Three "Ps" of Publishing in the JMHC: People, Process, and Product

Honoring the legacy of past editors, especially Kevin R. Kelly, M. Carole Pistole, and James R. Rogers, whom I have had the pleasure of working with, I have been reflecting on the elements that have enabled the Journal of Mental Health Counseling (JMHC) to present established knowledge, respond to current trends, and shape evolving practices, and have reached the following conclusion: The caliber of the journal depends on the collaborative efforts of authors, reviewers, and editors; the integrity of the submission, review, and editing process; and the quality of the final product. Thus, people, process, and product organize my thoughts about the past, present, and future of the JMHC. PEOPLE People are the engine of all human endeavors. With each issue of JMHC the collective expertise and collaborative efforts of authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher put ideas into print, a process that recycles every three months. Each role requires certain skills, entails specific responsibilities, and is subject to particular pressures. Authors who publish in the JMHC ultimately are the driving force in determining the quality of what is printed. Being an author demands good writing skills, something that requires talent, time, energy, and multiple edits. Being an author for JMHC also requires expertise in mental health counseling and an ability to communicate ideas, practices, and findings in language that speaks to mental health counselors with a variety of educational backgrounds and clinical experiences. Finally, JMHC authors must have the background at a minimum to interpret existing research and at a maximum to design, conduct, and interpret their own research. The publishing process starts with you: your ideas, your sustained interest, your skills, your toil, and your courage in submitting your work to scrutiny. The JMHC can be only as good as its authors. You are the key ingredient. You are the coffee bean to the cup of coffee. The roles of everyone else in the publishing process are to bring out the full flavor of the coffee beans, allowing for diverse growers, brews, and additives while ensuring that the final product is still coffee. After the authors, the next most important role in the process is filled by the reviewers, both members of the Editorial Board and ad hoc reviewers. Editorial Board members commit to a three-year term during which they review about 10 manuscripts a year, and many of them generously serve multiple terms. Board members and ad hoc reviewers have specialized areas of clinical expertise and research interests. Because of the diversity in their clinical and educational settings and their research interests, reviewers bring to the JMHC a broad range of mental health counseling experience. To borrow a phrase from Pistole (2005), the reviewers serve "evaluative and educative functions" (p. 107). Indeed, reviewers do serve dual purposes. First, they evaluate whether manuscripts submitted meet or have the potential to meet JMHC standards. Second, they provide constructive feedback that guides authors and editors in the revision process. Thus, reviewers are at the frontline of the gatekeeping, consulting, and editing process; they are the initial inspectors and sorters of the coffee beans. If the role of the reviewers is to do the initial inspection, the roles of the associate editor and the editor are to decide whether the beans will become coffee and to ensure that the brew is high quality; the roles of the production editor and the publisher are to put the finishing touches on the coffee and ensure that it reaches the market for consumption. The editors thus serve as a final gatekeeper, deciding whether to accept a manuscript, reject it, or engage the authors in a collaborative process for revising and editing their work. Success at this stage is contingent on the work of the authors, the feedback from reviewers, and the judgment and collaborative skills of the editors. …