Editor’s Note

This note marks the beginning of the 15th year of publication of the Journal of Composites for Construction. In the first issue of each year, I present recent statistics and developments for the Journal and acknowledge the individuals who help ensure the Journal’s success.

Recently, the average time period elapsed between submission and publication of a paper has been about $16\text{months}$ , while the average period between submission and approval (including re-reviews) has been about $8\text{months}$ . The paper acceptance rate in 2009—the last full year for which data are available at the time of this writing—was 40%. The 2- and $5\text{-year}$ impact factors for the Journal in 2009 are 1.015 and 1.305, respectively.

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 in the five general topics. The Journal published 85 technical papers and notes in Vol. 14. This significant increase from Vol. 13 was required to prevent the accumulation of an excessive printing backlog. The year-end issue of each volume of the Journal contains an index of the year’s papers by subject and author. As has been true the past few years, papers on repair and strengthening made up the major portion of Vol. 14.

Table 2 shows the breakdown of papers according to the country of origin. Papers originating in the United States, Canada, and China made up over half of those published in Vol. 14, while 21 countries were represented overall.

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people who help me in ensuring the continuing quality of the Journal. First, the distinguished members of the 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 $2\text{-year}$ 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 nonmembers 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. Others 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.