The Last Editors: Passing the Torch to the Next Editors of WSC's New Journal (2014)

Volume 15, no. 1 (April, 2014) is the last issue of the Western Criminology Review, which in future will be published as the Journal of Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law and Society. journal will continue to be published online by the Western Society of Criminology and will start with Volume 15 no. 2 (August, 2014).The first issue of the Western Criminology Review was published in June 1998. then president of WSC, Barbara Bloom, stated in her Inaugural letter: landmark issue of the WCR includes an impressive collection of articles that reflect the 1998 WSC conference theme of restorative justice as well as an overview of the conference proceedings. Patrick Jackson, WCR Editor, has devoted the past year to the development and production of the Indeed, Patrick introduced the first issue of the WCR, which included articles by some of the major researchers in the field of restorative justice, including Mark Umbreit, Allison Morris, John Gehm, Gordon Bazemore and Mara Schiff, with the following statement: The restorative justice movement deserves our undivided attention as a potential alternative to present responses to crime. Today there is much discussion about restorative justice, numerous calls for its implementation, and some critical response. It is clear that the public, our political leadership, numerous organizations involved in crime control, mainstream criminology, and many others need to learn what restorative justice means and how victims, society, and offenders can benefit from it. While much has changed in the 16 years that WCR has been in production, Patrick's words about the role and value of restorative justice are still true today.Patrick has been our hidden support person for unfathomable technical issues that we occasionally encounter, that he seems uniquely able to solve, and Sonoma State University, where he works, has hosted the WCR journal on its website from the outset. We thank him and the Sonoma State University Librarian, Paula Hammett, for their support over the years. As Patrick framed that inaugural issue he stated: is a proud moment for the WSC. After a quarter century of work toward creating a more equitable and just society, we have finally seized the moment to charter a new course by publishing a free, peer reviewed electronic journal. It is sure to enliven and broaden our perspectives in profound ways over the years to come. This it has done, but it has also done something more important, which is to embrace new technology, and provide criminological research and analysis at no charge to the contributing authors or the readers of their articles.We are also indebted to the other editors and universities who have kept the WCR torch alive over the years. Universities that have provided editors and funding support for publishing the journal include California State University San Bernardino, University of Alaska Anchorage and Sam Houston State University, as well as our own San Diego State University.The journal receives articles from all regions of the United States, and 20% of submissions are international. Its acceptance rate varies between 15-21% depending on the year. journal receives an average of 3,670 hits a day and over 110,500 hits a month.In recent years the WSC has seriously explored the possibility of having a commercial publisher take over the journal and discussions occurred. But in the end, the recommendation of the publications committee, which included Hank Fradella, Kim Richmond, Paul Kaplan and Stuart Henry, was that at least in the short-term, the journal would continue to be published by the WSC and to continue to be made available for free online (which was one of the issues that commercial publishing would have compromised).So while this is our last issue as WCR editors (for the past three years), we are passing the torch to the new editors of the retitled journal: Hank Fradella, Aili Malm and Christine Scott-Hayward from California State University, Long Beach. …