ICRA 2004 AdCom Meeting ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE REPORT Kimon P. Valavanis and Rosalyn G. Snyder

ICRA 2004 AdCom Meeting Current Editorial Board Changes will be made December, 2004 EIC’s term: expires December 31, 2005 (10 years) Carlos Balaguer(12/31/2004) Antonio Bicchi(12/31/2004) Stefano Stramigioli (12/31/2005) Alex Zelinski(12/31/2005) Lydia Kavraki(12/31/2006) Howie Choset(12/31/2006) Ian Walker (RAM / TRA Liaison) Kostas KyriakopoulosEURON Representative

ICRA 2004 AdCom Meeting Ranking  RAM ranked third among “robotics and automation” publications in 2000, 2001,  RAM ranked third with impact factor – year 2002 (also 3 rd in previous years).  Acceptance rate= 35% for individual submissions

ICRA 2004 AdCom Meeting Special Issues Human Centered Robotics & Dependability (6 features)June 2004 Recent Advances in Semiconductor Factory Automation – Part 2September 2004 Panoramic Robots (December 2004) Intelligent Transportation Systems (6 features) March 2005 Industrial Robotics Applications & Industry R&A in EU Major problem with contributed articles: backlog!!! (15 articles)

ICRA 2004 AdCom Meeting Completely Paperless Review Cycle  Review form on the web  Quick review cycle E-submissions Author notification(s) by Review collection by Complete files of final version papers by e- mail or on CD

ICRA 2004 AdCom Meeting Action Item: Reducing Backlog Backlog= 6 special issues w/ papers accepted + 15 individual submissions submissions Finance board approved following proposal  Add 100 pages to 2004 over Sept and Dec Clear up backlog quickly No additional APP$$

ICRA 2004 AdCom Meeting Other steps to achieve goal of publication w/in 1 year or less of submission  Increase 2005 page budget (202) b 16pp per issue 272pp {?}  Costs: $250/p average composition, + printing, paper, postage  ALSO ask authors of accepted Special Issue papers to update and reduce length if possible  Accept no more special issues till backlog is reasonable  Limit article length to 6 pages Emphasize this to authors at first submission--return overlong papers for revision before sending for review  Special Issues Accept no more CFPs for special issues till backlog is reasonable Establish limit on number of articles, page length requirements when proposals for special issues before accepting proposals. Overlong papers may be rejected by EIC.

ICRA 2004 AdCom Meeting Action Item: Identify New EIC  Valavanis term expires December  New EIC should be appointed by IROS 2004  Editor-Elect should take over review of new submissions, July 2005  Criteria for new editor Good command of English Good administrative skills Wide range of contacts in many areas Willing/able to commit necessary time: Solicit both articles, special issues, monitor quality Able to communicate effectively with production staff: Roz and production staff in Piscataway

ICRA 2004 AdCom Meeting Action Item: RAS job site on webpage  AfterCollege.com. Customized job sites for their affiliates, mostly collegiate chapters of professional societies, to link to their own websites.  Primarily entry level jobs aimed at recent grads  Employer & recruiters pay fees to AfterCollege--NO FINANCIAL COMMITMENT for RAS  Advantages Service to students and other jobseekers Increase visibility of RAS w/ industry  Liabilities??--none identified by Mag Committee  RECOMMENDATION: go with it, see how it works

ICRA 2004 AdCom Meeting New initiatiative:Education Department  One column per quarter on Education, beginning Sept. 04  Articles on both Robotics Education and Robotics in Education.  Led by Paolo Fiorini, Marge Scubic and Takashi Tsubouchi, of Standing Committee on Education

ICRA 2004 AdCom Meeting New initiative:RAS-eNews  To supplement magazine and provide timely information to members  Schedule: roughly every 6 weeks, depending on activity level and urgency  Mailed by IEEE to all RAS members for whom they have valid addresses in the membership file-- ~half the members  Format:ascii text in message--no attachments  Editor: Rosalyn Snyder