This is the final issue of Utilitas that will be published under my editorship. While as of this writing the new editor has not yet been officially named, I am confident that the journal will be in good hands.
I am very proud of how Utilitas has evolved over my six years as editor. In this time we added two new associate editors, Holly Smith and Emmanuelle de Champs, who incidentally are the first women to have held editorial roles with the journal. The scope of the journal also narrowed a bit, so that it focused more exclusively on the consequentialist tradition. Early on this meant that I was “desk rejecting” a fair number of interesting papers on other topics, and I admit that at times I was worried we might not have enough articles to publish. However, the number of submissions has increased over the last few years, while the percentage of papers received that fell outside the journal's scope has dropped. So, although our backlog of articles awaiting publication is smaller than it was six years ago, filling each issue has never been a problem. Other changes in this period have included word limits for articles and replies and a new style for citations that, while admittedly a little idiosyncratic, is hopefully convenient for authors who prefer either British or American English.
While I am a little sad to step away from the editorial role, after six years I find myself growing weary of some of the more repetitive aspects of running a journal. Moreover, Utilitas's continued evolution calls for periodic infusions of fresh energy and fresh ideas.
I close this final letter with a final word of thanks to the many people on whose support I have depended: managing editor Hani Abdellatif, who promptly processed submissions before they came to me and whose appearance on the British Who Wants to be a Millionaire is not to be missed; Sally Hoffmann, Olivia Hassall, and Tom Wilkes at Cambridge University Press; our reviews editor, the indefatigable David Weinstein (who has held that post since I stepped down from it in 2006); my associate editors; and most of all the authors and reviewers who sent us their work to be published and who answered my requests for help.
