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Starting to gather history here. Very little is reflected here as yet. Please add to this by sending information to Barbara.
The Journal and Quarterly were established by a committee that took the SWJ and the SWQ to the AGU. The committee was chaired by Paul Song?
When the announcement for possible editors went out, Louis Lanzerotti did not initially consider responding as he was still employed part time at Bell Labs and did not think that he could devote sufficient time to a journal. However just at the deadline for applications, AGU staff in charge of the start up called and asked him to consider applying. The committee and AGU was looking for someone with practical experience and knowledge of the field and someone that was willing think outside the scope of simply another JGR-type journal, which is not what the Union wanted. After considering all applicants, it was Louis that was chosen to inaugurate this new publication.
The journal began with the intent to be an on-line technical magazine, with the exact format space being up to editor-in-chief in terms of recruiting the various types of non-technical articles. In addition, there would be a hard copy digest, SWQ. All were committed to ensuring that SW would not become another JGR-Blue.
At the outset and for several years a significant effort was expended in recruiting the types of technical articles that fit the scope of the journal. It was hard (and still can be) to get articles that do not parrot the JGR style and content. Significant editorial suggestions are required for perhaps 20%-25% of the technical papers received before they go to peer review and the editor edits closely all of the non-technical articles. These interactions were critical to ensure the final product is readily accessible by the intended audience while also being absolutely technically sound.
The NSF and others wanted a hard copy digest that could be delivered to policy and decision makers, as well as other users. NSF provided the leadership and means for this and instituted a five-year grant to AGU to largely cover the costs of this hard copy digest. This grant expired in [INSERT YEAR] and, to date, has not been resubmitted for renewal.
At the start and for some six or seven years there was a small budget for freelance writers for non-technical news and Features as needed. This was utilized on start up, but decreased as the editors have largely been able to solicit enough non-technical material from Space Weather practitioners that the use of freelancers ceased in 2009 or 2010.
For the first decade, the journal was managed by the News department of the AGU. In this department, the journal benefited from access on occasion to the writers in this department to cover a news story if Louis (or some volunteer) could not make it. These AGU writers also provided the interview Features, under the guidance of the editor. In 2012, management of the Journal and Quarterly were moved to the publications division. Access to the news department writers was interrupted and several regular features in the journal suffered for a year or more while the publications division modernized its publication activities through Wiley Online Library. In this first decade, AGU staff did the layout of the SWQ and the artwork.