To celebrate the 360th anniversary of the start of the Philosophical Transactions, we have invited Guest Editor Dr. Damya Souami to tell us what publishing with the journal means to her.
Our issue ‘Major Advances in Planetary Sciences Thanks to Stellar Occultations’ published online on February 27, 2025. We are very pleased to have made our modest contribution to the 360 years of heritage of Philosophical Transactions with our issue.
As 21st century scientists, we are compelled to prioritise impact factors and other indices that are based on complex matrices. In my search for a journal for our special issue, my criteria were simple: quality, credibility, and heritage of the journal, as well as the importance of personable interactions with the publisher. Philosophical Transactions emerged as a natural choice as previous issues demonstrated the journal’s commitment to comprehensive yet specialised scientific scholarship. I was also aware of the long history and leadership of the journal that published Isaac Newton’s work. Moreover, I had visited a Royal Society Publisher booth at a large international conference, and had the chance to interact with Andrew Dunn, a Senior Publishing Editor, who connected me to his colleague, Alice Power, the Commissioning Editor for special issues in the field of Astronomy. These personable interactions affirmed my decision to become a Guest Editor with Philosophical Transactions.
Being a Guest Editor for a special issue has been a learning process, which I very much enjoyed from the early stages of proposal writing and proposal revisions, to selecting the papers that would be part of the issue, and overseeing the peer-review process. Then, collaborating on production and marketing processes. The whole process was a team effort, with all my co-Guest Editors (Rafael Sfair, Stéfan Renner, Maryame El Moutamid, and Josselin Desmars) and the support and patience of senior editors Alice Power and Helen Eaton, as well as the entire production team led by the Production Coordinator, Teagan Meadows.
Philosophical Transactions has adapted throughout centuries, from the early ages of printing journals to the rapidly evolving internet era of the 21st century. Another highly valued strength of Philosophical Transactions is that through journal sales it mobilises knowledge to universities and research institutions worldwide, while the income is returned to the community as Royal Society research grants, resources to maintain archives, and open science initiatives.
It is a great honour to be a guest editor for a special issue in Philosophical Transactions. Happy 360th anniversary to Philosophical Transactions, with our best wishes for more centuries in sharing science, supporting innovative research, and leading outreach initiatives.
Visit our anniversary page for more content celebrating 360 years of publishing
