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6 WMU J. Maritime Aff. 1 (2007)

handle is hein.journals/wnujlmti6 and id is 1 raw text is: WMU JOURNAL OF MARITIME AFFAIRS, VOL. 6 (2007), NO.1, 1-2 ) WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs: Current Policies and Developments Editorial When WMU started its Journal of Maritime Affairs in October 2002 there were not too many who were completely convinced or believed it would be possible to estab- lish an interdisciplinary journal covering a wide range of topics in the maritime field in addition to the already established and recognized journals. The founding editor, the late Professor Gunther Zade, wanted to publish a journal for professionals in the maritime industry. This meant that a variety of topics were to be covered by the WMU Journal. It also meant that all articles had to be academically sound but should be of interest to professionals who are not necessarily specialists in all areas covered by the journal. It was especially this wide spectrum of topics to be covered by the journal (with the aim of creating a wider readership/dissemination) that was questioned right from the start of the journal. Gunther Zade, however, believed in this approach and thanks to his vision and persistence the WMU Journal has in- creasingly become a recognised journal with the 6th Volume currently being prepared for publication. The new editorial team will not change the philosophy of the journal. A powerful element of the philosophy of the journal is that due to the wide range of topics that we cover we can have focussed issues on contemporary topics of interest, such as targeted issues on human factors or maritime security, if needed. Gunther Zade established the ground work on which we will continue building up the jour- nal.With a new team, however, we will of course try to utilise new opportunities that will help to sharpen the profile of the journal and hopefully establish it even more successfully among the recognised journals. In this respect, first results of our considerations can alreadybe seen in this edition.We still prefer a mix of academic and professional articles. Many areas in the maritime world are not covered by traditional scientific research. However, issues such as Search and Rescue (SAR), recycling of ships or contingency planning are important topics in the maritime community.We do not want to discourage professional authors with vast experience willing to share their experience with our readers, in favour of pure scientific and academic writing. At the same time we keep striving for academic excellence. This is why all articles are peer reviewed. However, in order to be fair in con- sidering background and the different nature of academic and professional articles, we will in future divide the contents of the journal into two sections: an 'Articles' section and a new section entitled 'Issues of Contemporary Interest' The review process for articles in the 'contemporary issues' section will, to a certain degree, take the nature and background of these articles into consideration. In order to facilitate a more active exchange with our readers we have also intro- duced a 'Reports and Comments' section. This new section is intended to provide interested authors/readers with the chance to comment on articles published in the ©World Maritime University. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1651-436X print/1654-1642 online