After six years, I will be done with my term at ASAP. The pandemic and other factors extended me for two years. I have very much enjoyed working with SPSSI and hope to continue in other capacities. I want to thank Heather Bullock, Geoff Maruyama, and Kevin Lanning, ASAP’s former editors for having been a great resource. I also want to recognize Chris Crandall who has held many roles at SPSSI. Chris has become a staunch supporter of my efforts at ASAP. Finally, I want to recognize Anila Balkissoon, SPSSI Executive Director. This society is amazing, inclusive, and welcoming. Anila is a huge part of that.  

During my time at ASAP, the journal embraced some open science practices. This has largely been successful but is in no way required. ASAP adopted Open Science Badges to recognize open data, materials, and preregistration. There are certainly many other SPSSI-relevant areas that I would like to see recognized (e.g., hard-to-reach populations, non-WEIRD samples). I hope that others will pursue those goals moving forward. I do want to stress that ASAP’s open science efforts are entirely voluntary and have no bearing on editorial decisions. Share your materials or not. It does not matter in the review process. There are certainly very good reasons for not making study data and other information public. 

Another open science practice adopted was the introduction of Registered Reports (RRs). RRs are a different approach to publishing. Authors submit a detailed proposal, get feedback, revise the proposals, and, if the work is evaluated favorably, receive an In Principal Acceptance (IPA). Once the IPA is in hand, the authors begin data collection and, provided they follow the approved protocols, will have their work accepted for publication. The decision is results-free. Non-significant results have a home in the RR format.  

Over the past few years, ASAP has seen a considerable uptick in submissions. In 2018, there were 100 original submissions (i.e., not revisions). 2019 saw 90 submissions. In 2020, there was a jump to 179. The following years, nearly doubled 2020’s high water mark with 325 submissions in 2021 and 343 in 2022. The number of articles and pages published rose in a similar fashion. I do want to stress that this growth is not at the expense of rigor. The past two years have seen only a 15% acceptance rate.  

I look forward to seeing ASAP continue to grow under a new editor.