Letters to the Editor

Saving the Canadian Journal of Exploration Geophysics (CJEG)

As a long-time member of CSEG, I have understood that the goal of the CSEG was “to promote the science of geophysics”. Publication of peer-reviewed scientific papers is part of promoting the science of geophysics – along with publication of the RECORDER, conference presentations, and monthly luncheon talks. In light of this, recent events related to the Canadian Journal of Exploration Geophysics (CJEG) have proved to be both challenging and disconcerting.

Due to a state of financial exigency in 2016, the CJEG’s budget was reduced to zero, which could have effectively placed the journal into a state of dormancy. The CJEG Co-Editors, Larry Lines and Satinder Chopra, in communication with Marko Mah (CSEG Director of Communications), decided against dormancy. Rather, an abbreviated version of CJEG 2016 was published in June 2016. The continuation of the journal was done for several reasons:

1. CJEG had accepted two papers (implying a promise of publication), and CSEG had an ethical responsibility to publish these accepted papers.
2. The previous state of CJEG dormancy for the printed version had lasted from 2000 until 2010. In 2010, the CSEG asked Lines and Chopra to revive the journal in electronic format. From 2011-2016, there have been 6 issues of the CJEG published online containing 34 peer-reviewed papers contributed by geophysicists from around the world. The average annual cost for copy editing for the past 6 years is about $8,000 per issue, or an amount of about $5 per member.
3. The CJEG has a citation rating for authors. While the CSEG RECORDER is an excellent and widely read publication, it does not have a citation rating as a peer-reviewed publication. University professors obtain academic credit for CJEG papers in their research grant applications.
4. As a geophysics professor, I personally know that these CJEG papers have been used by hundreds of geophysics students in university studies.
5. CSEG has had a journal for 50 years. There has been a printed journal from 1965-1999, a state of dormancy from 2000-2010, and an online journal from 2011-2016 – and hopefully longer. There have been papers published by many famous geophysicists including Ewing Award Medal Winners, the inventor of seismic deconvolution (Enders Robinson), the inventor of seismic migration (J.G. Hagedoorn), and the inventor of bandlimited seismic inversion (Roy Lindseth). Our papers have been referenced and utilized by the international geophysics community.

On a personal note, the budget cut was disturbing to me individually, having served as Editor or Co-Editor of CJEG for 8 years (1995-1996, and 2011-2016).

As I understand it, the CSEG Executive has made this decision due to the very difficult financial situation that the CSEG now finds itself. Many of our members have lost their jobs due to the oil industry recession. The CSEG has had to make some very difficult decisions in order to insure its survival as a professional organization. From this perspective, one can understand the reasoning for severe budget cuts.

Donations from three members (M. Mah, L. Lines and B. Russell) saved the CJEG in 2016 after the CSEG funding was cut. I ask the CSEG Executive to consider how we will finance the journal in years to come. A peer-reviewed journal with citation accreditation should remain an integral part of a scientific organization such as CSEG. I thank those who have allowed our journal to continue and invite suggestions from the membership as to how we might sustain this publication.

Yours sincerely,

Larry Lines, Co-Editor,
Canadian Journal of Exploration Geophysics
csegjournal.com

"Chief Editor, Would you consider using a different, heavier and a couple points larger font? The current font presents discrimination challenges for some characters. Reading this interesting issue [May] is very hard on my old eyes – even with reading glasses."
— Chris Aziz

"Chris, I've had the same feedback from one of our editors. The font style is fixed until the next redesign of the RECORDER. Regarding the font size, we are limited to 48 pages to reduce costs in the current downturn, and cannot change to a larger font size as this would reduce the amount of content that we publish. I have made a note to revisit this when conditions pick back up."
— Rob Holt, Chief Editor

“Chief Editor, I would chose to have less text but readable. That is viable without compromise if the paper articles have online expanded versions. If this must wait ‘until things pick up’, sadly my RECORDER copies will be more place mats than enjoyable reading material."
— Chris Aziz