Editorial

A major change takes place for QJEP(A) this year. For the second time in its 54 year history, the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (QJEP) Section A will be published as eight issues per year instead of four, and this will be the normal frequency in future years. This is a measure of the growth in the Journal, and it is a growth that has been sustained for well over a decade with recent indications of a continuing upward trend. The primary rationale for this move is to help reduce the publication lag for the printed version of the Journal by increasing its frequency of production. Authors and readers will already know that electronic versions of accepted and typeset articles appear on the journal web site soon after corrected proofs are returned to the publisher. QJEP(A) was one of the first established journals in our discipline to implement these 'electronic preprints', which are accessible by anyone whose institution subscribes to the Journal. It means that papers can be read without necessarily waiting for the printed issue of the Journal in which they appear. However there will be a continuing need, for the foreseeable future, to have printed versions of articles available as the preferred medium for many readers in addition to offering a permanent archive (see Editorial in the January 2002 issue for a discussion of electronic versus paper publication), and moving to eight issues per year helps meet that need while speeding the process of printed dissemination.