GEMS, goals, thanks, and farewell

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 28, NO. 24, PAGES 4515-4516, DECEMBER 15, 2001 GEMS, goals, thanks, and farewell Michael Prather, Editor in Chief Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine GEMS is the acronym for AGU's new interface to the peer- process that avoids re-reviewing manuscripts and asks for review editorial system that includes a wide range of features. revisions only if there is a good chance of acceptance. As To those of us on the editorial side of AGU journals, GEMS is authors, GRL needs your help in meeting these goals. The a deus ex machina that allows us ready access to all relevant review-editorial process is not the place to clean up your information about manuscripts and can easily translate our manuscript. Please, submit manuscripts to GRL that you have editorial intentions into appropriate action. To those of us on the already carefully prepared, reviewed, and edited, and that are author or reviewer side, GEMS gives us better options for potentially ready for immediate publication. There are many, in addition to the editors with whom I have submitting manuscripts and easier access to reviewing them. Please log onto any AGU journal and set up a GEMS password. worked, that have greatly helped over the past four years to make Your GEMS account and password will apply to all AGU GRL a top-quality, interesting journal. When I took on the job journals (as author, reviewer, or editor), but the information of editor in chief in 1997, GRL became a centrally managed specific to any journal can only be accessed by logging in to journal with a single coherent editorial policy as directed by the GEMS on that particular journal. I urge you all to log in to Board of Editors. This conversion to central handling of all GEMS on GRL (follow the AGU links to publications and GRL) manuscripts was not always a smooth process, and my personal and look at your own pending manuscripts, your reviewer tasks, apologies go to many authors who suffered during this transition. or your editorial responsibilities. GEMS is a significant update The ability to work with central handling and a remote editor in to GRL's previous web-based submission and now allows a chief for more than 1600 manuscripts per year with the breadth much wider range of digital formats. GEMS is part of a flexible of GRL has proved challenging. It was possible only with the database that is critical to AGU's path to complete digital incredible effort of AGU Journals Publishing office and the publication beginning January dedication of the many GRL Editorial Assistants at AGU The GRL Editors worked with the Publications Committee to headquarters. The spirit of that team has kept GRL afloat set ambitious year 2002 goals for speed of publication, through the initiation of the web-based electronic submissions specifically that by the end of 2002 fifty percent of papers will and three different tracking systems (GEMS at last appears to be be published within 12 weeks of submission. This ambitious the acme!). I am proud to see that GRL will become a goal requires all of us -- authors, reviewers, and editors -- to completely digital journal with the next issue, providing a adjust our habits. GRL and all AGU journals rely on the searchable, on-line version as well as a paper copy for kindness of reviewers, and in general you have delivered. GRL subscribers. In the development of GRL's new format I have, also relies on the streamlining of the editorial process, for which as editor in chief, worked closely with the production staff in we recognize that we as editors must adjust our ways (see preparing the GRL covers and putting together each issue, below). GRL finally relies on the authors, and here we need to including the table of contents and the highlights. This inter- change the approach of many authors in submitting to GRL. action between AGU headquarters and myself always had GRL wants your best work. It should be in publishable form deadlines (that I missed) and other critical paths (author-supplied when submitted, contain important scientific advances, have covers) that made this an exciting task. I have had the pleasure immediate impact on the research of others, and, of course, fit in of working remotely and effectively with two great production 4 pages. As authors you can expect a shift in editorial policy that staff at AGU headquarters, Mary Hall (1997-2000) and Laura includes: (1) a more aggressive policy of declining papers Wieglieb(2000-2001). They kept me going and made GRL look immediately that obviously fall outside of GRL criteria (e.g., great! Thanks, Mary and Laura. Highlights would nothave been immediacy) or are not ready for publication (e.g., are too long, possible without my assistant at UC Irvine, Iqbal Pittalwala. His have wrong formatting, need significant revisions, or have many perseverance and writing kept GRL Highlights going twice a typographical errors); (2) a new Fast-Track option for GRL month. Thank you, Iqbal. manuscripts that would go directly from first decision to My thanks to all the reviewers, authors, and readers for their publication without return to author for preparation of final contributions to and patience with the innovations in GRL that publication-ready copy; and (3) a more streamlined review the editors have built up over the past four years. To those who have served you, and educated me, I am indebted to previous editors (in approximate historical order): Chuck Kolb, Curt Collins, Robert Winglee, Carl Agee, Kiyoshi Suyehiro, Fatih Eltahir, Jost Heintzenberg, Don Olson, and A. Ravishankara. My thanks also to continuing editors Brian Anderson and Jay Famiglietti, and especially to Steve Mackwell, who becomes the Copyright 2001 by the American Geophysical Union. Paper number 2001GL014215. This editorial may be freely copied.