The Publications Committee of the ICA has three members each of whom serves a 3-year term. Among other things, the Committee is vested with the task of discussing issues with regard to the various ICA journals such as Communication Theory, Human Communication Research, and Journal of Communication. The following report will provide readers with some of the tasks that the Committee performs.
The Committee has been quite active in 2008-09. The Committee was asked to deliberate whether the current term of 3 years for the editor of Communication Theory should not be changed to 5 years. The committee decided that there were good reasons to keep the term to the present 3 years for several reasons, including the fact that it is prudent to keep the term of editorship uniform across all ICA publications. Further, during recent searches for editorship of the journals, the Committee faced quite a few problems in getting scholars interested in being nominated for editorships even with a 3-year commitment. Extending the term to 5 years, the Committee reasoned, would make it even harder for the Publications Committee to willing nominees.
The Committee also deliberated on the nature of Communication Yearbook and whether it is a book or a journal. CY is no doubt a unique publication as it is a hybrid combining characteristics of a journal and a book. It is a single issue published regularly, even if only annually, and also has an ISSN number (given only to serial publications such as journals). More significantly, publication in CY is based strictly on blind peer review similar to any other refereed journal. However, because it is sold individually like a book rather than by annual or other types of subscription, it also has an ISBN number (given to books).
The Committee agreed with the Senior Editor of at least one big academic publisher that although CY is a hybrid, it is more of a journal than a book and therefore recommended that CY be publicized as a journal. Such a classification has obvious implications, such as the prestige of publishing in it (given that book chapters are not valued as highly as refereed journal articles). The Committee therefore agreed with the current editor of CY that "it deserves to be listed as one of ICA's journals because it follows the same rigorous editorial processes as the other ICA journals; the only difference is its frequency of publication." The Committee also recommended that ICA's web site reflect CY's journal status by being listed with other ICA journals.
The Committee is currently liaising with potential candidates for the editorship of Human Communication Research.
