Excerpts from the J-NABS Editorial Board White Paper 2009

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In 2008, the Editorial Board of J-NABS undertook a strategic planning exercise. Associate Editors David Strayer and Bernard Sweeney assembled a broad-based group of NABS members to consider ways to position the Journal for maximum success (measured by respect from the international scientific community, quality of the papers published, author and reader satisfaction, and financial solvency) during this difficult period of rapid transformation of scientific publication. The goals that emerged from the planning were to keep the content and scope of the Journal consistent with the mission of NABS and the interests of NABS members, and make the Journal more welcoming to authors whose work falls within the scope of the Journal, but who might not perceive the Journal as an appropriate outlet for their research.

The J-NABS strategic planning committee considered the scope of papers published in the Journal in light of surveys in 2006 and 2009 of NABS members. In addition, the J-NABS Editorial Board held a long and wide-ranging discussion regarding the journal’s scope, attractiveness to authors in disciplines allied to benthology, rigor of the review process, and title. Responses of the board varied on the many topics of discussion, but all board members responded that they thought the title of the journal was problematic. Concerns included:

• JNABS title does not accurately describe the scope and content of the journal;
• Title is not attractive to authors working in allied aquatic disciplines;
• JNABS title is exclusionary in terms of discipline and geography. The title sends the message that J-NABS is a regional journal of narrow scope and not of interest to international authors;
• These limitations cause government panels and academic administrators to rank J-NABS scope and quality lower than is appropriate.

Considerations for a Journal Title. A title enables readers to decide whether they are interested in the content of the journal, and authors to decide whether to submit a paper to the journal (i.e., whether their paper will reach the right audience). Thus, a journal title should be a concise, precise, and inclusive description of the scope and content of the journal. Criteria for selecting a potential journal title include:

• Scope and content of the Journal should be understandable from its title;
• Compatible with the mission and name of the Society;
• Short, elegant, and transparent without unnecessary words (e.g., "Journal of");
• Attractive to authors who work in all freshwater systems in aquatic sciences;
• Not geographically or geopolitically restrictive;
• Different enough from other titles to ensure the Journal has a distinctive identity.