Abstract
International Criminal Justice Review (ICJR) is published by Sage and is housed in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University (GSU). I have considerable experience in cross-national and international research, teaching, mentorship, and service. Therefore, when I joined the GSU Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology in fall 2013, I was happy to accept the offer to become the next ICJR editor.
My first task as an editor is to thank Dean Dabney. For several years, Dean was the editor of both ICJR and Criminal Justice Review (also housed in our department). Editing two journals at the same time is a daunting task. Dean did an excellent job with both journals and he deserves considerable credit for doing so. I thank Dean for his service as an editor, for passing on a healthy journal to me, and for helping to make the editorial transition a smooth one.
My second task is to thank our staff, both in-house and at Sage. Our current Managing Editor, Andia Azimi, and Book Review Editor, Tricia Johnston, are doing great work and have been incredibly helpful to me in my first several months as ICJR editor. Those involved in the production process at Sage also deserve praise for the fantastic work they do behind the scenes to turn raw manuscripts into carefully crafted and beautifully finished journal issues.
My third task is to invite you to submit your manuscripts to ICJR for consideration for publication. International and cross-national criminology is rapidly growing, and I look forward to making ICJR a central part of this subfield. Please help me spread the word. We Americans are a parochial lot, so “international” here means any nation outside the United States. Studies that compare the United States to other nations or that include the United States in a larger sample are welcome.
My Goals as Editor
My primary goal is to make ICJR a leading journal in the growing subfield of international and cross-national criminology and criminal justice. The main path to accomplishing this goal is to publish high-quality, theoretically informed, methodologically rigorous, and carefully written articles that address crime and justice comparatively, internationally, or cross-nationally. In achieving this goal, I also aim to provide timely and professional reviews to authors. Very soon I hope to cut the mean time from manuscript submission to initial editorial decision to 4–6 weeks. Similarly, I want to provide professional and helpful reviews to authors. No matter the editorial decision, I want authors who submit manuscripts to ICJR to feel they and their work were treated fairly and professionally at every step. We all have an obligation to our colleagues, and those who know me understand I take that professional responsibility very seriously.
Timeline
Although technically my publishing responsibilities begin with this first issue of 2015, I began my day-to-day obligations as ICJR editor in late summer 2014. Coincidentally, soon before taking over as editor I guest edited a special issue of ICJR on international and cross-national research on homicide and violence that was published in September 2014. Soon after beginning my editorial duties, I arranged for the special issue on international research on evidence-based policing—guest edited by Lawrence Sherman (Cambridge University, University of Maryland) and Alex Murray (Commander of Birmingham East Local Policing Unit, Founder and Chair of the Society for Evidence-Based Policing)—that makes up the contents of the issue you are currently holding in your hands or reading on your computer screen.
The Editorial Board
Including two great young scholars—Marieke Liem and Paul-Philippe Paré—as associate editors, 18 of the 23 ICJR Editorial Board members are from nations other than the United States, making ICJR a truly international endeavor. Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America are all represented in one way or another on the Editorial Board, which is a very talented group of scholars who will serve ICJR, its readers, and authors well.
Richard J. Terrill Paper of the Year Award
Articles published in ICJR are eligible for the Richard J. Terrill Paper of the Year Award. The Editorial Board selects the annual Terrill Award winner, which goes to what the Board votes on to be the best article published in ICJR the previous calendar year.
Book Reviews
Each issue of ICJR contains several book reviews. In the past, these reviews were not necessarily on international topics. Moving forward, I am working with my book review editor to focus on reviews of books that have a more international, cross-national, or transnational character.
Submit Your Research…And Help Me Get the Word Out!
Please consider ICJR for your research and encourage your colleagues to submit their quality manuscripts to us. I look forward to making ICJR a central outlet for high-quality research and I hope you and your colleagues would be part of our success!