We’re already half way through another year – with the WPSA and the journal as busy as ever, with some major changes now in place regarding how we handle papers. As of 9th March, the journal moved to online submissions. This is a great move, as it allows us to monitor papers far better, as well as increasing our capacity for handling more papers, which has become an issue of late. It allows me to gather statistics on the papers we receive and the reviewing system, which will help us to become more efficient in future. Already the first submissions have been received and processed via the online system, and it appears to be working well. However, we still have the problem of authors sending in papers that are not reviews. It is crucial that authors follow the instructions for submitting papers carefully – as papers that are not reviews will be rejected directly. We would welcome feedback from authors who have used the new system too – as I am sure there will be some improvements we can make along the way.

The poultry industry continues to be a strong player in the world of agriculture. Even though the global economic woes continue unabated, the poultry sector remains important as a primary producer of human food, and sales of eggs and meat seem to have been hit less than the red meat sector, for instance. This seems logical, as people start to cut back on their food budgets. However, the academic world has been hit by cuts in funding, and we can only hope this doesn’t curtail research and development within the animal sciences.

In this issue of the journal you will notice we have some events planned with new branches, as well as a range of papers covering diverse topics. As we continue to get more INFPD papers submitted, I have decided to include these in every issue, as there are too many now to be used in just two issues per year.

Dr Lucy Waldron (previously Tucker)

Editor