Introduction

This collection of 26 papers in a virtual issue of Geoforum has been put together to mark the journal’s fortieth birthday. Since Geoforum first appeared in 1970, about 1,600 articles have appeared between its covers, encompassing the wide range of topics, theories and methods adopted by geographers and scholars in related disciplines. In choosing the articles for inclusion, we have tried to reflect the breadth of scholarship included in Geoforum, but the selection is obviously partial. The papers have been classified into seven broad categories to indicate the range of Geoforum articles, but the diversity within these categories and the overlap between groupings is also apparent. We hope that the collection provides a stimulating introduction to the journal for those unfamiliar with its contents, and a thought-provoking reminder to readers who have contributed to and used the journal in the past.

Wolf Tietze, the first editor of Geoforum, described the journal as follows in his opening editorial: ‘GEOFORUM – a journal devoted to the complex problems of man-land relationships’ (1970, p.3) and then proceeded to lay out the remit of the journal, using geosciences as the multidisciplinary focus. Tietze argued that research specialisation had left scholars unable to see wider connections and the ‘bigger picture’: ‘Only the increasing interaction of the various branches of the geosciences will permit a thorough understanding of the mutual influence of Nature and Human Society’ (Tietze, 1970, p.3). GEOFORUM was founded as a forum for such debates, hence the name.

Geosciences remained in the description of the journal’s remit for over ten years. For example in 1975 the cover material described the journal as follows:

‘GEOFORUM is the international multidisciplinary journal of physical, human and regional geosciences. Geosciences are global in outlook, integrative in approach and problem oriented.’

This remit resulted in a very diverse collection of papers including physical geography, regional and economic development, rural geography and environmental themes.

In 1983, with Judith Rees as the new managing editor, the journal’s description changed to,

‘The international multi-disciplinary journal for the rapid publication of research results and critical review articles on the management of the human environment.’

This description was extended in 1984 with the addition of the following phrase to elaborate on the meaning of ‘the management of the human environment’:

 ‘an area of study broadly defined to encompass urban and regional planning, industrial development, resource allocation and the management of physical environmental systems.’

This remit implied the exclusion of papers which focused on environmental processes as studied by physical geographers, unless the article dealt with human-environmental interactions. The inter-disciplinary focus between natural and social sciences was a particular area of research which the editors wanted to encourage as outlined in the 1984 cover material. The exclusion of physical geography papers reflected both the editorial direction chosen by the editors and editorial board of the time, but also the increasing tendency of physical geographers to publish in more specialist journals.

Environmental topics have remained a key part of Geoforum’s output in the past twenty years. As the ‘environment’ papers in this virtual issue demonstrate, however, papers dealing with this topic adopt a range of approaches, including a focus on environmental management and governance, and contested environmental knowledges.

Jody Emel, Andrew Leyshon and Jenny Robinson, the editors in 2004, laid out a new remit for the journal:

‘[A]n international inter-disciplinary journal, global in outlook, and integrative in approach. The broad focus of the journal is the organisation of economic, political, social and environmental systems through space and over time’ (2004, p. 1).

The breadth of the journal remained key, but rather than identifying management of the human environment as the thematic focus, the new definition reflected much more accurately the journal’s contents, coming primarily from geographically-informed studies of economic, political, social and environmental systems.

This focus has continued to the present, as has the commitment to a global outlook and spirit of inclusiveness. In 2008, Geoforum papers were authored by scholars based in thirty countries in all regions of the world. While about 60% of the papers were authored by researchers in UK or US institutions, the involvement of colleagues from many other countries is something which the journal welcomes and tries to support.

When Geoforum was first published, authors could submit papers in English, French or German, but this practice ended in the early 1980s, the last non-English language paper being a paper in French on permafrost near Basel (Gangloff, 1981). The current editors are mindful of the problems some authors may have in submitting papers which meet English-language requirements. While we cannot give detailed editorial language support to all papers, in some cases Elsevier can provide free editing assistance if editors feel a paper is of suitable quality. We are always seeking to improve the support we provide to authors, so will continue to reflect on our practices regarding submissions from non-English-speaking authors.

