FY07-09 proposal 200728000

Jump to Reviews and Recommendations

Section 1. Administrative

Proposal titleColumbia River Basin Journal
Proposal ID200728000
OrganizationIntermountain Communications
Short descriptionThe Columbia River Basin Journal will be an on-line journal devoted to the timely dissemination of current research information related to Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife mitigation and recovery.
Information transferThe Columbia River Basin Journal website will serve as a regional forum for publication of research results and information of particular relevance to the region. In a consolidated way, research reports, peer-reviewed articles and other relevant research information will be made easily accessible to scientific collaborators, administrators, and stakeholders..
Proposal contact person or principal investigator
Contacts
ContactOrganizationEmail
Form submitter
Bill Crampton Intermountain Communications billcrampton@bendcable.com
All assigned contacts
Bill Crampton Intermountain Communications billcrampton@bendcable.com

Section 2. Locations

Province / subbasin: Mainstem/Systemwide / Systemwide

LatitudeLongitudeWaterbodyDescription

Section 3. Focal species

primary: Anadromous Fish
secondary: All Resident Fish

Section 4. Past accomplishments

YearAccomplishments

Section 5. Relationships to other projects

Funding sourceRelated IDRelated titleRelationship
BPA 199800401 Columbia Basin Bulletin Columbia River Basin Journal can share some information gathering and reporting tasks, and costs, with Columbia Basin Bulletin

Section 6. Biological objectives

Biological objectivesFull descriptionAssociated subbasin planStrategy

Section 7. Work elements (coming back to this)

Work element nameWork element titleDescriptionStart dateEnd dateEst budget
Outreach and Education Implement and manage on-line Columbia Basin Research Journal in FY2007 that will provide consolidated, regional scientific information for researchers, administrators, policymakers and stakeholders. Publish on-line journal for timely dissemination of current research information related to Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife preservation and restoration. Will include four major components: peer-reviewed papers; research updates and reports presented by researchers at policy forums ( i.e., NPCC, IT, TMT), conferences and elsewhere; synthesis and summary news of research and research-related information, announcements and topics for policymakers, stakeholders and media; and moderated researcher and reader discussion. 10/1/2006 9/30/2007 $105,000
Biological objectives
Metrics
* # of general public reached: Will reach several thousand readers
Outreach and Education Implement and manage on-line Columbia Basin Research Journal in FY2008 that will provide consolidated, regional scientific information for researchers, administrators, policymakers and stakeholders. Publish on-line journal for timely dissemination of current research information related to Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife preservation and restoration. Will include four major components: peer-reviewed papers; research updates and reports presented by researchers at policy forums ( i.e., NPCC, IT, TMT), conferences and elsewhere; synthesis and summary news of research and research-related information, announcements and topics for policymakers, stakeholders and media; and moderated researcher and reader discussion. 10/1/2007 9/30/2008 $100,000
Biological objectives
Metrics
* # of general public reached: will reach several thousand readers
Outreach and Education Implement and manage on-line Columbia Basin Research Journal in FY2009 that will provide consolidated, regional scientific information for researchers, administrators, policymakers and stakeholders. Publish on-line journal for timely dissemination of current research information related to Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife preservation and restoration. Will include four major components: peer-reviewed papers; research updates and reports presented by researchers at policy forums ( i.e., NPCC, IT, TMT), conferences and elsewhere; synthesis and summary news of research and research-related information, announcements and topics for policymakers, stakeholders and media; and moderated researcher and reader discussion. 10/1/2008 9/30/2009 $100,000
Biological objectives
Metrics
* # of general public reached: will reach several thousand readers

