PALAIOS - Regime, Rumors, Realities, and Remedies

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     The February 1996 issue of PALAIOS will be the first that we
have composed as the new editors (although Dave Bottjer still
deserves credit for the earlier editorial work), and in this
issue's ONLINE we chose to take an opportunity to address the
present and future health of the journal and SEPM. The full
ONLINE will be available in the near future, but we thought that
the following information would be of interest to our colleagues.

     Judging from the tales we have heard from several sources
during the 1996 Denver GSA meeting, we might have thought we
should be penning a journal obituary rather than an ONLINE. In
short, rumors had it that PALAIOS was in financial trouble and
was on the way out (are the Editors are always the last to
know?). We wish to assure those of you who have heard these
rumors (and especially those who have propagated them) that this
perception is FALSE. We realize that efforts must be made to
bring our journal's financial contribution to the Society closer
to that of our sister publication JSR (more on this below).
However, the reality is that PALAIOS, with its broadened
distribution and progressive growth since its origination,
currently enjoys the best financial posture it has ever had! From
1991 to 1995, revenues from member and nonmember subscriptions
have increased 27% and 38%, respectively, whereas actual expenses
have increased by less than 1 percent. Of course the health of a
society-affiliated journal such as PALAIOS should not be judged
solely by the bottom line -- the quality of the published science
must also be assayed. In this regard, we can report that the
prognosis is good. The journal has received a continuous stream
of quality manuscripts. Indeed, despite an acceptance rate of
approximately 50%, we currently face a modest backlog of papers
(manuscripts inherited from the previous Editorial Office likely
will fill the first four issues of the current volume). Lest this
detract potential authors from submitting manuscripts, we plan to
eliminate the current backlog by foregoing a theme issue for 1997
(although this feature will be restored in 1998). Moreover, via
changes in the Editorial Board and editorial management, our
office is making efforts to reduce both the time between
submission and first decision, as well as time between submission
and publication. In the first three months of our tenure, we have
been able to provide authors who have submitted manuscripts to us
with a decision concerning acceptance within 9 weeks.

     Although the outlook is quite rosy, there are some pressing
issues that should be addressed to ensure the continued success
of PALAIOS and SEPM. Most of our colleagues have probably felt
the impact of cutbacks in institutional budgets and consequent
reductions in library holdings. These cutbacks have already
affected nonmember subscriptions (one of the major sources of
Society revenue) to PALAIOS for the present calendar year,
despite its nominal cost of $165/year to U.S. libraries (compare
this with the cost any of the commercial paleo-oriented
journals). As a remedy or, perhaps more appropriately, preventive
medicine, we implore our readers (SEPM members and nonmembers
alike) to ensure that PALAIOS is available to you and/or your
students in your respective institution's library, now and in the
future. If your library currently subscribes to PALAIOS, protect
our journal from elimination. If your library does not currently
subscribe, please make the effort to have PALAIOS added to its
holdings. The good health of PALAIOS and SEPM also can be
protected by efforts to expand the current Society membership and
member subscriptions. In particular, membership should be
encouraged among students, who not only get a great bargain in
reduced subscription/membership rates, but also represent the
future in paleontology and its related subdisciplines.

Robert A. Gastaldo & Charles E. Savrda
Co-editors, PALAIOS
palaios@mail.auburn.edu