Open Access
1 July 2013 Some Minor Changes in Optical Engineering
Ronald G. Driggers
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
I can’t believe we’re almost halfway through 2013. It sure seems like time flies by faster and faster each year. I know that I joked about time a number of editorials ago using Fermat’s principle, but I can also quote William Penn on the subject: “Time is what we want most, but what we use the worst.” There’s a funnier reference that I don’t know who to attribute to: “If time is money, then all ATMs are time machines!” This month I am thinking about time because I have been Editor of Optical Engineering for three and a half years and it feels like yesterday that I accepted the assignment.

OE_52_6_060101_d001.pngI can’t believe we’re almost halfway through 2013. It sure seems like time flies by faster and faster each year. I know that I joked about time a number of editorials ago using Fermat’s principle, but I can also quote William Penn on the subject: “Time is what we want most, but what we use the worst.” There’s a funnier reference that I don’t know who to attribute to: “If time is money, then all ATMs are time machines!” This month I am thinking about time because I have been Editor of Optical Engineering for three and a half years and it feels like yesterday that I accepted the assignment.

At Optical Engineering, we are using time (not in the worst way) to improve the journal. The journal staff and I are currently working on making the scope of Optical Engineering more well defined. If you look on the journal website, you will find a new description of the scope:

Imaging Components, Systems, and Processing

Acquisition, Tracking, and Pointing

Adaptive Optics

Cameras

Focal Planes and Imaging Detectors

Human Vision

Infrared and Electro-Optical Systems

Image Quality and System Performance

Image Processing for Optical Engineering

Laser Radar

Machine Vision and Pattern Recognition

Millimeter Wave and Terahertz Technologies

Multispectral and Hyperspectral Technologies

Pattern Recognition

Persistent Surveillance Systems

Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Systems

Target Acquisition Systems

Telescopes (Ground-Based, Airborne, and Space-Based)

Three-Dimensional Imaging, Visualization, and Display Tracking

Unconventional Imaging and Wavefront Sensing

Video and Display Technologies

Virtual Reality

Instrumentation, Techniques, and Measurement

Active and Passive Signatures

Astronomical Instrumentation

Atmospheric Propagation

Compressive Sensing

Biometric Technologies

Diffractive Optics

Fourier Optics and Optical Signal Processing

Holography

Interferometry

Photonic Integration

Physical Optics

Measurements

Metrology

Modeling and Simulation

Nondestructive Characterization of Materials

Radiometry

Spectroscopy

Optical Design and Engineering

Astronomical and Space Optical Systems

Illumination and Nonimaging Optics

Optics and Lens Design

Optical Countermeasures

Optical System Design

Optical Fabrication

Optical System Alignment

Optical and System Testing

Optomechanics

Thin Films

Unmanned Systems Technology

Zoom Lenses

Lasers, Fiber Optics, and Communications

Beam Control

Fiber Lasers

Fiber Optics

Fiber Optic Sensors

Fiber Optic Communications

Free Space Communications

High Power Lasers

Lasers and Laser Optics

Laser Applications

Laser Packaging

Nonlinear Optics

Quantum Optics and Photonics

Semiconductor Lasers

Slow Light

Ultrafast Optics

Vertical External Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers

Materials, Photonic Devices, and Sensors

Detector Materials

Integrated Optics

Laser Materials

Liquid Crystal and LED Technology and Devices

Ocean and Atmospheric Sensing and Monitoring

Optical Components

Optical Computing and Optical Storage

Optical Materials

Optical Sensors

Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits

Optoelectronic Materials and Devices

Photonic Devices

Chemical and Biological Sensors

Smart MaterialsSmart Structures and Integrated Systems

X-Ray, Gamma Ray, and Particle Technologies

This scope provides a number of improvements. First, there are now five major categories under which papers will be published. This reduces the number of papers that may seem to be misplaced in the table of contents when the papers could fall under more than one category. Second, the subcategories provide the potential author with more information to decide whether Optical Engineering is an appropriate journal for their work. Third, the subcategories provide good alignment with previously published journal papers, as well as better alignment between Optical Engineering and SPIE’s conference structure. There are more subcategories now than there were topics in the previous scope description. Fourth, the new scope should provide a more appropriate structure for the recruitment of special sections, review papers, and tutorial papers.

I have been working closely with the journal staff to redefine the scope to further improve the service that Optical Engineering provides to the optical engineering community. In the next few weeks, I will be working with the editorial board to develop a structure to support this new scope. Hopefully this will ultimately help improve journal downloads, impact factor, and time to publication. It is our desire to provide you with the best journal possible for the publication of your most important work in optical engineering. This way, you won’t waste time thinking about other less appropriate journals.

© The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
Ronald G. Driggers "Some Minor Changes in Optical Engineering," Optical Engineering 52(6), 060101 (1 July 2013). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.52.6.060101
Published: 1 July 2013
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KEYWORDS
Optical engineering

Imaging systems

Telecommunications

Electro optical systems

Ocean optics

Reconnaissance systems

Adaptive optics

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