Section 8. Budgets

Itemized estimated budget
ItemNoteFY07FY08FY09
Personnel 2 FTEs $70,000 $70,000 $70,000
Supplies shared supplies with Intermountain Communications $2,000 $2,000 $2,000
Travel conferences, regional meetings $10,000 $10,000 $10,000
Overhead G-A costs and shared with Intermountain Communications office, telephone, internet, e-mail, $5,000 $5,000 $5,000
Capital Equipment computer associated equipment if necessary $3,000 $3,000 $3,000
Other Website development, first-year launch, updated revisions, subscriber database management, e-mail notification process $15,000 $10,000 $10,000
Totals $105,000 $100,000 $100,000
Total estimated FY 2007-2009 budgets
Total itemized budget: $305,000
Total work element budget: $305,000
Cost sharing
Funding source/orgItem or service providedFY 07 est value ($)FY 08 est value ($)FY 09 est value ($)Cash or in-kind?Status
Intermountain Communications Shared office, telephone, website costs, internet, supplies, equipment $6,000 $6,000 $6,000 In-Kind Confirmed
Totals $6,000 $6,000 $6,000

Section 9. Project future

FY 2010 estimated budget: $100,000
FY 2011 estimated budget: $100,000
Comments: With increased efficiences over time, this project should not require annual increases.

Future O&M costs:

Termination date:
Comments:

Final deliverables:

Section 10. Narrative and other documents


Reviews and recommendations

FY07 budget FY08 budget FY09 budget Total budget Type Category Recommendation
NPCC FINAL FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS (Oct 23, 2006) [full Council recs]
$0 $0 $0 $0 Expense Basinwide Do Not Fund
NPCC DRAFT FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS (Sep 15, 2006) [full Council recs]
$0 $0 $0 $0 Basinwide

ISRP PRELIMINARY REVIEW (Jun 2, 2006)

Recommendation: Fundable (Qualified)

NPCC comments: This is a well-written proposal that addresses a need identified by the ISRP and the Council for a Columbia River Basin Journal (CRBJ) to enable communication, peer-review and timely publication of research results and research-related information. The CRBJ would provide an excellent venue for publishing results of Columbia Basin projects that are normally limited to agency reports or reports to funding entities. Peer-reviewed journal publication offers the potential to increase both the dissemination of research results and the quality of those results. Another benefit of this journal is that it will be open access, so it will reach a broader audience than a fee-based subscription journal. The proposal clearly describes the need for this journal. In addition to ISRP and Council recommendations, the proposal also relates the rationale for the CRBJ to enhancing the integration and scientific credibility of Columbia Basin restoration approaches and information, as identified by the Fish and Wildlife Program and by federal agencies in various forms. The proposal also makes the reasonable case that coordinated presentation of scientific information by a neutral broker will contribute to the learning process that is the basis for adaptive management. The electronic form will allow much more access by people throughout the region to scientific literature, information, and discussions. The CRBJ will complement other projects by serving as a clearinghouse for information and a communication link among projects. It will also be linked to the Columbia Basin Bulletin (CBB) through joint publishing. The connection to the CBB is a strength of this proposal, because the CBB has a proven track record in building information infrastructure in the Basin, maintaining a network of extensive contacts, and knowledge of Columbia Basin issues. However the proposal would be enhanced by a brief description of other scientific journals and environmental media in the Pacific Northwest and the extent to which they could fill the role of the proposed CRBJ. The objective for this project is to create an on-line journal devoted to the timely dissemination of current research related to Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife preservation and restoration. The metrics for this objective would be quality and quantity of papers published, readership, and citation by other scientists. Methods pertain to the four functions of the journal: peer-reviewed papers, research updates and reports, research news summaries, and moderated discussions. A thorough discussion is presented of each of these functions. The discussion covers the essential elements of each, providing a clear indication that the sponsors are aware of the key issues regarding neutrality, timeliness, and scientific integrity, and have developed procedures to address them. While acknowledging the thorough consideration of journal functions given in the proposal, the ISRP recommends that the sponsors give more thought to the review process. One issue to consider is that the timing of reviews as stated in the proposal is atypically fast. Turnaround time for reviews is typically slow because a limited number of experienced peer reviewers face an increasing number of review requests and typically conduct reviews during free time. One mechanism some journals use to shorten turnaround time is to provide an honorarium to reviewers. Volunteer reviews are slower, and simply having on-line review processes doesn’t necessarily make the peer review process faster. A second review issue is the use of a double blind peer review. The CRBJ might want to have open identity of the reviewers, or optional identity (depending on potential conflicts). This should help keep the review comments and process constructive. Evaluation of the success of the scientific part of the CRBJ could be done by a journal impact analysis, which is now a routine part of bibliographic search engines such as ISI (ex Current Contents). The proponent should consider this monitoring procedure. A final issue for the sponsors to consider is whether the budget is adequate to provide an effective product. They might discuss budget issues with Alaska Department of Fish and Game and others who have on-line journals to compare cost estimates.


