[TRBHealth] Fwd: Transportation Research Publishing Survey

Dear Colleagues, I hope this message finds you well. We are a group of transportation researchers, and we would like to invite you to participate in an anonymous survey, which will only take one or two minutes to complete. As many of you are aware, many journals today place significant emphasis on methodological advancements, including algorithms, machine learning, and AI. This trend has even extended to journals that traditionally focused on policy analysis and addressing practical transportation problems. While these innovations are valuable, we believe this shift may create challenges for researchers whose expertise lies in policy, planning, and solving real-world transportation issues. These researchers may find it increasingly difficult to navigate the changing expectations of journals that prioritize new methods over practical, problem-driven research. In light of the rise of large language models, such as ChatGPT, it becomes even more crucial for researchers to craft and ask the right questions. Developing new, impactful research questions and addressing critical real-world issues is essential to advancing the field, just as much as developing novel methodologies. Both dimensions of research—innovative problem-solving and methodological contributions—are necessary for the continued growth and relevance of transportation studies. The purpose of this survey is to gather insights from researchers in the transportation field about the common challenges and experiences encountered in publishing research papers. The information you provide will play a crucial role in informing the development of a new research journal focused on addressing transportation policy and problems (which might be a little different from traditional policy or planning journals). We highly value your input and sincerely appreciate your time and expertise in contributing to this important initiative. Your responses will remain confidential and will only be used to understand trends within the field and help refine the scope of the proposed journal. Please click the following link to participate: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HMDHJ6T If you have any questions or need further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at jacktransportation_ai(a)gmail.com. Thank you for your participation. Best regards, Jack