Ten years after Marc Cohn took the baton from Michael Black, the Founding Editor of Seed Science Research, it is my turn to serve the seed science community as Editor-in-Chief. I assume my duties with great pleasure and enthusiasm, and I feel honoured to have been approached by Marc to replace him. Marc has been pivotal in the maintenance of the high scientific quality of our journal, and from here, I want to express my sincerest gratitude to him. More time for jazz and haute cuisine, Marc!
Seed Science Research will continue to observe the high standards set by my predecessors. I welcome our two new Associate Editors, Julia Buitink and Hiro Nonogaki. With Bill Finch-Savage and Ken Thompson continuing their distinguished services, there will be four Associate Editors to serve the journal, whereas Derek Bewley will remain on the Board as Reviews Editor. The journal is going through a number of changes that will all help to further improve and expand its contents. You will notice the changed format and cover redesign of the journal, and the arrival of Editorial Manager, which enables on-line submission, peer review and tracking of manuscripts. In due course, accepted manuscripts will be published online in advance of allocation to an issue under a ‘First view’ heading on the journal's homepage (www.journals.cambridge.org/ssr). Readers are encouraged to visit the journal's homepage to register for free Table of Contents email alerts.
Another change that I hope will become visible in the next couple of years is the broadened scope of the journal. Seed science has made such incredible progress over the past 5–10 years that the field is now at the forefront of plant biology. At the same time, awareness about the significance of seeds in the world has grown remarkably. Apart from the evident importance for the propagation of crops, seeds are also central in the production of food, feed and biofuel, and in the maintenance and restoration of biodiversity. In my view these latter aspects have been rather underexposed in Seed Science Research. Therefore, I want to encourage those who are working on these aspects of seeds to submit their work on fundamental seed biology to the journal. No need to say that all submitted manuscripts will be subjected to rigorous peer review.
Finally, I look forward to working with and for you. Any ideas and suggestions that may help me in this task are most welcome.
