The Gerontologist 47:3 (2007)
© 2007 The Gerontological Society of America
William J. McAuley, PhD
I am writing this letter to the readership on November 1, 2006, well before I am to become Editor-in-Chief of The Gerontologist. The timing of this assignment is one of many recent signals that I will soon be dealing with an extensive set of scheduled activities that surround the production of the Journal. I look forward to the challenges and I am currently re-organizing my responsibilities so that I can give The Gerontologist the attention that it deserves. While I was a graduate student at Penn State, Don Kent was co-chair of my dissertation committee until his untimely death. During this period, Don served as the second Editor of The Gerontologist. He often told us students about the special role The Gerontologist has in the development of the field as a whole. I believe that my responsibility is to assure that his words are as true today as they were when Don was Editor in the early years of gerontology. I gratefully accept this responsibility.
The Gerontologist has been in very good hands during Linda Noelker's term as Editor-in-Chief. All of us who publish in and use the Journal as a resource appreciate her outstanding leadership. Linda, and Jeanne Hoban, her Assistant Editor, have improved the Journal in just about every meaningful category from turnaround time, to number of submissions, to impact factor. It will be difficult to maintain their record of accomplishments. However, my Managing Editor, Megan McCutcheon, and I will do our very best to carry the Journal forward. We plan to continue to bring to publication the best conceptually sound scholarship that has an applied focus. We encourage multidisciplinary submissions and manuscripts that use qualitative approaches and mixed methods, in addition to quantitative submissions.
I welcome your suggestions for ways to improve The Gerontologist. Please feel free to contact me to let me know how the Journal can better serve those who submit manuscripts, as well as those who draw from the published works in The Gerontologist.
