This is my penultimate editorial. After 13 years as editor of the Journal of Chemical Education, I will be handing the blue pencil (or green pen, in my case) to Norb Pienta on the first of September. Norb has been handling all new submissions since April 1 so that when he takes over he will have made editorial decisions on papers published on his watch. My responsibility ends with the October issue—this year’s National Chemistry Week extravaganza. We will finish work on it in mid-August and you should receive it in the mail and/or be able to view it online in early September. You won’t want to miss this issue because the theme is chemical periodicity, and there is a wealth of information about the properties of the elements, their relationships with other elements, and how to intrigue the general public with demonstrations of those properties. The change in editors comes at a time when a lot else is changing for journals in general and this Journal in particular. I recently received an email and a letter informing me that print editions of most ACS journals will henceforth have a new “rotated and condensed” format where two facing pages are printed landscape fashion on a single page. Beginning in 2010, all individual ACS journal subscriptions will be online only. The reasons given are the fact that fewer than 3% of eligible subscribers choose print subscriptions and the economics of journal publication—the Web-only editions cost less to deliver. The ACS communication takes pains to point out that the JCE, which is published by the ACS Division of Chemical Education, Inc., will continue to be printed in traditional format.

Last November in an editorial titled, “Does Information Want To Be Free”, I asked whether readers wanted this Journal to provide them with the highest possible quality and pointed out that “high quality information needs to cost something” (1). Responses that were sent directly to me appear in this issue beginning on p 1028. Several others appear in this blog. I encourage you to read all of them. They pointed out to me some aspects of the discussion that I had either not mentioned for lack of space or not thought to mention at all. Many of these involve the fact that this Journal is unique: in its readers, in its authors, in its reviewers, and in its editorial staff.

Most respondents want high quality but wonder whether such quality could not be delivered at lower cost or free. From its inception this Journal’s philosophy has been to provide the best possible information to the broadest possible audience, and it has been remarkably successful. The JCE is a non-profit operation; it does not generate a surplus for its publisher, and subscription costs (institutional and individual) have been kept far lower than for any other similar journal. The cost of delivering printed journals to readers of the JCE is largely offset by the revenue obtained from advertising printed in each issue, which constitutes about a fifth of our budget. Our advertisers have not been very interested in online advertising, so the revenue we would lose by Web-only publication would roughly equal the cost of printing and mailing the issues. Therefore we do not charge less for Web-only access.

This Journal is also unique because its readers and its authors encompass a much broader range of educational level and interests than most academic journals. Most of our authors have not been supported by federal grants and are not so lucky as to have a library that could pay to support publication of their work. In some cases authors have reported that administrators have objected to their writing for this Journal as a waste of time the author should have spent on teaching. It would be unconscionable to expect such authors to pay to publish their work. Many contributors, even experienced ones, tell us that the thorough review and editing their submissions receive from our excellent staff have greatly improved what the reader sees in our pages. For these reasons we believe that charging a reasonable subscription fee is the best way to serve our readers and authors.

Because change is inevitable, it is wise to do one’s best to influence what changes will be made. You can do just that. New editor Norb Pienta, with advice from the Journal staff and Board of Publication, has developed a survey to collect and analyze input from JCE readers and others. The survey is online. Even if you are not an online person, I strongly encourage you to fill out the survey and provide Norb with feedback about where the JCE ought to go next. Such decisions are vitally important in a time of great change.

For 13 years I have spent an average of 40 hours per week on JCE business. My department and university have been very cooperative in providing facilities and support for this enterprise, but they have not provided released time for JCE work. For the first 10 of those 13 years I received no compensation from the JCE whatsoever. It seemed more important for the budget to break even than for me to obtain summer salary, and every year the budget was very close to being in the red. I am happy to be able to pass along a Journal that is well respected and in good financial shape. Please do your part by providing your opinions via our survey and continuing to support this Journal in every possible way. The Journal’s long history of excellence and innovation in chemical education deserves no less.

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