Editorial: summary of activities 2022

Any act of self-expression involves some form of creativity, be that devising an experiment, writing a research paper, taking a photograph, creating a screenplay, or sketching a drawing. They all involve the utilisation of a practised skill – or set of skills – which are varied in new and different ways to produce something unique, something original, where we are able to push beyond the bounds of what currently exists in order to bring into the world a new entity, thought, idea, or experience. To create is a profoundly human endeavour that is innate to who we are, to what we are. In ‘Born To Run’ Christopher McDougall (McDougall, 2010) outlines how a theory that homo sapiens evolved physically to become running machines, developing a competitive advantage that enabled them to chase down prey in a way that other mammals hadn’t been able to achieve. McDougall develops the idea to support the exploits of ultramarathoners and their remarkable achievements, however, this idea operates more deeply. If we are born to run, then we must love running: running is an innate ability and pleasure. It transforms into a mesmerising, hypnotic, activity where we become attuned to the flow of motion, to the passage of distance, to the passage of time. What is odd about this hypnotic state is that, through the rhythm of our motion, we develop a mental balance or stasis. Running is a creative activity which takes the skills we have developed (e.g. foot placement, flow, rhythm, form) and combine them in unique ways to produce a new experience. That experience can be shared at the same place and time (or indeed at a later time) but will never be the same as the way you experience it personally. This might seem far removed from map-making and the cartographer, yet it is a potent reminder that creativity has those twin elements of the application of a learned skillset and the joy of experiencing it. Skills applied at their zenith become a meditative state, however remember that the hill climbed to becoming a master is a joyful one and that no one ever stops learning, novice and experienced practitioner alike. One of the pleasures of editing the Journal of Maps is that we not only have a diverse set of subjects we publish, but a wide range of cartographic skills on display. It’s worth remembering that every submission that undergoes peer review is assessed by a professional cartographer. This can be one of the most fulfilling aspects of the process as, whilst academics are usually experts in their own subject area, they often have lay experience in cartography. The cartographic reviews can, therefore, significantly enhance the quality of the final map that is published. The starting point for any new submission should be our ‘Submit a map to Journal of Maps’ (Taylor and Francis, 2022) and particularly the resources highlighted; get to know what our expectations are in terms of author instructions, what we have published already (including our ‘Best Map’ winners, and our guide to common map errors). When producing a map, many designers like to create a ‘mood board’ as these can be used to both provide inspiration and coalesce ideas into an overarching theme. Remember that practising the art of cartography is a journey and through your travels you will gain new skills that will make you a better designer. Your first map is simply the beginning and as it iterates through new versions, and you progress on to new maps, each will get better. Practise is the key but, more than that, practising with purpose; develop your skills as you learn. With this in mind, there are three pieces of advice from our cartographic reviewers. Firstly, consider what your message is. What data does your map present, what message is it trying to communicate and who is it targeted at? Iterate over these questions to better focus your ideas. Secondly, design with explicit consideration of visual levels:

