With this issue, I start my tenure as editor of the Journal of Intercultural Communication Research. As part of its mission statement, the World Communication Association is “convinced that to maintain peace throughout the world there must be a mutual understanding among people of the world that grows from individual and group interaction.” Unfortunately, we live in a world where some promote a purposeful campaign to increase misunderstanding among people thereby decreases any chances of meaningful peace. As an individual and academic, I believe one of the best ways to gain mutual understanding is through rigorous academic research that examines areas of culture and communication in a thoughtful and meaningful manner. Research examining the impact of culture on individual and group interactions helps academics, and hopefully, society at large, learn more about themselves and others in a more global landscape. The Journal of Intercultural Communication Research may not solve all of society’s woes, but I do believe that understanding the interrelationship between culture and communication is of increasing import today.
One of the fascinating aspects of the Journal of Intercultural Communication Research is the diversity of perspectives published within the journal. There is a diversity of research methodologies, theoretical perspectives, and views of “intercultural communication.” As editor, I want to continue the tradition established by previous editors of this journal of looking at a “intercultural communication” through a wide and diverse lens while staying with the basic aim and scope of the journal established by the World Communication Association, “JICR publishes qualitative and quantitative research that focuses on interrelationships between culture and communication. Generally, research published in JICR emphasizes non-mediated contexts. Submitted manuscripts may report results from either cross-cultural comparative research or results from other types of research concerning the ways culture affects human symbolic activities. Studies reporting data from within a single nation/culture should focus on cultural factors and explore the theoretical or practical relevance of their findings from a cross-cultural perspective.”
Because the Journal of Intercultural Communication Research is the flagship journal of the World Communication Association, editorship comes with an obligation to publish research that reflects (1) clarity in interpretation, organization, and writing; (2) empirical advancement and rigor; and (3) innovation and creativity, and theoretical development and insight.
Furthermore, as an editor, I also believe I have an obligation to my editorial board to ensure that the articles they are reviewing are within the scope of JICR. I believe in making the review process as efficient as possible for both authors and editorial board members. I will address efficiency in four specific ways: (1) strategically using my editorial board during the review process; (2) making a judicial use of the initial and subsequent revise and resubmit decisions; (3) summarizing expectations for revise and resubmit decisions for both authors and editorial board members; and (4) streamlining the process whenever possible. Streamlining the process can include guiding the editorial team, eliminating the use of additional reviewers during the revise and resubmit process, providing a final decision after the first decision when appropriate and possible, and asking for multiple “revise and resubmits” only when a manuscript truly merits publication in JICR but still needs specific changes.
During my editorship of JICR, I would have five specific goals to help grow the journal and increase its prominence both in the United States and Internationally:
Goal 1: Increase the number of high-quality, diverse submissions to JICR, particularly in new and emerging areas of interest to communication scholars.
Goal 2: Increase the number of international submissions to JICR and ensure that the editorial board is representative of the diverse nature of the World Communication Association.
Goal 3: Publishing shorter submissions (in conjunction with longer ones). I encourage the submission of shorter research reports (approximately 3,500 words) and research notes (approximately 2,000 words). Research reports should be concise, self-contained articles with a discussion of existing literature/theory, methods, results, and implications. Research notes, on the other hand, could include new research methods/measures that will need further exploration in the future, spotlights on existing research methods/measures important to intercultural communication scholars, or editorials discussing the importance of emerging issues for intercultural communication scholars.
Goal 4: Decrease the time from initial submission to acceptance or rejection. I believe in helping editorial board members complete reviews in a timely process to ensure manuscript decisions do not stall.
Goal 5: To extend the readership and impact of articles published in JICR by:
Including abstracts written in plain English to ensure understanding of readers who do not have specialized knowledge in a specific subject area;
Soliciting expert commentary on key articles to further enhance readership;
Utilize social media to promote the editorial board and articles upon publication;
Increase the number of articles published without increasing page counts to the journal;
Encourage articles from research teams that are collaborating between multiple cultures and/or nations.
I am excited to be taking this journey as the new editor of the Journal of Intercultural Communication Research. I want to end by thanking Dr. Stephen Croucher for his years of dedication to the World Communication Association and JICR as the previous editor of the journal. Dr. Croucher was unbelievably helpful navigating me through the process of taking over the editorship. At one point, we worked on either side of the Hudson River in New York less than 12 miles from each other, but it took this opportunity, and almost 9,000 miles between us, to get to know and work with him. I also want to thank the Board of Directors of the World Communication Association for allowing me this opportunity to serve this thriving intellectual community. Lastly, I want to thank the team at Taylor and Francis who work with JICR for their help in getting me up and running these past couple of months: Sophie Wade, Sophie Harris, Mark Jones, and Usha Sankar.