Changes to the Annals as of January 2015

Editorial
After many years of remarkable service as editors, Drs. David Himmelgreen and Satish Kedia turned over AAP editorial responsibilities to the incoming editor, Dr. John Brett of the University of Colorado Denver.

Format
In light of the American Anthropological Association’s review of its publishing program, which reflects the significant changes in the journal publishing world, NAPA and the AAP have reconsidered the journal’s direction. The NAPA Executive Committee, Publications Committee, and the current and incoming editors worked hard during 2014 to explore and bring to fruition needed changes.

NAPA decided to be among the first of the publishing sections in the AAA portfolio to move into a fully digital publication in 2015. The AAA itself will be moving to an all-digital format for all of its publications by 2016. This change will help to streamline the editorial process, and shorten the time from submission to publication for the AAP.

NAPA members will receive an email link to each AAP issue upon its publication. All past and future issues will continue to be available through AnthroSource on the AAA website.

Focus
Given the substantial and ongoing increases in the number of anthropological practitioners, there is a clear need for another high quality, peer-reviewed publication to meet the needs of these applied, practicing, and engaged anthropologists. To that end, NAPA decided to transition the AAP from a single-theme monograph format to a broader focus on publishing volunteered submissions on a range of topics. Through the two issues of volume 39 (2015), the journal will be a “hybrid,” with approximately half of each issue being devoted to a single theme, and the other half dedicated to volunteered papers.

Beginning with volume 40 in 2016, the AAP will be a fully volunteered journal, providing an important new venue for practicing scholars and widening the field of offerings in the AAP.

To facilitate this change, NAPA has adopted the electronic submission platform ScholarOne. This simplifies the process of submission, review and editing, thus shortening the time between submission and publication.

The deadline for submissions for volume 39 was early summer 2015.