Ten years of research support with IJCST: 10th Anniversary Issue

Citation

Stylios, G. (1998), "Ten years of research support with IJCST: 10th Anniversary Issue", International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, Vol. 10 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijcst.1998.05810aaa.001

Ten years of research support with IJCST: 10th Anniversary Issue

Ten years of research support with IJCST: 10th Anniversary Issue

Although it feels like we started yesterday, IJCST has its 10th anniversary. The journal was set up at a difficult time when academe and industry were rationalising under pressures of diminishing margins. IJCST's mission was clear, it was established to fill the gap that existed in promoting the science and technology of clothing, with one single voice internationally. Its style, technical content and quality and presentation had all to be as high as possible, to serve research and to apply a rigorous double blind refereeing process to all papers.

It would be appropriate, if you'll allow me, to record how it all started; I was looking to publish a few papers as a result of my PhD work at the University of Leeds, and I was frustrated that the only clothing-based journal, the Clothing Research Journal, had just ceased publication. With the encouragement of colleagues in the Department of Industrial Technology at the University of Bradford, where I had just joined, I started trying to find a suitable publisher to undertake the publication of IJCST, which I planned originally with two to three issues. After deliberating with a number of well-known publishing houses, I went to see Keith Howard of MCB University Press, who after a stormy persuasion agreed to take the journal on board. The first issue came out after a mere two months. I very much remember the dilemma of designing an appropriate cover for the journal. At that time I had just completed a successful study of needle damage where I was studying the interaction of sewing needle and fabric, using new computer based real time data acquisition on the legendary Apple and IBM personal computers. Hence a cover which showed fabric damage by penetration of a sewing needle was chosen, while illustrating in the background a trace of real time sewing forces, which was the subject of many papers and future research, by myself and others. This cover illustration stayed and has been branding IJCST around the world.

This humble beginning was morally supported by the founding editorial board and especially encouraged by colleagues like Ron Postle who in the many meetings we had helped me to overcome my anxiety and worries about paper numbers and subscriptions.

IJCST is a truly international journal trying to fulfil the aims and objectives of our community and has become a forum for research in the science and technology of clothing at the highest level. IJCST has pioneered in its crusade to serving the research community in a number of ways. You will remember the Bulletin for Objective Measurement Technologies for promoting and implementing OMT to industry around the 1990s, the special issues, the best papers from international conferences, offering topical themes and stimulated editorials. The International Textile and Clothing Research Register (ITCRR) is a recent addition which certifies research progress, and lately the Internet on-line service to provide authors and readers fast access to new papers. IJCST through its publisher recognised excellence, so authors are rewarded for best achievement in Literati Awards of Excellence.

IJCST is a truly international journal and its distribution around the world verifies this as shown in Table I.

IJCST is also cited in prestigious indices such as:

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  World Textiles.

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  Textile Technology Digest.

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  Vital Textile Literature.

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  Apparel Digest.

Table 1

Our readership is increasing, doubled in recent years, and it is at home in most of the libraries and research centres of corporate companies. Although all these facts are very encouraging and positive for looking forward to the next decade, we are still trying to improve and raise IJCST standards even higher. Changes in the basic IJCST's aims, objectives and procedures will remain the same, but I am trying to incorporate a "Letters to the editor" space, for fast track important findings that the community may need to publish. Letters to the editor are research findings which may be significant, but researchers do not have time to publish as whole papers, or are just small parts of already published areas which are corrected or revised. I am committed to publish them within three months on receipt of them. The same space welcomes comments about research results and direction, in other words, public engagement of theories, results, research themes, industrial application, etc. With regard to the refereeing process I am not to change the two blind-referees procedure, but I will try with your help to reduce authors' waiting time. Our new computerised system aims at improving this situation. Volume 10 will have six issues, one of which is the now regular research register, and Internet connection.

IJCST belongs to the clothing science and technology community, this anniversary is yours, IJCST is your journal. I thank you all for being so stimulating and I look forward to another successful decade. Many thanks to all authors, referees, readers, subscribers, editorial board, publishing team, colleagues and friends.

George Stylios