Letter from the editors

• Author: Cynthia Lum,Christopher S. Koper
• Date: 01 February 2020
• Published date: 01 February 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12490

DOI: 10.1111/1745-9133.12490

LETTER FROM THE NEW EDITORS

Letter from the editors

Cynthia Lum Christopher S. Koper

George Mason University, Editors in Chief

Correspondence

Cynthia Lumand Chr istopher S. Koper,Department of Cr iminology,Law & Society, Center forEvidence-Based Crime Policy,

GeorgeMason University, 4400 UniversityDrive, MS 6D12, Fairfax, VA 22030.

Email:clum@gmu.edu; ckoper2@gmu.edu.

In 2001, Todd Clear and Natasha Frost, the first editors of Criminology & Public Policy (CPP), wrote

in their inaugural editorial introduction:

If crime and justice studies are ever to play a more meaningful role in public debates on

crime and justice, criminal justice policy researchers must prepare and disseminate their

work in ways that aremore suitable to the policy-making audience. Criminology & Public

Policy is meant to do just that. The central objective of the journal is to strengthen the

role of research findings in the formulation of crime and justice policy by publishing and

widely disseminating empirically based, policy-focused studies of important crime and

justice policy questions. (p. 1)

Twenty years later, thanks to them and the editorial teams that followed, Criminology & Public

Policy has become a highly ranked and impactful journal in our field. Although challenges continue in

effectively translating and implementing research knowledge into policy and practice, there have also

been substantial gains. Government and private funding have become more focused on encouraging

research proposals that are practice-oriented, evidence-based, and that use the most rigorous scientific

methods. University-based research centers and nonprofit think tanks have helped to strengthen the

translation of evidence into practice. And criminal justice practitioners have become more engaged in

partnerships with researchers and initiatives within their own organizations to facilitate the use of sci-

ence in their daily work.1CPP provides the essential home and dissemination mechanismto strengthen

and support these efforts, as well as provides an important policy outlet for members of the American

Society of Criminology.

As the new editors of Criminology & Public Policy, our vision for the future of the journal is to

continue its mission to advance and strengthen the role of scientific research in criminal justice policy

and practice. To this end, we seek rigorous empirical studies that address various aspects of program

and policy development, theory, operations, impacts, and cost efficiency as they pertain to all areas

of the criminal and juvenile justice systems. We welcome studies using a variety of quantitative and

qualitative methodologies, original and replication studies, and high-quality reviews and syntheses of

Criminology & Public Policy. 2020;19:5–7. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/capp ©2020 American Society of Criminology 5