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JASA-EL
for articles in JASA-EL were submitted to JASA. This was natural because JASA-EL was a part of JASA, but it also could be the source of confusion for both authors and editors. In the future, all errata for papers in JASA-EL will appear in JASA-EL. In addition, tutorials will also be possible, although these must necessarily be rather brief due to the limitations imposed on the number of pub- lished pages (although this will be increased from 6 to 7) and size (the single-column format) that will continue as in the past. A tutorial involving the description of new software or an explanation of the best methods for its use may be well suited to this category. Special issues will also be accommodated, and although each article must be short, such a collection may be used to help rapidly advance a new area of research.
As is currently the case, each paper accepted for JASA-EL will appear online as soon as the editorial and produc- tion process is complete, and these will be compiled into issues on a monthly basis using the classification system found in JASA. All current ASA technical committees will be included (obviously!) as will work in education and new technical specialty groups, e.g., computational acoustics.
The Not-So-Bad
It is obvious that changes of this magnitude may involve some level of effort and accommodation for all involved. The editors, staff of JASA-EL, and our publisher AIP Pub-
lishing are committed to making this transition as simple and transparent as possible for authors and readers alike.
With regard to submissions, we will be setting a cutoff date and estimate that this will be on August 1, 2020. This means that manuscripts submitted before the deadline would publish under the existing model, in the JASA- EL section of JASA, and those submitted on or after the deadline would publish in the new stand-alone journal. Of course, we will keep authors updated in case there are any deviations from this estimate.
In addition, the increase in the page limit and the use of the Creative Commons CC BY licensing will come with some increase in the required article processing charges. The current plan is for the Article Processing Charge (APC) to increase to 900 USD for ASA members and 1200 USD for non-members; however, for the first year,
the APC will be discounted to 750 USD for ASA mem- bers and 900 USD for non-members. These promotional rates will apply to any manuscript published in 2021.
Another item worth noting is the two-year impact factor (IF). As a “new” journal, JASA-EL will not have its own, independent IF for two years. Of course, for authors who have published past articles in JASA-EL as a section of JASA (from 2006 through 2020), the IF for JASA, which is currently 1.819, should continue to be used.
Additional items involved in the change are the template PDF design of the papers, setting up Table of Contents alerts independent of those for JASA, and other admin- istrative and technical details. These are being worked on this year and will be part of the rollout. Also, the publi- cation will be rebranded as JASA Express Letters to help differentiate it as a new, stand-alone journal.
The Beautiful
The best thing about this transition is the exciting future. Both researchers and the general public want to see more open-access scientific journals, and the ASA has responded positively by creating the new JASA-EL. We intend to continue to be a leader in scientific publishing in meeting our readers’ and authors’ needs, and this is one way to do so.
We also would like your help with this transition. In partic- ular, we need direct feedback from ASA members, journal readers, and journal authors. We hope you will offer us your suggestions, your advice, or whatever is on your mind. If you can’t find us to chat in person, we encourage you to email us at jasael@acousticalsociety.org. We will be placing updated information about the transition on the website for JASA-EL (see asa.scitation.org/journal/jel). We all work best when we work together!
Contact Information
Charles C. Church cchurch@olemiss.edu
National Center for Physical Acoustics (NCPA) University of Mississippi
Oxford, Mississippi 38677, USA
78 Acoustics Today • Summer 2020