Arachis hypogaea L. is the legume once described as “unpredictable.” The American Peanut Research and Education Society is a professional society for those who have a passion for studying and promoting the peanut. APRES relies heavily on individuals to carry out the administration and leadership of our society. The publication of our peer-reviewed journal, Peanut Science, is one of the areas that consumes considerable time and effort.

In 2013, Dr. Timothy Grey became Editor of Peanut Science and continued in that role through the middle of 2023. Under his watchful eye, there were 173 articles published in 20 issues in Volumes 41 – 49. When Tim took over the reigns as editor, Peanut Science was having trouble with recognition among journals with no Impact Factor. According to Exaly.com, Peanut Science now has an impact factor of 0.3, which is in the top 25%. The H-Index is 37 which is in the top 11% of journals. While Tim acknowledges that this could not have been done without the help of the associate editors, reviewers, and authors, he will also downplay his role in the achievements. Dr. Grey fulfilled his role as editor in a manner that inspires those of us who follow in his footsteps.

Kim Cutchins is another individual that has served APRES very well in the production and publication of Peanut Science. As APRES Executive Officer, Kim saw the costs of our online processor and publisher continually increasing, with decreasing responsiveness in service. She investigated alternative publishing platforms and eventually, with approval from the Board of Directors, landed on an open platform for self-publishing. She arranged for Janeway to set up the new web platform, PeanutScience.com, for submission, review, typesetting, and publishing. Kim also downloaded and learned to use the typesetting add-in for Word, Ictect Tools, for processing and preparing the accepted articles for publication in Peanut Science. Her efforts went well beyond her job description as Executive Officer and came naturally from her personal connection with the peanut research community.

While we are still in transition to PeanutScience.com as our one-stop platform, Peanut Science has come a long way.

We owe a debt of gratitude to both Dr. Timothy Grey and Mrs. Kim Cutchins for the work they have done on our behalf in publishing our journal that provides a real niche for our research and our audience, the peanut community.

Please take time to thank Tim and Kim for their work on our behalf to improve Peanut Science.