Even though you are probably reading this almost a month into 2016, let me start off this editorial by wishing all of you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. I am confident that many of you found a way during the course of 2015 to celebrate the International Year of Light, and might even be planning to attend the closing ceremony next month in Mexico. If you did not, you may be interested to know that 2016 has been designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Pulses. Unfortunately, we are not talking about pulses in the manner you may be accustomed, such as femtopulses of light. Instead, UNESCO is honoring leguminous crops like lentils, beans, and peas that yield dry grains or seeds. If nothing else, this year’s International Year celebrations might be quite healthy.
The rest of this editorial is devoted to reviewers. As mentioned in previous editorials, I believe that reviewers are the unsung heroes of scholarly journals. Generally operating in anonymity, they ensure that published articles meet the journal’s standards of originality, significance, scientific accuracy, and professional quality. In 2015, Optical Engineering benefitted from the work of roughly 1700 reviewers who volunteered their time for this important professional responsibility, many performing multiple reviews. In recognition of their services, this issue includes a complete list of all of the active Optical Engineering reviewers in 2015. If you are a contributing reviewer, I would like to personally thank you for your support of the journal since we simply could not function without it.
I also want to take this opportunity to recognize a small number of reviewers who went well beyond the call of duty in terms of the extent, timeliness, and quality of their reviews. This continues the tradition I started last year identifying the top ten reviewers from the previous year. I readily admit that this is both a difficult and subjective task, and I will undoubtedly fail to recognize many excellent reviewers who also deserve recognition. I apologize in advance for that.
The strongest candidates were identified again based on three primary factors: reviews completed, timeliness of reviews, and quality of reviews. The first two characteristics were directly assessed from the manuscript review database, and the final attribute was based on assessments and recommendations of the Associate and Senior Editors comprising the editorial board. The top candidates generally reviewed 5 or more Optical Engineering manuscripts over the course of the past year, accepted most of their review requests, and completed their reviews within 20 days of the request.
Based on this assessment, I would like to recognize the following individuals as the top ten reviewers for Optical Engineering in 2015:
Dr. Miguel Alonso, Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, United States (geometrical optics and optical propagation)
Dr. Rajib Chakraborty, Department of Applied Optics and Photonics, University of Calcutta, India (integrated optics and fiber optic sensors)
Dr. Ching-Hung Chang, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Chiayi University, Chiayi, Taiwan (optical communications)
Prof. Jian Chen, Nanjing University of Post and Telecommunications, China (optical communications and coherent optical systems)
Prof. Chi-Wai Chow, Department of Photonics, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan (fiber optics and optical communications)
Dr. Xinhuan Feng, Institute of Photonics Technology, Jinan University, China (fiber lasers and fiber optics)
Prof. Chittur Subramanian Narayanamurthy, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, India (active optics and coherent optics)
Dr. Sam Ragland, W. M. Keck Observatory, United States of America (astronomy and interferometry)
Dr. Chao Wang, School of Engineering and Digital Arts, University of Kent, United Kingdom (photonics and fiber optics)
Mr. Xin Xie, Oakland University, United States of America (shearography and holography)
Please join me in thanking these reviewers for their exceptional service in addition to all others who have contributed to the continued success of this journal. I hope that you continue to provide your professional expertise in this manner, and look forward to recognizing more top reviewers next year.
Happy New Year!
