Note from the publisher

Citation

Whitfield, R. (2006), "Note from the publisher", International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 36 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijpdlm.2006.00536aaa.001

Note from the publisher

Welcome to this 36th volume of IJPDLM. With the new volume comes a change of Editorship. Professor Joseph Cavinato will be stepping down from his role and the Editorship will be taken on by Professors Michael Crum and Richard Poist of Iowa State University, USA. The publishers would like to thank Professor Cavinato for his work on the journal. He will be remaining with the journal as an advisory board member. We would also like to welcome Professors Crum and Poist to their joint role in pushing the journal forward from 2006. Each of them has an extensive background of research and publications in the field and they are looking forward to the challenge of editing this key journal. They will be introducing themselves and their views on the task ahead in a forthcoming editorial piece.

The year 2005 has seen excellent progress with regard to dissemination of the journal. As many of our readers are also authors, this is obviously good news in terms of readership of the journal contents. The Emerald database – which carries the contents of this and around 130 other journals – is now available in around 1,400 universities worldwide. Over the period from November 2003 to 2005 this has meant a total download figure from this journal alone of 188,189 article downloads (i.e. users accessing the full texts of articles and downloading these onto their PCs). The most downloaded articles were as follows:

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  “The impact of e-commerce on supply chain relationships” by Susan Golicic, Donna F. Davis, Teresa M. McCarthy, and John T. Mentzer (University of Tennessee, USA) which appeared in Volume 33 Issue 10, 2002. Total downloads in this period 2,102.

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  ldquo;An integrated model for the design of agile supply chains” by Martin Christopher (Cranfield University, UK) and Denis Towill (Cardiff University, UK) which appeared in Volume 31 Issue 4, 2001. Total downloads in this period 1,627.

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  “Strategic alliance: synergies and challenges – a case of strategic outsourcing relationship 'SOUR'” by Mosad Zineldin and Torbjörn Bredenlöw (Växjö University, Sweden) which appeared in volume 33 Issue 5, 2003. Total downloads in this period 1,460.

The authorship of these articles reflects the true internationality of the journal (an internationality which is, in turn, reflected in the readership – with large download figures registered in countries as diverse as the USA, UK, Finland, Malaysia, and Australia. Downloads were recorded in over 130 countries over this period.) An important point to note is also the fact that articles can register significant numbers of downloads well after their initial publication. The full archive of the journal is available on the fully searchable Emerald database so, for as long as the subject matter of the article remains of interest to students and researchers, the article will continue to be downloaded and read. We are also happy to note that two of our own advisory board members – John T. Mentzer and Martin Christopher – are amongst the authors of the articles listed above.

We trust you will find much of interest in the issues to appear over this 2006 volume. For further information e-mail: rwhitfield@emeraldinsight.com

Richard WhitfieldManaging Editor