Journal Issues/The New Journal Format

[Wilky]

I haven't received a journal since the Mar/April edition. Who do I contact?

Thanks,

Ron W.

[Ron Bell]

Email Marie at manager@ipmsusa.org for all things membership or Journal. 

[ghodges]

Though it probably won't comfort you, the Mar/Apr issue is the last one I have sitting on my shelf, and the May/June issue is FAR overdue even if you allow for the usual one month late mailing in July. 

It would be VERY gratifying if someone on the Eboard actually took the time to read the IPMSUSA DF and respond to member concerns here, especially now that the Journal may actually be without an Editor since Chris Bucholz resigned last week.

The Journal is the ONE tangible asset that every member gets for their money, and your legitimate question, as well as how the Journal will be handled going forward is probably THE most pressing question at this time. Tackle the problem of late mailings, get it back on schedule, and have an Editor take the helm who shows they have a purpose and direction for the Journal going forward and the membership can be maintained. Failing to solve those problems for the next year will start a downward spiral of NON-renewals since people aren't getting what they paid for, and THAT can have far reaching consequences that will take years to recover from, if at all.

 

Gil 

[Mark Deliduka]

I didn't know Chris had resigned. Wow, I'm so out of touch

[PaulBradley]

 

[Wilky]

Well, this isn't good.

[Neo]

I just got the May/June issue of the Journal today, and it looks very different, almost boutique-ey.

I have my copy sent to my office and almost missed it in the pile of incoming architectural design mags.

I’m not sure “IUJ” is such a great rename though.  Okay I’ll just say it - I don’t like it.  There, I said it and I’m done.  And the main body text is light grey, making it very hard to read.  The layout needs a little tweaking too.  I’m sure the Journal team will get the bugs wrung out in time.

Anyway, the Journal should be coming to your mailboxes soon.

[TomDougherty]

I just put up a separate posting on the almost unreadable light gray (grey?) print.   IUJ is also abbreviation employed for the International Urogynecology Journal published by Springer Publications.   

Edited August 23, 2024 by TomDougherty

[SkyKing]

Got my copy of the ”International Urogynecology Journal” (plastic modeling edition) today, and I am thoroughly underwhelmed: light gray type that’s extremely difficult for my 78-year-old eyes to read; a typeface for the main text that has too thin a stroke, making legibility even worse (but “pull quotes” are black and easy to read?!!); inconsistent page layouts; large blocks of empty space. Some articles have photos that are too large, some have photos that are too small. Some photos have rounded corners, some do not. A variety of “artsy-fartsy”typefaces are used for article titles. And that awful, ugly, enormous “IUJ” logo on the cover, with ”IPMS USA JOURNAL” relegated to smaller print underneath, is nothing but confusing.

This entire issue suggests it was put together by a novice desktop publishing student who just acquired the latest software and tried to use as many different features as possible in an attempt to show “mastery” of it. It’s a mess.

In case it’s not already obvious, I’m greatly disappointed. I’ve been a member of IPMS-USA since 1967 (#1746), and have seen our publications evolve from a mimeographed attachment to the IPMS-UK magazine to a professionally designed and printed printed publication, but this issue of the “Journal” is in my opinion an embarrassment to the organization. I also have over twenty years’ experience in editing and publishing as a book and journal editor for a small publisher, publications manager and production editor for two large fraternal organizations, a newspaper copy editor and page layout designer, and copy/page layout/production editor for Squadron-Signal Publications, and I can tell you that the purpose of any publication is to convey information in an attractive, useful format. But first of all it should be LEGIBLE with a CONSISTENT, UNCOMPLICATED STYLE to be effective, and this issue fails on most counts. The best portions of it are the ads and notices of forthcoming local contests which have doubtless been designed and submitted by outside sources.

Past issues of the Journal have met the test of attractiveness, usefulness, and LEGIBILITY. So why was it decided to change a format that works apparently only for the sake of change?

Edited August 23, 2024 by SkyKing

[Ron Bell]

The IUJ thing is reminiscent of "New Coke". 

[ghodges]

Well..... if you look at the statement made by the Eboard they told us that THIS issue was "flawed"..... They've already acknowledged the light print problem and I'm sure the feed back they'll get here and elsewhere will be incorporated going forward.

