It is a great pleasure to present the first issue of a new journal. However, the more sceptical reader might wonder whether yet another new journal is really needed. In this editorial we attempt to justify our self-indulgence and to set out our vision for Survey Research Methods

Lynn, P

Schnell, R

English

It is a great pleasure to present the first issue of a new

journal. However, the more sceptical reader might wonder

whether yet another new journal is really needed. In this

editorial we attempt to justify our self-indulgence and to

set out our vision for Survey Research Methods

Peter Lynn

Rainer Schnell

Directory of Open Access Journals

Survey Research Methods (2007)Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 1-2c© European Survey Research AssociationEditorial: Methodology in our MadnessPeter LynnEditor-in-Chief, University of Essex, UKRainer SchnellCo-Editor, University of Konstanz, GermanyIt is a great pleasure to present the first issue of a newjournal. However, the more sceptical reader might wonderwhether yet another new journal is really needed. In thiseditorial we attempt to justify our self-indulgence and toset out our vision for Survey Research Methods. We wouldwarmly welcome feedback on any of the issues we raise.The European Survey Research Association (ESRA) wascreated in the Autumn of 2004, an initiative of ProfessorWillem Saris. The objectives of ESRA, as stated in itsconstitution, are to promote (1) communication betweensurvey researchers in Europe without excluding communi-cation with survey researchers elsewhere in the world, (2)communication between substantive researchers in the socialsciences and survey methodologists in order to improve thequality of the research in both fields, (3) the study of old andnew survey procedures with respect to the conditions underwhich they can provide good quality data.The first main activity of ESRA (http://esra.sqp.nl) wasto organise a conference in Barcelona in July 2005. Duringthe course of this successful conference, attended by over300 delegates, the first General Assembly of ESRA formallyelected officers of the Association and made some decisionsabout principles and future activities. One of those decisionswas to set up this journal as the journal of the Association.It is intended that the journal should contribute to theobjectives of ESRA stated above.It is our experience that articles on survey methods topicstend to be scattered throughout a broad set of journals, oftenbeing on the periphery of the topics covered by any particularjournal. Many survey methods papers appear in journalsthat are primarily concerned with a substantive area ofstudy (e.g. alcohol, travel behaviour) while others appear injournals of a broad discipline (e.g. sociology, psychology).And many of these journals are national ones rather thaninternational. The very small number of journals thatcarry substantial concentrations of survey methods paperstend to be statistical journals and therefore publish only(or mainly) papers on what might be deemed ’statistical’aspects of survey methods. There is no journal that bothfocusses exclusively on survey methods and encompassesall aspects of survey aspects, from the conceptual throughthe psychological to the statistical.Additionally, we believe passionately in the advantagesof free access and rapid publication. By free access we meanboth open to all and free from costs to the reader. To achievethis, while also minimising the necessary administration,we have chosen to publish Survey Research Methodsexclusively on the internet. In due course, the entire processof submission, review and publication will be online. Wehope that the open access policy will facilitate use of thejournal by users who may not have access to a relevantlibrary, such as many researchers employed in government,other public sector or private organisations. This shouldhelp us to achieve the ESRA objectives of communicationwell beyond the boundaries of academia. Online publicationalso makes it easier to reach across national boundaries.Many – perhaps most – aspects of survey methods haveat least some degree of generalisation beyond the countryin which the research was carried out and we thereforehope that papers which may be of relevance to researchersin other countries might get published in Survey ResearchMethods rather than in national journals where they may getlittle exposure outside of their country of origin. A furtheradvantage of internet publication is that authors can includedata, programs, survey documents, pictures, videos or prettymuch any kind of electronic material that can be hosted onthe journal website and linked to the text of an article.At the same time, free access and the absence of aprint version of the journal does not mean that we arelowering the standards of the content. Far from it. Wehave recruited a panel of 28 respected Associate Editorswho are responsible for obtaining reviews of submittedmanuscripts and synthesising the reviewers’ reports intoa recommendation. We will only publish papers that areclear, original, use appropriate methods, and that are likelyto be of broad interest to those involved in designing,carrying out and using surveys in academic, government,private and other organisations. In the ten months since thefirst call for papers was issued on 27 February 2006, 36submissions were received and decisions were made of 17of these, of which only four were accepted. Hopefully thisindicates that our acceptance criteria have not been too lax,though of course the early days of a new journal may notbe strongly indicative of what will follow once the journalbecomes established and better-known. We hope that boththe quantity and the quality of submissions will improve.We will also endeavour to improve the speed and efficiencyof the review process: any new venture has a tendency forteething troubles and Survey Research Methods has been noexception.In summary, we see some important distinguishing fea-tures of this journal which, in combination, we hope will12 EDITORIALmake it a valuable and useful resource for everyone inter-ested in survey practice:• Coverage of all aspects of survey methodology;• Exclusion of topics not relevant to survey methodology;• High quality;• Practical orientation;• International outlook;• Fast review and publication;• Flexibility in the type of material that can be published;• Unrestricted access, free of charge.We would urge all readers to consider Survey ResearchMethods as an outlet for their own methodological researchand to encourage their colleagues, students and other con-tacts to have a look at the contents. We hope that you willenjoy this first issue. It has taken a lot of effort to get this farand we are extremely grateful to everyone who has helpedus in this endeavour, especially the authors of submitted pa-pers, the Associate Editors and those who have given theirvaluable time to serve as reviewers.

Methodology in our madness

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