Welcome to

JIR is now the biggest part of Everything in the Universe.

Hi! I'm Norm Sperling, the new editor. I've subscribed to JIR since the 1970s. I was assistant editor of Sky & Telescope magazine, and Science Editor of AltaVista.com. I teach astronomy in universities around San Francisco, wrote the new book What Your Astronomy Textbook Won't Tell You, and co-designed Edmund Scientific's Astroscan telescope.

In 6 funny issues a year, JIR offers:

• spoofs
• parodies
• whimsies
• burlesques
• lampoons
• satires

JIR appeals to:

• scientists
• doctors
• science teachers
• word-lovers

JIR targets hypocrisy, arrogance, and ostentatious sesquipedalian circumlocution. We're a friendly escape from the harsh and the hassle. JIR makes you feel good :-).

Changes starting in 2004:

• Articles from new authors.
• Updating the graphics.
• Accepting a few ads. We really appreciate your tips on who would be appropriate advertisers.
• 1-liner ads - 1 line, all the way across the page - for just $39. 1-liners are a great way to tout a website or a briefly-described product.

Subscriptions to JIR make great gifts!

Guidelines for Authors

JIR articles should be humorous. Appeal to scientists, doctors, and engineers. Make your points in good humor. Make readers feel good about having read them. Minimize bitter aftertaste.

The rule for length is simple: write it for what it's worth. Include everything that ought to be there, and then stop. Don't leave out anything that helps the article, but don't pad, either.

Parts of articles that deal with real science should be valid both in technicalities and in sense of proportion. 70% of JIR readers have doctorates - they can spot problems.

Many readers don't enjoy slogging through complex equations in unfamiliar specialties, so use only as much math as your points require.

Use the citation format appropriate for the topic.

Please include appropriate illustrations.

Each article is distinctive. Do what makes your article the best it can be. We look forward to reading your submission.

Let us produce your publications

We get the science right - and the wording - and the graphics.

We target your audience. We produce brochures, newsletters, magazines, reports, books, and website contents. We write, edit, proofread, lay out, format, illustrate, specify printing, print, and bind. We pay attention and work quickly, at reasonable prices. Tell us what you have, and what you want it to become.

JIR makes conventions unconventional!

Would your professional convention benefit from some humor? JIR can co-host a humor session, blending our half-century trove of articles with your society's wittiest presenters. JIR's session was a huge hit at FASEB.

All we need are expenses from San Francisco*, and a sales booth. We will consider any proposal or relationship that seems good for us all. *Near San Francisco, "expenses" are little more than a parking pass.