Abstract
In the final issue of Information Development for 2015 (Vol. 31, no. 5), we announced that, from the next issue, Vol. 32, no. 1, (2016), the number of pages per issue would be increased from 96 to 112, giving a total of 560 pages per year. This represented a 75% increase over the figure for 2012. The first two issues of Vol. 32, (nos. 1 and 2) did indeed reflect this change, enabling us to publish 15 papers in some 219 pages. However, the number of articles accepted for publication, and published Online First on our website (http://idv.sagepub.com/content/early/rec) was substantial and some authors faced a wait of longer than a year to see their manuscripts published in a print issue.
In order to relieve this situation, SAGE Publications and the editorial team decided, as a temporary measure, to publish most of the articles from Online First in the remaining three print issues for 2016, starting with this issue, which contains 526 pages and 38 articles. The next two issues (Vol. 32, nos, 4 and 5) will continue this policy, and the print journal will revert to 112 pages per issue from Vol. 33, no. 1, 2017.
In taking this action, the publishers and the editorial team aim to provide the best service possible for our authors, and the latest information research for our readers.
The 38 articles in this issue are from or about 16 countries in four regions. Asia is in the lead with 17 papers, of which 8 come from Korea and 5 from China; Africa is next, with 12 papers, of which 4 are from South Africa and 3 from Nigeria. From the Americas, we have 6 papers, 4 of which originate in the USA, while three European countries – Serbia, Spain and Turkey – each contribute one paper. Grouping papers by subject is rather more difficult, but one noteworthy feature is the small numbers of papers dealing with the ‘traditional’ subjects of libraries and records management, as compared with papers dealing aspects of knowledge – such as knowledge quality, knowledge sharing, knowledge management and knowledge resources – electronic commerce, online services, information needs and various applications of information technology.
The contributions from our two regular columnists, Juan D Machin-Mastromatteo and Msafiri, are particularly appropriate at this time. With the forthcoming election in the United States attracting world-wide attention, Juan’s ‘Developing Latin America’ column, entitled ‘The most “perfect” voting system in the world’, examines the application of electronic voting systems in Venezuela in the light of concerns about government transparency and impartiality. Meanwhile, in the context of the world-wide offshore financial dealings exposed in the leaked ‘Panama Papers’, Msafiri’s column, ‘Two ways with financial information’, also strikes a very timely note.
We hope readers will enjoy this ‘bumper’ – larger than normal – volume and its two successors.
In the next issue
The next issue (Vol. 32, no, 4) will contain slightly fewer articles (35) than this one, from slightly more countries (19). In regional terms, Asia is again in the lead, with 21 papers, followed by Africa (6), Europe (5) and the Arab states, Latin America and North America, each with one paper. Subject coverage is again very varied, with libraries and records management again receiving limited attention in comparison with aspects of e-commerce, e-government and business applications. Individual papers worth special mention are two on crime investigation support systems, from Thailand and Turkey, and our first paper on the Internet of Things. The regular columns by Juan D Machin-Mastromatteo and Msafiri will also appear in the next issue.