From its outset, CSA has committed to supporting excellence in the practice of citizen science. A foundational way to support this has been the development of the peer-reviewed and open access journal, Citizen Science: Theory and Practice (CSTP).

Indeed, the journal is a vital component of the Association’s work (as recognised in CSA’s strategic plan) to support reflection, evaluation, inspiration, and the overall development of the field.

As one of the main founders and the first Editor-in-Chief of CSTP, Rick Bonney has played a major role in envisioning, developing, and managing the journal from its outset. In just the past four years (with the first publication in 2016), Rick has overseen the curation of over 75 articles to the point of publication, fostered two special issues that highlight emerging areas of work across the field, and grown a dedicated Editorial Board.

Beyond that, Rick’s unwavering commitment to excellence in writing, publishing, and research in the field has been seen in the high quality of papers published. A hallmark of his leadership has been his attention (and the work he encouraged of handling editors) to providing supportive reviews that both challenged and nurtured authors to bring out the best in their manuscripts. Rick’s devotion to CSTP can not be overstated – without his efforts, CSTP would not exist.

After five years at the helm as Editor-in-Chief of CSTP, and nearly 35 years of service at Cornell, Rick Bonney is now looking forward to a well deserved retirement. This marks a major milestone for the journal, with a need to build on the solid foundation of the journal established by Rick and others, and to continue the journal’s growth. To do this, the CSA’s leadership (myself, the Board of Directors, and members of the journal’s Editorial Board), determined that the best approach was to bring on board both an Editor-in-Chief (someone with the vision to lead the journal forward), and also a Managing Editor (to facilitate the process of journal submissions and reviews).

We are pleased to announce that the role of Editor-in-Chief has been accepted, with enthusiasm, by Dr. Jennifer Preece, professor and dean emerita at the University of Maryland’s School of Information Studies (Maryland’s iSchool). Jenny’s expertise is in the field of human-computer interaction, with a focus on the application and design of digital technologies for citizen science. She also brings an international perspective to the journal, having previously been on the faculty at the British Open University (OU), and currently splitting her time between Maryland and British Columbia, Canada ( read more about Jenny here).

Jenny is excited to work with the CSA community to build the journal’s reputation as the “go to” publication venue for high quality citizen science research and practice. She wants to encourage diversity in the widest sense including in the range of topics covered and in the journal’s international outreach. We are excited about her commitments and attention to building on the strong foundation Rick has established for this journal, with an eye towards fostering deeper global collaborations.

We have also been working hard to smooth this transition period and to grow the journal’s capacity by bringing on board a Managing Editor. Sayzie Koldys started work with Rick in November, documenting journal policies and procedures and bringing attention to the day-to-day workings of editing and publishing. She has a strong and multi-disciplinary background, with multiple degrees in English and Writing, years of experience as Production Editor for Annual Reviews, and time teaching academic writing to students during semester-at-sea programs.

This milestone for CSA and CSTP marks immense success at the short-term start-up of a stand-alone journal under Rick’s leadership. It also marks opportunities for a new team to build on that foundation and grow the journal and journal community in new directions. We greatly appreciate the chance to work with Jenny and Sayzie in maintaining commitments to the high standards of excellence in publishing and in research that Rick has benchmarked, and for the new energy, experiences, and opportunities they bring to the journal as a foundational platform for advancing this field. 

Posted on: February 10, 2020  |  Category: Blog, Journal, news, News