My Resignation from Foundations and Trends in Communication and Information Theory Editorial Board
Update (Dec 12, 2018)
I just learned that in the aftermath of my resignation from CiT editorial board, Prof Helmut Bölcskei (EiC of FnT CiT) inappropriately shared FnT-related email exchanges with the former EiC, Prof Sergio Verdú, in response to which Mike Casey opaquely informed the CiT editorial board of Prof Bölcskei’s action and his resignation! Then he reversed himself, apologizing to Prof Bölcskei and inviting him back as the EiC! Prof Bölcskei opaquely accepted and is now back as the EiC of FnT CiT!
This all raises so many questions: Who is the real decision maker at the FnT CiT after all and to whom the decisions are made accountable? Was Prof Boelcskei’s decision to stay silent/indifferent to Profs Goldsmith and Medard’s resignations were similarly made with the consultation and/or approval from Prof Verdú? And/or was the lack of response to their resignations related to their decision to go on the record criticizing the infamous support letter for Prof Verdú which I have previously written about (and many IT dignitaries are known to have signed)?
No matter how FnT CiT saga ends, my concerns remain relevant beyond FnT CiT: To whom are and should the EiCs and editors of FnT journals be accountable to? Is it appropriate for the FnT EiCs to select editors based on the loyalty to individuals of stature or even past EiCs (as the case with Helmut’s sharing information with Sergio seemed to suggest)? In case of inappropriate and retaliatory decision by an EiC of FnT journals, what process is available to remedy the situation? What is the role and the limits of the decisions of FnT’s non-academic staff/part-owner/business-officer (Mike Casey)? Given the for-profit nature of the publication, what is the ethical responsibility of the academics involved?
My original post (Dec 8, 2018)
For a number of years, I have been on the editorial board of Foundations and Trends (FnT) in Communication and Information Theory (CiT) and I also contributed an issue to FnT Networking Journal. Given this, recently, I was contacted by my esteemed colleague and mentor, Professor Bob Gray, inquiring if I was aware of the series of unfortunate decisions that resulted in the dismissal of the entire FnT Networking editorial board and its editor-in-chief (EiC) a while ago and the subsequent resignations of Professor Andrea Goldsmith, Stanford, and Professor Muriel Medard, MIT, from the editorial board of FnT CiT.
While the issues Bob alerted me to all seemed quite alarming, as an editor for CiT, I was most troubled by whether the editorial board crisis at the FnT Networking and/or Mike Casey’s (FnT's publisher/administrator) handling of it had directly led to the resignation of two of the most distinguished communication and information theorists from FnT CiT editorial board. Sadly, this had cost the FnT CiT editorial board almost half of its women editors!! I believe that such high caliber resignations, especially by prominent women scholars, are not matters that the editor-in-chief of FnT CiT should be silent or indifferent to. Inaction and silence on important matters and crises of this nature have already negatively affected the information theory community’s reputation. The issue with the resignations is further complicated by the for-profit nature of FnT, the non-academic staff’s role, and the responsibility of academics involved in the editorial process.
Below I am including the email exchange I had with Mike Casey, Prof Helmut Bölcskei (EiC of FnT CiT), and the entire editorial board of FnT CiT that quickly convinced me to resign from the board. In my last (resignation) email to Mike Casey, I disclosed that I consider my communications with them and the issues raised of relevance to the broader community of communication and information theorists, as well as the readers and contributors of the FnT Journals.
After my resignation, I also shared my email exchange below as well as my concerns with the EiCs of FnT EE/CS Journals. The response has been encouraging; a number of the EiCs quickly followed up and noted the importance of the issues I had tried to raise. They seem to have initiated follow up meeting(s) to discuss. I am mildly optimistic that this group, along with Bob Gray, will help Mike Casey appreciate the importance of changing course and setting up academically acceptable norms. I will be following the developments at FnT from the sideline.
