JOURNAL OF ONLINE BEHAVIOR

April 5, 1997

When Behavior OnLine launched it was our intention to develop, and include in it, a new journal that would contribute to the scientific understanding of the impact of the Internet on individuals, institutions and society. The journal would provide the means for us to keep in touch with the impact of this medium on people in general and on ourselves in particular, both professionally and personally, making all of us participant-observers in this community.

The journal project was put on hold because other start-up tasks competed for attention and because the systematic study of online behavior was still a'borning. I now notice with pleasure a quickening in the pace of empirical research in this area, especially a growing number of able graduate students carrying out doctoral research projects which will eventuate in scientific contributions. I feel the time has come to launch the journal. The immediate task is to recruit an Editor. If you know of someone who qualifies for this post as described in the announcement below, please let me know at glevin@behavior.net.

The Journal of Online Behavior (JOB) is concerned with the empirical study of human behavior in the online environment and with the impact of that evolving environment upon individuals, organizations and society. JOB will be published online in an intera ctive format to assure rapid dissemination of findings and prompt scholarly exchange. An archival paper version will be published twice annually to assure recognition of scholarly contributions in the traditional manner. Several widely recognized schola rs have agreed to serve on the multidisciplinary Editorial Board of the journal which will be published on the Web at Behavior OnLine.

The Editor will be an established investigator of a relevant discipline whose own research is concerned with the study of social interaction in this environment and who wishes to play a leadership role in shaping future research in the area. Behavior OnL ine will provide an annual stipend to its editor. Nominations for editor, including self-nominations, by private email to: glevin@behavior.net

With my thanks,

The Editor