State and Local Government Review: Editorial Board Meeting, Young Scholar Outreach Program, & Assistance Needed

SLGR Editorial Board Meeting

On Sunday March 8, 2015, SLGR held its annual Editorial Board meeting in conjunction with the ASPA Conference in Chicago.  SLGR Editor Mike Scicchitano chaired the meeting.  Six Board members, along with the Governance Matters (GM) and Reviews & Essays (R&E) Editors, the Managing Editor, Leah Fargotstein (Editor, Sage Social Science Journals), and David Hamilton (former and most recent SIAM Chair), were also in attendance in person or participated by conference call. 

Several significant special events and activities of SLGR during the past year were noted:

Ø  Number of manuscript submissions in 2014 (80) was below last year (85); number does not include submissions to GM, R&E, or Special Issue; quality of  manuscripts seem to be getting better and there has been an increase in international submissions; we continue to need your help in encouraging more submissions.

Ø  The SLGR impact factor increased by 96% from 2013 to 2014—that is, from .098 to .192; SLGR articles being cited in PAR, J-PART, Administration & Society, UAR, JUA, SPPQ, PPMR, Urban Studies, among others; SLGR acceptance rate in 2014 was 10%.

Ø  The Reviews & Essays section featured articles on retrospective look at Deil Wright’s book of IGR, women state legislators and representation, and fiscal illusion in state and local government finances

Ø  The Governance Matters section contained articles on refinancing state and local debt, environ-mental sustainability and citizen participation, and strategic re-alignment of local governments for the New Normal

Ø  Publication of Special Issue (“Emerging from the Great Recession”) as 4^th issue (December) in 2014.

Ø  In September 2014, Anne Williams assumed duties as Podcast Editor; two podcast were produced in 2014 around GM article about state and local government refinancings and several articles in the 2013 Special Issue devoted to Local Government Collaboration; all podcasts can be accessed on SLGR website site at: http://slg.sagepub.com/site/misc/Index/Podcasts.xhtml.

Ø  In June 2014, Tracy Johns assumed the duties of Social Media Coordinator; SLGR Facebook pages has 126 “likes and the Twitter account has 129 followers.

Much of the meeting was spent in constructive dialogue about two important challenges to SLGR—(1) increased visibility for SLGR and articles published in it and (2) how international board members can advertise the journal.

Before discussing the first challenge, it was noted that one tool that is already available and should be exploited is the SLGR blog.  It has the potential to spark interest in and generate discussion about SLGR articles.  The blog is not only capable of creating awareness of journal articles but also may result in more SLGR articles being cited in scholarly work, and thus helping us achieve the goal of getting us listed on the Thomson Citation Index.  Therefore, we would ask that SIAM members (as well as non-SIAM members) take advantage of this new social media tool and assist us.  

Other ideas as to how to appropriately promote awareness of SLGR and its articles were offered and included:

Ø  Advertise top 10 cited articles on SLGR and Sage websites

Ø  Send out list of articles by subject area to scholars who conduct research in these areas

Ø  Designate someone to advertise SLGR articles through these and other venues

With respect to this last suggestion, new Board member Genie Stowers has since volunteered to spearhead the effort to help promote the journal and advertise its articles.  To date, several Board members have sent her additional and exciting ideas and suggestions.

It was also noted that the SLGR/Sage website has a very good search tool that enables an author writing on a certain topic to quickly and effectively search for SLGR articles related to that topic.

The Board also spent some time brainstorming how international SLGR Editorial Board members can advertise the journal and its articles.  Suggestions included:

Ø  International Board members can accomplish this when they travel to professional conferences and to even practitioner events

Ø  Thinking about scholars in other allied fields (e.g., planning broadly defined, urban sociology/geography) hat may find SLGR articles useful.

Other ideas are welcome, as we see great potential here.

Young Scholar Outreach Program

To date, the Young Scholar Outreach Program, that is designed to assist doctoral students seeking job placements and new faculty with a position at the instructor, assistant professor, or beginning associate professor level to get published in academia, is off to an excellent start.  Around twenty people have already contacted Dr. Scicchitano seeking guidance since the Program was launched in the Spring of 2014, and three manuscripts originating from the Program have either been published or awaiting publication in SLGR.  They are as follows:

• “Political Trust in the American States” by Aaron C. Weinschenk and David J. Helpap (March 2015, Vol. 47, No. 1 Issue)
• “Morality Politics and Municipal LGBT Policy Adoption: A Rare Event Analysis” (March 2015, Vol. 47, No. 1 Issue)
• “Government by Advice: Public Participation and Policymaking through Advisory Ballot Measures” by Todd Ely (June 2015, Vol.47, No. 2 Issue)

Persons having questions or wanting to participate in the program are encouraged to send an email to SLGR Editor Michael Scicchitano at mscicc@ufl.edu  or call him at (352) 846-2874. 

Assistance Needed

We continue to need your assistance and that of your colleagues in several crucial areas.  First, you can assist us in generating greater visibility for SLGR by signing up for e-mail alerts and encourage others to also do so.  Please consider doing that today, since it only takes a minute.  SLGR will send you an email each time a new issue publishes, and you can also add alerts for Online First articles or journal announcements. Visit http://slg.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts to create an account with your email address, and click on the alert types you’d like to receive. SAGE won’t use your email address for any other marketing purposes, only to send you information on SLGR.

            A second area in which you can help us is to cite SLGR articles where possible.  Since SLGR was purchased by Sage Publications, Inc. in early 2010, getting SLGR listed in the Thomson Citation Index has been a major goal.  Achievement of this objective will assist in raising not only the visibility of the journal but will also put us in a more esteemed category of blind-refereed academic journals.  You and your colleagues can help us in achieving this objective by citing, where relevant and appropriate, SLGR articles when you prepare papers and articles.