After recently completing the end of tax year reviews for the journal, it’s interesting to reflect how things have changed in the years I’ve been involved. Some things haven’t – we still try to help authors as much as we can, especially those who have less experience and more of a helping hand in getting final papers organised. Some problems still remain, mostly because some people have a basic lack of being able to read instructions, no matter how big and red we make the letters on the submission information! However, the aspects that have changed, such as the online submission system, have proven very successful in terms of the numbers and variety of papers we now receive. So much so, that we are processing papers for issues six months ahead. That means that, at the time of writing (April) I am pulling together the last of the papers for September, and starting to line up the December issue. A result of this success is that it will cause delays in the appearance of the final paper online and in the print version. Apologies to the authors for that, but we do try as much as we can to make it equitable for all, and go by submission number to keep things moving along in the editorial office.

Readers will also notice more centennial papers in this issue – thanks to the various working groups for organising these, as they are quite in-depth, considering one hundred years for many scientific fields covers a great amount of progress. We’re hoping to have the rest in the September and December issues, and may even have a guest paper from our ‘sister’ organisation, the WVPA, via its president Trevor Bagust. Many thanks to Bob Pym for helping organise this paper.

One issue that has arisen again is the subscription matter relating to print copy. I know I’ve made this plea before, but please, can all those who do not want or require a print copy make sure they register this with their local secretaries and online, so we can reduce the amount of paper we currently ship around the world. If your department has more than one WPSA member, we can arrange for a single departmental copy and for everyone to have online personal access. From an environmental point of view, we need to reduce print copies that are posted out.

Some personal news – my assistant Dr Shay Hill has recently given birth to a lovely baby boy, and is currently on maternity leave. Many of our authors have had correspondence with Shay and I’m sure would like to congratulate her.

Looking forward to seeing you all in Brazil in August at the World Poultry Congress!

Dr Lucy Waldron

Editor