------------From: Tara Javidi <tjavidi@eng.ucsd.edu> Sent: 06 December 2018To: Mike Casey <mike.casey@nowpublishers.com>, FnTCiTBoard, Helmut Bölcskei <boelcskei@nari.ee.ethz.ch>Dear Mike and Helmut, Mike’s response seems to discount resignations/changes that have cost the board almost half of its woman- undoubtedly a big percentage loss- as a "small change.” While I had been warned by Bob Gray (the respected senior colleague who originally contacted me to ask about my knowledge of issues with FnT Networking and CIT), I am still puzzled by the dismissing of the gravity of the loss! Beyond the percentage loss, after all, these are two of the most prominent women communication and information theorists! Furthermore, this response is problematically vague on whether Andrea and Muriel’s resignations are indeed linked to the editorial board crisis at the FnT Networking and/or Mike’s handling of it. I am also concerned about the response I have received because it seems to imply a mismatch between the decision making process and acceptable academic norms. While I understand that the private nature of nowpublishers legally allows for the non-academic staff to have the final say, the credibility and success of any academic journal depends critically on establishing academically excellent and inclusive standards, including a sense of accountability to the broader community of researchers and scholars. Anyhow, your response, unfortunately, confirms that my original worry regarding a misalignment of our values was not baseless. Hence, as I mentioned in my earlier email, I am afraid that I cannot continue my association with your journal. Please ensure that the editorial board on the website reflects this (even “small”er) change at your earliest convenience. At the end, I would like to let you know that I consider the issues raised here of paramount importance to the broader communications and information theory communities as well as the readers of the FnT series of journals. Hence, I intend to make my resignation, my reasoning, and our communications public and known to the FnT EiCs collectively. Sincerely, -Tara--------------------------------Tara Javidi, PhDProfessor http://tjavidi.eng.ucsd.edu/Electrical and Computer Engineering ph: (858) 822-4924University of California, San Diego On Dec 5, 2018, at 5:23 AM, Mike Casey <mike.casey@nowpublishers.com> wrote:Dear Tara, Thank you for your email. I will reply on behalf of both Helmut and I. To clear up any misunderstanding, both Andrea and Muriel resigned from the board on their own volition. In their resignation emails, both requested, with which I complied, that their names be removed as soon as possible from the listing on the website. It is not normal practice for the full editorial board to be informed of small changes to its composition, as has been evidenced by other such changes throughout the lifetime of the journal. Since taking responsibility for the full CS/EE FnT programme earlier this year, I have been consulting with all editor-in-chiefs to assess how we can make better use of our boards. This process is ongoing at the moment. I trust this clears up the matter. Regards Mike CaseyPublisherNow Publishers IncLange Geer 442611 PW DelftThe Netherlands From: Tara Javidi <tjavidi@eng.ucsd.edu> Sent: 03 December 2018 21:30To: Mike Casey <mike.casey@nowpublishers.com>, FnTCiTBoard, Helmut Bölcskei <boelcskei@nari.ee.ethz.ch>Subject: Re: FnT CIT Dear Mike and Helmut, Recently, I heard from a very respected member of our community about troubling developments at our sister FnT in Networking journal which I was told resulted in some resignations and objections by prominent AEs. Indeed, when I checked the journal’s page (I am sure you remember that this is where my own issue came out a couple years ago), it seems to have no information on the editorial board of the journal. Even more troubling, and the reason I am contacting you and the editorial board, is that when I checked the editorial page of our own FnT in Communications and Information Theory journal, I noticed that our editorial board now is missing both Andrea Goldsmith and Muriel Medard! Having worked hard to increase diversity in the IT Society for a few years, I am very very concerned about this development, not only because this has left the editorial board’s gender diversity problematically below the acceptable norm, but also because Muriel and Andrea are undoubtedly among the most prominent woman communication and information theorists. Even more troubling, I do not have any record that the editorial board, at large, was informed of Andrea and Muriel's departure, the reasons for their departure, a sense of urgency regarding losing them, and/or of your plans as how to mitigate the impact. I am afraid that this lack of communication might be an indication that you two might not share my values and concerns regarding the importance of transparency, inclusion, diversity, and excellence at the editorial board level. I really hope this is only an unjustified fear and reality is different, in which case, I would very much welcome your sharing with the full editorial board, CCed here, the issues that have caused the departure of both Muriel and Andrea and your plans as how to address both what instigated their departures as well as how to mitigate the impact for the mission of our editorial board especially regarding excellence and inclusion. Without a clear sense on these issues, I cannot, in good conscious, continue my association with the journal. Sincerely, -Tara --------------------------------Tara Javidi, PhDProfessor http://tjavidi.eng.ucsd.edu/Electrical and Computer Engineering ph: (858) 822-4924University of California, San Diego On Sep 6, 2018, at 3:51 AM, Mike Casey <mike.casey@nowpublishers.com> wrote: Dear Board Members,I wish to inform you that Helmut Bolcskei has agreed to become editor-in-chiefof Foundations and Trends in Communications and Information Theory. Effectivedate is 1 September 2018.Regards,Mike CaseyPublisherNow Publishers IncLange Geer 442611 PW DelftThe NetherlandsTel: +31-6-51115274Email: mike.casey@nowpublishers.comSkype: mike.casey