Another year begins at Lithic Technology and it is once more my pleasure to introduce another fine issue of the journal. I will keep my remarks brief this time but I wanted to offer a few quick reminders and announcements. First, this issue contains a report on Acheulean handaxe experiments from Alan Cannell. I thought I might take this occasion to remind the readership of our openness to this paper format, which may be used to offer brief descriptions of field projects, lithic analyses, new analytical methods, knapping practica, experiments, etc. In addition, this issue contains a commentary piece from Jon Lohse, Michael Collins, and Bruce Bradley, as well as a reply from Metin Eren, Robert Patten, Michael O'Brien, and David Meltzer. Lithic Technology is also interested in publishing commentary and civil discourse of this sort and I personally feel that this kind of debate constitutes an important opportunity for productive learning. So, in short, I wanted to remind any potential authors that we would like to publish these types of manuscripts and to encourage you to think outside of the “research article” box in terms of manuscript formats.
Second, I wanted to announce some changes to the manuscript submission procedures for the journal. By the time this issue appears, Lithic Technology will have begun using the Editorial Manager internet platform to receive and review submitted manuscripts. A link to the Editorial Manager system may be found at the Lithic Technology page on the Maney Publishing website. Further instructions are provided there but please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions or difficulties. This sort of Editorial Manager interface is fairly standard across most journals these days. While this may make the review process somewhat less intimate, it will accelerate the review process and make my life easier from an organizational perspective. Furthermore, the switch is necessitated by a notable increase in the volume of manuscript submissions lately and I am extremely grateful to everyone who has submitted a paper to us recently. Your interest in the journal is appreciated and I hope it will continue!
Finally, as always, if you have a question, problem or concern, please feel free to contact me. I never take offense from authors asking about the status of their papers or making inquiries about new submissions. It is always a pleasure to hear from both authors and readers, and (of course) it is my job to respond to all of your inquiries as quickly as I can. As always, I look forward to reading your papers as I receive them and I hope to being seeing your submissions soon.