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Editorial
International Journal of Japan Architectural Review for Engineering and Design
Launch of JAR
January 2018 will see the launch of a new journal, Japan Architectural Review – International Journal of Architectural Review for Engineering and Design (JAR). This journal, a peer-reviewed academic publication of the Architectural Institute of Japan (AIJ), will cover branches of architecture design and building sciences. It will be edited by the AIJ and published four times a year, and, as an open-access online journal, will be available worldwide. The scope of the Journal covers aspects of science, technology, engineering, economics, social sciences, and the humanities; architectonics and related fields will also be included. The aim of the Journal is to publish the most complete and reliable sources of information regarding discoveries and current developments in these areas through editorials, reviews, design reviews, selected papers from transactions of the AIJ, as well as original articles. Thus, we hope the Journal will make a significant contribution to resolving or mitigating global and local problems by fostering new ideas and developments, as well as providing a platform for the exchange of information between architects, researchers, and engineers to promote technological advances globally.
With authorization from the Ministry of Education, the AIJ, originally “Zoka-Gakkai”, was established in 1886 as an institute for architects, with 26 founding members. The Institute’s first Honorary President was Mr. Josiah Conder, a British architect who had been invited by the Japanese government to teach at the Technical College in Tokyo (currently the University of Tokyo). In 1905, the Institute changed its name to the Architectural Institute, becoming the Architectural Institute of Japan in 1947. Today, the AIJ is an academic association with approximately 35000 members. It is not a government organization, but rather a not-for-profit organization for architects, building engineers, and researchers in every field of architecture. The AIJ draws its members from front-line researchers, officers of other architectural associations, and government and other public officials. The AIJ liaises with universities and other research institutes and, as the sole integrated institute in the field of architecture, has made important contributions to the development of science, technology, and art. Although there are many associations for architects, building engineers, general contractors, and building materials and equipment corporations in Japan, the AIJ remains the most prestigious academic association.
Architectural research in Japan is unique, with considerable research being undertaken in response to climate issues, as well as natural and man-made disasters. Furthermore, the AIJ encompasses various fields, including architectural design, architectural planning, urban planning, rural planning, architectural history, structure, materials and construction, environmental engineering, building services, and information technology. Not many other developed countries in the world have a similar holistic education and research system, and the achievements of this system within the field of architecture have been evaluated in articles published by the AIJ in its journals, including the Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering, the Journal of Architectural Planning, the Journal of Environmental Engineering, and AIJ Journal of Technology and Design, in Japanese. It was originally thought that these articles were only appropriate for domestic use: if the research content was highly regional in nature, it seemed there was little point in publishing in English. In addition, there was some discussion about the appropriateness of using the English language, because cultural background and research are necessarily linked to language. However, international evaluation and recognition of research efforts is becoming more and more dependent on publication in English, and the Japanese language alone is becoming increasingly insufficient for the evaluation of domestic universities.
Because we are now entering an era where the achievements of Japanese academic societies are being evaluated according to world standards, a consensus has been reached that a solid platform is needed to communicate academic and technical results of architectural studies in English. On November 29, 2016, the Board of Directors of the AIJ decided to launch a new international journal, namely Japan Architectural Review – International Journal of Architectural Review for Engineering and Design, or JAR. This international journal will be published electronically as an open-access journal by Wiley, a global academic publisher. The first issue of JAR is scheduled for publication in January 2018, with the plan being to publish four issues each year.
The first issue of the English-language Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering (JAABE) was published in 2002, and JAABE has been an open-access journal since 2010. JAABE is jointly operated by three academic societies: the AIJ, the Architectural Institute of Korea, and the Architectural Society of China. JAABE publishes original articles submitted in English. In contrast, it is intended that JAR will primarily publish a selection of excellent papers originally written in Japanese that have not been published in English.
As a journal of the highest caliber from the AIJ, JAR will cover academic, technical, and artistic areas as they pertain to architecture. As noted earlier, articles will be published across five categories: editorials, reviews, design reviews, translated papers, and original articles. In particular, there will be an emphasis on design reviews. Japanese architectural design is well known internationally for its excellence, but little pertinent research has been published in the English-language literature. In addition, I believe design reviews are useful for performance evaluation at universities and research institutes. Design reviews will be based on articles published in recent years by the AIJ. Each year, there are approximately 300 design papers submitted to the AIJ, with only 100 being selected for publication in Selected Architectural Designs. Of these, 16 will be published each year in JAR. It is hoped that authors will submit papers about projects that have won prizes and that this focus on design will create a unique journal.
There is also a plan to publish 28 papers each year in JAR that have been translated from the collection of planning system and environmental papers published by the AIJ. Although the Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering, the Journal of Architectural Planning, and the Journal of Environmental Engineering publish approximately 600 papers each year, including papers with very advanced content, the fact that these papers are written in Japanese means that they have little or no international impact. Double-counting and prepublication problems may arise when Japanese-language papers published in peer-reviewed journals are subsequently submitted, in English, to overseas journals, but using the “translated paper” system will avoid such problems. Moreover, I think that it will be possible to respond to international competition while still publishing papers in Japanese. For example, as of January 2017, the submission requirements of the Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering, the Journal of Architectural Planning, and the Journal of Environmental Engineering have changed, with English translation of figures and references becoming mandatory. This will make it easier for papers with diagrams or references in English to be published in JAR.
Although, in future, it is expected that review articles will be received from overseas researchers, in the meantime it is hoped that the review papers published in JAR will relate the history of will relate the history of the research members of the AIJ. In addition, we will solicit a small number of original articles that adhere to the scope of JAR. For the time being, authors who are not members of the AIJ will be charged an open-access publication fee and an article processing charge.
Despite the benefits of publishing articles in English, I do not think many Japanese authors find it easy to write papers in English. Personally, I find that writing in English requires five times the effort of writing in Japanese, and considerably more time! Moreover, even if the contents of a paper are good, it may be negatively evaluated on the international stage because of poor English-language expression. For this reason, the Editorial Committee of JAR plans to focus on English-language editing so that people overseas can understand the high-quality content of the papers without being distracted by language issues. In addition to this editorial system, JAR will implement a strict peer review process. It is hoped that people within the architectural and building sciences fields in Japan will take this opportunity to actively submit papers to JAR. In addition, we hope that JAR will draw worldwide attention to the academic potential of the field of architecture in Japan.
For the time being, JAR will be an open-access journal published by Wiley, with its cover design based on the Society of Architecture logo. Naturally, the efforts of Editorial Board and Editorial Committee members alone cannot make JAR a valuable journal; rather, contributions and support are need from all members of the AIJ. We call on all members of the AIJ, as well as the wider architectural community in Japan, to support this important new initiative of the AIJ.
Shin-ichi Tanabe
Editor-in-Chief
Professor
Department of Architecture
Waseda University
Tokyo, Japan