Annual Report 2012: FY July 1, 2011-June 30, 2012
Editor
The Editor oversees all technical publication channels through which AAPG disseminates science, including the AAPG Bulletin, Special Publications and GIS/Spatial Publications, which are all peer-reviewed, and Search and Discovery, which is not peer-reviewed.
AAPG Bulletin
The AAPG Bulletin disseminates information on the geology and associated technology of petroleum, natural gas, and other energy mineral resources, and has long occupied an important place in the scientific literature of petroleum geoscience. As a highly selective peer-reviewed journal it attracts papers from leading petroleum geology and engineering researchers. The AAPG Bulletin enjoys one of the highest rates of download among the collection of journals in the GeoScienceWorld collection, an aggregation of 38 high impact, peer-reviewed earth science journals to which academic institutions worldwide subscribe. Journal impact factors are important to our academic authors, and they give some sense of how the AAPG Bulletin and AAPG contribute to science. The impact factor of the AAPG Bulletin is substantial and is currently 1.448, up from 1.273 in 2008 according to Thompson-Reuters. The Bulletin remained the top-ranked of 23 journals in the category Petroleum Engineering, and it ranks highly in other journal categories.
AAPG Bulletin manuscript submissions from 2003 to 2011 by month. Horizontal grey lines indicate desirable minimum monthly submission rates assuming 50 and 75 percent rejection.
The AAPG Bulletin is receiving substantial manuscript submissions. The 200 manuscripts submitted to the AAPG Bulletin in 2011 nearly matched the record 207 manuscripts submitted in 2010, the highest since record-keeping began in 1990. Of the manuscripts received in 2011, 56.2% were accepted for publication with revisions and 43.8% were rejected. The quality of many manuscripts published and in press is high and the AAPG Bulletin is becoming increasingly selective. Manuscript submissions from authors who are not native English speakers continue to be substantial. The Bulletin editorial board is working hard with these authors to assure that their contributions are clear and concise.
In calendar year 2011, 75 papers were published, including 54 (72%) regional studies and 21 (28%) topical (non-geographical) studies. Of the regional studies, 20 (27%) of the papers addressed subjects from areas in the United States, 13 (17%) from the Asia/Pacific area, 4 (5%) from Latin America, 7 (9%) from Europe, 1 (1%) from Africa, 3 (4%) from the Middle East, and 6 (8%) from Canada. Associate editors appointed from all AAPG Regions and Sections are charged with encouraging manuscript submissions from their geographic areas. Several theme issues are in preparation for publication in 2012 or later. Only one E&P Note and one Geological Note and fiveGeohorizon papers were published, continuing a trend of diminishing submissions of short exploration and production oriented manuscripts.
The average number of days required to review and act on manuscripts in 2011 increased to 84 days from submittal to decision rendered. This response reflects the efficiency of the Associate Editors, reviewers, and headquarters staff. Providing rapid but thoughtful and constructive reviews is the essential contribution of the AAPG Bulletin peer-review and scientific editorial process. The AAPG Bulletin typical requests three reviewers to read manuscripts. The quality of the review is vital, and reviewers are busy unpaid volunteers. Median review time is 34 days. But the incidence of longer review times for reviewers who render an opinion remains unacceptably large. An increasing proportion of manuscripts are now rejected after initial screening by senior editors; many of these papers successfully enter review later.
