Note from the Editor, February 2014

• Date: 01 February 2014
• DOI: 10.1177/0022427813518663
• Published date: 01 February 2014
• Author: Michael Maxfield
• Subject Matter: Editorial

Editorial

Note from the

Editor, February

2014

With this first issue of Volume 51, I’m pleased to announce two significant

developments. First, the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency

(JRCD) will now publish six issues per year, with a concomitant increase

in total pages. That will help accepted papers get into ‘‘print’’ more quickly

and allow us to publish more research. The Journal’s acceptance rate has

hovered around 9%. We do not expect that to change much. Instead, we

hope to increase the number of interesting, original, and high-quality papers

submitted to JRCD. The Editorial Board and I are grateful to SAGE for this

expanded support.

Second, in mid-2014, we will publish a special issue commemorating the

first 50 years of JRCD. Papers by well-known scholars, many of whom

are members of the Editorial Board, examine a range of topics. Some topics

are familiar and have been addressed in JRCD papers throughout our first

50 years. Others address relatively new questions or new approaches to tra-

ditional questions.

Putting these two developments together makes it possible to plan more

special issues. JRCD has published the occasional special issue, but the Edi-

torial Boardand I now envision devoting one issueper year to a special topic.

With continued cha nge in academic pub lishing, edited b ooks have become

costly and difficult to manage. On the other hand, academic journals are

increasingly available and read through packages of subscriptions. Special

issues can be viewed as something like an edited book that is more widely

accessible. Papers published in all past special issues go through the normal

peer-review process. In fact, the occasional proposed special issue has not

been published because some submissions did not survive peer review.

Papers submitted for any future special issue will similarly be processed

through anonymous peer review.

At our annual meeting, members of the Editorial Board discussed a

couple of examples of possible special issues. One draws on the growing

Journal of Research in Crime and

Delinquency

2014, Vol 51(1) 3-4

ªThe Author(s) 2014

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DOI: 10.1177/0022427813518663

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