were at the time borderline to the editorial scope of I & E C , but necessary to a full picture of activities in other engineering and physical science fields. We wanted I&EC's readers to know what physicists, acoustical engineers, and aeronautical engineers were doing in sonics and ultra sonics that might contribute to or be translated into chemistry and chemical engineering fields at some future time. We did not feel that publication of the full articles was justified. We asked the authors of these particular articles, therefore, to supply us with much-shortened versions, giving the highlights of their work.
INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
"Abstracts"? No. "Summaries"? Not exactly. What, then? Webster says a vignette is " a description in words, particularly of a small or dainty kind." If we change " d a i n t y " to "crisp," then vignette seems to us to be an apt description of this new approach. The symposium on Recent Developments in Cellulose Lacquers offered the opportunity to use this approach in an even more striking manner. Careful examination of the material covered, plus discussion with all the authors and the chairman, indicated quickly that we would not be justified in publishing the symposium in the usual manner in I & E C but that it was important to make the highlights available to thousands of readers who would not find paint journals normally available. We were able to arrange publication of the complete articles in T h e Official Digest of the Federation of Paint and Varnish Production Clubs. These "vignettes" are not easy to write, but we feel we have won the confidence of our authors in their advantage. We have found that a number are, in fact, definitely superior to the longer presented versions. O u r manuscript editing staff has indicated that the form in which the vignettes have been received is superior to the usual manu script. These articles state the case simply, summarize conditions, and present significant results and conclusions. They omit lengthy background and all discussion and data not directly of interest and specifically necessary for a reasonable understanding of the work reported. They are in dexed and are abstracted; they are in all respects published journal articles. We do not often invite reader comment via editorials. Because our treatment of "Cellulose Lacquers" is an innovation we are happy to have reader reaction. This is a major way by which we can determine whether new editorial approaches meet the expanding and changing needs of our readers.
