ACM to Publish World’s Leading Journal of Human-Robot Interaction
NEW YORK, NY July 5, 2017 – ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, today announced that, as of January 2018, the Journal of Human-Robot Interaction (JHRI) will become an ACM publication and be rebranded as the ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction (THRI). In recent years, the human-robot interaction field has experienced substantial growth. Research findings at the intersection of robotics, human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, haptics, and natural language processing have been responsible for important discoveries and breakthrough technologies across many industries.
Founded in 2012 by Sara Kiesler of Carnegie Mellon University and Michael Goodrich of Brigham Young University, with the support of the HRI Steering Committee, the Journal of Human-Robot Interaction was initially launched to serve as the premier peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal in the field. The journal covers the convergence of technology development and social understanding to capture the full spectrum of robotics. Topics of interest include how people interact with robotic technologies, how to improve these interactions, technologies to enable new kinds of interactions, new design concepts and methods for interactive robots, and the impacts such technologies have on people and society
By joining the ACM portfolio of highly respected journals and by becoming an ACM publication, THRI will be better positioned for long term growth, sustainability, and visibility as a result of being hosted on ACM’s leading edge publication platform, the ACM Digital Library, which is accessible to millions of computer scientists and computing professionals around the world.
Scott Delman, ACM’s Director of Publications, commented that “as a result of this move to ACM, the journal will have the ability to leverage ACM’s significant reach, resources, and experience as one of the world’s leading publishers of scholarly computing literature and ACM will bring itself closer to the Robotics and AI communities, which has become an important goal for our organization.” Delman continued, "under ACM’s banner, the journal will continue to be Open Access, fostering the widest possible readership of HRI research and information. As a well-established and respected professional society that takes a long-term view toward its publications program, ACM is in a perfect position to strengthen this journal’s reputation for quality publication and sustainable accessibility. We will also be exploring new potential models for Open Access over the coming years to enhance THRI’s role as an invaluable resource for the research and practitioner communities.”
We are thrilled to become part of the ACM family of journals,” explained THRI Co-Editor-in-Chief Odest Chadwicke Jenkins of the University of Michigan. “ACM’s reputation as a publisher of computing research is unparalleled. At the same time, the broad representation of computing disciplines in the ACM, the organization’s global reach, and platforms such as the Digital Library, are a perfect complement to our own goals for THRI.
Jenkins, along with Co-Editor-in-Chief Selma Šabanović of Indiana University, have set three primary goals for the journal in the coming years, including: 1) Sustaining the intellectual growth of HRI as a field of study (both quantitatively and qualitatively), 2) Enabling timely and productive feedback from readers, and 3) Cultivating new and leading-edge ideas in both robotics and the human-centered sciences
In the short term, Jenkins and Šabanović plan to expand the THRI editorial team to broaden the scope of the publication. They have also planned a mechanical-oriented section with the aim of building a better bridge into HRI for the excellent work that is being done in haptics, mechatronics, and related areas. The mechanical HRI section will join existing sections on computational, social/behavioral, and design-related scholarship in HRI.
“In a little over a decade, the HRI community has grown from just a small set of loosely-connected researchers and groups into a thriving research community,” adds Šabanović. “This growth is on a rapidly upward trend. A growing number of projects aimed at getting robots to work with diverse groups of people are materializing every day. A high-impact journal such as THRI will be a catalyst for pioneering innovation in this field. We are all looking forward to this exciting new chapter in THRI’s development.”
The inaugural issue of the rebranded ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction (THRI) is planned for March 2018. Those seeking to submit for the publication, or who have questions for the editors, are encouraged to visit the current HRI Journal website.
About ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction
ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction (THRI) was founded in 2012 by Sara Kiesler of Carnegie Mellon University and Michael A. Goodrich of Brigham Young University as the Journal of Human-Robot Interaction (JHRI). THRI encourages submission of papers from all fields including robotics, computer science, engineering, design, and the behavioral and social sciences. Preference will be given to articles that contribute to the state of the art or general knowledge, that have broad interest, and that are written to be intelligible to a wide range of audiences.
About ACM
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.
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