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Farewell Editorial

Editor, Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences

THIS is the final issue of my editorship. What a ride it has been! I received the editorship from the capable hands of Fred Wolinsky, who insisted on the highest standard for scientific rigor and for whom the trains always ran on time. His were very big shoes to fill. And I am delighted to announce that Kenneth Ferraro will now take up the editorship. Ken is a fruitful and sophisticated scholar with an open, approachable, and generous spirit whose organizational skills already have been demonstrated in several professional gerontology contexts. He has all of the qualities of an outstanding editor. Ken will be responsible for all new manuscripts submitted after December 15, 2005. I will be responsible for any new manuscripts, including revisions, submitted before that date.

Editing a journal is a team effort. The editor may be the most visible team member, but the process would grind to a halt if not for the dependable contributions of numerous other persons. I want to acknowledge my gratitude here to those on whom I have depended so heavily.

Jackie Stamant has served as the assistant editor during the past four years. Her involvement in the life of the journal has extended through all phases of the editorial process. Her dedication, eye for detail, elephantine memory, respectful and enthusiastic attitude, and exceptional administrative competence has made my job a great deal easier.

The GSA publications staff, especially Patricia Walker and Erin Piel, has taken our accepted manuscripts and steered them efficiently through the final phases of production. The GSA publications committee and the JG:SS editorial board provided important guidance on several points of publication policy along the way.

Board members reviewed about a third of the manuscripts during the four years and deserve deep and heartfelt thanks. All of the reviewers have taken time from their busy schedules, put their hearts as well as their heads into their efforts, and repeatedly given authors thorough, thoughtful, helpful, and respectful reviews, which have invariably resulted in stronger manuscripts.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the 775 senior or solo authors who have allowed us to consider their work for inclusion in the 144 papers published in the four years, and especially to those who, with boundless patience, have undertaken what must have seemed like an endless series of revisions before seeing their work in print. My heart goes out especially to the authors of the four commissioned theory papers whose manuscripts underwent the most rigorous scrutiny of all and to the numerous authors who employed qualitative methods. These papers usually endured at least three rounds of substantive revisions.

Editing the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences has been a source of great satisfaction. It has been both more challenging and more fun than anything I have done professionally in my entire 35-year career.

Honored reader, author, and reviewer, your continued support for the Journal, and its new editor, will assure that it retains its well-deserved reputation as the premier publication for social science research in aging in the United States. Thank you.

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