The purpose of this article is to provide information regarding Perspectives, the process of the publication of Perspectives and to encourage the reader to consider contributing an article for publication.

Readers are invited to check out an issue of Perspectives which will only be accessible while the conference is "live." After the conference concludes, although you will be able to view the table of contents and abstracts, access to the full-text articles in Perspectives will require membership in ASHA's Special Interest Division 4.

Purpose of Perspectives

The ASHA Special Interest Division 4 publishes Perspectives on Fluency and Fluency Disorders three times each year for ASHA Division 4 members. The mission of Perspectives is to

History ofPerspectives

Perspectives was first published in 1992 and has had several editors: Gordon Blood, Ted Peters, Charley Healey, Hugo Gregory, Bob Quesal, Nancy Hall, and John Tetnowski. I will be ending my tenure as editor this year and Rod Gabel will be assuming the role of editor, along with Joe Donaher as associate editor in 2010. Over the years there have been many contributors. Authors have included numerous researchers, clinicians, and people who stutter. In 2008 there were two major changes to Perspectives, it became an electronic publication and it also became available as an ASHA continuing education activity.

The Publication Process

The process of putting an issue together includes multiple steps beginning with authors. Some authors submit articles to Perspectives on their own, but most articles have come from direct invitation from the editor and/or associate editor. Once an author has submitted a paper, it is sent to the Division Review Board (DRB), made up of 8-12 people who serve as peer reviewers. Each article is reviewed by a minimum of two peer reviewers , the editor and the associate editor. Authors may be asked to make revisions, based on reviewer feedback . Each year there are typically one to two articles that are declined for publication based on reviewer feedback. Once the revised articles are received from the authors, the issue is sent to our Continuing Education Administrator (CEA) who ensures that the content has been reviewed by the DRB, reviews/edits the articles in the issue and corresponding continuing education questions, determines the amount of continuing education credit that can be earned by participants, and sends feedback and suggested changes back to the editor. Once the suggested changes have been resolved, the editor submits the issue to the Associate Director for Communications at the ASHA National Office where the issue is edited again for grammar, content, and conformance with ASHAšs publication style and standards. A proof of the issue, along with queries, is then returned to the editor, the division coordinator, and to the Director of Special Interests Divisions and any articles to other National Office personnel, as appropriate, for additional review. The editor submits answers to all queries and suggested edits back to the ASHA Associate Director for Communications who finalizes the newsletter and submits it to Highwire for publication.

An Invitation

Perspectives on Fluency and Fluency Disorders has a rich history and strong track record of quality publications which can only continue through the participation of speech-language pathologists interested in fluency and fluency disorders (research or clinical) and interested people who stutter. Please consider this article as an open invitation to submit to Perspectives. Manuscripts can be research articles, related to topical issues, ideas for therapy, consumer response or opinion (from someone who stutters), or related to any topic that you may feel is relevant to the area of fluency and fluency disorders. If you would like to submit an article or if you have questions regarding a potential article, please contact Rod Gabel, editor, at rgabel@bgsu.edu .

ASHA (2007, November). DIV 4 Perspectives on Fluency and Fluency Disorders, 17 (3), 2.

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