Introduction: With Thanks

The Southeastern Geographer is moving north. Our four-year term as editors comes to an end with this issue and volume 52 will see the journal reside in the very capable hands and minds of Carl “Andy” Reese and David Cochran at the University of Southern Mississippi. We wish them every success in this endeavor and we hope that you readers will support them fully as you have us.

During the last four years, we believe we have made some significant changes to the Southeastern Geographer, not least being establishing the journal as genuine quarterly publication. During this time, we believe we have maintained the journal’s high academic quality thanks primarily to the wonderful support of the SEDAAG members.

Serving as editors over has been personally rewarding for us in many ways. Certainly, the opportunity to read all the articles submitted to the journal provided valuable insights into where the discipline is going and what constitutes cutting edge research. It is very clear that the discipline is alive and well, with new scholars challenging the old paradigms, bringing in new ideas, and asking pertinent geographic questions. At the same time, senior scholars have been very much a part of the success of the Southeastern Geographer providing their own research articles, their academic wisdom, and their support.

Of course, with any editorship come important responsibilities, not least being meeting publication deadlines, and providing open and meaningful feedback to authors and reviewers. In this respect, we are grateful to Leslie North (now a faculty member at Western Kentucky University) for all her assistance. It is because of Leslie that the response time from receipt of an article to publication decision was so efficient, averaging just 42 days. She kept us all on track and encouraged reviewers to submit timely reviews and authors to submit changes promptly. This position, we should add, was funded until this year by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Florida. Others who have made important contributions to the Southeastern Geographer include our book review editors, Chris Meindl (USF St. Petersburg), Spencer Fluery (USF), and Leslie North (Western Kentucky). In addition, we have published several special and joint editions with guest editors; these include, Derek Alderman, Altha Cravey, Bill Graves, Allan James, Chris Meindl, Arnold Modlin, Luis Sanchez, Gabriela Valdivia and James O. Wheeler. We also thank Luis Sanchez who translated abstracts into Spanish.

Over the years, we have used a large number of you as reviewers, for which we are most grateful (see the list of reviewers we have used, some on many occasions, at the end of this issue). We cannot thank you enough for all the time and effort that you put into this. Without you, this journal would not have been possible. Nevertheless, ultimately publication decisions were ours and we take full responsibility. We know that not all scholars will have agreed with our decisions to publish, or not to publish, particular articles, but that is the essence of serving as editors. We have probably made some mistakes, maybe published something that was not based on top tier research with which you had issues, or rejected an article that subsequently proved to be an important contribution to the literature. If we have, we apologize. The system is not perfect, but the best system we have in our field. Again, any mistakes are ours and we take full responsibility for any errors.

Finally, all this has only been possible because of the tremendous work of previous editors; we have built on their work. The editors have been: James A. Shear, University of Georgia (1961–1963); Lillian W. Stimson, University of Tennessee (1964); Richard Lonsdale, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1965–1971); Stephen S. Birdsall, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1972–1975); Sidney R. Jumper, University of Tennessee (1976–1979); Allen D. Bushong, University of South Carolina (1980–1983); J. Dennis Lord, University of North Carolina, Charlotte (1984–1987); John J. Winberry, University of South Carolina (1988–1991); James O. Wheeler, University of Georgia (1992–2003); Derek Alderman and Scott Lecce, East Carolina University...