The Saber and Scroll Journal

The Saber and Scroll Journal is published quarterly and welcomes submissions from independent scholars, graduate, and undergraduate students, as well as alumni from any institution. The Journal will consider submissions on any history or military history topic. Also welcomed are book reviews and exhibit/museum reviews as well as web-site reviews. Saber and Scroll is published with assistance from Policy Studies Organization. The Policy Studies Organization is in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations since 2023

SABER AND SCROLL JOURNAL—THE EARLY YEARS
By Anne Midgley

In the mid-1960s, Psychologist Bruce Tuckman developed the phrase "forming, storming, norming, and performing” to describe the stages of team development in his paper “Developmental Sequence in Small Groups.” To the extent that new project teams are taught Tuckman’s stages, they can be prepared for—and mitigate—some of the more damaging aspects of team formation. However, small teams formed without exposure to his theories often find themselves in this classic model of development without the foresight provided by Tuckman.
Such was the case in the early years of the Saber and Scroll Journal. The Saber and Scroll Historical Society formed in 2011 and held its first election in September 2011. Through that election, Candace McGovern, became the first Editor-in-chief of the journal. Candace soon formed a team of editors and proof-readers. Candace shepherded the journal through unknown territory and published the first issue in March 2012 in both an ebook and print copy through Lulu.com. Unfortunately, the initial issue met with both acclaim and criticism. As is frequently the case with social media conversations, the criticism led to fallout—Candace resigned her position prior to the publication of the second issue. Bruce Evans stepped in as EIC and managed the creation and publication of the second issue, assisted by a small team of editors—Michelle Jacobsen, Anne Midgley, and Leigh-Anne Yacovelli. Once again, internal conflict had a deleterious effect on the journal—Bruce resigned his position after the second issue. The third issue was managed by only three people—Anne Midgley as content editor, Jacqueline Wilson as proofreader, and Kathleen Reitmayer as technical editor. The fourth issue of the journal—Volume II Issue I—brought new faces to the journal team, with Ben Sorensen and Melanie Thornton joining as content editors, while Leigh-Anne Yacovelli stepped down from her post.
Volume II Issue II became the first issue of Saber and Scroll available in a book format on Lulu.com and welcomed a number of new content editors—Kathleen Guler and Kay O’Pry-Reynolds, a proofreader—Frank Hoeflinger, copy editor—DeAnna Stevens, and a web editor—Danielle Crooks. The second round of the Saber and Scroll Journal team formed the foundation of a team that grew to include an EIC, ten editors, four proofreaders, a copy editor, and webmaster by Volume II, Issue IV—Fall 2013. For the most part, that team remained in place—with the loss of some but addition of others—until 2018.
With the publication of Volume II Issue II in book format in 2013, a number of authors of the first four issues requested that the earlier issues be made available in print, as well. This led to the launch of an effort to re-edit the earlier issues and publish them both on APUS ePress and through Lulu.com in 2015. The team owes a debt of gratitude to APUS faculty member, Jennifer Thompson, who joined with Anne Midgley and Susanne Schenk Watts to edit, proof, and publish the first four issues in the new format. The first four issues were re-published in 2015.