Citation
Leal Filho, W. (2004), "Editorial", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 5 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe.2004.24905daa.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Editorial
Welcome to the final issue of volume 5 of IJSHE. As usual we have compiled a selection of papers where approaches, initiatives and methods to promote sustainability at university level are documented. In this editorial, I would like to make a general review of the journal, which has now completed its fifth year.
Overall, it can be said that IJSHE has, since its creation back to the year 2000, broken new ground. In the opinion of a Swedish expert, “if IJSHE did not exist, it would have to be invented”. Well, IJSHE is here and does not have to be invented. It has, in a short period of time, received two awards and has evolved to become the world’s leading journal on aspects of sustainability in higher education, a fact which acknowledges both its need and acceptance.
As far as criticisms are concerned, responses to the journal have been widely positive. As it should be, some critical feed-back has also been registered, but it has been very limited. One particular one has been about the so-called “atheoretical” nature of the journal. But that criticism is largely unfounded since the assumption was that the journal as a whole and the authors in particular, do not pay sufficient attention to the theoretical aspects of sustainability. Indeed, whoever reads the papers published in this issue and over the past five years will soon realise that the journal provides a balanced amount of theory and practice.
Many of the authors who have published at IJSHE are well known experts who do not only have the theoretical backing to justify their work, their projects and to express their views but (perhaps even more importantly) are involved in putting sustainability into practice. But the same criticism is also encouraging in the sense that it demonstrates that IJSHE is on the right path. There are many outlets devoted to theoretical discussion on sustainability – many with a strong pedagogical orientation – and IJSHE is not one of them. The journal’s mission is to provide an interdisciplinary basis upon which sustainability efforts may be enhanced and we shall continue to pursue that goal. Moreover, our authors are assured that they will always be free to decide which degree of emphasis they wish to put on theory or on practice.
As a result of its popularity among experts in the field, the journal has been overwhelmed with submissions. Waiting time for the publication of articles (now at about 80 per year) which have successfully passed the peer-review process is around 12 months, a problem which is minimised by the careful planning and combination of inputs from different lines of thinking and geographical regions. Most contributions to IJSHE come from Europe and North America, but the journal has also been able to disseminate research work and projects from other regions as well.
At this stage, thanks are due to USLF, our co-founders, to our partner organisations and to Emerald Publishing for the vision in creating IJSHE. Thanks are also due to the members of the editorial board for their valuable inputs and to our authors, without whom the journal would not have been possible. IJSHE will look forward to the next five years and to further advancing the cause of sustainability in higher education. Enjoy your reading!
Walter Leal FilhoEditor