Editor’s Note

This note marks the beginning of the 12th year of publication of the Journal of Composites for Construction. In the first issue of the new year, I present recent statistics for the Journal and acknowledge the individuals who help ensure the Journal’s success.

Recently, the average time elapsed between submission and publication of a paper has been about 14 months, whereas the average period between submission and approval (including re-reviews) has been about 6 months. The backlog of accepted papers has been shrinking lately because of an increased number of pages provided to the Journal in 2007.

Papers appearing in the Journal have traditionally been categorized into five general topics as follows:

Table 1 shows the breakdown of the papers and discussions published on the five general topics. The Journal published 66 technical papers and notes in Volume 11. The year-end issue of each volume of the Journal contains an index of the year’s papers by subject and author. Issue 2 was a special issue on “Recent International Advancements in FRP Research and Application in Construction,” edited by Professor Rudolf Seracino on behalf of the International Institute of FRP for Construction.

In closing, I thank the many people who help me in assuring the continuing quality and usefulness of the Journal. First, the distinguished members of the International Editorial Board of the Journal are acknowledged for their tireless reviewing work. Every paper submitted to the Journal is reviewed by at least one Board member. Board members are appointed by the editor for 2-year renewable terms. In addition to providing timely reviews of exceptionally high quality, Board members provide valuable input to the Editor on the directions and policies of the Journal. Second, I thank the many reviewers who are not on the Board yet provide equally important critiques of manuscripts.

I try to keep the number of reviews by people who are not non-members of the Board to no more than one or two manuscripts per year. Reviewers are listed by name in the last issue of the Journal each year, and additional persons who are interested in reviewing papers for the journal are encouraged to notify me with their contact information and technical area of interest. Finally, I thank Ms. Renee Lindenberg, who assists me in the management of the Journal at Penn State and ensures that deadlines are met, and the Journals Department staff at ASCE headquarters for their expert handling of all manuscripts and valuable advice on many editorial matters.