One of my concerns, and one that is mentioned in the most recent Eboard minutes is they have a "bevy" or "bunch" of editors they're using to get the Journal out and back on schedule. While that may make the work load less and easier on each, that may also be leading to the jumbled and differing styles within the new Journal as each one does it "their way" and it's all thrown in between the covers. It could be that the Eboard will need to pick ONE head editor to lead the way and sort things out better in order to get things more orderly for printing. Hopefully time and experience will sort that out. We'll see.

 

Gil 

[SkyKing]

21 hours ago, ghodges said:

One of my concerns, and one that is mentioned in the most recent Eboard minutes is they have a "bevy" or "bunch" of editors they're using to get the Journal out and back on schedule. While that may make the work load less and easier on each, that may also be leading to the jumbled and differing styles within the new Journal as each one does it "their way" and it's all thrown in between the covers. It could be that the Eboard will need to pick ONE head editor to lead the way and sort things out better in order to get things more orderly for printing. Hopefully time and experience will sort that out. We'll see.

 

Gil 

It certainly looks like it was put together by a committee. And that reminds me of a comment made by a former mentor and board chairman of a non-profit agency I once worked for: “For God so loved the world, he DIDN’T send a committee!”

[Circuitrider]

Just got my copy of the new Journal and must say that, with the exception of the light typeface (which has been addressed by those who control such things) and delay, I like it. I like the layout, the look, and what I consider to be a more linear presentation. It looks more like what I pick up when I grab a publicly available model magazine at the bookstore.

One member’s opinion.

I also find it wildly ironic that we who belong to an organization known by the initials IPMS, would dig deeply enough to find a professional urology journal with the same initials as the new journal and take exception. For those who don’t get my reference, PMS is a widely used acronym that refers to Premenstrual Syndrome.

Glass houses and all…

[TomDougherty]

Didn't have to dig deep for the journal reference.  I just retired from the Department of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School.  Multiply drug resistant pathogens are a major issue in both urological and gynecological wards, and we did molecular biology and drug development on a couple of those pathogens.  One of the journals where such cases are reported was the IUJ (science journal).  And we would monitor articles and the journal was referred colloquially in the field as the IUJ, just as we referred to Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy as AAC (where I have been on the editorial board for 20 years).  

So as soon as I saw IUJ on the cover of the new format, the urogynecology journal popped into my head.  

Edited November 9, 2025 by TomDougherty

[Circuitrider]

12 minutes ago, TomDougherty said:

Didn't have to dig deep.  I just retired from the Department of Microbiolgy at Harvard Medical School.  Multiply drug resistant pathogens are a major issue in both urological and gynecological wards, and we did molecular biology and drug development on a couple of those pathogens.  One of the journals where such cases are reported was the IUJ.  And we would monitor it and the journal was referred to as the IUJ, just as we referred to Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy as AAC (where I have been on the editorial board for 20 years).  So as soon as I saw IUJ, the urogynecology journal popped into my head.  

Lol! Understood. Worked as a medical professional for many years, a realm with an incredible, but often necessarily incessant need for acronyms. But still...the irony in this case...

I've seen at least one response that mocked the "IUJ" name as a contraceptive-like. 😁

[TomDougherty]

7 minutes ago, Circuitrider said:

Lol! Understood. Worked as a medical professional for many years, a realm with an incredible, but often necessarily incessant need for acronyms. But still...the irony in this case...

So you know what the terminology and acronyms are like to monitor mRNA levels using MuLV reverse transcriptase and Rnase H  to convert the RNA transcripts to DNA for NGS with Illumina.  To say nothing of editing with CRISPR-Cas. 

 

For what it's worth, my main complaint was about the light gray type & the use of IUJ.  The format didn't bother me.  

Edited August 24, 2024 by TomDougherty

[Circuitrider]

9 minutes ago, TomDougherty said:

So you know what the terminology and acronyms are like to monitor mRNA levels using MuLV reverse transcriptase and Rnase H  to convert the RNA transcripts to DNA for NGS with Illumina.  To say nothing of editing with CRISPR-Cas. 

 

For what it's worth, my main complaint was about the light gray type & the use of IUJ.  The format didn't bother me.  

😄 I will admit to knowing only a few of those, but yes! My realm was relegated more to the trauma, critical care, SCI, TBI, and CVA types.

