Editorial: EES and the continuing evolution of Research Policy

Research Policy (RP) continues to grow and flourish. The journal receives increasing numbers of submissions from all round the world, with the growth being particularly rapid outside of North America andWestern Europe. In 2008, the ten issues totalled nearly 2000 pages and included 125 full-length research articles. The articles published are highly regarded and have a significant impact, as reflected in the journal’s impact factor (JIF), which rose appreciably last year. Because of the growing scale and complexity of the business involved in reviewing and editing all the submitted papers, the journal has now switched to using Elsevier’s Electronic Editorial System (EES). This handles the on-line submission of papers as well as the reviewing and editing process. The switch took place at the beginning of 2009, although there had been a pilot scheme operating over the previous six months to sort out teething problems. This Editorial explains the background to that move, setting it in the context of the evolving strategy for the journal. There are also several other important issues that have arisen over the last year or two and which the Editors would like to bring to the attention of readers