Topic: Journal Editor Announcement

[Nancy McCombs]

The AFTE Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Jennifer Gelston of the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services has been appointed as the new AFTE Journal Editor.

Also, Darryl Barr of the Calgary Police Service and Dana Gicale of the US Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory will be joining the team as Copy Editor and Copy Editor/News Coordinator.

The Board of Directors would like to thank Cole for his 5 years as AFTE Editor.

Scroll down to read the letter Cole wanted to share with the membership.

Congratulations Jennifer on your appointment to Editor of the AFTE Journal and thank you Cole for your service to this organization.

Please see the below letter from out-going editor Cole Goater.
AFTE Membership,

I would like to take a moment to thank the membership for the opportunity to serve as Editor for the last five years. Becoming the editor of a scientific journal was never something I imagined I would have the opportunity to do. It has certainly been a unique challenge and, just as my predecessor did, I would encourage any of you who have the means to serve the association to do so.

I will be stepping down from the editorship in the near future. Taking my place will be Jennifer Gelston of the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services. Jen has also served as the chair of the Copyright Subcommittee and the 2017 AFTE Host Committee. She has shown a great deal of enthusiasm for the success of the journal and a great deal of thoughtful creativity in the consideration of its future, which I anticipate will be a boon to all with an interest in the success of the AFTE Journal.

Joining her in the Copy Editor and Copy Editor/News Coordinator positions will be Dana Gicale, from the US Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory, and long-time member of the DVD Committee, as well as Darryl Barr, Manager of the Firearms Laboratory of the Calgary Police Service.  They have also shown extraordinary interest in ensuring the continued excellence of the AFTE Journal.  Combined with the many years of experience of our dedicated Assistant Editors, Publication Secretary, and Review Panel, I have no doubt that AFTE Editorial Committee will be more than capable of continuing to publish a world-class scientific publication.
 
In order to insure a smooth transition, I will remain on the Editorial Committee in one of the Copy Editor positions until all parties are feeling comfortable with their new roles. At that time, I will be stepping down fully.

Though the editorial team is and will continue to be top-notch, I believe I would be remiss if I left the membership with an overly-rosy view of the future of the AFTE Journal.  The first issue published under my tenure included notice to the membership that our submissions were perilously low, and we have lost ground since then.  While I've have continued to apprise the membership each year of the fact that submissions have been at or near their lowest rate since as far back as that information is available, I have come to believe that a more frank and explicit assessment is necessary, and that is this: if there are not more submissions, the AFTE journal may not be able to continue without significant changes to the format or schedule and may be at risk of being removed from SCOPUS.

While presenting information at the annual seminar, on the AFTE forums, and in other venues may have benefits, there are still certain benefits that only the AFTE Journal can offer.  Please refer to the following forum post for more information: http://forum.afte.org/index.php?topic=12421.0, and please take advantage of this resource now, to ensure you can still take advantage of it tomorrow.

Thank you to the membership for all of your support and please keep those articles, technical reports, case reports, and other items coming.

 Warmest Regards,

Cole Goater
 AFTE Editor

[Bob Kennington]

Some of the chapters in the 9mm Matrix and 380 Matrix texts came directly from the AFTE Journal. (That is, my articles did!). 

The remainder of over 800 Matrix pages is what most scientists would term, "pure research".

The membership is welcome to pick a firearm (or concept) and prepare a "proper" paper for the AFTE Journal. I'd be happy to look the work over, and maybe slip that effort into new printings.

The Matrix(es) two Matrix texts are printed from paper "originals", so such updating is possible.

A good paper to work on, is the use of a belt sander in the restoration of serial numbers. I may have suggested that concept in some manner—but I'm not sure. 

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