Editorial

2016 marks the 19th volume of the International Journal of Logistics: Research & Applications. In the first issue of volume 1, Peter Hines, the Editor-in-Chief, advised that the journal is ‘designed to be accessible to both academics and industrialists and seeks to provide articles that are not only of academic interest but will also provide valuable lessons for the practitioner’. The sweet spot and character of the journal continue to be defined by the quality of its application-driven research. We strive to publish high-quality work that is original and has both methodological and reporting rigour but also has clear potential to be of significant practical value. Relevance to the logistics and supply chain community and evidence of practical value should be integral to the research process in order for papers to qualify as strong candidates for publication. To be assured of practitioner relevance and avoid the emergence of a relevance gap between research and practice, we recommend researchers think about their work from a practitioner perspective and regularly engage with stakeholders and practising managers. In addition, we encourage researchers to facilitate the processes by which more practitioners can liaise and communicate their strategic and varied challenges to the academic community in ways that lead to researchable ideas, and for practitioners to become regular participants in each stage of the life cycle of research projects. In our most recent volume, good examples of papers that bridge the research–practitioner gap include the work of Harri Lorentz and colleagues (2015) (18:1, 1–15) who investigated the effect of low-cost sourcing on supply chain administration cost, Tom Cherrett and colleagues (2015) (18:2, 155–167) who developed a smartphone application to enhance the supply chain visibility of a charity organisation, and Hokey Min and colleagues (2015) (18:6, 518–534) who evaluated the efficiency of a mass transit system. These papers are typical. In each, there are opportunities for mutual value as the research undertaken is informed by practice and there is real potential for practice to be informed by the research.

To support the publication process, we are endeavouring to provide the best service we can to contributors. The journal was first published in 1998 in a three-issue per year format. It was expanded to four issues in 2003 and has been published in a six-issue per year format since 2008. Each 6-issue volume consists of at least 24 papers including 1 issue devoted to some of the best papers from the previous year's Logistics Research Network conference, and occasional themed contributions such as a special issue on port logistics management in volume 18. In the past year, submissions have increased, review times have decreased and we have seen modest rises in the journal's two-year and five-year impact factors. The journal is only as good as its editorial board members and reviewers, and we would like to thank them for their support and for their thoughtful and thought-provoking reviews. Volume 19 brings some changes to the board as we welcome several new, international logistics and supply chain leaders. These include Andy Yeung of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Arni Halldorsson of Chalmers University of Technology, Damien Power of the University of Melbourne, Kenneth Green of Southern Arkansas University, Hing Kai Chan of Nottingham Ningbo University, Andreas Wieland of Copenhagen Business School, Davide Castellano of the University of Pisa and Vincent Yu of the National Taiwan University of Science & Technology.

Please continue to use the journal to benefit your research, submit your work to the journal, provide us with your suggestions for improvement, and recommend the journal to your business and academic networks. We are excited about its future and its prospects to prosper as an important source of engaged scholarship to support both academics and practitioners interested in finding inspiration, and new ideas and approaches to face the challenging and changing demands of our discipline.