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Document created: 1 December 2007
Air & Space Power Journal - Winter 2007
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Prelaunch Notes |
Lt Col Paul D. Berg, USAF, Chief, Professional Journals
As the professional journal of the US Air Force, Air and Space Power Journal (ASPJ) offers a forum for debating alternative solutions to national-security challenges. Reasonable people can disagree about proposed solutions but cannot dispute the underlying facts. Therefore, we on the ASPJ editorial staff ensure that articles contain accurate information and make well-reasoned arguments. When we receive an article, we examine it carefully because the Journal can publish only a fraction of the ones submitted. If it appears to have publication potential, our editors work with the author to address any obvious shortcomings. Naturally, though, the ASPJ staff cannot claim expertise on every topic. At this point, we engage the peer-review process—one of our main ways of screening prospective articles.
Specifically, we select from our Board of Reviewers an appropriate “referee”—a subject-matter expert in the fields of air, space, and cyber power—to examine the article by means of a “double blind” process that precludes rank or other factors from distorting the procedure since neither the author nor the referee knows the other’s identity. That is, prior to sending the article to the referee, our staff masks the author’s name. The referee evaluates the submission meticulously, “stress-testing” it to expose any weaknesses, and then sends detailed written comments to us. If the subject-matter expert supports publication, we, in turn, mask his or her identity and send the comments to the author, who then has the opportunity to revise the article to address the referee’s feedback. Articles often pass through several drafts before we accept them, some requiring 10 or more iterations. During this demanding process, many prospective articles fall by the wayside.
Peer review, one of the keys to ASPJ’s success, relies on the members of our Board of Reviewers—the Journal’s brain trust. Referees receive no pay, but their efforts are priceless. They possess the considerable intellectual discipline necessary to rise above their personal opinions and evaluate submitted articles solely on merit. Their advice helps authors turn good articles into great ones. All board members have our sincere thanks for their service.
All ASPJ editions promote professional dialogue among Airmen worldwide so that we can harness the best ideas about air, space, and cyberspace power. Chronicles Online Journal (COJ) complements the printed editions of ASPJ but appears only in electronic form. Not subject to any fixed publication schedule or constraints regarding article length, COJ can publish timely articles anytime about a broad range of military topics.
Articles appearing in COJ are frequently republished elsewhere. The various ASPJ language editions routinely translate and print them. Book editors from around the world select them as book chapters, and college professors use them in the classroom. We are pleased to present the following recent COJ articles (available at http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc.html):
• Maj Patricia K. Seinwill, “Anatomy of Modern Courage: Highlights from the Career of Colonel Kevin A. ‘Mike’ Gilroy” (http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/seinwill.html)
• Maj Brian L. Braden, “The Labor Pool Model: Effectively Managing Aircrew in Today’s Air Force” (http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/braden.html)
The ASPJ staff seeks insightful articles and book reviews from anywhere in the world. We offer both hard-copy and electronic-publication opportunities in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. To submit an article in any of these languages, please refer to the submission guidelines at http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/howto1.html. To write a book review, please see the guidelines at http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/bookrev/bkrevguide.html.
Disclaimer
The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University
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