Document Actions
Annual Report 1999
|
1999 Annual Report | ||
| Social Forces Staff Editor: Richard L. Simpson The journal remains a leading international forum. It is a frequently cited source in scholarly works. We have paid subscribers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and about 80 foreign countries. In addition, we give exchange subscriptions or free subscriptions to libraries and research centers in about two dozen foreign countries that lack hard currency or, in some cases, much currency of any kind. In calendar 1999 we published 54 articles, and 152 pages of book reviews and two pages of take notes for a total of 1,716 pages. Our 100 authors - 71 men and 29 women -- not including book reviewers, were affiliated with 55 academic and nonacademic institutions. Our paid circulation remained stable at about 4,000. New manuscript submissions increased 14%, to 332. Median manuscript processing time was about 86 days. The acceptance rate was about 16%. Our relations with the Southern Sociological Society, whose Publications Committee is advisory to the journal and whose members receive cut-rate subscriptions, remained pleasant and productive. Subscription prices probably can remain unchanged again for Volume 79 (2000-2001). Production PricesOur desktop publishing technology remains up to date. We have used electronic imaging in the physical production of the journal since 1997. The financial picture appears satisfactory, so that subscription prices for Volume 79 (September 2000 through June 2001) can remain unchanged from the current Volume 78 prices, despite the understanding reached with SSS eight years ago that SSS member prices would be raised every two years (The Southern Sociologist, 24:1, Spring-Summer 1992, pp. 10-11). Beyond next year, the financial picture is cloudy because (as this is written) the economy appears volatile with increased inflation a live possibility. Our best guess is that prices will have to go up a year hence, as they could have done this year according to the 1992 understanding. The low SSS member prices are made possible by a generous subsidy of the journal by UNC-Chapel Hill and its Press. Manuscript ProcessingTable 1 shows processing times for differing decisions on manuscripts received and acted upon in 1999. The careful student of the subject will want to read the footnote of Table 1, which explains what the numbers refer to. The median processing time was about 86 days - up from 61 days the previous year. The 1999 median was the longest in the present editor's 20 years as editor. He is working hard to shorten it somewhat this year and substantially henceforth. We received 332 manuscripts in 1999, not including resubmissions of revisions. This number was up 14% from the 290 submitted in 1998. The acceptance rate, 16% was approximately what it has been for many years, about 15%. This figure is only a rough approximation, the 54 articles published in 1999 divided by the 332 papers submitted. (Table 1, on processing times, is censored at both ends, omitting decisions in 1999 on papers received in 1998, and those received in 1999 but still under review at the end of the year. This has been true of all such tables in annual reports by the present editor. As this is written in April 2000, the backlog beyond the June issue now in production will fill the September issue, whose production has also started, and part of the December issue. The average time elapsed from receipt to publication of final versions of articles, in which most authors make small revisions following acceptance, will be about 7.5 months for Volume 78 (1999-2000). With a five-month production and mailing schedule, that is about as short as it can safely be. Book ReviewsSocial Forces continues to sustain a long-term annual inflow of about 500 books for review. In 1999 we received 496 books. This was somewhat fewer than our record high of 544 in 1998, and slightly fewer than the 532, 503, and 505 we received in 1997, 1996, and 1995, respectively. In 1999, we also devoted relatively more pages to book reviews, and consequently reviewed a higher percentage of books received than we have in recent years. In 1998, we had reviewed 15% of books received, in 1997 16 percent, 19 percent in 1996, and 25 percent in 1995. By comparison, in 1999 we reviewed 27 percent of books received. We expect that percentage to drop again in future figures, beginning with the year 2000. In 1999, we also continued the previous year's trend of publishing reviews of an average length of about 700 words, generally longer reviews compared to those prior to 1998. PersonnelFor the 1999-2000 academic year, Kathryn Harker and Leah Van Wey joined the staff as associate editors. They succeeded Jenny Godley and Robert D. Woodberry, whose terms had expired. These associate editors are UNC-Chapel Hill graduate students elected by the sociology faculty each Spring. Their main tasks are to assist the editors by recommending possible book reviewers and article manuscript referees. Six non-Chapel Hill Editorial Board members completed three-year terms of service: Julia P. Adams, Michigan; Jennifer L. Glass, Iowa; Karen A. Hegtvedt, Emory; Larry W. Isaac, Florida State; Paul W. Kingston, Virginia; Robert J. Sampson, Chicago. We give our deep thanks to these sociologists who, like those in Chapel Hill, referee many manuscripts. New non-Chapel Hill Board members for the next three years have not yet been chosen. By agreement with SSS, half or more of the non-Chapel Hill members are members of the Society when appointed. The entire Editorial Board is listed on the masthead page of the journal. We also thank the SSS Publications Committee for its wise counsel and continuing spirit of cooperation. This academic year's Publications Committee members are Ann R. Tickamyer, Robert Agnew, Maxine Seaborn Thompson, Beth A. Rubin, Michael Hughes and ex-officio members are Martin Levin, George Rent, James D. Jones, and Richard L. Simpson. We lament the passing of Everett K. Wilson (1913-1999), our book review editor (1969-72), editor (1972-82), and an Editorial Board member for several years before and after his editorships. Ev Wilson was a master of many crafts, just a few of which were teaching, writing, editing, and boating. Obituaries have appeared in ASA Footnotes, the North Carolina Sociological Association's newsletter Sociation, and newspapers. Sociology owes much to this erudite, vigorous, dedicated man. Institutions Represented (Number of authors if more than one)Arizona State University Funding Sources (Number of times listed if more than once)Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade
|