Editorial

The Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand (JRSNZ) has a proud history. It is a successor to the Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, first published in 1868 to provide a national forum for the scientific and technological work of various regional societies. The Transactions and Proceedings were published continuously until 1961, when content was divided among the present journals published by the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ).

The JRSNZ has the broadest disciplinary brief of the present RSNZ journals. We seek to publish high quality research from across all scientific and technological disciplines, especially work that has high relevance to New Zealand society and its future. Fostering an informed public debate is a key goal for the Journal, as well as disseminating information to researchers and scholars around the world.

In late 2009 the RSNZ significantly changed the editorial and production processes of all its scientific journals. As a result, the JRSNZ now has an entirely new editorial team. I'm pleased to have the opportunity as Senior Editor to continue to develop this journal, and I'm equally pleased to have a small team of highly respected Associate Editors in fields of special relevance to the journal: Karen Cronin (Institute of Environmental Science & Research), Michael Hannah (Victoria University of Wellington) and Ian Jamieson (University of Otago). The team is ideally placed to ensure that papers published in the journal are a product of good, current research.

The Journal couldn't happen without the strong support of the Publishing Team at the RSNZ. Reviewers are also a crucial part of any journal's success, and the work they do is often unrecognised. During 2010 the new Editors have been well supported by the expertise offered by reviewers from a wide range of institutions, all over the world. I am pleased to take this opportunity to express my personal appreciation of the work done by reviewers and Editors alike.

At the same time, the RSNZ entered a partnership with Taylor & Francis, a professional, international scientific journal publication house. The journal is now published via their Informaworld platform, is indexed in all the major abstracting and indexing databases, and is now available to an enormous range of organisational libraries through a variety of specialised mechanisms. This has given the journal significant exposure in a truly international market.

There are benefits for authors, too, including the adoption of a fully electronic (web-based) submission and review process for papers, and the potential for rapid publication of papers in electronic form as soon as they have been accepted by the editorial team and copy edited by Taylor & Francis.

The new ScholarOne web-based submission system makes it very easy for authors to submit manuscripts, and for editors and referees to process them promptly. As a result, the time to publication has been reduced significantly. When added to the potential for electronic iFirst publication, we can offer an attractive venue for publication.

Ultimately, any journal is only as good as its content. This year has seen a significant increase in the quality of the material accepted for publication. We are looking forward to continuing this trend in 2011, and we will continue seeking good research papers, short communications, and review articles.

All of us in the editorial team welcome the opportunity to build on the fine traditions of the JRSNZ in contributing to the national discussion of matters of scientific and technological significance. We hope these changes and improvements will encourage you and your colleagues to submit your best research to the Royal Society of New Zealand for publication. We look forward to continuing to receive your manuscripts in 2011.