EDITORIAL
Authors: Davis Steve , Pedley Tim 
Published: July 2002

George Batchelor founded JFM in 1956 so that all the diverse aspects of fluid
mechanics research could be encompassed in a single high-quality journal. In this
endeavour he succeeded admirably. The Journal has enjoyed a central position in the
field, first under Batchelor's leadership, and since 1996 under the guidance of David
Crighton. In the nearly 50 years since it was founded, JFM has stood for the highest
standards of scholarly work and its clear and logical presentation. Over that period
of time the subject has remained vibrant while the science and the scientists have
evolved. Through this editorial, we wish to raise with the readership a number of
issues that we deem to be important and explain some of the action that will be taken.

Over the last couple of decades the percolation time for JFM papers – the average
time from submission to publication – has been about 15 or 16 months, which is
similar to that for other major journals. There are also occasional aberrations that
have resulted in an individual paper percolating over a period of years! We aim to
reduce the average percolation time to 12 months and the number of aberrations
to near zero. The percolation time for a paper is the collective responsibility of
the authors, the referees, the editors and the Press. JFM has direct control over
the last two of these, and to some extent the second, and we shall reduce delays by
instituting internal reforms and new guidelines for associate editors and referees, while
maintaining the customary rigour of the process. We hope that authors will do their
parts by replying to referees reports promptly, yet carefully and with a willingness to
fine-tune their expositions.

Over the years the average paper in JFM has grown in length by a factor of more
than two. From 1970 to 1990 the average length increased by 70% and this trend has
continued. Undoubtedly, there is a negative correlation between a paper's length and
its readership. We have asked the associate editors (and hence in turn the referees)
to make detailed recommendations for the streamlining of papers. There remains
no page limit for JFM papers, but the associate editors will exert a firmer hand in
attempting to reverse the trend. The ultimate test for a paper's proper length is the
density of ideas and results.

It is perceived, wrongly, that JFM publishes only papers of an ‘archival’ nature and
does not view short papers favourably. To dispel this myth we are immediately creating
a fast track for papers that are 10 or fewer printed pages. These will be handled
by a designated associate editor, currently K. R. Sreenivasan, who will expedite the
refereeing process and aim at the publication of these papers in 3–4 months from their
initial submission. To accomplish this the papers must be prepared using the JFM latex
style file and be submitted via e-mail. The papers will be recycled to the authors at most
once; if further revisions are necessary, then they will revert to the regular track. These
short papers will not be Letters, nor Rapid Communications, but normal JFM papers
that will appear in the journal unsegregated from regular-track papers. There will be
no compromise on the required standards of scientific quality and clarity of writing.

Fluid mechanics is an extremely vital subject in which traditional topics remain of
interest while new ones enter the domain. In an effort to encourage the appearance
in JFM of some of the latest topics of investigation, we will be appointing some new
associate editors with special expertise who can attract such papers.