Annual Report 2011: FY July 1, 2010-June 30, 2011
Editor
The Editor oversees four technical publication channels through which AAPG disseminates science, the AAPG Bulletin, Special Publications, and GIS or Spatial Publications, which are all peer-reviewed, and Search and Discovery, which is not peer-reviewed.
Figure 1: Papers Reviewed click to enlarge
Figure 2: Papers by Geographical Area
Figure 3: Papers by TypeAAPG Bulletin
The 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 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 Bulletin and AAPG contribute to science. Impact factors tend to reflect the number of authors in a field (rather than the size of the audience) and citation patterns that vary by sub-discipline. Petroleum science has a large audience but a smaller core group of authors and low citation patterns typical of applied fields. Nevertheless the impact factor of the 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 geoscience journal categories.
The Bulletin is receiving substantial manuscript submissions. The 207 manuscripts submitted to the Bulletin in 2010 nearly matched the record 210 manuscripts submitted in 2009, the highest since modern record keeping began in 1990. Of the manuscripts received in 2010, 49.8% were accepted for publication with revisions and 50.3% were rejected. The quality of many submissions is high and the Bulletin is becoming increasingly selective. 2010 brought an increasing number of manuscript submissions from authors who are not native English speakers. The Bulletin editorial board is working hard with these authors to assure that their contributions are clear and concise.
In calendar year 2010, 68 papers were published, including 50 (73%) regional studies and 18 (27%) topical (non-geographical) studies. Of the regional studies, 14 (21%) of the papers addressed subjects from areas in the United States, eight (12%) from the Asia/Pacific area, three (4%) from Latin America, ten (14%) from Europe, three (4%) from Africa, five (7%) from the Middle East, and seven (10%) 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 2011 or later.
The average number of days required to review and act on manuscripts in 2010 remained 65 days from submittal to decision rendered. This rapid response reflects the efforts of the Associate Editors, reviewers, and headquarters staff to work as efficiently as possible.
AAPG Special Publications 2010 Releases
- (Two AAPG Special Publications, Seven Datapages CD/DVD products)
- Memoir 92—Dipmeter and Borehole Image Log Technology
- Memoir 93—Shale Tectonics
- Publications of the Pacific Section of AAPG on DVD
- Publications of the Dallas Geological Society on CD-ROM
- Publications of the North Dakota Geological Society
- Publications of the Montana Geological Society
- Publications of the Alabama Geological Society
- Getting Started #19: Microbial Carbonates
- Getting Started #20: Shales
GIS/Spatial Publications
The GIS Publications committee, under the leadership of the Elected Editor, solicits and evaluates proposals for GIS publications, recommends standards for format and quality, and ensures quality and rigor through peer review.
This past year, the committee’s focus was (1) selecting and peer reviewing GIS projects for funding by the OSU-AAPG Foundation GIS consortium, (2) soliciting and peer reviewing self-funded GIS projects, (3) exploiting the technical skills and resources of the committee through peer-review and consultation, and (4) forming more robust joint publishing partnerships with the Publications Committee, EMD and DEG.
OSU–AAPG Foundation GIS/Geosciences Consortium
The consortium advisory board reviewed submittals and recommended funding for several GIS projects. The annual funding level for the consortium is $240,000 with 40% assigned to the GIS Publications committee, 40% to Datapages and 20% to OSU research. Following a series of advisory board reviews, the following geographic and geothematic projects are now underway (principal investigator in parentheses):
Geographic
- Tectonic Map of North America (Norton)
- Rockies Stratigraphic Framework Atlas (Bishop/RMAG)
- Nevada Petroleum Well Locations and Files (Hess)
- Shell Atlas of the Midcontinent (Bishop)
- Geochemical Facies Mapping of Devonian Black Shale (Cruse)
- Georeferencing of Maps of Salt Dome Fields, Phase II (Hall)
- Geology of Ethiopia (St. John) Australia Tectonic Framework (Norton/Loutit)
Geothematic
- Global Heat Flow database of the IHFC (Gosnold)
- Global Atlas of Outcropping Reservoir Rocks (Puckette)
- Global Ophiolite Distribution (Byrnes)
- • Incised Valleys Database (Puckette)
Additionally, the following projects are under review for 2011:
- Exxon Tectonic Map of the World (Bishop/Norton)
- Memoir 89 Natural Gas Hydrates (Johnson, EMD)
- East Central Texas Depositional Systems and Deep Basin Lignite (Ambrose, EMD)
- Pennsylvania Digital Oil and Gas Mapping (Carter, DEG)
- Tectonics of the Indian Ocean (St. John)
- Louisiana Oil and Gas Fields Vectorization (Gong)
- Geologic Map of the Eastern Great Basin, Nevada and Utah (Alderman)
- Atlas of Modern Deltas (Puckette)
- Gulf of Mexico Hydrocarbon Seeps and Fields Atlas (Weimer)
- Appalachian Basin Devonian Shale Gas (Avary)
Self-Funded Projects
The self-funded projects under way are as follows:
- Source Rocks of the World (Horn)
- Giant Fields of the World (Horn)
- Burial Histories of the World (Horn)
- Exploration Fabric of Africa (Wigley)
- Impact Craters of the World (Rajmon)
- MORVEL Global Plate Velocities (DeMets)
Projects Published in the AAPG Open-File website since 2010 ACE
- Petroleum Systems of the Gulf Coast (Pitman, 2008)
- Modification of Line Features of Tectonic Map of the World (Bally)
Editorial Board and Peer Review
GIS projects captured through the consortium and self-funded are peer reviewed by the committee, Datapages staff, and external experts. Additionally, all projects submitted by the GIS Publications Committee, and funded by the AAPG-OSU consortium, will be published on the AAPG GIS Open-File website. Authors of self-funded projects are also encouraged to publish on the AAPG GIS Open-File website.
A proposal to form a GIS Publications Editorial Board was prepared in 2011, with seven members of the committee accepting invitations to serve. The focus of the board will be to champion new projects, to support the mission and to create a more robust committee identity. The committee chairman and vice-chairman are working with the Elected Editor and Geoscience Director to properly recognize the group, with an official roll-out in 3Q2011. The committee comprises 21 professionals, including both subsurface and GIS specialists. Both disciplines are important to ensure that the committee’s charge can be properly addressed. Additionally, three AAPG staff members are active on the committee.
Search and Discovery
Search and Discovery posted 566 documents in 2010 compared to 492 in 2009, and increase of 15 percent. The site had 1.1 million unique visitors (sessions) and 14.8 million hits (these are any successful requests to a webserver from a visitor’s browser). This is strong evidence that this online resource is being used. The Search and Discovery Digest was successfully launched with Ron Broadhead as editor. This is an awareness service that pushes selected content on specific theme topics from Search and Discovery’s vast holdings. The first theme issue focused on shale