From the editor.

At the time of my writing this brief note, I will have been editing the Journal for almost one year. I must say that I have truly enjoyed being Editor--it's challenging and affords me the opportunity to see the most up-to-date research in advertising. For those of you who have submitted papers:

thank you. To those who have not yet submitted a manuscript, please consider doing so. The heart of a good journal is submissions, and I want to encourage all potential authors to consider The Journal of Advertising as the top outlet for your research that deals with advertising. Also, thanks to all who have reviewed manuscripts for the Journal! If you would like to become a reviewer for The Journal of Advertising, please check out our Web page and complete the necessary form. We had a record number of submissions this year so we can definitely use more good reviewers.

At this time, I am pleased to announce that we will be soliciting manuscripts for two forthcoming special issues of the Journal. The first deals with integrated marketing communication (IMC). I am fortunate that three leading scholars/educators in the area of IMC have agreed to serve as Co-editors of the special issue: Tom Duncan, Chuck Patti, and Don Schultz. We have included the "Call for Papers" in this issue of the Journal, and I urge you to read it carefully so that you can prepare a paper that can be submitted to the special issue. Please note that the "Call" is looking for manuscripts that deal with a broad array of IMC topics, including conceptual/definitional ideas and empirical pieces. The deadline for submission to this special issue is November 15, 2004.

The second special issue for which we will be soliciting manuscripts deals with advertising media audiences. This topic is a bit different from those that we often deal with in the Journal, so I believe that we may attract some new authors who have fresh ideas on audience matters. Hairong Li brought the idea for the special issue to me, and has gratefully agreed to serve as Associate Editor for it (Steven Wildman has agreed to serve as Editor). We have included the "Call for Papers" for this topic in this issue as well, and once again, I urge you to look it over carefully. The "Call" asks for papers that deal with many different topics, including those that identify media consumption patterns and assessments of the "value" of certain audiences. The deadline for submission to this special issue is January 15, 2005.

We are making progress on several initiatives that I brought to the AAA (American Academy of Advertising) Publications Committee last spring. First, I have revised the Journal's "Information to Contributors" page. I have added a bit more detail and provided instructions for electronic submissions to the Journal. We hope to allow authors to submit manuscripts via the Internet in the near future, and are working to upgrade the homepage with a discussion board and other information as well.

I am very excited by one additional matter: The College of Business at Iowa State University has moved to a new facility. Thus, my office and the Editorial Office of the Journal are in new quarters. Please note that while our phone numbers will remain unchanged, we have a new fax number (515-294-7112). Our new address is:

Journal of Advertising Editorial Office Iowa State University Department of Marketing Suite 2350, Gerdin Business Building Ames, IA 50011-1350

I am happy to have completed my first year as Editor. As always, I welcome comments and/or suggestions, preferably via e-mail at laczniak@iastate.edu.

Russell N. Laczniak

Iowa State University