Welcome to the first issue after the removal of automatic print copy for all members. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have opted for online access to the journal only, as this will represent a major saving in costs of production for WPSA, money that is most definitely more usefully employed elsewhere in the organisation. We do understand that some members still wish to receive a print copy – and have always supported that for specific cases. We have no plans to reduce the circulation of the Journal at all – but just to streamline things to make best use of finances.

This year is shaping up to be busy again – with many conferences being announced in the events section. In addition, there is increasing focus on the African Network, which will yield some interesting outcomes and directly impacts on the main tenets of the organisation – supporting developing countries and their specific needs. In my limited work with the African Poultry Network, I have found some excellent enterprising researchers who are very dedicated to their work and provide necessary services in various countries.

The Journal continues to attract more papers on varying topics, which is excellent. However we are getting some very long papers coming in, which need to be split up into sections in order for us to keep control of the size of each issue (especially for printing) from the publishing side. However, authors with longer papers are most welcome to contact me directly to discuss how best to proceed. We aim to help people as much as we can within the Editorial Office!

The 2013 Board and Editorial meetings will be held at the Italian conference in mid-September – so anyone wishing to contact me on specific issues can do so then. My Editorial Board are a varied group who are all very active in contributing to supporting the Journal for which I am eminently thankful. It is a chance to meet up with old friends and colleagues as well – and I am very much looking forward to it. Even in these times of recession, conference attendance is still very important, not only for presenting research data but also to network with other poultry scientists. I especially appreciate the work brought to conferences by students, as often they are working in novel and cutting edge research, giving me access to some interesting papers. Hopefully the savings in print and post costs enabled by recent changes in Journal dissemination will help promote attendance at WPSA events.

Dr Lucy Waldron

Editor