The technical journal — Who needs it?

Managers of research and development activities should recognize that they have a vital stake in the survival and health of professional journals in their present, future, or any form. The journals´ functions in communicating informations, according achievments, and enhancing poor recognition are are well known. Perhaps less well understood, and certainly less well employed, is the fact that journals can be used by managers as a tool to measure “who´s doing what, and how well.” This is not a version of “publish or perish,” but rather a test of the merit of the work being done. This paper discusses, from the point of view of technical management, specific points that make papers prepared for publication in professional journals useful for appraising the quality of work being done in the laboratory.