Aggie takes head job at top journal
Keith Mott, a biology professor at Utah State University, was recently named chief editor of the science journal Plant, Cell & Environment.
The journal’s current chief editor, Harry Smith, is retiring after 25 years in the position and said he is pleased to be handing the post to Mott.
“Keith fits this bill admirably, and I am personally delighted to be handing P, C & E over to such capable hands,” Smith said.
Mott will assume the position in January 2002 and said he is also excited about the change.
“It’s an incredible honor,” Mott said. “This is the high point of my career, up to this point.”
As chief editor of the top-ranked journal, Mott will drive policy change, consult with other editors and associate editors and with the readers, authors and reviewers who form the community served by the journal, Smith said.
Mott can also expect to commission reviews or articles and design new features for the journal. Scientific editors differ from editors of other publications in that they decide which papers to publish and oversee scientific quality and clarity.
Peer-review journals like P, C & E are usually credible sources for information because work is reviewed by many colleagues before going into print, Smith said. Researchers wishing to publish findings send a manuscript to the journal. The editors of the journal then send copies of the manuscript to anonymous reviewers, who either endorse the findings and make suggestions for better clarity or deny the manuscript and don’t allow its publication.
Of nearly 150 scientific journals in plant biology, P, C & E is ranked 10th by the Institute of Scientific Information, an organization that has provided databases, journals and resources for librarians, researchers, faculty and students the world over for the last 42 years.
However, P, C & E is ranked fourth when review-only journals are excluded, Smith said. P, C & E reviews about 400 manuscripts a year and accepts only about 150 for print.
Mott was awarded College of Science Researcher of the Year in 1996 and the D. Wynne Thorne Award for University-wide Researcher of the Year in 1997.