ISRP FINAL REVIEW (Aug 31, 2006)

Recommendation: Fundable (Qualified)

NPCC comments: This is a well-written proposal that addresses a need identified by the ISRP and the Council for a Columbia River Basin Journal (CRBJ) to enable communication, peer-review and timely publication of research results and research-related information. The CRBJ would provide an excellent venue for publishing results of Columbia Basin projects that are normally limited to agency reports or reports to funding entities. Peer-reviewed journal publication offers the potential to increase both the dissemination of research results and the quality of those results. Another benefit of this journal is that it will be open access, so it will reach a broader audience than a fee-based subscription journal. The proposal clearly describes the need for this journal. In addition to ISRP and Council recommendations, the proposal also relates the rationale for the CRBJ to enhancing the integration and scientific credibility of Columbia Basin restoration approaches and information, as identified by the Fish and Wildlife Program and by federal agencies in various forms. The proposal also makes the reasonable case that coordinated presentation of scientific information by a neutral broker will contribute to the learning process that is the basis for adaptive management. The electronic form will allow much more access by people throughout the region to scientific literature, information, and discussions. The CRBJ will complement other projects by serving as a clearinghouse for information and a communication link among projects. It will also be linked to the Columbia Basin Bulletin (CBB) through joint publishing. The connection to the CBB is a strength of this proposal, because the CBB has a proven track record in building information infrastructure in the Basin, maintaining a network of extensive contacts, and knowledge of Columbia Basin issues. However the proposal would be enhanced by a brief description of other scientific journals and environmental media in the Pacific Northwest and the extent to which they could fill the role of the proposed CRBJ. The objective for this project is to create an on-line journal devoted to the timely dissemination of current research related to Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife preservation and restoration. The metrics for this objective would be quality and quantity of papers published, readership, and citation by other scientists. Methods pertain to the four functions of the journal: peer-reviewed papers, research updates and reports, research news summaries, and moderated discussions. A thorough discussion is presented of each of these functions. The discussion covers the essential elements of each, providing a clear indication that the sponsors are aware of the key issues regarding neutrality, timeliness, and scientific integrity, and have developed procedures to address them. While acknowledging the thorough consideration of journal functions given in the proposal, the ISRP recommends that the sponsors give more thought to the review process. One issue to consider is that the timing of reviews as stated in the proposal is atypically fast. Turnaround time for reviews is typically slow because a limited number of experienced peer reviewers face an increasing number of review requests and typically conduct reviews during free time. One mechanism some journals use to shorten turnaround time is to provide an honorarium to reviewers. Volunteer reviews are slower, and simply having on-line review processes doesn’t necessarily make the peer review process faster. A second review issue is the use of a double blind peer review. The CRBJ might want to have open identity of the reviewers, or optional identity (depending on potential conflicts). This should help keep the review comments and process constructive. Evaluation of the success of the scientific part of the CRBJ could be done by a journal impact analysis, which is now a routine part of bibliographic search engines such as ISI (ex Current Contents). The proponent should consider this monitoring procedure. A final issue for the sponsors to consider is whether the budget is adequate to provide an effective product. They might discuss budget issues with Alaska Department of Fish and Game and others who have on-line journals to compare cost estimates.