Transition and Plotting a Course

Date01 January 2018
Published date01 January 2018
AuthorR. Paul Battaglio,Jeremy L. Hall
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12909
Transition and Plotting a Course 5
C hange is in the air; it has been for some time
for our team, and we are delighted to finally
unveil what we have been working on so
diligently over the past year. You likely noticed that
Public Administration Review ( PAR ) has a new look.
While our new cover is probably the most noticeable
change, you will find more substantial change in the
content and formatting, and on our web and social
media presence in the weeks and months to come.
As we assumed leadership of public administration’s
oldest journal, we did so with the same tenacity that
we would have employed to renovate a significant
historical structure: preserve the strong foundation
and the most significant attributes, while removing
outdated or worn components and replacing them
with the modern conveniences we all expect. Our
approach has not been ad hoc or random; rather, we
pursued a number of strategic goals, all of which were
laid out in the editorial vision we proposed to the
editorial search committee. Many of these changes
will be evident immediately; others will take some
time to bubble to the surface.
The cover itself is symbolic. We feature an image
of Atlas—the Greek Titan condemned by Zeus to
support the heavens. Atlas symbolizes tradition,
vigor, and endurance—all values that exemplify PAR
throughout its 78-year history. Everything we publish
must be grounded on the traditions of our discipline.
Research that appears in PAR must be rigorous and
vigorously stand the test of time. While PAR ’s focus
is already global, the celestial emphasis suggests the
importance of the atmosphere in which we operate,
and the exploration of things yet unknown or not yet
understood. PAR is the journal of the American Society
for Public Administration, and the United States is
the journal’s home. Our government institutions have
often been at the forefront of reform and change. But
PAR serves a diverse audience. Our stakeholders are
researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and students
from the United States as well as countries around
the globe. While our reputation is for topics at the
core of public administration and management, our
editorial interest is as broad as our discipline defines
itself. We recognize that management today more
closely resembles governance than government—that
networks and collaboration are the institutions through
which results are achieved. To that end, we strive to be
inclusive of topics that include nonprofit management,
public–private partnerships, and other collaborative
enterprises in which government is a key player or
has a vested interest. We seek manuscripts on topics
from every subfield of the discipline, as long as they
are significant, and salient, which means they would
be of interest to readers from beyond that subfield. We
seek manuscripts that address national, state, regional,
and local government matters, as well as international,
intergovernmental, and intersectoral policy and
management problems.
In addition to a fresh cover, we have spent considerable
time reflecting on the many features and sections
into which PAR content has been divided over several
editorial transitions. Writing, editing, and publishing
at the onset of our term is a world apart from that
of our predecessors. Paper is gone. The review,
production, and publishing process is completely
electronic. Consumption of PAR content has changed.
The average PAR reader probably does not subscribe
to the journal and may never have an opportunity to
appreciate our revised cover. Rather, they are using
a laptop—perhaps in a coffee shop—to remotely
access their library’s electronic journals. They may first
conduct a preliminary search using Google Scholar or
a similar database to identify relevant content. And
then, they effortlessly download and skim a full-text
PDF copy of the manuscript of interest. They are
likely unaware of the features or divisions into which
the journal is divided, and they certainly do not sit and
read the journal from cover to cover. PAR publishes
about 60 research articles per volume and routinely
sees over a million article downloads per year. To
address this core shift in the way research is accessed
and consumed, PAR must also adapt. While we do not
have plans to eliminate our print publication, we will
be ready should future circumstances require it. To
Jeremy L. Hall
University of Central Florida
R. Paul Battaglio
The University of Texas at Dallas
Transition and Plotting a Course Editorial
Public Administration Review,
Vol. 78, Iss. 1, pp. 5–6. © 2018 by
The American Society for Public Administration.
DOI: 10.1111/puar.12909.

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