| “If you want to
be incrementally better: Be competitive. If you want to be exponentially
better: Be cooperative.” Anon.
As of the December 2007 publication issue, the IEEE/OSA Journal of Lightwave
Technology celebrated its 25th anniversary. We, as a past and present
Editor-in-Chief, heartily congratulate all of JLT’s authors, readers,
editors, and reviewers on this milestone achievement!!
The journal has thrived over the past 25 years and has produced some
of the most seminal contributions in lightwave technology. Many key
scholarly articles can be found in individual manuscripts as well as
in targeted Special Issues. Moreover, the topics treated in JLT have
continually evolved over time to be at the very forefront of our field.
It is not surprising that JLT is consistently ranked near the top of
all electrical engineering and optics journals in terms of its impact
on readership.
Dating back to 1983, JLT has enjoyed the insightful leadership of some
extremely distinguished individuals, namely Tom Giallorenzi (Editor-in-Chief
‘83-’88), Don Keck (Editor-in-Chief ‘89-’94),
and Rod Alferness (Editor-in-Chief ‘95-’00). [Please read
the inset boxes of their personal perspectives.] We have all strived
to maintain the extremely high standards of quality that are the cornerstone
of our community. We have grown dramatically over the years and now
publish ~5,000 pages annually. Additionally, we are highly international,
with approximately 75% of the manuscript submissions and 66% of the
Editors originating from countries outside the U.S.
We are a “big tent” in terms of diverse topics, constituents,
and geography, and our journal occupies a unique position among the
technical societies. It was recognized from the beginning that lightwave
technology is a multidisciplinary field. Therefore, through the efforts
of many wise individuals such as Henry Kressel, the journal was formed
by a collection of seven IEEE technical societies (AES: Aerospace and
Electronic Systems, ComSoc: Communications Society, ED: Electron Devices,
IM: Instrumentation and Measurements, LEOS: Laser and Electro-Optics
Society, MTT: Microwave Theory and Techniques, and UFFC: Ultrasonics,
Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control) and the Optical Society of America
(OSA). This cooperation/collaboration is a tremendous asset in terms
of capturing emerging topics as well as directing effort wherever it
brings the most value to the readers.
JLT is governed by Coordinating and Steering Committees that: (i) have
representation from each of the sponsoring societies, and (ii) meet
regularly to discuss strategic and budgetary matters. The committee
members are leading figures that take their professional responsibility
quite seriously, and the current Chair of both committees is John Lee,
a master at predicting page budgets (see inset box). Primary publishing
of JLT is expertly handled by the IEEE LEOS publications staff, and
we extend our deepest appreciation to Douglas Hargis and Linda Matarazzo
for their tireless efforts and good cheer!
 |
| Figure 1. The sponsoring societies of the Journal
of Lightwave Technology |
In addition to the 12 regular monthly publication issues, we annually
produce several special issues. These are compact archival resources
of high-quality technical information on a specific subject and enable
the journal to more readily expand into emerging technologies. special
issues help plant us as a valuable resource in new areas as well as
cement our leadership in our core strengths. It should be emphasized
that the scope of JLT is quite broad, and we are uniquely situated to
sponsor multi-disciplinary Special Issues that cover technologies related
to any of our eight sponsoring societies. An added bonus is that we
publish an annual Special Issue on the Conference on Optical Fiber Communications
(OFC), which is the premier meeting in its field and is also co-sponsored
by the IEEE and the OSA. In this Special Issue, Tutorial and Post-Deadline
Papers are highlighted.
We want to call your attention to the upcoming Special Issue on the
25th Anniversary of JLT that will appear in mid-2008. The papers are
historical perspectives concerning various technologies that have had
great impact, and the list of authors is a veritable “Who’s
Who” from our community. Topics will include: fiber and waveguide
design, LEDs and lasers, integrated optics, receivers, nonlinearities,
communication systems, networks, measurements, sensors, and microwave
photonics. It is quite exciting to imagine the dramatic impact of JLT
that will be chronicled in the 50th Anniversary Special Issue!
If you haven’t been a participant in JLT, come join us. If you
have been involved, “three cheers for us!”
 Thomas
G. Giallorenzi, Editor-in-Chief (1983-1988)
By the early ‘80’s, it had become obvious that optical
guided-wave technology was becoming firmly entrenched and that it
was starting to establish itself in the commercial world. The IEEE
examined whether a journal dedicated to this technology was warranted
by publishing several special issues in the Journal of Quantum Electronics.
The success of these special issues confirmed that the membership
within multiple IEEE societies as well as the OSA could easily sustain
such a journal. Since several societies came to this conclusion at
the same time, instead of competing, they decided on a cooperative
approach by publishing a joint journal with seven IEEE societies and
the OSA as co-sponsors. The cooperative nature for sponsoring JLT
fostered the sharing of critical technical data that led to rapid
advances in the field. The interdisciplinary makeup of the sponsoring
societies also contributed to the journal’s offering a complete
picture of important advances and was a unique characteristic the
journal brought to scientific publishing at the time.
