Abstract
“In 2006, 209 authors, 95 reviewers, and 34 editorial board members fueled the JALA publishing program.”
It is my pleasure and privilege to step into the role of executive editor of the Journal of the Association for Laboratory Automation. Thanks to the outstanding achievements of Mark Russo over the past 4 years, JALA is more pertinent and more important to the field of lab automation than ever. As a long-time ALA member and volunteer, and JALA Editorial Board member since January 2005, I have a first-hand appreciation for the unique role JALA plays in scientific literature.
JALA serves a distinct professional specialty that is of vital importance to a range of different scientific arenas. JALA showcases information and ideas that create common ground for the lab automation professionals who work in these arenas. The difference between Mark Russo and me is one simple example. Mark is a lab automation professional who works to automate drug discovery and development for a major pharmaceutical company. I work to automate research laboratories at a major university. Although our work environments are very different, our job descriptions share many more similarities than differences. Like others who focus on automation challenges in agricultural, forensic, and molecular diagnostic labs, we each find meaning and value inside the pages of JALA.
What makes JALA so exceptionally valuable is that all of its content reflects practical guidance for what can be done to increase productivity, elevate experimental data quality, reduce lab process cycle times, and enable experimentation that otherwise would be impossible. Manuscripts are written by lab automation professionals, for lab automation professionals.
Having served as JALA associate editor for the past year, I also have a first-hand appreciation for the talented collective that brings each issue of JALA to life. In 2006, 209 authors, 95 reviewers, and 34 editorial board members fueled the JALA publishing program. In partnership with the staff professionals at ALA and Elsevier, the result was 6 informative issues of JALA, featuring 17 original reports, 18 technical briefs, 6 technology reviews, 5 feature stories, 2 tutorials, and 39 regular columns.
Regardless of where they work, the folks who authored these articles for JALA share a passion for lab automation. By publishing their achievements in JALA, they willingly contributed to the greater good of all lab automation professionals. If you have a success story to tell, I hope you will consider sharing it with JALA. We accept manuscript submissions on an ongoing basis at http://labautomation.org/jalainstructions.php, and the “JALA Spirit of Mentorship” ensures that all manuscripts are seriously considered.
As readers, your feedback is important as well. What you need and want is what JALA strives to deliver. With this in mind, you will receive a JALA Reader Survey with your April issue of JALA. When it arrives, please take a moment to complete it and return it to us. In the meantime, never hesitate to contact either JALA Managing Editor Nan Hallock (
Sincerely,
