2009 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) Serve in a scientific review capacity as the Editor of ASA-CSSA-SSSA’s Journal of Environmental Quality (JEQ) and head of the JEQ Editorial Board, overseeing and reviewing the technical quality and scientific soundness of research that focuses on aspects of environmental quality in natural and agricultural ecosystems. The Editorial Board serves as a mechanism to evaluate the experimental design, methodology, analysis of results, and conclusions of research to assure its quality and reliability 1b.Approach (from AD-416) The Editor is responsible for establishing journal policy and for overseeing the technical and intellectual content and quality of the journal. The Editor directs the work of technical editors (TEs) and associate editors (AEs) in reviewing and evaluating the worthiness of manuscripts submitted to the JEQ. The Editor is responsible for defining the journal’s aims, policies, and editorial coverage, and in recruiting members for the Editorial Board. The Editor delegates to TEs the responsibility of assigning manuscripts to AEs to obtain reviews from qualified peer scientists and making the final decision whether to accept or reject the paper. The Editor directly oversees the work of the TEs who are responsible for overseeing the work of the AEs. The Editor has the overall responsibility for determining that in-depth and timely reviews are obtained by the Editorial Board members and for maintaining the professional integrity of the review process. Documents Trust with American Society of Agronomy. Log 35586. 3.Progress Report Over the past year 534 manuscripts were submitted for consideration in JEQ of which 40% were accepted for publication. Five special collections of papers have been published comprised of 65 papers. There are currently 14 special collections of papers in various stages of development. A new Environmental Issues/Environmental Perspectives Editor has been appointed to organize high impact review and perspectives papers. Three new Technical Editors (TEs) were appointed to replace retiring TEs. Twenty-five new Associate Editors (AEs) were appointed to help increase the efficiency of handling manuscripts in a timely manner and eight AEs were reappointed to second terms, bring the editorial board to 90+ members. New deadlines were established to shorten handling time. Policy and organizational changes were devised and implemented in an effort to improve the impact factor including changes in minimum requirements for manuscript consideration, increased activity on attracting review papers and special collections of papers, increased efficiency of handling manuscripts, improvements in reference guideline materials for AEs, regular teleconference calls with Editor-in-Chief, ASA-CSSA-SSSA staff, and TEs. Monitoring of all progress is most effectively handled through JEQ’s on-line manuscript tracking system, ManuscriptTracker. ManuscriptTracker allows immediate access and evaluation of the progress of each manuscript by the Editor, TEs, AEs, Editor-in-Chief, and ASA-CSSA-SSSA Headquarters staff (JEQ Managing Editor and JEQ Financial Officer) along with up-to-date summary report access. Teleconference calls every 4 months between Editor-in-Chief, JEQ Managing Editor, Financial Office, and TEs were arranged to provide progress reports and to discuss policy and management changes. A mail server has been set up to provide a means of exchanging ideas and communicating amongst the 90+ members of the JEQ Editorial Board. The mail server provides an open forum to discuss problems and concerns, maintain procedural consistency, and notify the entire editorial board of policy changes.