Introduction: A Retrospective of LSQ's First 40 Years

• Published date: 01 May 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/lsq.12143
• Date: 01 May 2016
• Author: Constanza F. Schibber

Introduction: A Retrospective of

LSQ’s First 40 Years

As I mentioned in the February 2016 Introduction, I am casting

about for an innovative way to make use of the pages previously dedi-

cated to the editor’s take on the contents of an issue. If any of you have

suggestions, I would be more than happy to hear about them. For this

issue, I asked a Ph.D. candidate at Washington University in St. Louis

with strong interests in legislative studies, Constanza F. Schibber, to pre-

pare a brief retrospective of the Legislative Studies Quarterly’s f‌irst 40

years.

—Brian Crisp

Executive Editor

A Retrospective of LSQ’s First 40 Years

Between 1976 and 2015, LSQ published 40 volumes or 160 issues.

From thousands of submissions received, the journal published 939

research articles, 9 research notes, 24 articles as part of the Continuities

in Legislative Research series (review articles written by well-known

scholars), 18 book reviews, and 3 sets of rejoinders involving controver-

sies between authors.

Of 160 issues, 16 were dedicated to special topics. Some of these

originated from conferences and symposiums, while others were simply

aimed at advancing research in new areas. Topics varied from “New

Directions in Coalition Research” and “Formal Models of Legislatures,”

to “State Legislative Elections,” “Internal Operations of the U.S. Senate,”

and, more recently, “British Political Development.” Additionally, there

were four series of articles across multiple issues on specif‌ic topics. One

of these series, for instance, aimed at encouraging comparative legislative

research and spanned six issues published between 1999 and 2000.

Articles

The number of articles included in each volume increased in the

early years of the journal, reaching an average of 28 articles per volume

LEGISLATIVE STUDIES QUARTERLY, 41, 2, May 2016 231

DOI: 10.1111 /lsq.12143

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C2016 Washington University in St. Louis