A Long Journey to Somewhere: JLR at 40

Abstract

In 1969 1 was just finishing up my PhD at the University of Illinois. Publishing was on my mind as I needed to begin the march towards tenure. I had been working with Dr. Doyle Bishop on an article and he mentioned a new journal called the Journal of Leisure Research where we might try to publish our work. As a psychologist, Doyle was skeptical about wasting our work in a new journal with no standing in the academic community. But, we decided that the only way this new journal would survive, let alone thrive, is if people took a chance and submitted their work for review and otherwise supported the journal. The manuscript was submitted and published in volume 2, number 1, 1970. Thus began my association with JLR. And luckily the journal not only survived, but has become the premier international journal for publishing work related to leisure. Over the past 40 years the journal has helped solidify the positive stature of both leisure research and leisure researchers. In many ways the success of JLR laid the foundation that has allowed other recreation and leisure journals to be both created and successful.What has been most impressive over the years has been the overall quality of articles published in the journal. Under the tutelage of a number of editors and wise and dedicated associate editors and reviewers the journal has been able to attract quality manuscripts and has perhaps even supplied the motivation for researchers to undertake higher quality research. The journal has also successfully become a touchstone for the changing methodologies and topics pursued in our field. It is hard to imagine now that there was once considerable controversy concerning the value and appropriateness of quantitative verses qualitative methodologies and concerns that review panels had a quantitative bias, therefore providing a roadblock to the publication of quality articles that used qualitative methodologies. As the editor of JLR during a six year period at the front end of these concerns (1990-95), I can vividly remember being referred to as a quant guy, and when qualitative articles did appear in the journal being congratulated on my daring and willingness to take chances in seeing them published. So much has changed. The journal has provided a home for articles where the key issue is the appropriateness of the methodologies employed rather than the assumption that quantitative approaches are superior.The journal has also had to survive periods of misunderstandings between academics and the leadership of NPRA. There was a period in the 1970s where it became necessary for the academic community to lobby NRPA to maintain the journal as an essential membership service. Reason prevailed, JLR survived and is now recognized as an asset to a national professional organization professing to advance the case for the importance of recreation and leisure and the services and facilities that promote citizen participation. The only reason for mentioning this point is the need for us to be constantly on guard against the independence of the journal content from NRPA control, but at the same time remembering that the journal is sponsored by a professional organization and reports to the NRPA Trustees Research Committee (not just the Society of Park and Recreation Educators).Having been an avid reader of JLR and been involved in its nurturance during its first 40 years, I do have several concerns about the journal for the future. The first concern is the need for authors to maintain a balance between works that they chose to submit to JLR and efforts to publish in other respected journals, especially those without recreation, leisure or tourism in their titles. Many of the articles published in JLR deal with critical issues of theory that would be of interest to people from other academic fields. By these comments I am not trying to diminish the stature of JLR, but to increase the general placement of academic work related to leisure, which I believe will improve the stature of all leisure related publications. …