How IEEE Software Engineers Its Content

Topically reactive publications Most technical computing publications are topically reactive— they depend mainly on unsolicited submissions to fill their pages every year. Prior to joining IEEE Software, I was editor in chief of another academic journal for almost 10 years. Readers would often suggest I publish more on this or that topic. Unfortunately, because the topics we published were what the contributors chose to submit, we had little flexibility in “engineering” the journal’s content. For the most part, leading a reactive publication is much like riding an inner tube over a waterfall. Rather than planning your trip, you’re along for the ride. On the other hand, reactive publications are useful in that they accurately reflect the topics that researchers and other luminaries are currently thinking about. For instance, if lots of people are thinking about inspections, you’ll get lots of inspection papers. If lots of people are working on glass box testing methods, you’ll get lots of glass box testing papers. Because the goals of many such publications are to document an idea’s source and facilitate communication among a community’s researchers, this actually works the way it is intended.