GEOSCIENCE CANADA

Latest News and Information for Readers and Authors

The Information here is updated all the time - Visit us on a frequent basis!
Feedback from readers and writers is encouraged - just contact the editors....

Things are always going on at Geoscience Canada, and this is where you can find out the latest developments, and get a preview of things to come. See the list and the links below:

Issue 1 of Volume 44 is now published We are pleased to announce that the first issue of Volume 44 (2017) is now available through the Journal Content Website. It will soon be listed here as well. Have a look at its diverse contents, including papers on the use of phase diagrams in metamorphic petrology and a review paper on the consequences of giant impacts in Earth History. Find out about the Newfoundland clergyman, the Ottawa lawyer and the controversial soft-bodied Precambrian impression. And, did you know that camels wandered in the dark high Arctic during the Pliocene? For those with subscriptions to Geoscience Canada, the full text of all technical articles is available on the journal content website. Just log in and hit the download buttons. If you don't have a subscription to Geoscience Canada, why not?

Issue 4 of Volume 43 is now published We are pleased to announce that the fourth issue of Volume 43 (2016) is now available here, and is also currently available through the Journal Content Website. Have a look at its diverse contents, including papers on the Yellowstone Plume and its role in Cordilleran tectonics, basalt volcanism in the Himalayas, and the untapped wine potential of Wisconsin. Yes, this really is an international issue of the journal! You will also find some commentaries on Tuzo Wilson's classic 1966 paper on the proto-Atlantic Ocean, published 50 years ago, information on field trips for Kingston 2017, a book review, and a call for Commitment, Collaboration and Communication by outgoing GAC President Vicky Yehl. We second her remarks. For those with subscriptions to Geoscience Canada, the full text of all technical articles is available on the journal content website. Just log in and hit the download buttons. If you don't have a subscription to Geoscience Canada, why not?

Issue 3 of Volume 43 is now published We are pleased to announce that the third issue of Volume 43 (2016) is now available here, and is also currently available through the Journal Content Website. Have a look at its diverse contents, including papers on extensional magmatism in forearc settings, closed-basin stages for the Great Lakes, using LIDAR data in the nearshore/offshore, and the interesting life of pioneer paleontologist Elkanak Billings. And other things besides. For those with subscriptions to Geoscience Canada, the full text of all articles is available on the journal content website. Just log in and hit the download buttons.

We're Sorry, but the doors are no longer open! We could not leave them open forever, much as we would like to, as we are a subscription-based journal and cannot operate for free. If you're not a subscriber, this is your chance to think about the wisdom of taking out a subscription. The abstracts for all papers remain available on the website, but to access the full article, you will need to Login to the Journal Content Website. Older issues of the Journal are available there as open access items. We may open the doors again in the future, but no date is set at present!

Open Doors will be closing in another week or so! We can't do this forever, as we are a subscription-based journal. If you're not a subscriber, this is your chance to look around and perhaps download a few papers (but not all....) and think about the wisdom of taking out a subscription. Maybe your institution HAS a subscription, but there are many advantages to having your own. It's convenient, it works from anywhere and, most importantly, it supports non-profit science publishing in Canada. Without that, we'd all be up schist creek without a paddle, and it wouldn't be very gneiss. Do it today, the doors will close with a thud on June 24th.

Our new website is finally active and open to all! This project has been in the works for some time and we have finally taken the step to go live. This will be a powerful new asset for the journal. The site is designed to be functional and simple rather than overly complicated and busy, and we hope you'll approve of this style. Not that there was much choice, given that most of our knowledge of HTML was acquired 'on-the-job' and by trial and error.
For the next month or so, the articles from the last two years will be freely available on the new website. Our OPEN DOORS initiative is intended to raise awareness of the content of the journal, and to encourage both submissions and subscriptions. Note that Geoscience Canada becomes subscription-based again as of June 24, 2016, so use the next few weeks to explore what we have! After that date, the access to the full content of most articles will require logging in to the existing Journal Content and Admin website at UNB, aside from open-access items. Our new site will continue to provide abstract summaries for other items, under open access. Ultimately, we hope to move all readership access to the new site but this will take some more research and testing. until we figure out how to implement these features on the new site.
We welcome feedback on the new site. It will evolve over time, and we want to be aware of any problems. Send comments and alerts to the editor, but please use the dedicated email address at sensaterre@gmail.com. This will help to avoid a message deluge. Enjoy the New Website and Open Doors !

