Natural Language Engineering (NLE) enters the second decade of the twenty-first century having established itself as a leading forum for high-quality articles covering all aspects of applied Natural Language Processing research, including, but not limited to, the engineering of natural language methods and applications. It continues to promote first class original research and bridge the gap between traditional computational linguistics research and the implementation of practical applications with potential real-world use. The journal has responded in several ways to the ongoing interest in and growth of research in this area. In 2007 NLE increased its number of pages per issue, thus enabling the publication of more articles. As of January 2010, new publication types are also promoted. In addition to welcoming articles which report on original, unpublished research, the journal now invites surveys presenting the state of the art in important areas of Natural Language Engineering and Natural Language Processing (such as tasks, tools, resources or applications) as well as squibs discussing specific problems. Book reviews and reports on industrial applications will continue to have a prominent place in the Journal. Conference reports, comparative discussions of Natural Language Engineering products and policy-orientated papers examining, for example, funding programmes or market opportunities, are welcome too. Special issues will remain an important feature of the Journal. We envisage one special issue per year, on average. Special issues are selected on a competitive basis after regular calls for proposals.
While NLE now provides more space for articles and encourages a greater diversity of articles, we have always been and shall remain committed to setting high standards in terms of quality. To this end, every submission undergoes a rigorous peer review process involving three or more reviews before any decision of acceptance, rejection or revision is taken. Authors are updated at every stage of the review process. Our ambition and intention is to secure a fast turn-around time for all submissions, notifying the authors of the decision within approximately three months from the date of submission. This is an objective that we passionately pursue as it is of great importance to all current and prospective authors.
We are working hard at having NLE more widely indexed, most particularly in the Thomson Reuters Social Science Citation Index. We are confident of early inclusion in the Index and of the Journal obtaining an Impact Factor. The introduction of an online editorial management and online peer review system is being actively considered. We are hoping that one will be implemented sometime in 2010, making for an up-to-date and efficient process for reviewing manuscripts and communicating with authors and referees.
NLE now has two Editorial Assistants – Irina Temnikova and Natalia Konstantinova. Irina and Natalia (who are pursuing their PhD studies in Natural Language Processing) are helping me on a daily basis with operational matters such as managing submissions and communicating with authors and reviewers. Their input has been invaluable in ensuring the efficient processing of all submissions.
I would like to thank my fellow Editors: Branimir Boguraev, Martha Palmer and John Tait, with whom I regularly discuss important issues. I would like to acknowledge the Book Reviews Editor, Kemal Oflazer, and the author of Industry Watch, Robert Dale. Members of the Editorial Board, who are experts on a broad range of topics, have contributed with invaluable comments and reviews. The Guest Editors of all special issues have done an excellent job. I am very grateful to all our reviewers for their quality and timely feedback. I also wish to express my gratitude to colleagues from Cambridge University Press, including Carol Miller, Senior Production Editor, and especially Patrick McCartan, Publisher for Social Science and Humanities Journals, for their support. Finally, I would like to thank all our readers and contributors for their continued interest in the journal, and for their submissions and suggestions.
