Looking Back on My First Year as Editor-in-Chief and Reflecting on the Challenges Ahead

One year has passed since I began my term as the editor-in-chief (EiC) of IEEE Signal Processing Magazine (SPM). It has been a busy first year, with a rich set of challenges that go beyond those I have experienced in previous volunteer positions. This is welcome: with giving back to our community comes the desire to grow through new challenges and experiences, especially for those of us approaching our wiser years. The challenges in question usher in “eustress,” the positive type of stress that revives youth and liveliness, a transformation of the oft fretted word “stress” through addition of the Greek prefix “eu,” meaning “good.” Many of these challenges were, to be honest, self-inflicted, but not all, and I will focus on one in particular.

Within my first 10 days, I received news that SPM was scheduled to undergo a periodical review as must all IEEE publications every five years; SPM’s was scheduled during the same time of ICASSP 2024. The process is led by the IEEE Periodicals Review and Advisory Committee (PRAC), and the first step is the completion of a report. Having worked on several “IEEE reports” in the past, including reviews of our Society’s technical committees, I had great expectations as to how much fun the experience would be! And good news begets more. Shortly after, I was informed that the deadline for completing the review report was but a few weeks away. Then, Society Director for Publications Bill Colacchio, let us know that the online PRAC Portal is a new online platform, and potential glitches are to be expected. He was tactful, of course, in breaking the bad news, and I soon discovered lots of additional fun features such as not being able to edit certain areas that had glaringly incorrect information. What a source of lively eustress!