At the end of 2006 I have completed five years as the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical. Insulation (TDEI). I am pleased to ...
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation
Vol. 14, No. 1; February 2007
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EDITORIAL
After Five Years At the end of 2006 I have completed five years as the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation (TDEI). I am pleased to report that during this time there has been a tremendous and steady growth in the number of papers submitted and correspondingly those that have been accepted after a meticulous review process. In the most recent report (2005) by Thomson Scientific the so called Impact Factor, that some observers regard as a measure of quality, of TDEI has increased substantially and was well ahead of other comparable peer-reviewed journals specializing in the allied fields of dielectrics and electrical insulation. The impact factor indicates the average number of times articles published in the previous two years was cited, divided by the number of articles published in these two years. In order to accommodate the growth in papers the number of the approved budgeted pages has been increased by sixty percents over this period. From 1000 pages when I assumed the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief of TDEI to 1600 pages this year. It is hoped that this increase in the number of printed pages would reduce the queuing time of papers for publication that have been already accepted, edited and proofread by their corresponding authors. The objective is to reduce the queuing time of completed papers to one issue. The online submission of papers introduced in 2005 and designed specifically for TDEI by the current Editor in-Chief and implemented by Mr. Chris Spadaro of Sheridan Printing Inc., New Jersey, the printers of TDEI, is working smoothly. The operation of the submission website and processing of papers are continuously being improved following feedbacks from the varied users who access and use different facets of the system. These include authors, Associate and Guest Editors, reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief and the printers of TDEI. The online submission has resulted in a large increase in the submission of papers as it is more convenient for the authors and less time consuming. It has also resulted in a shorter time of the review process. In line with other peer-reviewed journals, the Associate and Guest Editors of TDEI have occasionally experienced some difficulty in identifying willing reviewers, in a few specific topics, who would submit meaningful reviews within the allotted time. This causes delays in the publication of accepted papers. Another factor that impacts on the time to publication is that some authors procrastinate in submitting their revised papers to satisfy the comments of the reviewers. TDEI is initiating a new category of papers termed Dielectric Letters which will be placed at the start of the issue. Short contributions not exceeding three pages on topics of immediate interest will be fast tracked. All such papers will be reviewed by at least two specialists and if accepted will be published in the next issue. All Dielectric Letters will be submitted online as the regular papers, must be formatted according to the TDEI template and they must not exceed three pages in length. The Administrative Committee (Adcom) of the IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS) has recently decided that TDEI, starting in 2008, will no longer publish special issues that are tied to specific conferences that have been traditionally sponsored by DEIS. Although all papers in the special issues are meticulously reviewed, as all regular papers, by at least two specialists, Adcom felt that this long time honored tradition was due for a change. However, it should be noted that TDEI will continue to publish special issues on special topics including those that are covered in conferences sponsored by DEIS. For example, in the back of this issue there is a Call for Papers on Nanodielectrics which is planned for the April 2008 issue and is organized by co-Guest Editors Professors J. Keith Nelson and Linda S. Schadler of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, N.Y. USA. This will be the second special issue on Nanodielectrics. The previous one was published in October 2004 (Vol. 11, Issue No.5, 2004). Two other special issues are planned for 2008: Partial Discharges, Guest Editor Dr. Ray Bartnikas; and Dielectrics at Low and Cryogenic temperatures, co-Guest Editors, Professor Toshikatsu Tanaka and Dr. Isidor Sauers. The Editor-in-Chief would warmly welcome proposals for special issues on special topics from the technical community that are affected by this new decision of Adcom (Conferences on: Electrets; Dielectric Liquids; Power Modulators; and Vacuum Fundamentals and Applications). However, the special issue must not be tied to a specific conference. Calls for Papers will be published and the special issue will be on a special topic such as Power Modulators, Vacuum Insulation, etc. and not on a special conference and must be open to all authors. IEEE Publishing Operation has recently informed the Editor-in-Chief that it partnered with SPi Publishing Services, to offer pre-submission professional editing services at full cost to the authors. Authors who would like assistance with English grammar 1070-9878/07/$25.00 © 2007 IEEE
R. Hackam: After Five Years
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and usage prior to submitting their manuscripts to TDEI or during the review process can now go directly to (http://www.profediting.com/ieee/). The authors can use the service at their own expense. Cost estimate is available on the website which currently shows as US$0.032 per word or US$8.00 per 250-word manuscript page. SPi maintains that manuscripts will generally be returned to the authors within two weeks from submission. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the anonymous reviewers for their important contributions to improve the papers and maintain very high technical standard; the Associate and Guest Editors, whose names are listed in the inside back cover of this Transactions and who represent twelve different countries, for their sustained efforts to arrange the reviews and to improve the quality of the papers; and to the authors for their cooperation to follow the technical comments of the reviewers, associate and guest editors and the editorial suggestions from the Editor-in-Chief.
Reuben Hackam Editor-in-Chief