Understood about the type/name.

[AP40rocktruck]

Well, after a very long absence from the IPMS, I received my May / June 2024 Journal issue today August 23.  I have ONE glaring dislike, why is the type in every article so light or faded?  Meanwhile all the adds are full color and bold type.  What the heck, instant headache trying to read the articles.  Very disappointed in the magazine.  Maybe time to stop printing & go digital...

My 2 pennies.

Rick

[Highlander]

1 hour ago, TomDougherty said:

 So as soon as I saw IUJ on the cover of the new format, the urogynecology journal popped into my head.  

The neural connection it engendered may be entirely appropriate.

[Circuitrider]

4 minutes ago, Highlander said:

The neural connection it engendered may be entirely appropriate.

🤣😂🤣 

Indeed!

[Spruemeister]

The large areas of blank white page in some of the layout is reminiscent of the food world and its artistic “negative space” where you plate all the food to one side of an otherwise empty dish. Not gonna work in a publication meant to convey information and hold a readers attention. I can stare at a sheet of paper from my printer and get the same effect.   If the issue is a lack of available content then that’s concerning and needs to be resolved. 
And what happened with the overly dark one page Squadron ad that left you guessing what the subject matter was? Wonder how they felt about it.
I didn’t take it as a good sign when one of the first things I read was Ro’s header asking to “Embrace Change”.  Kinda put me in a defensive mindset before I had a chance to look at anything else.  Change happens.  But this has the feel of “we did because we can” not “because we should”.

Overall, this issue left me feeling like it wasn’t worth the money paid for it.  That can’t continue if we’re going to maintain membership and attract new.
 

Rick L. 
24799

[SkyKing]

12 hours ago, AP40rocktruck said:

Well, after a very long absence from the IPMS, I received my May / June 2024 Journal issue today August 23.  I have ONE glaring dislike, why is the type in every article so light or faded?  Meanwhile all the adds are full color and bold type.  What the heck, instant headache trying to read the articles.  Very disappointed in the magazine.  Maybe time to stop printing & go digital...

My 2 pennies.

Rick

It is undoubtedly digital already: Produced on computer(s) using desktop publishing software (Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress, etc.), saved as a press-ready digital file (PDF), and emailed to printer for printing directly from the file on a digital color press or printed to film for making litho plates for 4-color ink (CMYK) printing. That’s been the normal method since at least the early 2000s when I was editor at Squadron-Signal.

[Circuitrider]

From the IPMS FB page:

For everyone that is still receiving the IPMS/USA Journal: We're getting multiple posts about the color of the text, the layout, the readability - so instead of posting multiple posts about the same issues - we just want to re-post the official response posted by Ro Annis, Publications Director of the journal earlier this week:

"Hello All. I am the Publications Director of the IPMS/USA Journal. The lighter gray text was a design decision we made while putting the new magazine together. I didn't realize that this would make it so hard to read and once I got my copy I realized that we will need to change this going forward (even my wife had a few choice words for me regarding this). Ultimately, this is my responsibility. I have set up a separate email address (iujfeedback@ipmsusa.org) where you can direct your constructive feedback. The new team worked hard to get this issue completed in order to get back on schedule. At this moment we are assembling the Nats winner's issue."

[ghodges]

Here's some more food for thought on the new Journal..... I'm posting the latest cover below AND the last one produced by the old staff (Chris Bucholz). Please note one of the BIG differences is in what INSIDE MATERIAL is alluded to ON THE COVERS. The old one clearly indicates that several different modeling genre articles are covered in the magazine. The newest issue looks like a "car mag", with no references to any other type of modeling articles included.

Regardless of the idea of trying to be "new", or "modern", or "improved"; If only ONE KIND of model is featured on the Journal cover as shown here, then it will appear as if it is for THAT genre only instead of trying to appeal to ALL genres as much as possible.

Just another consideration the new editor/editorial committee needs to consider going forward!

 

Gil 

Edited August 25, 2024 by ghodges

[SkyKing]

And that model article could have benefited from larger photos WITH CAPTIONS instead of a bunch of uncaptioned small photos. Enlarging the photos in this one article would undoubtedly have lessened the jarring amount of white space in  the magazine.