Editorial

Editorial YOUR JOURNAL APOLOGIZES The Annals apologizes to all readers for recent delays in the delivery of the journal. A totally unexpected loss of funds created a cash flow problem and financial crisis. The crisis focuses attention on some long-term problems faced by the Annals and many other professional journals . These may be of interest to readers. First, it is the Annals' major function to serve the professional groups which are its sponsors, namely the Convention of American Instructors of the Deaf and the Conference of Educational Administrators Serving the Deaf. Equally important , the Annals' content should serve the interests of deaf children, deaf adults, and the families of deaf children. These are awesome responsibilities. The two biggest problems faced are obtaining good relevant articles and remaining fiscally solvent . What the Annals needs in terms of copy is articles of direct practical value to teachers and administrators. The dilemma with most professional practitioners, whether their field be medicine , psychology, law, or some other area, is that they tend to be too busy to write. Yet, when they read their professional journal they are appalled at the lack of practical applied articles in its contents . Instead of material of relevance they see esoteric abstract articles about irrelevant minutia written in polysyllabic "educationeeze" punctuated by meaningless tables of obtuse analyses of trivia. Short of having a staff of paid writers such as the Scientific American has, the realistic solution to the problem is for teachers and administrators to submit articles to the Annals. Short ones are best because the journal is limited to 48 pages per issue except for advertising space. The second problem of the Annals is money. Despite the fact that the Editor, Associate Editors , and Editorial Reviewers receive no pay, printing and mailing costs continue to escalate. This harsh reality is unlikely to change. Increased subscriptions, more advertising, and better fiscal management are the major prerequisites for survival. For these events to occur, we must improve Annals content. To this end we appeal to teachers, administrators , and other practitioners in the field of deafness to submit articles. Your manuscript will be read and evaluated by two qualified people in the subject area of the article and by the Editor. We do "blind" reviews. Thus, no one knows the name, title, or degrees of the author when a paper is reviewed. Every effort is made to have a publication decision to you as soon as possible. NOTES The publication schedule for the American Annals of the Deaf follows: December 1984 March 1985 April 1985 (Reference Issue) July 1985 October 1985 December 1985 McCay Vernon, Ph.D. Editor 398 A.A.D. I November 1984 ...