EDITORIAL

Abstract. The first editor of the Journal, Lesley Sheppard, retired at the end at the Annual General Meeting of the Society in November 1987 when her term of office came to an end. She is still on the editorial board and has retained responsibility for the design of the covers of the Journal (so, please, no comments about the choice of colours to the editor!), and also saw Volume 7 part 1 through to completion. This is an obvious moment to look back on the progress of the journal since volume 1 was published in 1982. Lesley’s stewardship has, I believe, seen the reputation of the Journal grow and its establishment as one of the major international periodicals in the field of micropalaeontology. In its early years may querried the need for yet another journal; the backlog of papers awaiting publication is a clear answer to that question. The publication of two parts per year has enabled the average time between submission and publication to remain at about 11 months; the financial support of our sponsors (listed on the inside front cover) has been important in enabling us to publish some 240 pages each year. I should like to take this opportunity to thank Lesley, and also the good offices of International Stratigraphic Services, for her effort on our behalf over the last seven years, and can only hope that the next seven are as equally productive. John Whittaker and members of the Editorial board have provided continuity and advice during. . .