BY PETER J. DENNING
EIC YEARS FEBRUARY1983–SEPTEMBER1992
DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER
AGAIN
After a 10-year struggle within ACM to define a Journal for All Members (JAM), a
“new” Communications was launched in the cold of February 1983. CACM was to
leave behind its pure research past and transform into a professionally useful, interest-
ing, monthly magazine for all members. The CACM that evolved in the decade fol-
lowing 1983 is substantially the form you find today. I was the EIC who managed the
transition.

To understand the “new” CACM, you need to understand the “old” CACM that preceded it. Stu Lynn has reported that a simple disagreement over the covers led to the formation of the ACM Publications Board in the mid-1970s and to a major restructuring of the ACM publications in the late 1970s. The 1970s were a major growth phase for ACM and the computing field, with a continuous stream of amazing new discoveries and inventions. ACM offered its authors two research publishing venues: Journal of the ACM (JACM) and CACM. CACM was the preference for papers about systems, architectures, and applications; JACM for theoretical papers. But these two journals could not accommo-

date the growth of the computing field.

THE PUBLICATIONS STRUGGLE

By the 1970s, the publications budget, which covered JACM, Computing Reviews, Computing Surveys, and CACM, was about half the ACM budget. The member cost of CACM alone was about half the annual dues. ACM revenues were very tight and everyone was sensitive about returns on investment.

CACM and JACM could not keep up with the explosive growth of scientific discoveries and technology inventions. By the mid-1970s there were major queues—and delays averaging three years—in both publications. Authors and readers alike complained bitterly to the ACM leadership and Council. Presi-