JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH | VOLUME 26 | NUMBER 1 | PAGES 1-3 | 2004
© Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved
EDITORIAL |
The first 25 years of Journal of Plankton Research: looking to the future
Strategic Editors
The publication, 25 years ago, of the first issue of Journal of Plankton Research, Volume 1, No. 1, was very much the result of the vision and determination of one man, David Cushing. One of the leading figures in marine ecology and fisheries science through his many research papers and influential books, David Cushing first proposed the idea of the new journal to IRL Press in 1977. The first issue was then published in 1979 with David Cushing as Executive Editor and Tim Wyatt as Deputy Editor, and by 1985 the journal had already exceeded its target of 500 subscriptions. In 1989, IRL Press was taken over by Oxford University Press which has continued to publish the journal to the highest standards ever since. For two decades David Cushing worked hard to establish JPR, as it has come to be known, as one of the leading international marine science journals. The community owes him an immense debt of gratitude for this outstanding achievement. Eventually, in June 2001, Tim Wyatt and Ian Jenkinson, with David directing strategy in the background, took over the day-to-day running as Editors, with Kevin Flynn as Reviews Editor. In 2002, Tim Wyatt stepped down as Editor, David Cushing became Founding Editor and Ian Jenkinson took over as Acting Editor-in-Chief assisted by Gus Paffenhöfer and Thomas Weisse as Associate Editors.
Now in January 2004 we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Journal of Plankton Research and can look back over these 25 years of hard work and achievement. The first issue firmly established the breadth and international character of the journal, features which have been the strength of JPR ever since. Volume 1 contained papers on zooplankton vertical migration and distribution, phytoplankton physiology and ecology, plankton population dynamics, mesocosms and experimental manipulation of plankton populations, grazing and zooplankton–phytoplankton interactions, taxonomy and morphology, modelling and new techniques and sampling devices. All of these themes continue to the present day. However, it is notable that the first volume did not include papers on, for example, picoplankton, Archaea, the microbial loop and molecular biology, all of which would be eligible for inclusion today, indicating how the field of plankton research has developed radically over these past 25 years.
The strengths of JPR were established from the very first. Volume 1 included both freshwater and marine plankton papers, setting the foundation for the unique position of JPR as a journal encompassing the whole of plankton science. Authors in the first volume came from eight countries (the USA, Canada, UK, Norway, France, Monaco, South Africa and Australia) signalling the highly international character of JPR, which has been maintained and expanded since. Volume 1, No. 2 is the origin of the familiar line drawing of the crab zooea that appears on the cover of the journal [figure 1 in (Greenwood and Fielder, 1979
)].
|
Turning from the past we now look to the future and to the next 25 years of JPR. Undoubtedly these will be very different, as plankton research advances and scientific publishing evolves. To ensure that the journal is well placed to grow in the future, the 25th anniversary provides the opportunity not only for celebration, but also for some developments aimed at keeping JPR at the forefront of its field while optimally serving the needs of its authors and readers. With this issue a new editorial structure and procedures come into place. Three Strategic Editors, Roger Harris, John Lehman and Ian Jenkinson, will provide a view on long-term planning and an overview of the journal functioning. This new role will be distinct from the day-to-day running of the journal, which will be supervised by the new Executive Editor, Kevin Flynn. Kevin will be assisted by an Editorial Board that has been selected for its members’ range of expertise, and which will be actively involved in providing focused and timely refereeing. In addition to forming this new team committed to the development of JPR, we are revising procedures so as to provide a much faster, more efficient service for authors:
- Paper submission and manuscript handling will be electronic, initially via submission of PDF versions of manuscripts, but with full online submission planned for early 2004.
- Authors are asked to provide suggestions for referees in their field.
- Authors are asked to summarize their paper in one sentence so prospective referees can immediately grasp its subject and significance.
- Proofs are sent out as PDFs, with corrections returned by fax or courier.
- Accepted papers will be published online in PDF format, shortly after acceptance and before being typeset, several weeks before the final version is available either electronically or in print.
All these procedures will enormously speed up the publication process.
Twenty-five years ago in 1979 the Internet did not exist. It is now revolutionizing scientific communication and publishing. Looking to the next 25 years, JPR is determined to be at the forefront of innovations in publishing to provide effective and efficient publication in the field of plankton research. Full details of the new manuscript submission and handling procedures can be viewed at: http://www.plankt.oupjournals.org/
Plankton represent an extremely diverse community of organisms ranging over many orders of magnitude in body size and representing an enormous variety of types of physiology and ecology. In the marine environment they inhabit the pelagic realm, which is the largest component of the Earth’s biosphere. These communities of microscopic organisms play a key role in global biogeochemical cycles as well as providing the basis of the food-web, supporting the aquatic living resources exploited by humans. For these reasons research on plankton will continue to intensify and will become of increasing societal importance. Looking to the next 25 years JPR will play a key role in supporting the development of this important area of scientific research.
In celebrating the 25th anniversary of JPR we return once again to the vision of the Founding Editor, David Cushing, and to the team of people who, over the intervening years, have translated his vision into reality. At the beginning of 2004 the journal is well placed to continue, and to build on, the traditions of the first 25 years. There are exciting new challenges ahead, both in science and in scientific publishing. The JPR editorial team are committed to working with the international community to provide the highest quality journal in support of the field of plankton research.
REFERENCE
Greenwood, J. C. and Fielder, D. R. (1979) The zooeal stages and megalopa of Portunus rubromarginatus (Lanchester) (Decapoda: Portunidae) reared in the laboratory. J. Plankton Res., 1, 191–205.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  R. Harris David Cushing, Founding Editor of Journal of Plankton Research J. Plankton Res., May 1, 2008; 30(5): 491 - 494. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Aiken, N. J. Hardman-Mountford, R. Barlow, J. Fishwick, T. Hirata, and T. Smyth Functional links between bioenergetics and bio-optical traits of phytoplankton taxonomic groups: an overarching hypothesis with applications for ocean colour remote sensing J. Plankton Res., February 1, 2008; 30(2): 165 - 181. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Paoli, A. Karuza, C. de Vittor, P. del Negro, and S. F. Umani Daily variations of highly active bacteria in the Northern Adriatic Sea J. Plankton Res., March 1, 2006; 28(3): 325 - 335. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||