Last yearusing the metaphor of running -I touched upon the nature of creativity and how it can be comprised of two elements: the application of a learned skillset and the joy of practising it (Smith, 2022).By repeatedly undertaking map making, and exercising these two elements, we canas cartographersproduce new visual endeavours that present our imaginings to a wider audience.For a practising painter or photographer, this might simply be the development and production of something they find interesting that satisfies their creative drive, however as academic cartographers it is the beginning of a conversation with our readers.
Within this context, you can think of the production of a map as what you are saying, whilst its design is about how you say it.Let's dig into those two points in a little more detail.Firstly, the 'what are you saying' is the key message; if you had 12 seconds to explain your map with one of your readers, what would you say?Your message should be simple, focussed, and easy to understand.For example, it might be to display the volume of vehicular trafficby typethrough time, show the impact of a receding coastline, or produce a standardised inventory (such as a geologic map).
Secondly, the 'how you say it' is critically important to how your readers understand your message and immediately grasp the impact it will have.In many ways this is similar to giving an oral presentation which you can think of as performative art.You begin with a slide deck and a stage, then vocally deliver the message.Think of the many conferences you may have attended and consider the presentations that were boring, confusing, or lacked focus.Then consider those that were inspiringboth visually and as a narrativeand as a result made you subsequently change your actions.What you present should change the world, in small or large ways, and so great care should be taken in how you say it.
All of which is leads to the mantra that you must 'design with purpose.'Firstly, consider who your map is intended for: what is the target audience?Secondly, by knowing the audience you will then be in a position to define the message.This is what you are trying to communicate.Finally, based upon the audience and messageand utilising the data you have selected for this taskyou will be able to inform your design with decisions that best target your message to your audience.In short, use your understanding from steps one and two to inform the design decisions and selections you make in order to produce the final map.This is an iterative process where you will refine your choices as you develop a design; indeed, it may involve multiple 'candidate' designs at an early stage before proceeding to a final design selection.
For example, if you are presenting a landform inventory to a highly technical audience, then you may choose to use a standardised symbology and generic layout that allows the presentation of 'dense' information in an efficient manner.This may require technical knowledge to 'decode' its meaning, however the audience will appreciate the detail and will be prepared to invest greater effort in understanding the map.Contrast this with a geotourist map that is intended to present scientific information about landscape to a general audience.The use of simpler symbology, a basemap with key topographic information, and simple explanatory panels to introduce key information are all important, along with a visually appealing design.
A real worldnon-academicexample might give some more context to 'designing with purpose.'As a trail runner, I have competed in the premier multiday race called the Original Mountain Marathon (OMM); each year they commission a bespoke orienteering map for the race (Harvey Maps, 2023).In the UK we are spoiled with map coverage at 1:25,000 and 1:50,000-scale from our national mapping agency -Ordnance Survey (OS)however the maps used by the OMM are not from the OS or at these scales.In fact, since originally commissioned in 1976, the OMM has used 1:40,000-scale maps produced by Harvey Maps.Chris Beacock, Production Manager at Harvey Maps, notes that 'the 1:40,000 scale would be ideal for the [OMM] event -1:25,000-scale mapping results in a large, unwieldly sheet, while 1:50,000-scale maps do not show enough detail.1:40,000-scale is a compromise between the two and works very well.'He notes that the OMM maps relied heavily on early mapping specifications of the International Orienteering Federation, adapted slightly for British terrain: 'For example, a 15 m contour interval was chosen [as] it fitted the terrain well, allowing the shape of the ground to be seen without the map getting too cluttered.'This approach fits more broadly into the Harvey ethos; Chris states that their maps are intended to be 'simple, easy to use maps which put the emphasis on features which you can see on the ground and are useful to the runner or walker.'This is a timely reminder that the maps we publish in the Journal of Maps are intended for a specific audience -find out what the design requirements are to best communicate your message and then produce a map that is visually articulate.While not all authors may be professional cartographers, by understanding the rudiments of the design language we can all become better communicators.

Best Map Award
The 2022 Best Map Competition (sponsored by Taylor and Francis) was judged by the formal awards panel comprised of myself, Dr Dick Berg, Dr Bernhard Jenny, Mr Mike Shand, and Professor Nigel Walford (and this section reflects our combined comments).
All maps published in the 2022 issues of the Journal of Maps are automatically entered into the competition and then shortlisted to a final group that are scrutinised by the panel.All maps are available for panel members, and they can (and do) suggest other maps that can be added to the final group.Contributions are assessed upon both their academic content and cartographic quality.It is neither the best academic paper nor the best-designed map, but a combination of qualities from both areas that is judged the winner.The following 11 maps were reviewed for the award: Geotourism, traditions and typical products of Avellino Province: Angelo Cusano, Filippo Russo, Luigi Guerriero, Aldo Coluccielloc, Giuseppe Ruzzaa, Francesco M. It is with great pleasure that I am able to announce the award of the 2022 'Best Map' to Angelo Cusano, Filippo Russo, Luigi Guerriero, Aldo Coluccielloc, Giuseppe Ruzzaa, Francesco M. Guadagno and Paola Revellino (University of Sannio, Federico II University of Naples, and Museum of Festivals) for their geotourism map of Avellino Province, southern Italy, showing sites of geological importance, as well as historicalarchaeological and cultural locations.This area of southern Italy has a diverse and interesting landscape that has witnessed human occupation and intense cultural development over millenia.The simplicity and attention to detail are exemplary, providing rich information for the tourist to better understand the area.It is also a good example of an inter-disciplinary map that is intended to appeal to a diverse and wide audience.Our awards panel noted that it used 'excellent design and layout, [presenting an] innovative subject area.'

