The WASWAC official journal - ISWCR first Editorial Board meeting was successfully held on April 8, 2002. To
facilitate the participation of editorial board members from different
countries across continents, the meeting was divided into two parts and
organized online, with the theme of "meet beyond keyboard and text".
There were 53 participants in the meeting, including 27 participants in Section
A and 28 participants in Section B. The participation rate of the editorial
board members was 75%.
During
the meeting, Paige Chyu, the Executive Editor of ISWCR, reviewed the
developments of the Journal in recent years. The special guest from the
publisher, Ms. Zoey Yu, evaluated the strengths and problems of the current
journal performance from the publisher's perspective. Finally, a special issue
under planning was announced to the editorial board. The special issue was
initiated to remark Mark Nearing, the honorary editor-in-chief of ISWCR, for
the outstanding contribution of more than 30 years of career in the study of
soil erosion. Prof. Viktor Polytor is the invited leading editor for the
special issue.
The
most important discussion session of the editorial board meeting was exciting
in both parts of the meeting. The editorial board members and representatives
from the editorial office had an in-depth exchange and lively discussion on
issues related to the development of the journal. The topics discussed included
the optimization of the journal review process, the financial situation of the
journal, the improvement of the journal content, the editorial board and the
review award scheme, etc. The highlights from the discussion sessions are also
listed in this report.
Special
thanks to Prof. Des Walling from the University of Exeter, UK,
Prof. Paolo Tarolli from the University of Padova,
Italy, Prof. Shuiqing Yin, from the Beijing Normal University, China, and Prof.
Fan Zhang, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Science,
China, they have done a great job on co-chairing the discussion and made the
whole process well-guided, intense and productive.
ISWCR is planning to organize regular
Editorial Meetings to strengthen communications among board members. The
first meeting is a good start, we will hold the meeting twice a year in the future.
We are highly encouraging our board members to join us at the meeting once a
year at least. Please pay attention to the future meeting, and
show up to say hi to everyone at appropriate ones that fits your time well. We aim to
create a virtual forum, which will provide us with face-to-face opportunities
for brainstorming and discussion in-depth concerning the running and
development of the Journal in the future.
Presentations and Materials to share
(1)
Journal Performance Summary
Presenter:
Paige Chyu (Executive Editor)
Slides
are available for download at
https://www.jianguoyun.com/p/DRyK6twQxNu8CBjr_bwEIAA
(2)
KeAi publishing support for ISWCR
Presenter:
Zoey Yu (Publisher Representative)
Slides
are available for downloading at
https://www.jianguoyun.com/p/DZYePD8QxNu8CBj3_bwEIAA
(3)
Announce a New Special Issue
Presenter:
Viktor Polyakov (Editor for the new Special Issue)
A
summary of the special issue is available for downloading at
https://www.jianguoyun.com/p/Da6jaqsQxNu8CBiH_rwEIAA
Highlights
in Discussions
(1)
With the increasing submission volume, we need a plan for future development. For
example, we need to think whether the Journal should be maintained for
publishing quarterly or should the frequency needs to be increased to for
publishing bimonthly.
(2)
According to experience from other peer journals, it is popular and effective
to reward/credit the reviewer and editors.
(3)
We should keep on building up the template pool for both editors and authors.
Some letters in EM need to be refined in quality and increased in quantity.
(4)
Add a frequently asked question for authors and reviewers on the web page of the
guide for authors.
(5)
We should put more effort on the special issue and combine the Journal
Promotion with relevant conference
(6)
It is suggested to select the best papers for the Journal. It will be a good
solution to encourage authors and increase the visibility of the article.
(7)
The capability of the associate editor in the EM system needs to be refined. Do
we need to take comments from the reviewers into account completely or can we
edit it according to our opinions? Occasionally, it happens that the comments
from a particular reviewer will mislead the author in the wrong direction.
(8) How about considering crediting
the member with a lifetime membership for associate editors and members who
contributed to the Journal significantly?
(9) We need to publish other types of
articles such as editorial, perspectives, short communications, and so on. For
example, an editorial to indicate the focus of the Journal will be a valuable resource
to both board members and potential authors.
(10) The Journal administrative level
needs to provide the Journal with stable final support with the high-speed development
of the Journal.