The second issue for 2016 is now under development and will contain several articles, and also a piece based on the presidential address by Brian Pratt from the 2015 Toronto Joint Assembly. We hope that Volume 43, number 2 will become available at the time of the Whitehorse GAC-MAC meeting in late May. Scientific articles are a real smorgasbord, including a paper on remarkably preserved Holocene fossil assemblages and their interpretation, one on the use of Pearce Element Ratios in petrological/geochemical studies, and another on structural development and metamorphism in the Rockies of Southeastern British Columbia. There is also an historical article about Robert Bell and the early days of the GSC - this was written by the late Ian Brookes before his death in February 2015, and has been brought to fruition by former colleagues.

The first issue of Volume 43 of Geoscience Canada is now published and available. This is a special issue highlighting the first contributions to a new thematic series about Heritage Stones. This brings a series of articles on diverse topics from different countries in Europe and also Brazil. Check out the cover photos of the amazing statues and bowls carved from hard, metamorphosed anorthosites by the ancient Egyptians. We hope for future contributions to this new series in future issues for 2016 and beyond. Look also for information and commentary on our new 'open access' initiatives at Geoscience Canada

The new scientific editor for Geoscience Canada is Andrew Kerr who took over from Brendan Murphy as of Jan 1st, 2016. Andy has a long history of involvement in GAC activities, and in 2015 he retired from a long career with the Geological Survey of Newfoundland and Labrador, where he was eventually responsible for mineral deposits research. He is now an adjunct professor and sometimes lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences at Memorial University, and hopes to continue research on a more independent and flexible basis. Geoscience Canada is indebted to Memorial for providing continued support and workspace for the editor. Andy hopes to continue the work that Brendan began, and to raise the profile of the journal. There is now reason why we cannot have International Stature!

Other things are in the works for later issues in 2016. More papers are coming in the Andrew Hynes Series (Tectonic Processes), and in the Igneous Rock Associations Series. We are also honouring a prominent medal recipient from a sister society (CANQUA). Mike Lewis' review paper on the postglacial history of the Great Lakes gives a glimpse into a very different vanished world, and also provides some insight into possible effects of modern-day climate change upon these icons of North America: Could the Great Lakes come to resemble the Great Basin? Find out!

The later issues for 2016 are filling up, although we hope to still have some space for new submissions. If you have something that is "almost written" (and who doesn't?) this is a good time to submit. Plus, the editor wants to take some summer vacation - get it in before mid-June!

In 2016, Geoscience Canada introduces a new Open Access Initiative that will provide immediate free and open online access to articles, if the authors contribute a modest Open Access Supplement upon publication. This will bring us in line with a growing movement, and will allow authors to easily comply with OA requirements of funding agencies. Other content will remain under subscription, but all papers will be open access after 3 years, aligned with current policy. For more information, see a commentary in the upcoming issue.

We are now seeking submissions for eye-catching cover photos for use on later issues in the next volume (2016). If you fancy seeing one of your pieces catch the eyes of others, check out the call for photos and rummage through your archives. Even if your photo doesn't make it on the the front cover of an upcoming issue, it might show up on the website homepage, where we are constantly changing visual content for our and your entertainment.
Click here for more information
We are always developing ideas for future thematic series papers. We want your ideas and thoughts, amd we need keen and dedicated people to serve as new series editors. Contact us!
We always need copy-editors at Geoscience Canada. If you are an experienced scientist with knowledge of language and writing, you can help us, and help authors. If you are unsure of your abilities, we can send you our dastardly "copy-editor self-test examination". If you enjoy working through this, you probably have what it takes. Contact Us!

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