A year in numbers: 2022
For 2021 we shifted the writing of the Editorial and judging of the Best Map Award to early in the following year to ensure robustness in the publication cycle, however we are running a little later than expected in part due to new changes at the Journal of Maps.In order to improve the whole production process, we are moving from a traditional pagination scheme where every article receives page numbers within the issue it is published in, to an elocation scheme.For the latter, each article receives an ID (with page numbers only within the article) and is immediately published to an issue within the year.How the articles are ordered within a journal issue is purely dependent upon the website which means we can easily insert editorials after articles are published, as well as creating bespoke 'collections' of articles.The latter is something we will be pursuing in the near future.
The Journal of Maps continues to flourish with a small increase in year-on-year submissions.The 2022 volume had a reduced 67 articles (compared to 121 in 2021) publisheda result of the move to eloca-tionIDswhich will mean a greater number of articles in the 2023 volume; the number of accepted articles remained about the same.We also had two special issues titled 'PaleoMaps: representations of Quaternary paleoenvironments, human-environment interaction and human dispersal' (Henselowsky et al., 2022) and 'Celebrating Census' (Walford, Carson, & Donnelly, 2022).
For other metrics there are two that I would like to flag.Firstly, the ever-present Impact Factor was down slightly to 2.657 (from 2.709), a result of a one-off change in the way article counts are made which depressed our score slightly as an electronic-only journal.It is worth rememberingas a reminderthat this is an increase from the 1.600 recorded in 2017.Perhaps more persuasively are the number of articles that are downloaded by readers.As an open access (OA) journal, we can distribute articles widely and this is one of the significant benefits of publishing in this manner.During 2022 there were a total of 425,270 downloads, around parity with 434,459 for 2021.This perhaps reflects the 'ceiling' value for a journal that publishes ∼100 articles per year.This 'half million' level is remarkable when compared to significantly larger subscription-based journals and is a reminder that in 2015 (our last subscription year) there were 30,972 downloads.The takeaway is that if you want significant exposure for your work, then OA is the way to go!In terms of metrics for individual articles, the top five cited (2019-2021) and downloaded ( 2022

With gratitude and thanks
I think of the Journals of Maps as the coalescence of community, bringing together like-minded and complementary individuals to enable the vetting, publication, and distribution of the highest quality academic maps.By equal measure, it is the currency with which we are academics, but also a labour of love as we have a close affinity and passion for our subjects.Maps produce a deep affection amongst both authors and readers as they are more than the sum of their parts and outlive any research that they may initially be based upon.
It is with this in mind that I am grateful to the myriad of people that make a publication like this a reality.The obvious focus is upon authors who produce maps of value, but thenconcomitantlythere are readers who want to consume them.And authors are usually also readers.There is an over-arching Editorial Board at the Journal of Maps who oversee the review process and set the general tone and direction of the journal in terms of quality, consistency, and focus.Reviewers (who will also be authors and readers) undertake the actual reviews themselves, of which we have a specific professional subset of cartographers who form part of the Editorial Board and complete a cartographic review.There is then the publishing system which oversees the administration, publication, distribution, and archival of the materials we produce.Overall, it's a time consuming and complex task, but enables us to produce a journal of immense value, where its map products have immediate and long-lasting impact on society, the environment, economic development, and overall quality of life.
With this context in mind, I would like to thank authors for choosing to publish with us and readers for finding the articles and maps we publish so valuable to them.'Writing and reading' underpin what we do and are two sides of the same coin.However, the 'publishing bandwagon' requires the unsung work of reviewers to verify the veracity of the work undertaken and suggest ways of improving the final published material.Table 1 lists all those reviewers who are happy to be identified and I would publicly like to thank them for their work; in a system that reduces this invaluable and finite resource to the speed of review at any cost, their recognition is critical.
In terms of my personal day-to-day work, I would like to thank all of the Editorial Board members (Table 2) for their consistency in maintaining journal standards and ensuring that the review process runs as smoothly as it can.Finally, I would like to thank the staff at Taylor and Francis who work unflinchingly to keep the 'truck rolling' and deliver day-in, day-out.I would also like to extend thanks to my fellow Editorial Board members (Table 2), and I would particularly like to acknowledge Tricia Pantos as Portfolio Manager, as well as those in the Editorial Office and the Production team.