Letter from the Editor

Patrick Kennelly, CW Post Campus of Long Island University | patrick.kennelly@liu.edu

Each time I visit the Cartographic Perspectives website (cartographicperspectives.org), I can’t help but think about the content, both new and old, that can found there, and the virtual army of volunteers working behind the scenes to make it all a reality.

The new content—available to everyone—is the articles that are published to our website as soon as they have undergone the rigors of review and the scrutiny of editing. This simple-sounding statement encompasses the efforts of scores of individuals volunteering their ideas, knowledge, talents, opinions, and time to make entries as informative, correct, and readable as possible. Let me attempt to break this down a bit and recognize some of the people behind the publication during the last year.

I’ll start with the authors of articles, for without them there would be no CP. Authors published in the “Peer-Reviewed Article” section should take great pride in their work, as only about 35% of articles submitted to this section are accepted for publication. CP also encourages the research of student scholars with its Peer-Reviewed Student Paper Competition, and was pleased to announce Bin (Owen) Mo as its first winner in 2012. For students interested in vying for the $1,350 award, full details on the competition can be found at the back of this issue, or at bit.ly/1bialO7. In addition to peer-reviewed articles, numerous other contributors have found the other sections of our journal a welcoming venue for everything from their maps to their tutorials to their reviews.

I’ll move on to my editors, who ensure the quality of the great variety of issues and pieces we publish. The last of the 2012 issues was a Special Issue on “Aesthetics in Cartography” with Bernie Jenny and Aileen Buckley serving as Guest Editors. They did an outstanding job of putting together content for this issue, much inspired by a Special Session at the 2012 NACIS Annual Meeting. This issue was enthusiastically received by our readership, and I welcome suggestions for other Special Issues in the future.

The Assistant Editors of CP make the entire publication process hum like a well-oiled machine, so I was dismayed at first to hear of Laura McCormick’s plans to step down as Assistant Editor in 2013. Laura served for 2 ½ years as the lynchpin of the publication, volunteering innumerable hours of the highest quality work above and beyond those required for her role. Our readership will be glad to hear that this potential loss to the journal was turned into a win-win situation, when Daniel Huffman accepted an offer to become the new Assistant Editor, and Laura McCormick replaced him as Section Editor of “Visual Fields.” Laura is happy to stay involved in a more limited role, and one need look no further than Daniel’s previous layout and copy editing work with the Atlas of Design (atlasofdesign.org) to see the artistry and talent he brings to this position. I’d also like to thank Elaine Guidero, who has done a substantial amount of copyediting alongside Laura and Daniel, and congratulate her on being elected as the Student Member of the NACIS Board of Directors!

Section Editors seek engaging content outside of traditional academic peer-reviewed articles, and make CP the most unique and inclusive journal of the cartographic community. I encourage you to contact these individuals directly if you would like to write an article germane to their sections. In addition to Laura heading “Visual Fields,” Terri Robar gathers materials for “Cartographic Collections,” Alex Tait scouts out content for the “Practical Cartographer’s Corner,” Andy Woodruff reveals what is “On the Horizon,” and Lisa Sutton keeps the readership updated on recent publications with “Reviews.”

I’ll also recognize those who contribute to the review process, especially for peer-reviewed content. The Editorial Board listed on the “About” page assists review efforts in so many ways. In addition to an Editorial Board member serving as a reviewer for each submission, I often make inquiries to Board members, including suggestions for reviewers for submissions outside of my ken. I sincerely thank each of them for their expertise and guidance. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Bernie Jenny to the Editorial Board, replacing outgoing member Jon Kimerling, who has decided to step down.

Being an anonymous reviewer, as you may imagine, can be a thankless job. Although acknowledging reviewers for each issue might compromise their anonymity, we feel comfortable publishing a list compiled over a year’s worth of issues. The following reviewers have chosen to continue to support CP with their expertise and effort in a time when many academics feel besieged by such requests.

The timely reviews from these subject-matter experts, generally within four weeks, helps to ensure that newly published articles on our web site are valuable news to the cartographic community.

Our web site may seem focused on delivering the newest content in the timeliest manner possible, but let’s not forget what is old. Rob Roth, CP’s other Assistant Editor, in addition to all of his regular duties (including posting content in HTML format to enhance searching and discovery), has also spearheaded an effort to bring the CP archives into the Open Journal System that powers our web site. Rob has worked with student volunteers Rudy Omri and Grace White, to whom I’m very grateful, to include all past issues and articles of CP in a searchable format. Current efforts have already gotten us back to issue number 20 from 1995, and I look forward to having all CP content in one web spot soon.

Finally, one last thing old and new: my editorship. The Board of Directors of NACIS asked me to consider a second three-year term as Editor of CP, beginning in January 2014. I greatly appreciated their strong support and was pleased to accept their offer. I look forward to continuing the transition of CP into the open-access journal of cartography.

Patrick Kennelly