The ASAA is pleased to appoint Anne Platt as an honorary life member in recognition of more than 25 years of continuous service in her role as Assistant Editor of the Asian Studies Review (ASR), the flagship journal of the ASAA. While Editors in Chief and Council members come and go, Anne has been an essential part of the life of the journal and the Association more broadly.

Anne specialises in Japanese Studies and began her career at Griffith University. In the late 1980s, she began work at the Key Centre for Asian Languages and Studies (a joint venture between Griffith University and the University of Queensland, UQ). The two universities were to later develop their own niches in Asian Studies, and Anne has devoted a significant portion of her career to UQ.

Anne has been instrumental to the success of ASR for more than half of its lifetime. From 1998, she worked closely with Professor Kam Louie (then at UQ) who became Editor and transformed ASR into a formal academic journal with an international Editorial Board and a small number of Regional Editors to assist. With the journal shifting from three issues each year to four, and undertaking a transition from one publisher to another, there was a lot of work to be done, and Anne was on hand to ensure all went smoothly. Kam Louie notes that “Anne’s editorial and extensive Asian expertise was instrumental in building and maintaining ASR’s top international reputation”. She has since worked with all six Editors- in-Chief (EIC), who have all benefited immensely from her collegial professionalism.

Anne’s primary responsibilities and contribution to the journal include copyediting and proofreading each article and book review, ensuring a high quality publication. Anne has also played an important role in ASR’s adaptation to new platforms, the shifting needs of researchers, and the ever-changing nature of academic publishing. According to David Hundt, the outgoing EIC, Anne ‘has an unparalleled knowledge of ASR’s online platform (Scholar One) and has been an invaluable point of contact with our partners at the publisher (Taylor & Francis). I have been so grateful to her for taking primary responsibility for communicating with authors after the editors had handled accepted articles. Anne can be trusted to do right by everyone – authors, editors, and the publisher – and that has made my life as an editor so much easier’.

Anne Platt has been part of the ASR team during its rise to a position of high standing in Asian Studies. Figures provided by the publisher tell us that the journal’s download rate is increasing by 10 per cent year on year, its citation rates and impact factor are rising, and the number of submissions continues to reach new highs each year. Pleasingly, manuscripts from the Asian region, broadly defined, make up the vast majority of new submissions, although the journal also remains an important element of Asian Studies in Australia. ASR is a primary source of revenue for the ASAA, and enables the ASAA to fund many grants and prizes to support its members and recognise outstanding achievements.

Incoming Editor-in-Chief Dirk Tomsa is delighted that Anne has decided to continue her work with ASR for the foreseeable future. ‘When I introduced myself to the editorial board, Anne was one of the first members to respond and offer her support during the transition from David. Since I formally commenced the EIC role in January 2024, she has been extremely helpful whenever I have had questions about processes and systems. She has certainly played her part in making the handover very smooth, so I look forward to working with her in the years ahead.’

You can read more about Anne’s work directly in her recent blog for the series on Celebrating Women’s Contributions to ASAA here.