Time to change after six issues of Alpine Entomology

After six issues, Alpine Entomology is preparing for an editorial transition, with a successor to the editor-in-chief selected and scheduled for formal election at the Swiss Entomological Society’s next general meeting in March 2023. The journal, published for the Swiss Entomological Society by Pensoft, has published almost 100 articles since its launch at the end of 2017. Its outgoing editor, who had led the publication throughout those six years, said the next phase should consolidate its scientific and international orientation and encourage more submissions.

Alpine Entomology was created in spring 2017, when then-SEG president Hannes Baur approached the founding editor-in-chief to lead a journal with a newly defined scope and an agreement with Pensoft. It replaced the society’s traditional “Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft/Bulletin de la Société Entomologique Suisse” with an online, open-access publication. The first issue was planned for release before Christmas in 2017, after which publication generally followed an end-of-year schedule, except in 2020 and in the year of the sixth issue. The fixed schedule became less important once accepted articles were available online as soon as their final versions were ready.

Although its name suggests a regional focus, the journal was established as an international venue for research on insects and other arthropods associated with mountainous environments. It was not restricted to work from the Alps, and submissions were also considered from other mountainous regions when the connection to mountains was sufficiently strong. The editor-in-chief screened manuscripts before forwarding them to subject editors, who assisted with decisions in doubtful cases. This arrangement allowed the journal to retain a recognizable mountain focus while accepting relevant research from beyond the Alps.

Indexing was a central objective from the beginning. The journal was indexed by Scopus in 2020, and the editor reported that it would receive its first impact factor from Clarivate Analytics in 2023. Its output has included scientific papers, the society’s annual report and reference resources such as checklists for Switzerland. Individual articles have received more than 3,000 unique views on the journal website, which the editor presented as evidence that the online, open-access format reaches entomologists both within Switzerland and internationally.

The leadership change follows a decision made after the publication of the fifth volume to step down once a suitable successor could be found. A candidate has been selected, although the successor’s identity and formal election were still pending at the time of the announcement. Two recently launched topical collections, one on aquatic arthropods and another on alien insects, were identified as possible supports for increasing interest in submissions. The outgoing editor also credited the subject editors and editorial board for the journal’s development and expressed the hope that broader indexing, new leadership and the collections would help consolidate Alpine Entomology’s position within the international entomological community.

Subject of Research: The six-year development and planned leadership transition of the open-access entomology journal Alpine Entomology.

Article Title: Time to change after six issues of Alpine Entomology

Article References: Lachat, T. (2022). Time to change after six issues of Alpine Entomology. Alpine Entomology, 6, 159-160. https://doi.org/10.3897/alpento.6.98667

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/alpento.6.98667

Keywords: Alpine Entomology, entomology, arthropods, Swiss Entomological Society, open-access publishing, scientific journals, editorial transition, journal indexing, aquatic arthropods, alien insects, Time, change