At the start of the new year, I received an email stating that I had been named one of the Top 100 reviewers in 2017 for the journal CALL (Impact factor 2.121 (2016)). I am not sure how significant this is, nor do I know the total number of reviewers.

However, unlike in Japan, where peer review is often seen as a contribution to the development of an academic field or society—carried out as volunteer work supported solely by individual initiative—overseas, information about which journals one reviews for is linked to a researcher’s evaluation. Being a reviewer for a top-tier journal in one’s research field serves as an indicator that one’s research ability is recognized. At some journals, researchers even approach the Chief Editor to ask to be allowed to review.

From that perspective, being recognized as one of the Top 100 reviewers for a journal with an impact factor—even if I don’t know the total number of reviewers (I might be 100th out of 100)—is something I am very grateful for. While I don’t know how impressive this is, for now, I would like to simply and honestly feel grateful.

Personally, I feel that research in the CALL field has been slightly declining recently. I have served as Co-chair and Executive Program chair of the TELL (Technology-Enhanced Language Learning) group, which is one of the sub-conference groups at the international conference ICCE, and I have also served as the TELL SIG Chair, but I feel that it has been gradually losing its energy. Since my term as SIG Chair has ended, I thought my duties at ICCE might be over, but I will be serving as Co-chair of the TELL Group in 2018. I hope I can contribute to the development of TELL in some way.