As it was my pleasure to serve as the first editor of JLT, I can attest
to the hard work many volunteers contributed to making the Journal
a success. Henry Kressel led the way in establishing the journal as
well as building consensus to the concept of a cooperative journal.
The JLT Steering Committee representing all the sponsoring societies
proactively labored to make the journal the premier source of lightwave
technology information. There are numerous associated editors and
IEEE staff who also made important contributions. After 25 years of
publication, all associated with JLT can be proud of these accomplishments
and our contributions to spreading guided-wave knowledge.
 Donald
B. Keck, Editor-in-Chief (1989-1994)
It seems hard to believe that JLT has been serving our technology
for a quarter century. The Journal was a wonderful creation by some
far-sighted individuals. They saw the tremendous future of lightwave
technology and the benefit of providing a single preeminent source
of the latest peer reviewed technical information in our rapidly moving
science and technology arena. More importantly, they forged a collaborative
effort among the relevant professional societies. JLT provides efficiency
for the readership.
During my tenure as editor, our field experienced remarkable technological
advancement. One of my great delights was to see the very latest breakthroughs
unfolding as the papers came across my desk from around the world.
The erbium amplifier was providing the second revolution in optical
fiber telecommunications. That ushered in the excitement of WDM devices
and systems, and the beginning of optical networking. Several special
issues were assembled to chronicle the rapid progress.
I found it most gratifying that there were noted scientists from around
the globe willing to serve as Associate Editors and reviewers. Perhaps
it happens in any endeavor that friendships are established. But it
always seemed to me that the collegiality of our arena, being so new
and vibrant, built more and stronger relationships on an international
scale. The Journal was and still is an important part in making that
happen - a treasure for our technology.
We should all be proud of the role we have had in creating the Information
Age and a truly better world. I can’t wait to read the 50th
anniversary issue!
 Rodney
C. Alferness, Editor-in-Chief (1995-2000)
I feel extremely fortunate that the years of my tenure as editor were
extremely exciting and productive times for lightwave communications
and for our journal. The earlier breakthrough of the practical optical
fiber amplifier had opened up the field of WDM transmission systems,
and, driven by a growing demand for bandwidth, commercial systems
were being deployed. Furthermore, research teams around the world
leveraged this new technology to achieve single fiber transmission
capacities exceeding 1 Terabit/sec over long, unregenerated distances.
The reality of optical transmission systems encouraged researchers
to consider the feasibility and value proposition of wavelength-routed
networks and their enabling switching elements. Given that these networks
required the functionality that integrated optical (IO) circuits could
provide, research on IO elements heated up as well. Moreover, the
long distances enabled by amplifiers also drove research on techniques
to mitigate the impact of transmission impairments.
While innovative lightwave technologies were enabling major advances
in the capabilities of lightwave systems, the Internet suddenly appeared
as the “killer” application that could benefit from cost-effective
bandwidth reaching around the world. All these exciting research and
commercial developments built on each other, resulting in great energy
in the field and important papers for JLT. Through the dedicated and
tireless efforts of the Associate and Guest Editors, volunteer peer
reviewers, authors and JLT staff, we were able, I believe, to capture
the excitement, growth and impact of lightwave technology in the journal.
I am honored and thankful to have been part of this important period
in the history of JLT.
 John
N. Lee, Chair, JLT Coordinating and Steering Committees
The business aspects and publication policies of most journals are
governed by a single society. However, volunteers to JLT’s multi-organization
IEEE Steering and IEEE/OSA Coordinating Committees govern JLT. I am
privileged to have served with these selfless volunteers for most
of JLT’s 25 years. JLT was established to forestall a destructive
proliferation of journals that threatened fragmented publication of
results in lightwave technology areas, and its governing committees
have successfully established an unprecedented level of cooperation
among the sponsoring societies. Over the years, JLT has also had to
address: (i) emerging new lightwave emphases, (ii) changeable publication
costs, and (iii) the advent of electronic publishing.
Paul Shumate, I, and many others on the Steering Committee have had
the privilege of helping JLT obtain good financial footing in its
early growth years. Now the challenge is to assure that the resources
will be available to allow expansion. Moreover, the Coordinating Committee
addresses publication policy, chooses the Editor-in-Chief / Associate
Editors, and is actively involved in the technical direction.
JLT is very enthusiastic about working with journals whose mainline
emphasis is not lightwave, but which have a readership with specific
interests in some lightwave topics. We have been very pro-active in
working with other journals to publish Joint Special Issues either
under the JLT banner or under another journal’s banner, to be
sent to both readerships. Moreover, there has been discussion on how
JLT can better serve our community by leveraging the journal with
other activities. For example, Bernie Gollomp of the IEEE IMS has
organized conferences and joint publications with JLT in the area
of optical measurements.
As JLT looks to the future, I anticipate further growth, but also
new challenges.
|
