Attentive readers of Polar Record will have noticed that, since the issue for October 2011 (Volume 47 Issue 4), no book reviews have appeared in the journal's issues. The reason for this is simply that not only has the journal been receiving a large number of high-quality submissions in the form of articles and notes but it has also published two special themed issues in the last few months. This meant there was simply no space for book reviews and obituaries taking into consideration the space limitations of the hard copy issues. This problem is alleviated somewhat by the fact that all contributions are published online in FirstView (http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=POL) before appearing in an issue, and book reviews and obituaries published in Polar Record have been free to view online since 2010. Furthermore contributions published in FirstView may be cited in exactly the same manner as contributions published in an issue, but using the doi number rather than volume and page numbers. To rationalise the situation, it has been decided that articles and notes will continue to appear in hard copy, albeit at some remove from their publication in FirstView, while book reviews, obituaries, etc will only appear in the online version of the issue.
However, in order that subscribers reading the hard copy version might be kept abreast of the book reviews etc that are included on the website, all such publications will be listed on the contents page for the hard copy issue closest to their publication in FirstView. Furthermore individual subscriptions to the hard copy journal will be extended to permit subscribers access to additional online content, including articles published in FirstView.
It is appreciated that readers who prefer to read book reviews and obituaries in hard copy form may feel that this is not an ideal situation but it, or something like it, became inevitable arising from the progressive success of Polar Record in securing more contributions for publication during the last five years. We remain determined that the journal will remain the journal of record for polar matters and, with this in mind, the adoption of some suitable expedient was essential.
There is one more point. The appointment of a Book Reviews Editor would be of great assistance and I would be obliged if any reader interested in nominating himself or herself for such appointment, which is now commonplace in many journals, could contact me.