AAPG Special Publications 2011 Releases
(Five AAPG Special Publications, 16 Datapages CD/DVD products)
- Archie 2—Application of Resistivity-Tool-Response Modeling for Formation Evaluation (co-published with ExxonMobil)
- Memoir 47 7th Edition—Interpretation of Three-Dimensional Seismic Data
- Memoir 93—Shale Tectonics
- Memoir 94—Thrust Fault-related Folding
- Memoir 96—Uncertainty Analysis in Reservoir Characterization
- Memoir 99—The Salt Mine (co-published with BEG)
- AAPG Studies 25 on CD—Exploration for Heavy Crude Oil and Natural Bitumen
- AAPG Studies 37 on CD—Source Rocks in a Sequence Stratigraphic Framework
- AAPG Studies 38 on CD— Hydrocarbons from Coal
- AAPG Memoir 26 on CD—Seismic Stratigraphy: Applications to Hydrocarbon Exploration
- AAPG Memoir 45 on CD—The Pannonian Basin
- AAPG Memoir 48 on CD—Divergent/Passive Margin Basins
- AAPG Memoir 51 on CD—Interior Cratonic Basins
- AAPG Memoir 59 on CD—Active Margin Basins
- AAPG Memoir 71 on CD—Reservoir Characterization: Recent Advances
- Getting Started #21—Arctic Geology
- Discovery Series 14/AAPG Studies 62—Geological Assessment of Coal, Gulf Coastal Plain
- Discovery Series 15—Carbonate Petrology: An Interactive Petrography Tutorial
- Discovery Series 16—Introduction to Seismic Interpretation
- Publications of the Saskatchewan Geological Society on DVD
- Publications of the Four Corners Geological Society on DVD
- NOGS-Oil and Gas Fields of South Louisiana on DVD
After a review of its mission and goals, the Publications Committee (Colin North, Chair) has proposed a revised mission statement and an ambitious set of near-term goals that include markedly increasing the number of books published per year, significantly reducing the time from conception to production for new projects, restructuring the publications committee into parts with responsibilities for content acquisition, management, and a planning and opportunity identification group with participation from Energy Minerals Division and the Research, and Education committees. The Publication Committee is also the home of the recently established book series editorial board.
GIS/Spatial Publications
The Geographic Information Systems Committee (Bret Fossum, Chair) has recently completed several projects and has funded several new projects. Completed projects, awaiting publication on the new GIS Publications Website, are: Source Rocks of the World, Giant Fields of the World, Impact Craters of the World and the Bally Global Tectonics Project re-design framework. Newly funded projects are: Tectonics of the Indian Ocean, East Central Texas Depositional Systems & Deep Basin Lignite, Pennsylvania Digital Oil and Gas Maps and Appalachian Basin Devonian Shale Gas. The GIS committee is in the midst of evaluating opportunities for future developments in GIS content dissemination.
Search and Discovery
Search and Discovery posted 655 documents in 2011 compared to 566 in 2010, an increase of 16 percent. The site had 1.1 M unique visitors (sessions) and 2,904 average visits per day. This is strong evidence that this online resource is being used.
Ron Broadhead serves as Search and Discovery editor and editor for the Search and Discovery Digest. 2011 topics for the quarterly issue of the Digest included: Unconventional Oil, Subsalt Plays, Fracture Technology and Microbial Carbonates.
Short abstract sets and select full-presentations were posted from the following meetings: 2010 European Region, Kiev and 2010 Geo-India; 2011 ACE, ICE, 3-P Arctic, Nova Scotia, 2011 GTWs and 2011 AAPG Section presentations from Eastern, Southwest, Pacific, and Mid-Continent.
Charles H. Taylor Fellowship
AAPG publications are an important benefit to the geoscience community and an essential AAPG member service. To create and deliver the best publications in a challenging, complex and changing publishing environment, the Elected Editor needs the advice and support of knowledgeable and dedicated volunteers. The AAPG Bulletin’s board of associate editors and the Publications Committee currently provide some of this support, but more diverse, systematic and sustained support is needed. The Executive Committee has approved a proposal to establish a formal consultative body comprised of current and former members of the association’s editorial board to advise and assist the Elected Editor with emphasis on journal publications. The group has the status of a special committee. A full report on this initiative will appear shortly in the AAPG Explorer. The fellowship is named for Charles H. Taylor, the first editor for the association and arguably a key figure in the founding.
Other Developments
Several members of the editorial board will shortly be named senior associate editor, with increased responsibility for scientific editing in their areas of expertise. Planning is under way to implement a system for early online publication of accepted AAPG Bulletin papers and Book Series chapters. A more systematic procedure is being adopted for recognizing reviewer achievement and for highlighting notable papers published by the association. As noted elsewhere, the price for hard copy delivery of the AAPG Bulletin will increase.