Editors' Notes

Abstract

This marks our final issue of the Policy Studies Journal, as we hand the (virtual) editorial office over to Professors Peter deLeon and Chris Weible, both at the University of Colorado at Denver. After six years of receiving, reviewing and publishing for the PSJ, we remain impressed with the array of ideas and quality of thought in public policy research. This issue makes our point, including papers by Peter May, Joshua Sapotichne and Samuel Workman (University of Washington) on the ways in which broad policy “disruptions” like the 9/11 terror strikes ripple through public policies; by (our esteemed future editor) Christopher Weible (University of Colorado at Denver) and Paul Sabatier (University of California at Davis) on patterns of adversarial versus collaborative policy on complex scientific issues; and an excellent paper by Susan Webb Yackee (University of Wisconsin-Madison) concerning interest group conflict in policy making concerning medical malpractice reform. These and the subsequent papers in this issue will make enduring contributions to public policy theory, and are sure to be of broad value to policy scholars and students. As the PSJ has changed over the past six years, with increased visibility and affiliation with the APSA Public Policy Section, we have gained a clear view of what it takes to promote and sustain a strong academic journal. While editors play a role, the primary drivers are the scholars who submit top-quality papers and the reviewers who take the time to provide constructive criticism. The conscientious support of blind reviewers, in particular, is essential to the success of a scholarly journal. With the help of our reviewers, the PSJ was able to resist the now nearly pervasive trend toward longer review times at journals; it is not uncommon to hear of papers languishing for over a year as editors await reviews. Discussions with our reviewers suggest that this is, in part, because policy scholars (and APSA Policy Section members in particular) feel a degree of ownership in the PSJ. We deeply appreciate the support that has been provided, and we hope that reviewers will continue to provide high quality and prompt reviews of articles sent by the new editors of this journal. We wish the new editorial team the best in continuing to increase the quality and visibility of the PSJ. For that reason, as always, we urge you to submit your best scholarship to the Policy Studies Journal.