Dear readers, authors and contributors,
It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that our esteemed editor-in-chief and the founder of The Journal of Altmetrics, Prof. Judit Bar-Ilan, passed away recently after a long battle with cancer.
Judit was a woman of incredible resilience. A brilliant researcher and teacher, she was driven by a genuine sense of intellectual curiously and unwavering drive to grow and develop our understanding of the impact of science and scientific output.
Her works span several disciplines including computer science, scientometrics, bibliometrics and altmetrics; she published over 200 scientific works throughout her career.
Judit was a respected member of several professional organizations and a program committee member of over 50 conferences. She traveled to each and every conference, presenting groundbreaking research and sharing important findings that changed our field and opened new paths for future research. Her incredible work and contributions resulted in her winning the 2017 De Solla-Price award – the most prestigious award in our field.
And all the while, not many knew that she was battling cancer. With her quiet, yet strong character and her gracious demeanor, she never let the pain and weakness deter her from writing, publishing, traveling and presenting.
Judit collaborated with over 90 authors from around the world, colleagues she worked with and students she mentored, including myself. Judit was my professor at the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and from then, for over 25 years, she has been my mentor and professional partner, my inspiration and source of strength.
In 2018, in a café in Jerusalem we came up with the idea of opening a dedicated journal for Altmetrics. Her enthusiasm and joy surrounding this journal is something that I will never forget. She recruited our outstanding editorial board, campaigned for the journal and took every opportunity to let authors and readers know about it. To almost her very last day on earth she gave me instructions pertaining to submissions to ensure their timely publication. She loved the journal, was proud of it and I know how much she would like to see it go on.
The journal will continue and will remain open and free for authors and readers. The editorial board and I will continue her work and ensure that we publish innovative and insightful articles in the field.
Per Judit’s wish, this year the journal will also be publishing articles and abstracts from the upcoming 6AM conference, which will take place in October 2019.
We look forward to your contributions.
Gali Halevi, MLS, PhD
Associate Dean of Libraries & Information Sciences
Email: gali.halevi@mssm.edu
And on behalf of The Journal of Altmetrics Editorial Board
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