Afa Support for Research: Journals and Conferences

Abstract

The American Forensic Association is both a professional and a scholarly organization. Its members' interests include both forensic activities (primarily coaching, judging, and directing competitive programs in debate and individual events) and the advancement of scholarship in argumentation through research and publication. Commitment of the AFA to forensic activities is evident, among other things, in its code of ethics, its production and sale of contest ballots, its annual tournament calendar, and its sponsorship since 1967 of the National Debate Tournament and more recently of the National Individual Events Tournament as well. The AFA Research Committee has worked to stimulate and recognize distinguished scholarship through means ranging from a competitive program of research grants to the presentation of research awards. The association's principal commitments to research, however, are its publications and conferences, and these will be the focus of this essay. PUBLICATIONS The Journal: Its Origins. During its first few years, AFA had no serial publication. In order to promote regular communication with its membership, the AFA Register was established in the fall of 1952, under the editorship of Austin J. Freeley, then AFA president. Subsequent presidents also filled this role until 1958, when John Rickey of Ohio State University was appointed editor (Freeley, 1999). The Register was produced by mimeograph and bound by staple. It was conceived as a house organ to report association business, but within a few years it began also to carry short articles about research projects and about such practical matters as judging debate. As this evolution occurred, the AFA felt the desire for a more substantial scholarly journal. The membership included a growing number of former debate coaches who retained an interest in argumentation scholarship. It was also felt that the AFA would take on a more academic character if it published a bona fide scholarly journal (Ziegelmueller, 1999). On the other hand, some were skeptical that editors could find enough articles to fill a journal's pages. And there was serious concern about whether AFA had the financial resources to support publication of a journal. Fortunately, in the early 1960s AFA received revenue from a successful series of televised debates. This money served as the venture capital for the organization to launch a new journal (Blyton, 1970, p. 15). The Register was discontinued in 1963, and in January, 1964, the Journal of the American Forensic Association (or, as it was widely known, JAFA) made its debut. Renamed Argumentation and Advocacy in 1988, it now is in its 36th year of continuous publication. The inaugural editor of JAFA was Thomas R. McManus of Kent State University, who shepherded the journal through volume I. Thereafter, editors were appointed for two-year terms. The editor was appointed by the National Council upon the recommendation of the Publications Committee. Most or all of the editor's expenses were borne by his or her home institution. A complete list of editors may be found in Table 1. As his two-year editorial term was nearing completion in 1975, George Ziegelmueller (volumes 10 and 11) was asked to remain for a second two-year term and agreed to do so. His successor, David Zarefsky, received a similar request. Zarefsky counterproposed that he serve one additional year and that the editorship thereafter be made a three-year term, as is common for most journals in the communication discipline. This plan was agreed to and has been followed since. The current journal editor, Edward Schiappa, will complete his term at the end of Volume 37, in the spring of 2001. Initially, JAFA was published three times per year and the volume year corresponded to the calendar year. With Volume 7, it was decided to match the volume year to the AFA's fiscal year (July 1 through June 30). To accomplish this change, Volume 7 included five issues rather than three. …