In recent years, Geoforum has become particularly known for its themed issues. This is, in fact, a practice which dates from the founding of the journal, but which became less common in the 1980s, until experiencing a resurgence in the 1990s. The first five issues of the journal consisted of papers collected into themed issues organised by members of the international editorial board. These included an issue on ‘Aerospace observation techniques’ edited by H. Th. Verstappen (1970, issue 2). A recent themed issue on ‘The ‘view from nowhere’? Spatial politics and cultural significance of high-resolution satellite imagery’ edited by Martin Dodge and Chris Perkins(Geoforum, 40: 4, 2009) demonstrates how technologies have changed in the past forty years, and how geographers’ approaches to technology have also been transformed.

While themed issues were originally organised by members of the Geoforum international editorial board, we now welcome proposals for themed issues from all interested parties. There are three deadlines a year for submitting themed issue proposals (end of February, end of June and end of October). The themed issue protocol can be found on the Geoforum website. Themes of forthcoming themed issues include ‘Peak Oil’, ‘Ethical Commodity Networks’ and ‘Pastoralism and Ranching’.

In addition to regular papers, Geoforum also publishes critical review articles. These were introduced in 1996 (Leyshon, 1996) and are short pieces which provide reflections on particular debates within Geography and related fields. Three of the papers in this collection are critical review articles, Jonathan Murdoch’s piece on actor-network-theory, Clive Barnett on neoliberalism and Kevin Ward on urban regime theory. Most regular Geoforum papers can be classified as empirically-rich, theoretically-informed articles, rather than review pieces. Critical review articles are shorter (3,000 words rather than 9,000 words) and give authors the opportunity to reflect on and review developments in the discipline. They are reviewed in the same way as regular papers.

Editorials have also been a regular feature of the journal since 2002 (Leyshon et al., 2002). Writing an editorial at least once during the three-year term of office has been one of the main responsibilities of editorial board members, along with refereeing duties and inputs into the journal’s strategic development. We have not included any editorials in this collection, but many have attracted significant attention and citation.

Finally, as the current editors, we would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the evolution, growth and success of Geoforum during its first forty years. This includes the sixteen previous editors and around one hundred editorial board members. Their contributions have been crucial in framing the journal’s remit and increasing its visibility around the world. The publishers (Pergamon and later Elsevier) have provided excellent support and worked with the journal’s editors to facilitate online submission, editorial assistance and promotion of the journal, as well as producing the hard copy and online versions. Corrected proofs of articles are usually available online in the Geoforum Articles in Press section of ScienceDirect (  www.sciencedirect.com) within six weeks of acceptance.

The thousands of authors who have submitted their work and the referees who have helped evaluate those papers deserve particular thanks. We now receive about 200 papers a year compared to between 50 and 60 in the mid-1990s. While some papers are not sent out to review as they are unsuitable for the journal, most are sent out to at least two and usually three referees. The work of referees around the world in supporting the editors in their decision-making regarding individual papers is greatly appreciated, especially as we are all very aware of the competing pressures colleagues are under and the time it takes to provide reviews. The work of the Geoforum Editorial Assistant, Hilary Backhouse, has also been vital in helping editors deal with the increasing workload since 2001 when she joined the team.

We hope that you find this collection of Geoforum articles engaging and inspiring and that you will continue to support the journal in the future. If you would like more information about submitting articles or themed issue proposals, please see:   http://ees.elsevier.com/geoforum/. We look forward to working with you in Geoforum’s 41^st year and beyond!

Emel, J., Leyshon, A. Robinson, J. 2004. Editorial: A five year plan? Providing a forum for excellence and diversity in geography. Geoforum 35 (1), 1-4.

Gangloff, P. (1981) ‘Traces d’un pergélisol villafranchien dans les alluvions du Sundgau’, Geoforum 12 (3), 273-280.

Leyshon, A. 1996. Editorial: Critical review. Geoforum 27, 425-426.

Leyshon, A., Robinson, J. Emel, J. 2002. Editorial. Geoforum 33, iii – iv.

Tietze, W. (1970) ‘GEOFORUM – a journal devoted to the complex problems of man-land relationships’, Geoforum, 1 (1), 3.

Katie Willis

Gavin Bridge

Scott Prudham

Michael Samers